vB Easy Archive - 8525 battery charging--isolating usage

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8525 battery charging--isolating usage
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Posted by: tonypitt

I just got an 8525 recently and am having problems with battery life. From what I've read here, it seems that this may get better as time goes by. I am a bit puzzled by this as I didn't have this problem with my 8125.

Is there any way I can tell whether this quick battery drain is due to a particular application I'm running or some kind of hardware problem? If it is hardware related I'd like to get on that ASAP as I believe I'm still within my 30 days of purchase.

As an example, on Friday night I charged my phone through to Saturday morning. I used the phone all day Saturday and Sunday without a problem. I really only use this device for data--primarily push email--and I wasn't in "critical" range by Sunday night.

Sunday night I charged the phone through to Monday morning. I took the device from the plug this morning around 6 a.m. As of 4 p.m. the device is reporting 30% battery level.

I'm running the following software: WM6, SBSH Pocket Weather, SBSH Phone Weaver, Microsoft Theme Switcher.

Is it even possible that one of these applications could be causing the battery drain? Is it possible I just have a bad battery? (If so, is there any way I can get AT&T to just replace that?) Is there any way to know for sure that something is wrong hardware-wise?

Posted by: BradleyH

There are a couple of possibilities:

Since you mentioned that you had no problem from Saturday AM to Sunday night, and then had a problem "at work" on Monday, it could be a location/RF coverage issue. For example, you could have strong coverage wherever you were on the weekend, but have "fringe" coverage at work. The battery drains quite a bit faster in fringe areas due to the radio increasing strengh (and power) while trying to keep a signal.

The other possibility could be related to 3G. Your 8125 was not 3G capable, but the 8525 is. If you are in a 3G area, it is possible that the battery is being drained faster while on 3G (or on a 3G fringe). But that does not necessarily explain the difference between battery performance on the weekend vs. Monday.

Unfortunately, the only way to prove/disprove either of these theories will be to wait until this weekend to see if the same battery drain pattern happens again when you are not at work.

Hopefully this helps (at least a little).

Posted by: fsuscotsman

How often are you getting the email? I know that with my 8525 that I have four email addresses. If I check my gmail account it is VERY fast and I'm in and out in a hurry. If I have to check the Comcast accounts it takes a LONG time just to get to the point where it is receiving and sending. I can't help but believe that takes a lot of power.