Battery Issues with Z3 Compact

[AKDizzle]

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?

[JohnD1]

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

[AKDizzle]

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

.

[AKDizzle]

just adding a better resolution screengrab

[JohnD1]

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

[JohnD1]

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

[AKDizzle]

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)

AK

[JohnD1]

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 

[JohnD1]

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

[AKDizzle]

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?

AK