[Q] Terrible Battery Life - Hardware Fault?

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Graymi

Member
Jun 15, 2009
29
2
I've had my new desire z about 2 weeks now, and am utterly dissapointed by a frankly dreadful battery life.

It's my second DZ, given the original was nicked, but (kicks self) wasn't insured, so was purchased from a supplier that shipped my phone from Hong Kong (I live in UK, and the new phone is an identical model, except for a slight difference in key layout - A2727 I think is model number)

The original phone would give me over two days life with very low use, which i considered to be fair for a decent smart phone.

The new phone barely gives me 10 hours with no use. I've done a couple of tests - unplugged it at 2am, but 8am it's at 30% or lower. This was done with all data connections turned off.

If i leave the new phone to go dead then that's it - it won't charge. The only way i've found to get juice back into the battery is to hold it in my old touch-pro 2 until it's charged enough to charge from the desire.

Last night was the clincher. I've gone out with some friends to the pub. I had a conversation over it, and checked my battery life - 42%. As a last dith effort i factory reset the phone at that point to rule out a mischevious app, and checked - 39%

Within 2 hours, and with no use at all that was down at 8%. In order to avoid the charge issue i cut my losses and turned it off at that point. Once home (oh, about 4 hours later maybe) I was unable to turn it back on. I then left it plugged in overnight, and was still unable to turn it on this morning until i'd done my cross-phone charging trick.

I'm now entirely convinced there's some form of hardware issue at fault here, so i'm wondering if anyone else has had the same problem with this phone before? I see lots of thread regarding poor battery life, but most seem to be solved by turning data off or some rouge app, neither of which are an issue in this case. Also, any hints for making my life easier when I phone HTC tomorrow? I've read elsewhere their support might not be all it should be.

Thanks in advance for any help! I've ready to pull my hair out as what is a fantastic phone otherwise has been completely ruined by this battery issue.
 

jcparks

Senior Member
Mar 7, 2011
73
14
Bremerton
I think you should get a new battery to rule out that the battery itself isn't a problem. I had similar issues with my G1 a while back and it solved a lot of wierd, seemingly unrelated problems. Batteries are pretty cheap online, $15 or so and some are free shipping.

The way that I figured out my battery was toast was by comparing it to other batteries. it had a bulge in the center where it should have been flat. Fingers crossed it isn't hardware.
 

Graymi

Member
Jun 15, 2009
29
2
had already tried a diff battery (did you know you can chew a corner off a touch pro 2 battery and make it fit??) Which i know worked fine in the old nicked dz and imo as i was getting same issue ruled out battery problem.

anyway... phone has now been returned and i'm waiting 2-3 weeks to get it repaired under warranty (though am hoping for complete replacement obviously)
 

jcparks

Senior Member
Mar 7, 2011
73
14
Bremerton
Chewing on batteries has got to get you extra xda brownie points. I'll remember that :)

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
 

Graymi

Member
Jun 15, 2009
29
2
I'd like to think there was some techincal or engineering skill in there somewhere.

but it was mostly "Well, apart form this nugget of plastic they're the same shape..."
 

MERKJONES

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2009
268
8
Oakland
I'm having the exact same problem... When you take you shutdown to recharge a dead battery, does it sometimes try to turn back on? I left my apartment like 30m ago with 100% battery, and I'm at 84% and declining. There's nothing running. And I've replaced the battery, same issue.

I think I might just RMA this one.. seems like an engineering issues.

Edit: I'm the 40 seconds it took me to type this, battery dropped to 82%.
 

MERKJONES

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2009
268
8
Oakland
Wanted to bump this post. I've since wiped / reloaded and wiped battery stats. It's still jacked. I think it's an internal electrical thing. Reason is: I'll power down to take the battery out. When I put the other one in, it'll turn back on. Or if I power down to charge, it'll turn back on - plugged in or not. I don't want to deal with the RMA process again, but I think it's my only choice. I've taken two phone calls this AM @ 100%, and it's at 96% now. Drives me insane. Ugh... I'll call TMO. Anyone know if the replacements are still rootable?
 

MERKJONES

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2009
268
8
Oakland
So... I had my phone replaced, and it's still doing the horrid battery thing. Flashed CM 7.1 RC3 or w/e the latest is, cycled one battery - and it drops like a stone. I have two chargers (one at work, one at home) and they both charge the phone up to 100%. But it's still losing battery life quicker than I'd like. I used to be able to get a good 18 hours out of this phone. Even with a new battery and a new phone, it's acting up. I'll try to flash an older ROM and see if it's the same thing. I updated to #130 nightly from 7/10. We'll see how it lasts today. But I do remember I had horrible luck with CM's ROM's on my G1. Battery would just drain for no reason. The main process taking up the most battery life is "Cell standby" so I changed to the latest radio - and it still drops. OP - have you figured out your problem? I've removed a ton of apps, and it's still messing up. I listen to music for... 45m in the AM, and I get down to 54%. I've formatted my SD Card as well.. it's driving me insane.
 

gbarayah

Senior Member
Dec 2, 2009
949
138
California
I just flashed CM 7.1 a few days ago and while the ROM is great, it does seem to be a litter harder on my battery than 6.1 was. With light/moderate usage yesterday, I got about 16 hours and that was running the battery almost completely dead. With heavy usage, I get about 10 hours and need a bump charge in the afternoon.

You might want to look into getting a Mugen 1800mah battery. You can get them on Ebay from 35-40 dollars. The seller 'nakedcellphone' is based out of Southern California and another user has confirmed ordering from them and getting a legitimate battery (lots of fakes on Ebay). Either that, or carry a charger with you...

Have you tried using Watchdog to see if there are any 'rogue' apps that are causing the drain by running in the background? What about going to spare parts > battery history > Partial Wake usage? There it will show apps that are draining your battery when you're not 'actively' using your phone. For me, the Android System is the highest drain in that menu. Good luck! Hope some of this helps!
 

MERKJONES

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2009
268
8
Oakland
I just checked spare parts, and there's nothing too odd in there. Just my music app. And I've changed that too - thought Winamp was killing me. I'll check Watchdog. This is a brand new OEM battery along with an RMA'd G2. It has to be the OS / Radio or something. I've stripped like every non-essential app too.