So I just got an Acer Liquid E a few days ago - on the Roger Network here in Canada for $49.99, and to start with - I was very happy with the device; despite being an underclocked Snapdragon phone, everything is snappy and very responsive. Android 2.1 is also very good.
But that's where my love-hate relationship with this device started. I have major issues with it's battery - now I know that smartphones have horrible battery life, but even by those standards this phone is terrible. Even if I turn the WiFi and GPS off, and kill all background applications constantly - it's impossible to get through a whole day on a single charge.
Not only is the battery meek, but I have a recurring problem with this phone (happens 9 to 10 times a day) :
Despite being fully charged, the battery indicator will suddenly jump to a '?' indication, and the phone freezes over. The only way out of this is to physically remove the battery, reinsert it and restart the phone. The phone then starts up and I get a full battery indication and everything is back to normal.This happens over and over again throughout the day and is making me go crazy.
I'm wondering if there's any other Acer Liquid E owners who have the same problem? Or if anyone knows what the issue might be?
You could try exchanging your phone, if that's still an option, to rule out the possibility of it being a manufacturing defect.
On the topic of battery life, it's important to remember that most stock batteries are designed to handle only a few hours of constant data transmission (whether that be voice or internet traffic). You should make sure that you don't have any unnecessary applications constantly polling for data. Also, I've heard the Liquid E criticized for getting excessively hot and heat will generally decrease battery life.
Last edited by Carbon Molecule; 06-27-2010 at 09:38 PM.
Unfortunately, thanks to Rogers' ridiculous exchange policy - exchanging it for a different manufacturer's handset is impossible ( must be returned before 30 minutes or 30 kb of data usage ).
And I've used quite a few Android smartphones before and am familiar with the low battery life expectations. I constantly kill background applications. However, what REALLY annoys me is that this phone freezes over 10 times a day and it's battery indicator randomly drops to '?'.
Stuck in a hard spot. It's a shame because for $49.99 Acer really has produced a nice and fast Android 2.2 phone that handles everything else quite well. I was starting to like the phone.
I wasn't aware of the 30kb policy; only the 15 days and 30 minutes of talk-time. Someone better versed in Rogers's policies should be able to elaborate on that.
I was suggesting that you exchange your liquid for another liquid to rule out the possibility that your freezing and battery issues are due to a faulty handset and/or battery.
As far as I'm aware, Rogers should honour an exchange like that given that they sold you a, possibly, defective phone.
Maybe you shouldn't kill applications.
You might killed some core apps which then freezes the phone.
The way the android is built allows the OS to handle the apps, constantly killing apps only kills the battery rather than save the battery. I tested it myself. I was excited to use those apps to kill processes, but it's just won't help but make it worse. Also, disable location detection can save 2% battery / hour. Change the brightness to minimum will save 30% of usage time.
Thanks for your post. I've been killing non-system processes only, so I don't think that's the problem.
And carbonmolecule - I believe they will exchange my liquid for another one - or at least I hope so. I'm going to go talk to them tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Hopefully this is an issue with my handset only.
My Liquid gets me through the day pretty good. Full day - 30 mins of browing, hour of gaming, hour of phone calls, some text, I still have 60% left by the end of the day (around 11pm)
I did find the cause of the problem, however - I did not find a solution. The only possible fix is to get a new handset with a new battery.
I suspected that the Lithium Ion Battery was at fault and not the device itself. I requested Rogers to replace my phone with a new one. Once I got the phone I made sure I charged the phone to a full charge before I started using it ( with my first device - I had begun using it right after removing it from the packaging ). Unfortunately, I experienced the '?' issue again - however it was much less frequent - I continued the charging the phone to Max and let the battery deplete to absolutely zero everytime I was finished with a charge. The frequency of the '?' problem began to decrease until it stopped happening entirely.
I believe the cause of this problem is something attributed to Lithium Ion batteries - known as the Memory problem. Lithium Ion batteries sometimes 'memorize' their last discharge state - and will only charge to that point. The only way to avoid this problem is to make sure that the first few charge/discharge cycles of the battery should be complete cycles - i.e., charge the battery to maximum, then let the battery discharge to zero. Continue this cycle for as long as possible.
My suggestion is to replace the device and the battery and try again. I would also like to know if you would be interested in mailing in a letter to Acer to address the problem. The chances of Acer addressing the problem, either by providing non-defective batteries or compensation would increase if there's two people writing in rather than one.
Now that my battery is working properly though, I must say I am quite pleased with Android 2.1 and the snappy processor. Battery life, like most other touchscreen smartphones is average.
Unfortunately, *defective* Lithium Ion batteries *do* experience the memory effect. This also plagued first generation iPods. Lithium Ion batteries are known to be better than other batteries made of different compounds, and a properly made Li-Ion battery has virtually no memory state. However, defective batteries do experience this phenomenon, and in my experience - work better if they are brought to a complete discharge early on in their life.
The solution to our freeze battery problem is to do a wipe on the "battery stat" on Malez Custom recovery for Acer Liquid. Use Malez, but first how to install from http://code.google.com/p/acer-liquid-malez-recovery/.
Trust me because I went through hoops and ladder to solve this. I certainly found that the battery has no memory effect, but that the phone has the battery stat.(http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm) So wipe the "battery stat" after a fully charge battery. And please do not discharge or drain your battery because it will ruin the battery.
I try to edit my post, but couldn't. So, my post/solution failed in several more of tests. I still won't recommend not to drain the battery, even if I did it the second time in a week. It's very sad because this phone was very good for the android platform and I'm still going to use it as a testing ground.
I actually paid full price for it.
Acer Liquid E - Power/Battery Problems
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