Cellphone battery life expectancy?

[jzmtl]

How long should cell phone li-ion battery last under light use?

I have a razr that's almost two years old, and recently the battery doesn't seem last as long. I used to be able to go 5 days on a charge but now it's only two days at most. I'm not quite sure if it's the batter that's done, or just the meter that's out of whack.

It's a 700mah 3.7v battery, would be really nice if I could just drop an AW rcr123a in there.

 

[Manzerick]

They get damaged very easily from my experience.


If you have Sprint or Nextel you can bring that battery to "service and repair" and they'll check it with a load test to see if it is just damaged.

 

[jzmtl]

Ah damn it, the phone did get dropped a few, rolled down hill with me and wet by snow.

Guess it's time for a new one, they seem pretty cheap on ebay, under $10 including shipping, so that's good news.

 

[NeonLights]

IME cell phone batteries tend to last for me 1.5 to 2 years before they start to fall off, and I can usually get 2-2.5 years of use before they have to be replaced. I'm not any kind of power user though, I have a daily alarm that goes off on my cell phone, and use it for calls two to three hours a month at most. My current phone, a RAZR, is still going strong after a year and a half, although I do have to charge it a little more often. When new, I'd have to charge it once every 8-10 days, now it is more like every 6-7 days.

 

[Flying Turtle]

My last phone's (Nokia) battery lasted at least three years with light use. When I traded it in runtime was starting to suffer. My wife and son had LG phones that got daily charging. After a bit more than two years they really needed that daily charge.

Geoff

 

[chimo]

Two years seems like you are in the norm. Time for a new battery (or phone).

What was the average charge cycle? i.e. Was the battery usually run down before charging or did you charge it often? From what I've read on the matter for Li based batteries (in use) it is best to charge more frequently than allowing complete run-down.

 

[Illum]

varies with use
I'd say around 1-2 years if used often and maintained [at least half the bars are still remaining before recharging]
2-3 years with moderate use and maintained. I use my cell to call, not text, pictures, yadda yadda. for about 3 calls a day my cell's batteries still work the same way it was when I bought the plan 3 years ago :nana:

they are kinda like laptops
normal use [30% used capacity] it'll last 2-3 years
high use [90% used capacity, as in running the cell to 10% remaining each time]...toshiba cells die in about a year, dell's slightly more than a year and a half:shakehead

 

[jzmtl]

Two years seems like you are in the norm. Time for a new battery (or phone).

What was the average charge cycle? i.e. Was the battery usually run down before charging or did you charge it often? From what I've read on the matter for Li based batteries (in use) it is best to charge more frequently than allowing complete run-down.

I usually charge it when it's half way down, but this winter it did see some abuse (temperature/water) as I keep it in my pocket when I go ski.

Can't get new phone yet, I'm still a couple of months away from 2 year contract with fido, even then I'll probably keep it and go on prepaid plan as I really don't use it often.

 

[Flying Turtle]

I was always under the impression that the battery would last longer the less times it was charged. With my old phone I would always let it run down almost completely, but that was with light use, and it was not turned on all day. Use was usually only when driving around or away from regular phones. Probably got charged no more than twice a week. Maybe I just got lucky. I hope this new phone does as well, but I'll probably use it more since this one is more pocketable and has some bells and whistles.

Geoff

 

[lingpau]

I've been told that to make a cell phone battery last, don't recharge it till it gets low or on the last bar. (only a certain number of times it can be recharged before it gets worn out) The other factor is over charging. Car chargers are notorious for this. Unless it has over charge protection, most cheap car chargers will cook your battery if left on too long. Once your battery is cooked or worn out, it won't hold a charge for long. Be careful of ebay batteries, I bought 4 for my family at a great price and they were junk! Ken

 

[jzmtl]

The one I'm looking on ebay claims to be OEM motorola battery, I'll see how that goes.

 

[gunga]

Well, I had a razor and the battery started truning to crap in about 1.5 years. All my previous Nokia and Sony phones tended to fare better.

The phone ended up dieing after I took it snowboarding in my pocket so I guess it doesn't matter now!

 

[jzmtl]

1.5 years, sounds about right, same as mine then.

I always thought you were someone older than snowboard generation.

 

[husky20]

Well i got my latest cell phone in jan 05 and its been on for more than three years i never turn it off ever.and the battery still works just fine but i do want to upgrade to a newer phone it was the first video cam phone from LG VX 7000 its been good to me LG makes a QUIlity product IMHO.:thumbsup:

 

[Wattnot]

ALL lithium ion batteries have a 2 to 3 year lifespan. Yes, even our precious 18650's and such. It's a shelf life or a use life, doesn't matter. That's not to say they're just dead after 3 years . . . you will just notice the decreased performance like the OP did in his cell.

Things you can do to get the most out of them:

*Don't store them fully charged.
*Don't have them in a high heat environment fully charged (like inside a vehicle parked in the sun all day in a warm/hot climate).
*Don't "cycle" them hard like you would a nicad. You don't have to drain them all the way down.

Some of those things make it a little inconvenient and I would bet most people ignore at least some of those "rules" (including myself) but I just expect to have to change them every 2 or 3 years or put up with mediocre performance until I do replace them.

 

[paulr]

Yes they crap out after a couple years, and often the phone is discontinued by then and you can't buy new batteries for it any more, and you end up buying a new phone even though there's nothing wrong with the old one.

Proprietary batteries just suck. I am looking all over for a phone powered by AA cells. No I don't want one of those external AA doohickeys that plugs in the phone, don't even think of suggesting that. But if you know of one that uses AA's or AAA's internally, let me know.

 

[lengendcpf]

Yes they crap out after a couple years, and often the phone is discontinued by then and you can't buy new batteries for it any more, and you end up buying a new phone even though there's nothing wrong with the old one.

Proprietary batteries just suck. I am looking all over for a phone powered by AA cells. No I don't want one of those external AA doohickeys that plugs in the phone, don't even think of suggesting that. But if you know of one that uses AA's or AAA's internally, let me know.

Correct. Now, when a new phone comes out, the production only last for few batches which maybe in 3-6 months. Then all the batteries will come out with it at the same time.

As the batteries are Li-ions which will age and lose their charges by about 10-15% every year. Unless a factory in china produces the batteries for popular models, most of the replacement batteries on the internet are new old stock(which is about the same age as the used batteries you have).

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9803265-1.html
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