[mizhog]

i really want to get this phone but the reviews of the battery say its not too good. anyone know?

[pi r squared]

Depends what your definition of "not too good" is, alongside what device you're currently using and what sort of battery life you expect to see.

The battery life on the N5 is fine for me in the sense that it always lasts the entire day, but I'm not an exceptionally heavy user (probably medium). If you let us know what phone you're coming from, we can probably give you a rough idea of what to expect compared to what you currently have.

[ash45]

as pi r squared said it dose depend on usage ill give you an example for my usage on the way to and from work (which is about 3 hours travelling), I stream music over 3G (i never turn wifi on with having unlimited 3g) from google play music while playing on a game usually PVZ2 or Simpsons tapped out, constantly using services such whatsapp FB chat and things like that, have GPS on bluetooth off and screen set to auto,

i can take the phone off at 8 in the morning and its still got over 20% bat when i goto bed about 1-2 AM this is for me a big improvement over my old sony xperia SP which was a less powerful device and had a slightly larger battery so in theory should of lasted a lot longer

Hope this helps you in some way

Ash

[Esot-eric]

The other posters have given an idea of medium and heavyish usage, so i'll go for light.

When just sat there ready to receive calls (and on Wifi, because i leave it on) my N5 uses under 0.5% battery per hour and can easily go for a week between charges.

When out and about i usually just listen to podcasts and look at maps. I can be gone the entire day, listening to podcasts/music the entire time and i'll still have more than 80% battery at the end of the day.

[mizhog]

i have a galaxy note 1 , the battery drains like mad now. thanks for the comments im definitely getting nexus 5 wish i didn't have to wait till april when my contract finishes...

[flagpole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mizhog

i have a galaxy note 1 , the battery drains like mad now. thanks for the comments im definitely getting nexus 5 wish i didn't have to wait till april when my contract finishes...

well you don't have to wait do you.

just buy the phone.

[jonmorris]

I was always concerned about the battery on the Nexus 5, but I still bought one. And, I have to say that my concerns were correct. A Snapdragon 800 device with a battery little over 2,000mAh (compared to 3,000+ on just about everything else with such a CPU) is always going to be up against it.

The positives: The OS and SoC does a pretty good job of conserving power in many cases, especially in standby. If you don't use the device heavily, it can easily last a day. Use it even more infrequently, and it will go a few days.

The negatives: Such a powerful device encourages you to use it - and graphic intensive games or even just having the screen on a lot will invariably see it drop quickly.. and the smaller battery can only mean one thing - you'll need to charge it more regularly.

The auto brightness also seems to prefer to keep things brighter than I'd expect, so a third party app (e.g. YAAB) can reduce this and buy you some more time.

But, ultimately, I've been used to carrying around a portable battery charger for some time and so it's not the end of the world. When you stop using it, just plug it in and put in your pocket, or even charge while you're using it. With Qi wireless charging, another good move is to buy a charging plate (or even two, given you can get some for peanuts now - especially some of the Nokia ones) so when you're at home or work, you can just get used to small top-ups whenever you put it down, without having to worry about plugging anything in.

You can even get a Nokia wireless charging car holder (amongst others) so all in all, it's NOT a deal breaker in my mind.

But, it will never last as long as a Note 3 or Xperia Z1 - or indeed the LG G2. You can't change the rules of physics at the end of the day.

[flagpole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

I was always concerned about the battery on the Nexus 5, but I still bought one. And, I have to say that my concerns were correct. A Snapdragon 800 device with a battery little over 2,000mAh (compared to 3,000+ on just about everything else with such a CPU) is always going to be up against it.

The positives: The OS and SoC does a pretty good job of conserving power in many cases, especially in standby. If you don't use the device heavily, it can easily last a day. Use it even more infrequently, and it will go a few days.

The negatives: Such a powerful device encourages you to use it - and graphic intensive games or even just having the screen on a lot will invariably see it drop quickly.. and the smaller battery can only mean one thing - you'll need to charge it more regularly.

The auto brightness also seems to prefer to keep things brighter than I'd expect, so a third party app (e.g. YAAB) can reduce this and buy you some more time.

But, ultimately, I've been used to carrying around a portable battery charger for some time and so it's not the end of the world. When you stop using it, just plug it in and put in your pocket, or even charge while you're using it. With Qi wireless charging, another good move is to buy a charging plate (or even two, given you can get some for peanuts now - especially some of the Nokia ones) so when you're at home or work, you can just get used to small top-ups whenever you put it down, without having to worry about plugging anything in.

You can even get a Nokia wireless charging car holder (amongst others) so all in all, it's NOT a deal breaker in my mind.

But, it will never last as long as a Note 3 or Xperia Z1 - or indeed the LG G2. You can't change the rules of physics at the end of the day.

I would disagree with the assertion that a snapdragon 800 necessarily requires a bigger battery than say a 600.

1) we don't actually know the TDP of the 800, but there is nothing to suggest it is any higher than for the 600. 2) more importantly it is much lower per flop or whatever other metric you want to use.

so for every finite computational operation, resizing a picture, taking a photo, rendering a web page, playing a video. everything apart from gaming basically it will definitely use less power. and for others it may use less power.

[mizhog]

would the battery be better on the nexus than an iphone 5c or 4s. i originally wanted the note 3 but after having so much grief with my current note 1 i despise touchwiz and the bloatware.

[Stiggles]

It's not bad at all.

Some people are too focused on numbers when it comes to things. The battery in the N5 does the job just fine.

Light use i can get 2 days easily out mine. Medium and heavy use i still get the whole day with some left spare.

[jonmorris]

But it is still fair to say it's a bit disappointing that it wasn't a bigger battery.

I've explained it isn't a deal breaker but you will either need to moderate your usage a bit, or buy a portable charger (personally I don't like being out all day and not being 100% sure it will last me through).

Now the Moto G is another story. That has just a 2070mAh battery but I've not had it run out once and it averages (according to a third party app) 1 day 10 hours, and that includes 2-3 hours screen on time!

[flagpole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

But it is still fair to say it's a bit disappointing that it wasn't a bigger battery.

I've explained it isn't a deal breaker but you will either need to moderate your usage a bit, or buy a portable charger (personally I don't like being out all day and not being 100% sure it will last me through).

Now the Moto G is another story. That has just a 2070mAh battery but I've not had it run out once and it averages (according to a third party app) 1 day 10 hours, and that includes 2-3 hours screen on time!

it's only fair to say that if you are entirely focused on the size of the battery.

it has never not lasted me a day.

it's like judging a car on the size of it's fuel tank in litres. what actually makes a difference is the range in miles.

why is the moto g fine at 2070mAh but the N5 disappointing at 2300?

[jonmorris]

I don't know, but the battery difference is like night and day. I presume it's down to the difference between Snapdragon 400 and 800, as well as the smaller and lower resolution screen.

The miles on a tank analogy doesn't work as the phone has the same engine as other models with a 'bigger fuel tank'. It simply can't last as long as the G2 or Z1 because of it.

I am just pointing out the reality. I bought a Nexus 5 and am happy with it, but thought it important to point out that the battery IS a weak point.

[ash45]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flagpole

it's only fair to say that if you are entirely focused on the size of the battery.

it has never not lasted me a day.

it's like judging a car on the size of it's fuel tank in litres. what actually makes a difference is the range in miles.

why is the moto g fine at 2070mAh but the N5 disappointing at 2300?

I think in the moto g vs n5 he seams to be forgetting the moto g only has a 720p screen and a 1.2ghz processor vs the n5 at 1080p and 2.3ghz both of which are a lot more demanding on battery life so obviously even with a smaller battery the moto g will last a lot longer. So tbf its a fair bad comparison to me and I agree with what you say about not always just comparing the size of something without other factors

Ash

[flagpole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ash45

I think in the moto g vs n5 he seams to be forgetting the moto g only has a 720p screen and a 1.2ghz processor vs the n5 at 1080p and 2.3ghz both of which are a lot more demanding on battery life so obviously even with a smaller battery the moto g will last a lot longer. So tbf its a fair bad comparison to me and I agree with what you say about not always just comparing the size of something without other factors

Ash

the snapdragon 400 in the moto g was bleeding edge when it was new. it is not true that successive generations of qualcomm SoCs automatically need more power. any more than a cutting edge computer necessarily uses more power than one from 5 years ago that is a tenth the speed.

importantly the 800 is much more efficient in power per unit processed. all the things that the phone does that are not gaming where the chip is necessarily maxed out take less energy on the 800.

a 1080p screen doesn't inherently use more power than a 720p one. a bigger screen usually does. and the screen on the N5 is 25% bigger than the moto g.

the issue is complex there is nothing to assume that the moto g will always last longer than the n5 for the same battery power. so i find it weird that 2070mAh in the moto g is great and 2300mAh in the N5 is shit.

[jonmorris]

I never said it was shit. I said it was a bit disappointing, and then pointed out that it was manageable. This is a thread about the battery, nothing else.

I would recommend the phone to anyone, but also want to make sure they were fully aware of the limitations of having a smaller battery than other S800 devices. I also know it came down to cost.

I mentioned the Moto G simply because it still offers an excellent level of performance but lasts significantly longer even with similar usage.

One thing manufacturers appear to have realised is that people now live on their smartphones and people don't want to moderate their usage, so we're getting bigger batteries at last. That's a good thing in my opinion.

In fact, I suspect people would favour a bigger battery for a few mm more thickness in most cases.

[flagpole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

I never said it was shit. I said it was a bit disappointing, and then pointed out that it was manageable. This is a thread about the battery, nothing else.

I would recommend the phone to anyone, but also want to make sure they were fully aware of the limitations of having a smaller battery than other S800 devices. I also know it came down to cost.

I mentioned the Moto G simply because it still offers an excellent level of performance but lasts significantly longer even with similar usage.

One thing manufacturers appear to have realised is that people now live on their smartphones and people don't want to moderate their usage. In fact, I suspect people would favour a bigger battery for a few mm more thickness in most cases.

i think in most cases people would favour a bigger battery for a couple of mm and a few grams.

but for me at least, it would be like 4000mAh before it made a difference.

i'm old enough to remember when you could go away for a few days and not take a charger.

[jonmorris]

My first phone, a Nokia Cityman 100 had about 8 hours standby. Then, by 1994 it was circa 18 hours on a Nokia 2140.. Then we got the likes of the 6110 and 6210 with extended batteries and fortnight standby times..

Then I remember my first BlackBerry which was almost 2-3 weeks! I still used plenty of phones with terrible life though, like the Motorola StarTAC, v. 3688 and the tiny 8nnn Nokias. Sometimes form comes before function!

Things have got steadily worse since then and the only real way to keep battery life at a decent level where you can feel comfortable about not having a charger is when you up the battery size. Otherwise you have to take care, and I prefer to just use my phone whenever I want.

But I do carry a 7000mAh charger with me, so that gives a further confidence boost. And on my Z and Z1 there are the power cases that add another 2800-3000mAh. Ugly as hell, but if you need the power they're a godsend. Not sure if anyone has done one for the N5 yet?

[qasdfdsaq]

They just don't build them like they used to do they... My 3 year old HTC Desire has been running on battery for five whole days and still have 52% charge left.

Nokias from the 90's onwards have always been impressive. One of the reasons their E-series "smartphones" were held in high regard was the fact they managed weeks of standby off a tiny battery, not much larger than a £2 coin.

Now every new smartphone I get has a bigger battery *and* shorter battery life, to the extent I now refuse to buy one that doesn't have a replaceable battery. That's the biggest thing going against the endurance of the N5 really, portable chargers have to be kept plugged in for hours a time if you want to use it, spare batteries double your battery life with a one minute swap.

[Stiggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

But it is still fair to say it's a bit disappointing that it wasn't a bigger battery.

I've explained it isn't a deal breaker but you will either need to moderate your usage a bit, or buy a portable charger (personally I don't like being out all day and not being 100% sure it will last me through).

Now the Moto G is another story. That has just a 2070mAh battery but I've not had it run out once and it averages (according to a third party app) 1 day 10 hours, and that includes 2-3 hours screen on time!

It's not disappointing at all!

It lasts just as long as any other phone. I have also never had to moderate my use with my Nexus 5. In fact, i never have had to on any phone i have had.

[BT@home]

Depends on what you use on the phone mainly. I have a Note too, and get 2 days of standby with minimal use, but easily a full day and well into the next day.

I updated the software recently (full wipe and reflash) and the battery didn't last half a day ... google+ and GPS being on by default were the culprits, switched both off and battery is very respectable now.

[jonmorris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stiggles

It lasts just as long as any other phone.

Are you seriously suggesting that a phone with another 700mAh doesn't last any longer? I'm talking about another S800 device to make a comparison fair obviously.

[alan1302]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stiggles

It's not disappointing at all!

Surely that depends on what your expectations are?

And if you have never run a battery down during the day you are obviously not a heavy user of battery draining services on a phone.

[Stiggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

Are you seriously suggesting that a phone with another 700mAh doesn't last any longer? I'm talking about another S800 device to make a comparison fair obviously.

Depending on how the device/OS manages power then yes, i am suggesting that.

Look, the point is, the N5 does not have bad battery life whatsoever. Yes, there was a bug in the release of KitKat that killed the battery. That has now been sorted in 4.4.2 and doesn't happen now.

Like i said, i can get 2 days light use and all day moderate or even heavy use. I have never needed a power bank or anything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alan1302

Surely that depends on what your expectations are?

And if you have never run a battery down during the day you are obviously not a heavy user of battery draining services on a phone.

And how would you know?

I use my phone sometimes all day phoning, texting, whatsapping etc from early morning, then starting work at 11pm running say tunein radio and some Sky Go right through an 8 hour nightshift and still having about 15% left when i get home after 7am.

That to me does not spell a bad battery. In fact, i would say it was damn good.

[Gormond]

It's ok, nothing amazing but it does last a full day with about 4 hours screen time.