Cell Phone Battery Life Issues

[vortalexfan]

Greetings everyone, I work a 3rd shift custodial job cleaning bathrooms at a local Amish Themed Restaurant and Gift Shop that also has an Inn attached to it, and when I'm working I like to listen to either music or podcasts on my phone and I usually use blutooth earbuds when I'm doing this, but sometimes I forget to charge my earbuds at home before going into work and so I have to just listen to my stuff using my phone's built-in speaker turned up all the way so I can hear it above the sound of the toilets being flushed (they have vacuum break flush valves on some of the toilets that when they flush they are loud enough to drown out the audio even when using earbuds unless I use "noise cancelling" earbuds.)

Anyways, I've noticed that my cell phone which is an iPhone SE 3rd Generation model, has a strange issue with it where, when I listen to my Podcast app or Music app on my phone with earbuds, the phone runs as cool as a cucumber and only drains about 20% of the battery over the course of a 5 hour shift from a full charge, but when I use the phone's built-in speakers the phone runs hot, and is dead by the end of the shift from a full charge.

What's different between the two operating modes that would cause that much of a difference in battery drain/battery life in my cell phone?

Any help with this issue would be appreciated.

[Electronic M]

Audio amps need power to work as do D to A converters.

Remembering your headphones would be the cheap solution, next cheapest would be a portable power bank, followed by getting the longest battery life phone out there....Which is basically why I choose a Motorola G Power as my phone. The longest battery life out there and a low price point.

[zeno]

A good example is an AM-FM battery radio. If you listen to AM the
battery life if higher than if you listen to FM only.
The first symptom of weakening batteries is distorted FM, good AM.
This is due mostly to the audio out demanding more power to cover the FM audio band width. As the bats get weaker AM gets drifty etc. If
you listen at VERY low volume symptoms are reduced.
I dont know what they are called but there are power packs that can
get around this, rechargeable bigger batteries. You can wear them.
I never used one but a lot of metal detector hobbyists use them to
run there machines for days....

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Audio amps need power to work as do D to A converters.

Remembering your headphones would be the cheap solution, next cheapest would be a portable power bank, followed by getting the longest battery life phone out there....Which is basically why I choose a Motorola G Power as my phone. The longest battery life out there and a low price point.

Tough to beat Motorola phones for value. Great phones at an excellent price point.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by zeno

A good example is an AM-FM battery radio. If you listen to AM the
battery life if higher than if you listen to FM only.
The first symptom of weakening batteries is distorted FM, good AM.
This is due mostly to the audio out demanding more power to cover the FM audio band width. As the bats get weaker AM gets drifty etc. If
you listen at VERY low volume symptoms are reduced.
I dont know what they are called but there are power packs that can
get around this, rechargeable bigger batteries. You can wear them.
I never used one but a lot of metal detector hobbyists use them to
run there machines for days....

73 Zeno
LFOD !

I know what you're talking about, I have one of those that is about the size of a credit card and is specifically for plugging into a cell phone to charge it or keep it charged but unfortunately I lost track of it during the move into my new house from my apartment.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by dishdude

Tough to beat Motorola phones for value. Great phones at an excellent price point.

Unfortunately my experience with Motorola wasn't all that great, because I've had a couple of the Motorola Razors back in the day and they were absolutely garbage and didn't even last 3 hours on a charge (and that was before smart phones came into being and the ability for phones to go on the internet) So even though I would normally agree with you that anything with the Motorola name on it would be a great choice if it would of been the original Motorola that was based out of Chicago, illinois, the Motorola company today isn't the same company it was 30+ years ago, that Motorola was bought out by some Chinese firm that makes complete garbage while using (and shaming) the once great Motorola name (basically like what happened with Zenith back in the 1970s, when they were bought out by Goldstar, now known as LG.)

[Electronic M]

I've been using Motorola G series smartphones since 2017. They're nowhere close to garbage. Battery life has been better than the flip phones of various brands that preceded them. If I'm using the screen and audio less than 2 hours a day and not doing extreme roaming the battery will last a week.
Granted I only use mine as a mobile web browser (the browser probably gets the most use), phone, camera, media player, and navigation system.... I'm not doing gaming or anything especially processor heavy.
Also Motorola phones are essentially stock android with moto gestures added on (they're a way to open camera, toggle flashlight mode on and off, etc without unlocking which is very handy.
I think my older Moto G power is better designed/made than some of the tube TVs they used to make!

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Unfortunately my experience with Motorola wasn't all that great, because I've had a couple of the Motorola Razors back in the day and they were absolutely garbage and didn't even last 3 hours on a charge (and that was before smart phones came into being and the ability for phones to go on the internet) So even though I would normally agree with you that anything with the Motorola name on it would be a great choice if it would of been the original Motorola that was based out of Chicago, illinois, the Motorola company today isn't the same company it was 30+ years ago, that Motorola was bought out by some Chinese firm that makes complete garbage while using (and shaming) the once great Motorola name (basically like what happened with Zenith back in the 1970s, when they were bought out by Goldstar, now known as LG.)

Razors? The flip phone from almost 20 years ago?

The company that owns Motorola's cell phone division is Lenovo.

You don't know what you're talking about.

[Ed in Tx]

Does anyone make a smart phone with a user replaceable battery these days?

I thought Motorola did but I see do-it-yourself "kits" for sale with a battery and tools to pry the phone apart.

I may eventually need to buy a smart phone to replace my dumb 4G flip phone.

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

Does anyone make a smart phone with a user replaceable battery these days?

I thought Motorola did but I see do-it-yourself "kits" for sale with a battery and tools to pry the phone apart.

I may eventually need to buy a smart phone to replace my dumb 4G flip phone.

There are a few super low end models out there that still do, but they aren't worth owning. TCL A3 is one.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

Does anyone make a smart phone with a user replaceable battery these days?

I thought Motorola did but I see do-it-yourself "kits" for sale with a battery and tools to pry the phone apart.

I may eventually need to buy a smart phone to replace my dumb 4G flip phone.

A few years years ago one of the higher end Moto smart phones had these add on modules called moto mods and one of them was a replaceable booster battery...I was considering that model back when I first got a smartphone, but between the price and that being the last year of the feature I decided against it.
IIRC even the non-user replaceable battery phones can sometimes have the battery replaced. There's videos out there on how to take apart phones not meant to open, and replace things like batteries, screens and camera modules.

[Ed in Tx]

I looked around a year or so ago and read maybe CNET that a new European standard for battery recycling (or something) would force the phone makers to make them user replaceable. Doesn't seem to be happening.

[Jeffhs]

I can't believe smartphones are being made these days with batteries not meant to be replaced. It doesn't make sense to me. What is this world coming to? You use a smartphone for a given length of time until the battery will no longer take a charge, then you go out and buy a new phone, even if the phone itself is still working perfectly well. I have a Safelink phone, only about one or two years old, which seems to be working well for now, but I am not looking forward to junking it when the rechargeable battery refuses to take or hold a charge. My own Safelink phone is sealed shut, with no way to get to the battery without potentially ruining the phone; Safelink wants it that way, so people will buy a new phone when the battery dies.

Good night! What are the makers of these phones thinking, anyway? Many if not most people with smartphones have important, even sensitive, information stored on those phones (phone numbers, account numbers, etc.) which cannot be left on the phone when the device gives up the ghost and is given to someone else. The obvious solution would be to transfer important information from the old phone to the new one, and completely wipe everything from the former, but some people don't like that idea; I am one of them. That is, I can and will do it if need be, but I would rather not if I can avoid it. As long as my phone still works, I will keep it and use it (Safelink's policy is you don't use your phone at least once a month, the company can and will terminate your service), but I don't want to go to the trouble of transferring everything I have on my phone to a new one, again if I can avoid it.

I admit smartphones are becoming almost dirt-cheap these days, but to have to replace the phone simply because the battery goes dead makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I admit we are living in a throwaway society (witness flat-screen televisions, which are not meant to be repaired after the warranty expires), but good grief already! To have to do the same thing with smartphones when they are damaged or otherwise fail (including dead batteries), . . . sheeeeesh.


Replacing a perfectly good, working phone just because the battery will no longer take/hold a charge is, IMHO, flat-out ridiculous. It may make money hand over fist for the makers of these phones (not to mention rechargeable phone batteries), but that still doesn't make any sense for the end user.

[init4fun]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I can't believe smartphones are being made these days with batteries not meant to be replaced. It doesn't make sense to me. What is this world coming to? You use a smartphone for a given length of time until the battery will no longer take a charge, then you go out and buy a new phone, even if the phone itself is still working perfectly well. I have a Safelink phone, only about one or two years old, which seems to be working well for now, but I am not looking forward to junking it when the rechargeable battery refuses to take or hold a charge. My own Safelink phone is sealed shut, with no way to get to the battery without potentially ruining the phone; Safelink wants it that way, so people will buy a new phone when the battery dies.

Good night! What are the makers of these phones thinking, anyway? Many if not most people with smartphones have important, even sensitive, information stored on those phones (phone numbers, account numbers, etc.) which cannot be left on the phone when the device gives up the ghost and is given to someone else. The obvious solution would be to transfer important information from the old phone to the new one, and completely wipe everything from the former, but some people don't like that idea; I am one of them. That is, I can and will do it if need be, but I would rather not if I can avoid it. As long as my phone still works, I will keep it and use it (Safelink's policy is you don't use your phone at least once a month, the company can and will terminate your service), but I don't want to go to the trouble of transferring everything I have on my phone to a new one, again if I can avoid it.

I admit smartphones are becoming almost dirt-cheap these days, but to have to replace the phone simply because the battery goes dead makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I admit we are living in a throwaway society (witness flat-screen televisions, which are not meant to be repaired after the warranty expires), but good grief already! To have to do the same thing with smartphones when they are damaged or otherwise fail (including dead batteries), . . . sheeeeesh.


Replacing a perfectly good, working phone just because the battery will no longer take/hold a charge is, IMHO, flat-out ridiculous. It may make money hand over fist for the makers of these phones (not to mention rechargeable phone batteries), but that still doesn't make any sense for the end user.

Welcome to the wonderful world of modern commerce Jeff, where everything is disposable and repairs are not permitted.....

Landfills are gonna get full eventually........

[Electronic M]

The average consumer replaces their phone before it's 3 years old. Some of the more diehard apple people swap iPhones every year when the new ones come out.

Android often only updates the OS once or twice max for any device before dropping support, and the updates often hamper performance and battery life to encourage getting a new phone.
There's been systems in place to copy everything on a phone to another during an upgrade... Android phones prompt users to do so on activation.

Even non-replacable batteries can usually be replaced by a phone repair shop.

The same planned obsolescence is baked into computers, cars and other stuff, it's just a bit more aggressive with phones.