topic Battery Issues with Z3 Compact in XPERIA archive

Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 12:40:24 GMT

Hi Guys,

I just got my Z3 Compact recently and i'm loving it!

However, now I could be paranoid here but I'm convinced there's something wrong with my battery. Everyone who has reviewed the phone always raves about how good it is. Unplugged the phone at 7AM this morning, state of play at 1.30PM and the battery is already at 63%! Is this normal? if so then i'll shut up!

I've watched a 20 min video on it this AM and also spent about 10 mins on YT! Outside of that its been the odd message on hangouts etc

I've kept the brightness around 60% and i've turned off the Lifelog app! whenever I go into the battery menu the screen is always the section which gets the highest use!

Would be great if someone could offer some insight! Of course more than happy to provide screengrabs if required?

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

JohnD1 — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 16:35:37 GMT

Hi.!

No - it's certainly not normal... A couple of questions..?

First - what else is is showing the in the battery profile (apps) in the Power Settings.? My guess is something else is happening..

If it is "Mediaserver" - then, I'll also ask you if you have a lot of music/videos/images either on the phone itself or a MicroSD card.? If that's the case - "mediaserver" may be getting "stuck" indexing a bad file (or a file it can't read", and drain down the power (and the phone will feel "warm").. If you have a lot of music (I won't tell you how much I have (it is why I have a 128GB MicroSD) you can also block those folders from being archived by "Mediaserver" - BUT, they will NOT show in your Walkman & Album apps (so you'll have to use another third-party app - like PowerAmp (excellent as well). To block the indexing of folders/files - simply add a blank document named ".nomedia" (yes, it needs a period in front of the name) in the folder...

Anyway - just a couple of things that come to mind...

- John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 18:19:58 GMT

Thanks so much for getting back to me John! And thanks for confirming I'm not being paranoid! its just been really bothering me!

Please find a screenshot attached of my battery consumption. I called Xperia Customer Support today and they suggested that I use Stamina mode. Given how good this battery is I shouldnt really have to use that. I'm worried i'm that 1 in a million person who received a phone with a faulty battery.

Anyways I've attached my current screengrab with power consumption! Unfortunately Mediaservices isnt listed. Now i've barely touched it and the battery has dropped 30% over 6 hours. how does that sound for a Z3C in terms of normality? Again feels too high

Any further help woud be appreciated

thanks again

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 18:42:36 GMT

just adding a better resolution screengrab

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

JohnD1 — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 18:52:18 GMT

My pleasure! As well - unfortunately, your image isn't showing (EDIT - it is now - THANK YOU!!) - so..

Let's try this....

About 15 minutes ago - I took off all power savings settings (was sure that none of the "Stamina" modes were checked) to try to replicate your usage.. I say that - and I've been on both iOS and Android for years (and write a little code from time to time)... but - it could be a number of things... Anything to an app that is consuming resources, to a mis-behaving widget, to... Well - almost anything. And usually - it's something that you'd never guess.. Anyway...

So - let's try this...

Go to the Play Store - and download "CPU Spy" and install it...

Next - open it up so you can see how it works (it monitors the CPU) and it is pretty straight forward...

Next - Power Off your phone (not Restart)

Next - Power it on....

And now let it sit (I know - it's tough not to play with it, as it is kind of cool )

After about 20 minutes - open CPU Spy - and can you tell me if your processor has gone into "Deep Sleep" mode (bottom of the page that opens when you start the application)

Let us know what happens, OK?

- John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

JohnD1 — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 18:58:31 GMT

Hmmm... OK - give the suggestions above a try - BUT - I certainly do not see anything jumping out in your image screaming "Battery Consumption"..?..

By comparision - I have been in Stamina Mode until an hour ago (when I read your post)....

I started last evening with 84% power - and I'm now down to 69% after 17 hours and 44 minutes..? And, my power/battery profile looks very similiar to yours...?

Let us know what you see with CPU Spy, OK?

- John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 21:17:47 GMT

Hi John,

First of all I cant express how grateful I am for your help! Thanks so much! Also just to be clear I have actually turned on some stamina features! i.e. Location based Wifi and Queue Background Data. As requested please find the screengrab from CPU spy

here... anything interesting pop out at you?

Thanks again!!! (y)

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

JohnD1 — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 21:39:39 GMT

Hi AK,

It is absolutely my pleasure.! And just like you - I expect a lot from the Z3C, and so far - I'm not in the least disaapointed. And once we figure out this "wrinkle" in your power settings - I think you'll feel the same way..

Anyway - I think it takes this site a bit of time to show the embedded images in posts, as it still isn't showing for me - so I'll take a look in a bit, OK?

As well - I do want to ask - do you have any widgets that are aggregation apps (like Google Now, Twitter, Facebook, etc..?) Remeber, whether you are on 4G/3G/2G and/or wifi - they will constantly poll and therefore "wake" the network connection. When they do - it takes power to do so, and depending on the polling rate - could be quite a bit...

About the Stamina Modes from my end? Frankly - Sony did that "right". If you enable the top slider "Stamina Mode" - all you will lose is nothing Seriously - when the phone is in my pocket - I don't care to get push e-mail (I'm not going to read it if I'm not on the phone), or the latest news or anything... As well - to be right up front - the ONLY aspect you will lose is the ability to find your phone if you lose it (as the GPS/wifi/dataconnection is "off") using Google's or Sony's apps. BUT - it will spool the important stuff like "LOCK" or "ERASE" if it is stolen, so when the theif turns it on - it's "dead"..

AK - keep us posted, OK???

My best to you,

- John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

JohnD1 — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 21:43:43 GMT

Your image just came up...

YES - that's EXACTLY what I wanted to see..!!

OK - it IS going into "Deep Sleep" - awesome!!!! That's what you want...

As I said above - consider "Stamina Mode" (NOT "Ultra Stamina mode" - I'm still playing with that, but suspect it puts the phone in a semi-safe mode with communication). But, the setting you invoked so far - I'm interested to see the effect, as you got the "good ones" going

Anyway - recharge your phone to 100% - and take a look at the widgets I mentioned above - and then let us know, OK??

My best!

- John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 08:44:01 GMT

Happy Friday John,

Cant thank you enough for your time on this so I will keep on thanking you!

I must say I thought you cracked it last night! I had the Google Now widget set up as one of the panes on my phone! Was hoping removing this would fix the source of the problem!

Unfortunately however this hasnt made a difference! unplugged at 8.22AM this morning! Battery 1 hour and 20 mins later is on 77%!

I am convinced now there's something wrong with the battery! it should not drain this quickly! :(! I know stamina mode will make it last longer but when I see other people online raving on about how awesome their battery is it does make me pretty envious!

I'm going to ask Sony to replace it I think John, would you agree?

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

JohnD1 — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 14:10:44 GMT

Hi AK.!

It is absolutely my pleasure, and as well - I'm terribly sorry none of the "easy fixes" have worked to date..! So, while I do think it's not normal what you are experiencing, I think when you call Sony locally for support - they will suggest the following before authorizing a return (see below). As well, when I saw your note this AM, I took all stamina modes off my Z3C - robooted - and left the phone "untouched" for an hour and a half. My total loss was 2% drain (87% down to 86%), which of course is slightly more since the OS/widget had to reload (high usage demand) - and right now, I'm lossing about 1% every couple of hours without using the phone..

Anyway - as it is the weekend and you have time to "play" - let's try what Sony will most likely suggest (I would also refer them to your thread here, so they know everything we've tried so far)..

Open PC Companion - and do a full backup of your phone - and pay particuliar attention to any apps you have installed that you use..

Next - remove any MicroSD card (as I would like to eliminate that as a potential problem) - and do a full repair. This will reset your phone to "factory new" condition...

Next - when you "start" your refreshed phone - do NOT reinstall the apps from google Play (turn off the restore feature from Google for just now)..

Finally - keeping any MicroSD card still out of the phone - watch the battery life... If it's "stable" and as expected - then begin to add the apps back... You can use a "Battery Program" to monitor app usage - BUT - I will tell you, that some will induce issues rather then fix a problem.. Ask me how I know..

AK - yes - I would start the dialog with your local support and be certain you are assigned a "case number", so as you take this final step - they will have a reference number to refer to..

My best always,

- John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:20:08 GMT

Thanks John,

I have a bit of an update in that the Sony Connect was needlessly going through my battery throughout the day! (this wasnt present before, just a random new thing) After I closed it my battery was better! I'm going to see how it works tomorrow now with all the widgets gone!

Then will go through your process of reofrmatting! Thanks for the advice there!

Last huge favour John! Would you mind running the Antutu benchmark on your phone? After running it please click on performance... The benchmark is telling me that my battery performance is below standard... I just want to see what you get there with your phone

Thanks John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

JohnD1 — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:39:49 GMT

Hi AK.!

Glad you found that (Sony Connect) - and keep us posted how it acts otherwise, OK??? I used my phone extensively today - calling folks (well, it is a phone? ), a couple of texts - and mostly listening to music (I have to tell you - if you load a library of FLAC music, and listen with a high-quality set of ear-buds - you will think you have died and gone to heaven. For HQ music, this handset is unriveled (rant/off ).. Anyway - my battery only dropped 12% through the day with all that going on..?

So - the AnTuTu test results on my handset...

Overall - a whopping 42548 - rated "Amazing"

Battery - "Average Battery Performance - surpass 50% of other devices"

And that was tested with Stamina ON and OFF (I tested twice to be sure for you).

I wonder though - if AnTuTu is pulling those stats from your/our battery log? If so - I would expect that your's would be showing as it does, as that is what this thread is all about? In other words - if we can figure out what is causing that drain on your handset, I would expect that to improve in your AnTuTu test results if they parse the log??

AK, keep us informed what you find as you play with it this weekend, OK?

My Best to you,

- John

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 20:38:04 GMT

Hi John,

not sure if you're still checking this board but I just wanted to let you know that I returned the phone back to the guys at Clove and they confirmed that there was something wrong with the battery! They've sent out a new phone to which I'll receive one tomorrow

Thanks again for all your help!

Keep it real

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

robvalentine — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 16:03:43 GMT

sorry to jump into your topic, but I think I maybe having a similar issue, my battery will just about last a day, and the predicted battery life in the settings menu is about 17hours......

I also find that when fully charged the battery goes off 100% very quickly (at least compared to my iphone). I am getting similar battery life to my old iphone 5, when I expect it to be a bit better... I have done a software repair through xperiz bridge for mac, and a couple of factory resets but it doesn't matter if I have installed apps or not the battery lasts about the same amount of time.... I get about 17 hours from 100-0%...

was there anything clove did to see if the battery was duff? I forgot to save the screenshots of battery usage onto my phone so I will run it down and post it here after I have had a chance to run it down.

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

AKDizzle — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 19:54:49 GMT

Sorry just seen this, Clove replaced my phone with a brand new one and I've still got the same problems. I'm starting to think Sony sent them a bad batch of phones

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

robvalentine — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 21:51:51 GMT

I emailed clove, and they said they would have to send it back, My battery is getting better, try looking at the xda forums for the z3 compact, there is a large thread about battery usage which may help...

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

Z3compact — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 20:34:54 GMT

I believe your issue with the battery is related to the network mode setting. I also have a Z3 compact which drains the battery very fast when I am at work (50% in a few hours just idling). I changed the 4G/WCDMA/GSM network mode to just WCDMA/GSM and the battery drain issue went away. The battery only drains 3-4% a day when I am at work. I think I just happen to be in a weak/unstable signal spot and so does your case. Try to change the network mode.

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

elites37 — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 17:56:12 GMT

Hi everyone, greetings from Colombia. I have a similar problem with my battery, because its drain very fast. Just eight hours, with stamina mode on, and my phone turn off, even in deep sleep. I'm very, very disappointed with this situations, cause i have to charge three times in one day my phone. I try everything what you said, but the issues continues. Please, help me 😞

Re: Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

monoqoque — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 22:07:41 GMT

same problem here.

i send it back for inspection and repair/replasement

its only 1.5 month old... 😞