So how is Palm Pre Plus battery life holding up? The official specs state that Palm Pre Plus can let you talk straight for 5 hours and standby for 12.5 days (300 hours). Not too bad for a smartphone that let you run multiple applications at the same time. But in reality you talk and then surf the web or run some games - you don’t get 5 hours of battery life. We haven’t try to use the Mobile HOTSPOT - I believe that’s going to drain out Pre Plus’ battery life even faster. Like any other smartphone, the battery life on paper is less than accurate compared to actual use. Palm Pre is a multitasking beast. Recharge the battery regularly or carry a second battery. That would be my solution.
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Coming from a 1Gen iPhone, so far I think the battery life has been - not great.
Right now I have a Treo 700w and get the best battery life I’ve ever had on a phone. I thought I’d post my numbers for comparison. I’m interested in finding a new phone that has some more modern features, but I need to know how the new phones stack up for battery life first.
If I charge my Treo 700w to full, these are things I can do on a SINGLE battery charge before it runs out:
3 to 4 days: Carry the phone in my pocket, checking the screen for calendar events and sending a few texts, waiting for calls.
2.5 days: Carry the phone with my average usage, that being 3 or 4 short calls, avg. 10 texts, and some calendar notifications and calendar event management.
3 to 5 hours (depending on signal) talk time on the phone
At least a week and a half: Carry the phone in a zero-signal environment with the phone radio turned off, using it as a PDA to enter contacts / receive calendar notifications. (This is approximate. I carried it this way for four days on a trip, about 30% of which the phone radio was on and searching for signal that wasn’t there. 60% of the time the radio was off. Battery life at the end of the four days was 85%.)
This is all on the same 1800mAH battery I got with the phone in mid-2007. GPS stays off and Bluetooth stays off. I turn BT on to sync the phone and then off again.
So going by that benchmark where are we now with the Pre and other modern PDA phones?
As someone who just bought a palm pre two days ago, with moderate use I can only get a half day out of a full charge….which I am not impressed with. I am thinking seriously of returning it and going back to my old Voyager….at least then I could go all day without having to plug the phone in, even with heavy use.
I have a new palm pre plus and the battery doesn’t last a full day. My Blackberry Tour would last 2-3 days. This phone doesn’t import contacts as well, I can’t use Microsoft Outlook. Not a good choice of phones. The battery life is the worst, especially with Hotspot on. The phone heats up and the battery is horrible.
I’m a teenager and we alllll know how much us teenagers use our phones, the battery lifr on this littlle guy is HORRIBLE. I can’t even get an hour in without it dying to the point where i get the “phone will die very soon” message. But I must sa this is the best phone I have come across, so therefore I love the little bugger.
-Typed from my Palm Pre
I turn data usage off, email to manual, bluetooth off, and wifi off, I can get an easy 48 hrs on a charge with moderate use. I use wifi when I can, to go on internet and check email, I turn data usage on when I have to. I have a strong signal at work and at home.
(at&t)
The Palm Pre has the worst battery life EVER. i don’t have the GPS turned on, I barely talk on the phone, i send a few emails and a couple hours with it sitting idle on my desk it shuts off from low battery. And yes, I followed all the instructions for when I first got the phone/battery. I even went back to Verizon and they gave me a new battery and a few days later, same thing. If you want a phone that looks cool and does a lot of cool things at once, this is for you - unless you actually want to USE the phone for more than a couple hours at a time.
battery life is terrible admittedly. Multitasking and using the gesture area make my iPod touch seem archaic.
When using the hotspot, even plugged in, the battery drains to zero in less than 3 hours. Be careful when carrying a spare battery because they don’t hold a charge for over a day or two. I have my spare battery plugged in all the time, but it makes a strange humming sound and is annoying.
I thought this would be a great all in one device for travel and since I loved my Treo, it was a logical next step, but I don’t feel comfortable using any of the apps (watching videos, reading a book, surfing the net) for fear of draining the battery to nothing.
Palm pre plus battery life is decent. You have to however keep the phone charged alot. I’ve had many phones and do alot of data intensive stuff on my palm. Check stocks. Text like possessed. Myspace youtube etc etc. I can pull a day out of it. I have experienced though that by charging the phone contuniously you can actually improve long term battery life. I’m 3 months in on my second palm pre (plus) this time around. I have also found keeping the backlight dim is very important. Also changing skins on the phones OS can improve battery life. The palm is an addictive little phone though it’s like a good book easy to get lost in and just like you have to maintain those bucks corners this small multimedia heaven needs adequate power.
Brandee or anyone, What do you mean you can’t use Microsoft Outlook?
Got a Pre Plus about 2 weeks ago. Battery life is my only significant complaint, but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying the phone. The wireless hotspot is a monster and eats the battery badly, even when charging on the Touchstone. You will run out after 4 or so hours, though, and without warning.
With moderate usage, low backlight and location services generally being off, I will get a day out of the phone before needing to juice up. It helps to turn off the screen manually by clicking the power button when putting it aside, instead of letting the screen fade out in 30 seconds (or more). That’s just extra juice you’re using.