[quackyducks]

Hi All,

I have just replaced my old 8800 with a nice new 9780, but the battery life seems very poor and I am wondering if there is a problem or if this is normal. When I first started using it, the battery seemed to deplete very quickly and didn't even last 24 hours. I downloaded BatteryWatch so that I could monitor the situation.

I then searched throughout this forum for ideas on how to save battery life. I have turned off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G (operating on only 2G), screen brightness is set to 30%, I don't surf the internet, I make only a handful of short phone calls in a day, and have set the auto turn off/on function so that it goes off at 11pm and back on at 6am.

But BatteryWatch shows that performance has not increased at all, and the battery still drains as quickly as it did with all the above turned on!

Is this normal? And if it isn't then what am I doing wrong, or what is wrong with my phone. It was bought brand new directly from Amazon, so it's not a refurb battery. It's very frustrating that my new phone spends more time charging than I actually do using it! Didn't have anywhere near these sort of problems with the 8800 getting at least 3 days out of the battery!

Any advice gratefully received!

[penguin3107]

Sounds about normal to me.
You're not going to get anywhere near the battery life as your old 8800 got.
New OS and features are much more battery intensive.

[quackyducks]

Thanks. Looks like I am going to be spending my days endlessly plugging in chargers! Perhaps I am being a bit naive, but shouldn't a new OS streamline performance? Mind you, Windows have never managed it so why should RIM be any different :o)

[Dubdub]

The 9780 is much different than the 8800. Many of the improvements, i.e. 3G, better screen, etc., require more battery.

Battery life depends upon how much you use it and how many data intensive apps are running int he back ground. Anything more than a business day should be considered excellent.

It actually helps a Lithium battery to be charged and topped up. Letting it run down below 20% can actually harm the battery. I keep my 9800 plugged in when I am in the office.

This link from our FAQ may help: Maximum Battery Life - BlackBerryFAQ

[toocool49]

I've had my new 9780 for a month now and couldn't be happier. There is just no way I can drain the battery in less than 2 days: I send and receive emails, text messages, surf the Web, etc..
But I have GPS, Bluetooth off and backlight set to 30%.
Never had a better device. My Storm, in comparison, was a power hungry hog.

[stevew]

That's a lot of battery life. I get one day, and sometimes less.

[Dubdub]

Like I said above, it all depends on how you use it. What someone else gets isn't really a good comparison since they most likely use the BB differently than you do.

[stevew]

I know that - believe me. I'm painfully aware. LOL

[toocool49]

I think what it boils down to is the number of active applications you have. I only have Google Maps and it's normally turned off. As for the rest, my usage of the device is even heavier than the one reported by Quackyducks. And I don't even turn it off at night, only put it in bedside mode.
Like I said, it's light years better than the Storm I had, but I realize that was a touch screen with a much bigger display, whose battery capacity (in terms of mA hours) was almost one half the 9780's. It is enough to look at the size of the two batteries.

[quackyducks]

I'd love to get 2 days out of my 9780 as toocool49 does! But alas, this does not seem the case. What is interesting is Dubdub's comment about keeping it plugged in during the business day. I have to admit that I always thought that you should not overcharge batteries, and that when they reach 100% is causes harm to the battery if you then keep it plugged in to the AC power source. I was also under the impression that draining a battery then recharging it to 100% maintains it's capacity for longer. It appears that I was wrong on both accounts!

[toocool49]

what you write is true of the old nickel cadmium batteries. Lithium ones thrive on frequent charges and not from a depleted state.
Try a new battery, I bought one from Amazon for my old Storm and it lasted less than the original, old one.
Also, turn wi-fi off if you don't need it and check the power-hungry apps. Those are battery killers

[Howard S.]

Also consider as was stated in an earlier post here to turn the backlight down. I keep mine at 30% and I think it really helps battery life.