Unusual battery drain afflicting T-Mobile G2 users
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One theory proposed by Phandroid is that with the attempts by T-Mobile to deliver the Gingerbread update to the G2, the handset is constantly polling T-Mobile's servers until the update is delivered. One piece of evidence that supports this is the fact that the battery issue goes away when the phone is in Airplane Mode and is no longer trying to sync up with the carrier's servers. Another piece of evidence that seems to support this is that the problem with the battery goes away after the OTA Gingerbread update is installed.
One other possibility that seems slim is that the battery problems have to do with the new Google Maps 5.8 update that we told you about the other day. However, the battery drain situation pre-dates Wednesday's launch of Google Maps 5.8 which would make it an unlikely source of the problem.
If you own the T-Mobile G2 and have experienced the battery drain, let us know by dropping a comment in the box below!
source: T-MobileSupport via Phandroid
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31 Comments
1. joseg81 posted on 29 Jul 2011, 12:45 0 0
well mayb if t-mobile pushed out the damn update then the problem would b gone.
6. remixfa posted on 29 Jul 2011, 15:25 0 0
this is something new. my wife has a G2 that had the gingerbread update from warranty replacement. The battery was phenominal compared to 2.2 up until last week. Now its draining like a mofo. She hasnt installed anything new exept the updates from the market. It has to be an app, be it google maps or something else. Heck, my vibrant battery isnt getting the life it got a few weeks ago.
google maps, did u put some bad juju on us!?!? lol
2. Stuntman (unregistered) posted on 29 Jul 2011, 13:07 0 0
I have the HTC Desire Z (the non-T-mobile version of the G2). I noticed a few weeks ago, that my battery draining at an abnormally high rate. I couldn't figure out why that is the case. Then a few days ago, I accidentally ran my task killer. Funny thing was my battery went back to normal after tha and didn't drain fast anymore.
I'm with Bell Canada. There's no word yet on when we will receive the Gingerbread update.
3. Tmole (unregistered) posted on 29 Jul 2011, 14:12 0 0
The battery drain isn't JUST for G2 users. My wife and I have experienced the issue (bad enough for us to do a search and find others with the same problem starting at the same time ~2 days ago) and we have the old antique MyTouch 3G HTC phones. Hers is standard build, miine is Cyanogen Mod. In other words it has nothing to do with phone hardware or Android build... Word on the forums is that if you set network to 2G, battery life is normal but I haven't verified that yet; and I'm PAYING for higher network speeds. Ughhhh!
4. MorsePacific posted on 29 Jul 2011, 14:34 0 0
I haven't had any battery drain issues, personally, but the idea of the phone constantly polling the servers for Gingerbread update seems likely. I recently installed the Gingerbread ROM that has been out for a few months and haven't noticed this drain issue.
5. Seth Purdy (unregistered) posted on 29 Jul 2011, 15:08 0 0
Yup, it's not just the G2. I started having the same problem on my Nexus One on T-Mobile here in Portland, OR earlier this week. Battery life used to be great (down just a percent every hour or two while idle). After charging overnight I'd usually be at 60-70% by the end of the day with light use (about 12-14 hours). Now it dies completely in just 7-8 hours even with no use whatsoever.
I've tried uninstalling all my applications, and even wiping the phone completely, but the issue persists.
7. ed king (unregistered) posted on 29 Jul 2011, 16:51 0 0
This was, and probably still is, a problem with the HTC Thunderbolt. It's really troublesome
8. DontHateOnS60 posted on 29 Jul 2011, 19:50 0 0
Unlocked HTC Vision (Desire Z) with the same issue. I use task killer all the time but I still can't get more than 6-7 hours of life out of it, and I only have a few widgets that are updating themselves every 2 hours.
9. Jason Love (unregistered) posted on 30 Jul 2011, 12:21 0 0
I am having the same issue. Battery drains like crazy!
So what now?
10. Daedelus (unregistered) posted on 30 Jul 2011, 13:15 0 0
I have the G2 and have noticed the battery drain since Tuesday of this week, went to T-Mo and had a new battery sent through insurance thinking the battery tanked on me but it is still draining fast.
Any word on how to push the update through the phone? No computer so unable to push that way if its the only way. This is killing me as I use this phone constantly for work and carrying two batteries just barely gets me through a day of work.
12. Roy G2 (unregistered) posted on 30 Jul 2011, 18:21 0 0
i just got downloaded offically Gingerbread 2.3.3 from t mobile forum... everything went run great... battery run longer... it was like 8 to 10 hours!!!! i was so happy with that new gingerbread 2.3.3.. then about week later... i got something update Google Map v5.8... the battery drain so fast.. that what i learn from Phadroid... i wasnt sure if that Google Maps faults? i just want to let you know... my option that my phone drain was faster.. it from Fancy Widgets.. or Google Maps v5.8? i dont know.... let me uninstall Fancy Widgets to see if it still problem or not?
btw, i have 4 extra batteries and 3 chargers!!!! lol
thanks
G2 Gingerbread 2.3.3 stock, not rooted
13. seannikk2 (unregistered) posted on 30 Jul 2011, 19:45 0 0
Portland, OR - same battery issues with stock MT4G - started Tuesday - friend has stock G2 with same
14. joseg81 posted on 30 Jul 2011, 19:50 0 0
I'm thinking it's maps, I just checked n maps has received 16+mb n has consumed 14% of my battery that don't seem right.
15. david webb (unregistered) posted on 30 Jul 2011, 22:53 0 1
Had HTC Sensation and had same problem. The battery would be full when going to bed but when waking up it would be empty like battery low indicator flashing and red mark on the battery status bar. I found out my problem which was by the Equalizer application which had installed from the market to try it out. The application is awesome but the drawback is it drains battery in just 15 minutes. Before detecting what was causing the problem I had a very tough time. But, with better analyzing i could make out the source of the problem. So, after uninstalling the problem was solved. Now I am not going to install this application again unless the developers so something about this battery drainage problem caused by the application. If you are having problem with the battery drainage and don't have any solution right now. You could kill all the application manually from the quick settings if you have Sense 3.0. This might solve the problem temporarily and wait for the carrier to fix the problem in the meantime.
16. hemmerling (unregistered) posted on 31 Jul 2011, 02:06 0 0
This IS due to the update attempting to be served. With the large amounts of G2s out there and the number of slots for downloads being available.
Some speculate that the device is actually downloading the update bits at a time, and that is causing constant network activity.
Though, I will say that my G2 shows the battery usage by the android system, most of all. This used to be the Display device taking most of the battery in any period of time.
17. napattacks (unregistered) posted on 01 Aug 2011, 01:17 0 0
G2, Portland, OR, same battery drain issue. Dreadful stuff. Maps isn't the problem. Went into the T-Moblie store near me, and they had no response other than to "call back in a few days" while they try to figure something out.
18. Unhappy (unregistered) posted on 01 Aug 2011, 12:07 0 0
I have a T-Mobile G2 and am experiencing the same issue. As mentioned above, "Cell Standby" and 'phone Idle' are eating up 94% of the total battery usage. I uninstalled the Google Maps recent upgrade, and it seems to have no effect.
19. Seth Purdy (unregistered) posted on 01 Aug 2011, 12:08 0 0
I have the same issue with Nexus One here in Portland, OR.
It's also NOT the Google Maps update. I uninstalled Google Maps completely (I can do that as I'm running CyanogenMod). Battery drain remained severe. Only workaround right now is to limit the phone to 2G/EDGE for the cellular connection. That brings battery drain right back to normal.
Everything was fine for me until last Tuesday when this started. I'd been running the same ROM and using the same applications for weeks without issue. I've also tried wiping the phone completely, but the problem persists.
T-Mobile's got an issue. In some geographic areas the 3G service seems to be misconfigured such that it's preventing phones from idling correctly.
20. Jess2868 (unregistered) posted on 01 Aug 2011, 14:39 0 0
the battery life to my g2 has been draining out since thursday evening, I updated the phone thursday afternoon with the new software. I'm so glad I am not the only one having difficulties with the battery because I was about to purchase a new battary thinking something was wrong with it. Does anyone know how long it will take Tmobile to fix this issue because its really annoying having to charge the fun every five hours!
