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Prediction: surge of phones purchases based on battery life

With the release of Pokemon Go (and no, this isn't a PoGo thread), people are going to seriously consider battery life as a a major consideration to their phones. One report (http://mashable.com/2016/07/07/pokemon-go-battery-life/#pnNwsOXQNkqJ) had the game burn through an Iphone 6s's battery in 3 hours playing "the game". That's from full to 0% in 3 hours. For comparison, Apple rates HD playback for this device is rated at 11 hours (http://www.apple.com/iphone-6s/specs/). This, along with my own observations of using my Nexus 6 with Google Cardboard at a family outing shows:
1. Applications like PoGo are going to cause a decreased lifespan in batteries that in as early as a few months, and will trigger an upswing in premature phone deaths just in time for Xmas 2016...
2. The capability of the phones are far surpassing the ability of the battery to keep up;
3. People are coming up with new ways to use the capabilities of phones, in ways they are not honestly designed for, and this will only get worse;
4. If the idea of a phone lasting two years is going to hold up (as many are purchased on a two year model), battery capacity needs to become a bigger focus than "make it thin".
Additionally, I suspect that battery death is one of the major drivers of new phone adoption. Yes, the ability to recharge a phone faster is great, but the more cycles you put on the phone, the faster the battery degrades. If you can't dribble charge your phone overnight and have a full day's use out of it on a HEAVY day, then the battery isn't correctly sized. More to the point, if a phone can't go for TWO days or more with normal use, it isn't a good choice. I personally believe that major phone manufacturers are designing their systems with the intention that the battery will become a factor triggering the replacement of phones at this point, which is why there are so few phones with replaceable batteries now. Applications like Pokemon Go will simply trigger people to realize just how imbalanced the battery vs. capability spread has become, and may start asking for something different.
Thoughts?

Considering a pixel

Hi all,
I am thinking about getting a pixel soon as an upgrade/downgrade from the nexus 6p. My battery life on this thing is dreadful, like 2 hours sot at a best case scenario usually resulting in me charging twice a day and that's with light to medium usage or if I don't use it much at all.
Anyway I'm interested to see if the battery life might be better on a pixel but I am a little worried as it's a much smaller battery than I have now. I've had nothing but bad luck really when it comes to android and battery life.
The reason for not waiting for the pixel 2 is pretty much that after recycling this I could get the current pixel for about £250 and that way it won't hurt my bank balance as I'm saving for other stuff.
Anyway would you recommend this phone?
Thanks

Not a downgrade but battery life is great for me anyway. You will miss the front facing speakers tho
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I don't think you're going to see huge gains from the 6P to the Pixel in the battery life department (if both phones are working well). If you are only getting 2 hours SOT on the 6P and charging twice a day then something is wrong - either something is keeping the phone awake or the battery's capacity is shot.
I never had the 6P, but reviews seem to suggest you'd see a similar battery life 6P vs Pixel...

Thanks. I hear alot of 6p owners having battery issues, It was fantastic when it was new! I think it's had it combined with a crap chip means it's just not lasting half a day. I ususally have to put it on charge after 6 hours as its about flat and all I do is check some social media and websites from time to time, the odd phone or text. Anyway I'm looking for something that can handle 3-4 hrs SoT as a average when mostly going around using 4g

Bought mine when carphone warehouse dropped the price to £399 which is a great price for this phone.
Been great, battery is really solid and camera is amazing.
I took my oneplus 5 back and got this.

I cannot recommend the phone enough to be honest. The battery life is amazing. As you've said, you've had bad luck with battery in the past; You may want to keep an eye on what apps you install as that could also be a major contributing factor.

Battery Capacity Expectation

I searched this before posting, but the thread had no replies from January so hoping I can gain some insight and clarification on this.
I am new to Android and avoided it for a long time due to being perfectly satisfied with my Blackberry Q10. However a few years ago, I was intrigued by the original Pixel and knew whenever I switched , if I went Android it would be a Pixel. It ended up being a Pixel 2.
I say this because I spend a lot of time googling and researching before i ask a question to make sure i am as familiar as possible before i ask something that can be found just as fast on my own.
That being said, i can't find an answer to "What is a typical capacity loss over a number of months...?"
I just got the phone in January. Didn't know anything about capacity until i noticed a huge drop in expected battery time after unplugging my phone. It used to be 21-23 hours expected from 100%. Now its only about 10-15 hours, depending on the day. Researched batteries and learned about Accubattery. Looked at the health and saw i'm only at 2284 our of 2700. It says GOOD health..but is that really good health after only 3 1/2 months? Also..unfortunately i have no idea what the original real life capacity was because i never checked until End of March when i discovered Accubattery.
Just wondering should i return the phone or accept this level of battery. At this rate..does't seem like I will get through a year on this phone.
ADDITIONAL INFO - I have used 3rd party charging cables (Nekteck)and Samsung bricks. The cables give me roughly the same amount of juice as the charger that came with the phone ( around 1300 Mah max, more juice if I'm charging from a lower percentage start point )

Tone96 said:
I searched this before posting, but the thread had no replies from January so hoping I can gain some insight and clarification on this.
I am new to Android and avoided it for a long time due to being perfectly satisfied with my Blackberry Q10. However a few years ago, I was intrigued by the original Pixel and knew whenever I switched , if I went Android it would be a Pixel. It ended up being a Pixel 2.
I say this because I spend a lot of time googling and researching before i ask a question to make sure i am as familiar as possible before i ask something that can be found just as fast on my own.
That being said, i can't find an answer to "What is a typical capacity loss over a number of months...?"
I just got the phone in January. Didn't know anything about capacity until i noticed a huge drop in expected battery time after unplugging my phone. It used to be 21-23 hours expected from 100%. Now its only about 10-15 hours, depending on the day. Researched batteries and learned about Accubattery. Looked at the health and saw i'm only at 2284 our of 2700. It says GOOD health..but is that really good health after only 3 1/2 months? Also..unfortunately i have no idea what the original real life capacity was because i never checked until End of March when i discovered Accubattery.
Just wondering should i return the phone or accept this level of battery. At this rate..does't seem like I will get through a year on this phone.
ADDITIONAL INFO - I have used 3rd party charging cables (Nekteck)and Samsung bricks. The cables give me roughly the same amount of juice as the charger that came with the phone ( around 1300 Mah max, more juice if I'm charging from a lower percentage start point )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stop apps from running in the background. Your WhatsApp, Facebook, Marco Polo, weather widgets, etc are using your battery.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I don't have many running in the back. I don't have Marco Polo or Whatsapp. All my others I shut down to and when I check apps are using very low percentage. But my question is more the battery health reading. is 2200 healthy after 3 months use?

Is the phone battery actually draining twice as fast now or is the battery reporting just wrong?

The phone seems to behave normally, but being I'm not an Android user for long I don't know what normal is. I know things differ phone to phone. If I use my screen and read articles the battery drains fast to me. Compared to others who consider reading as light use. I get "better" life if I watch videos. I suppose because I'm not touching the screen. Streaming I can do for hours. I think what I'm trying to understand is...how accurate and important is a battery capacity reading? Should I be concerned that it says im only getting around 2200 out of 2700? For an almost phone I would think the capacity would be closer to the design capacity?

Tone96 said:
The phone seems to behave normally, but being I'm not an Android user for long I don't know what normal is. I know things differ phone to phone. If I use my screen and read articles the battery drains fast to me. Compared to others who consider reading as light use. I get "better" life if I watch videos. I suppose because I'm not touching the screen. Streaming I can do for hours. I think what I'm trying to understand is...how accurate and important is a battery capacity reading? Should I be concerned that it says im only getting around 2200 out of 2700? For an almost phone I would think the capacity would be closer to the design capacity?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a screen shot of the reduced battery capacity reading and send it to Google's customer service from your support menu in the system settings.

Babying the battery

For the first time ever on my phone, I'm babying the battery on the Pixel 3. I'm only allowing the battery to be in the 50-80% range. Occasionally it will get out of that range but I try not to let that go on for too long. Will this have a noticeable impact on the longevity of my battery? Has anyone ever tried it on a Pixel or Android phone?

I do this on my devices religiously... And while my wife does not, after 18 months with our previous Pixel 2's... Mine carries a noticeable advantage in battery over hers.
On occasion, I will let it fully charge, but not for very long, and never plugged in overnight.

Use your phone and enjoy it. I don't think any efforts like this are worth it, personally.

fury683 said:
Use your phone and enjoy it. I don't think any efforts like this are worth it, personally.
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You are not wrong.

I have been on both sides of this fence over the many years I have been running Android phones. Phones that I ran for 3+ years and swollen/poorly performing batteries if they weren't babied have both went the way of the dodo bird so to speak. My wife and I ran the OG Pixel and Pixel XL pretty much from the beginning until the 3s were released. They basically lived on a charger when not in use, and neither had any depreciation in performance. My only real strict battery usage rule for the past close to 3 years (including some other devices that belong to me, my wife and my sons) is to NEVER use the device while it is charging. The batteries are better as are the chargers and OS battery implementation, and the odds of me using a device long beyond 2 years is pretty slim. Some things like using the right charger and not messing with charging settings are pretty obvious to me. I will admit that I have my own OCD device things like daily reboots and cleanup, but as far as the battery goes I agree with fury that the device is to be used. If I am losing my time and device performance trying to milk a better SoT that doesn't really mean $hit, I am using the device wrong.

terrapin01 said:
For the first time ever on my phone, I'm babying the battery on the Pixel 3. I'm only allowing the battery to be in the 50-80% range. Occasionally it will get out of that range but I try not to let that go on for too long. Will this have a noticeable impact on the longevity of my battery? Has anyone ever tried it on a Pixel or Android phone?
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Click to collapse
Yes, that works, but to what end? Are you planning on keeping your phone for 3 years or so you upgrade every year? It's a good technique for those who want to keep their phone for years.

PuffDaddy_d said:
Yes, that works, but to what end? Are you planning on keeping your phone for 3 years or so you upgrade every year? It's a good technique for those who want to keep their phone for years.
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Click to collapse
I just find it to be disappointing and a loss of value that I notice clear degradation every six months or so. When your phone is new and you're away from an outlet for 24 hours, no problem! Fast forward 18 months and that same scenario is a major problem. After 24-30, months I feel I HAVE to upgrade because the battery performance is so mediocre (if not outright poor). That's why I want to know if babying the battery pays noticeable gains in the future.

terrapin01 said:
I just find it to be disappointing and a loss of value that I notice clear degradation every six months or so. When your phone is new and you're away from an outlet for 24 hours, no problem! Fast forward 18 months and that same scenario is a major problem. After 24-30, months I feel I HAVE to upgrade because the battery performance is so mediocre (if not outright poor). That's why I want to know if babying the battery pays noticeable gains in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not just spend the $80 and replace the battery after a year or so? If I liked the device that much or I couldn't afford a new one for almost a grand then I'd certainly give that a shot. I think the Pixel 3 replacement is pretty easy and you can do it yourself. I'd drive myself crazy watching the battery level all day long. I think the apps on the device are more important anyway. After a year, a factory reset will probably get more life than a year of what you are doing.

terrapin01 said:
I just find it to be disappointing and a loss of value that I notice clear degradation every six months or so. When your phone is new and you're away from an outlet for 24 hours, no problem! Fast forward 18 months and that same scenario is a major problem. After 24-30, months I feel I HAVE to upgrade because the battery performance is so mediocre (if not outright poor). That's why I want to know if babying the battery pays noticeable gains in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's a hard correlation to make. Usage changes over time. Your battery might last 24 hours no problem on day one, but then you add in a new app that uses more data, or you start playing a game more that uses more battery and you feel like it doesn't last as long. A lot of people say "no, I use all the same apps" and that might be true for 95% of the apps, but all it takes is one to change the battery life.
As others said, if you intend to keep the phone for 2-3+ years, the battery life may be a concern, but if you're planning to upgrade once a year or every other year, I don't think you will see any noticeable gains from worrying about the battery.
When my battery is low, I charge it. I have a Pixel Stand on my desk at work and it sits there most of the day. When I get home I use the phone and plop it on a Choetech wireless pad at night so it's 100% in the morning. It's also on power (albeit low/slow) with Android Auto in my car during my commute both ways. I also have days where I'm away from battery for hours and lose about 1% per hour (fairly standard with Always on Display). I've been doing more or less this same routine with all three of my Pixel XL devices (OG, 2 and now 3) with no issues. The only change with the 3 is that it has wireless charging which makes charging much more seamless.
Hope you enjoy your new phone, however you decide to use it! :good:

bobby janow said:
Why not just spend the $80 and replace the battery after a year or so? If I liked the device that much or I couldn't afford a new one for almost a grand then I'd certainly give that a shot. I think the Pixel 3 replacement is pretty easy and you can do it yourself. I'd drive myself crazy watching the battery level all day long. I think the apps on the device are more important anyway. After a year, a factory reset will probably get more life than a year of what you are doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with this is alot of manufacturers will stop producing batteries around the same time they stop producing the phones. With my experience I've had a hard time finding batteries that were oem quality, and even if you do, who knows how long that thing has sat on the shelf?

If you're all curious how your battery is degrading over time, download an app called Battery Health. It's a very simple app that tells you what % of the total battery capacity is still available for use. It only took about 2 months for mine to drop into the 90's.

Pixel 3 Battery Life?

Hello,
How is the battery life on Pixel 3 (non XL)? Does it last a whole day with normal usage? What is the average Screen On Time?
Getting a P3 for 500$ from Google Store but have serious reservations about battery life after reading reviews? Is it worth getting?

I just got mine 2 months ago. I have about 300 apps installed. Most have been opened and therefore running stuff in background. I can Easily go all day without a charge. Some evenings I'm only at 50% before bed. I consider myself a medium user (not streaming a lot of video, etc). It was a much better experience than my early Pixel XL. Hope this helps.
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I don't know if you're going to get the answer you're looking for because "normal usage", screen on time, apps installed, types of apps, network coverage, etc all vary widely from person to person. What works great for me might not at all for you.

If I have a normal use day I have about 5 to 6 hours of SoT. I've gotten 7+, it's about what my S10e got,.
However I am a heavy user, constantly rebooting and testing new modules and on Q beta so I can get anywhere from 2 to 4 but that is because I am HARDCORE draining the phone.

SirSparkles said:
I just got mine 2 months ago. I have about 300 apps installed. Most have been opened and therefore running stuff in background. I can Easily go all day without a charge. Some evenings I'm only at 50% before bed. I consider myself a medium user (not streaming a lot of video, etc). It was a much better experience than my early Pixel XL. Hope this helps.
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Any idea on the screen on time that you are getting from the phone?

vonDubenshire said:
If I have a normal use day I have about 5 to 6 hours of SoT. I've gotten 7+, it's about what my S10e got,.
However I am a heavy user, constantly rebooting and testing new modules and on Q beta so I can get anywhere from 2 to 4 but that is because I am HARDCORE draining the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is pretty good. Is that on the regular 3 or the XL Version?
Thanks.

vonDubenshire said:
If I have a normal use day I have about 5 to 6 hours of SoT. I've gotten 7+, it's about what my S10e got,.
However I am a heavy user, constantly rebooting and testing new modules and on Q beta so I can get anywhere from 2 to 4 but that is because I am HARDCORE draining the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't screen on time be a parameter to gauge that with ?

fury683 said:
I don't know if you're going to get the answer you're looking for because "normal usage", screen on time, apps installed, types of apps, network coverage, etc all vary widely from person to person. What works great for me might not at all for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't screen on time be a parameter to gauge that with ?

masterinmischief said:
Thank you. Any idea on the screen on time that you are getting from the phone?
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I'm averaging about 2-4 hours per day of screen time per Digital Wellbeing.
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

SirSparkles said:
I'm averaging about 2-4 hours per day of screen time per Digital Wellbeing.
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
That is not too great and does not give me much confidence. I have heard battery life on 3A is stellar. I had the Pixel 1XL and Nexus 6Pand after a few months, Battery life went bad on both those phones. Hence, someone apprehensive, considering all the negative I have heard about Pixel 3 battery right off the bat.

masterinmischief said:
That is not too great and does not give me much confidence. I have heard battery life on 3A is stellar. I had the Pixel 1XL and Nexus 6Pand after a few months, Battery life went bad on both those phones. Hence, someone apprehensive, considering all the negative I have heard about Pixel 3 battery right off the bat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the several months down the line degredation theory is accurate for pixels, then the 3a having stellar battery life may also be smoke and mirrors.
I had a 3a and sold it for a 3. Got $100 bb gift card when I bought it, sold it for $350. So I made $50 in that and bought my pixel 3 for $400. I think it's worth it for the extra $50 to have the better processor, water rating and wireless charging.
My battery life has been...ok with my 3. Absolutely nothing to write home about but certainly not the worst I've ever seen. Drain is a bit higher than I like to see, idle and active (1.5 and 13 respective, according to exkm). My screen in time per cycle is between 5-6 hours generally but that is a misleading number for to different setups and signal strength.
I say if you dig the device, get it. If you hate it, hell that's what swappa is for. I have bought and sold so many devices on there because they didn't meet my standards it because something else caught my eye.
I will be keeping this device for awhile. I really like the size and features. I'm sure I could boost battery by nurfing features but I am not interested in doing that. This has been excessively long so... Let us know what you decide. Hope my diatribe helped a little. If not... It was free, so don't complain
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

My Pixel 3 barely makes a day on a charge. Meanwhile, I use my old Moto X4 to stream music to my work headset, and it can do that for a whole day and still be at 60-70% battery by the end. I tried that with my Pixel, and I ended up having to use extreme battery saver mode by the end of the day.

My battery has been much better since I turned off mobile network always active in developer settings. Keeps idle drain will below 1% now. I couldn't figure it for the life of me why it was so high. Try it!
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk