VERY POOR battery life on Xperia Sola after 6.0.B.3.184 update

[austinlobo]

After updating my xperia sola to 6.0.B.3.184, I have noticed that the battery life is VERY POOR. Prior to updating, the phone was working perfectly fine with the previous build version and I can say the battery life was even better then my iPhone.

Now even if I leave the phone on standby mode (over night), it drains almost 10 % even after entering in the power saver mode.

If I use the wifi or even use the music app when the phone is running, the battery drains at a rate of 1 % every minute or so.

When I check (under settings) about what has been using my battery, it says 'Display' is using most of the battery. So, I tried dropping my screen brightness and turning the bravia engine off but the damn thing still gets the battery drained. I mean what's the point of dimming off the display and turning off bravia engine - I can barely 'enjoy' the pleasure of having a touch screen smart phone coz I'm always worried about my battery life.

I've even tried re-updating, doing a full reset, holding the power button and pressing volume up for 5 seconds to force a battery disconnect - BUT IT'S NOT HELPING. And in the process of re-updating and resetting my phone I lost all my folder arrangement and app icon arrangement. This really got me annoyed as I had painstakingly arranged the icon-layout on my phone.

I'm really disappointed and upset with Sony about this issue. I am a big fan of their phones, but this issue with the xperia sola is really pissing me off. Grrrrr.... !!!!

I'm spending hours trying to figure out what the hell's wrong with it but it seems there are no concrete solutions out yet. I've read on the forums that many people face are also facing this problem.

Sony, please provide a solution to this issue, and also ensure you resolve this in the ice cream sandwich update.

[#2]

I really dont know whats happening with all the people complaining about battery life after .184 update. I bought my sola with. 184 update, and battery life seems normal for 1320mah one. It only drains 2-3% max over night, watching 1 hour video like 6-7%, music consumes very low battery. Maybe you should bring it to the shop you bought it

[austinlobo]

I was getting the 2-3% battery drain over night prior to the 6.0.B.3.184 update. Now it's terrible - last night it drained down (in spite of turning all radio's, auto-backup's off) to like 18%. I'm really getting frustrated with this problem.

Am just waiting for the ICS update to see if things get fixed. If not, I'm done with Sony. Will return the phone to the shop I bought it from and buy the Galaxy S2 instead.

Terrible experience with my first xperia handset.

AND SONY HAS DELAYED THE ICS UPDATE FOR IT'S 2012 HANDSETS FOR SO LONG.......!

C'mon.....with Jellybean out, even ICS seems to be getting outdated. And we still haven't got the update until now

[EowynCarter1]

One thing you might do is a repair, to have a clean OS, and get rid of any usless app. But i'm reluctant to do that when ics might be just around the corner.

I have the same problem, though in my case 184 improved the situation. But i still lose about 10% battery in one night, if not more...

Edit : I wipped the phone, then un-installed all the crapware installed by sony. I refrained from installing anything. Just in case.We'll see.

[gharika]

I believe that a phone is supposed to provide atleast 12 hours backup when its used in the worst way possible. I am happy to recharge daily overnight if I can get the phone to keep on working with about 25 minutes talktime, 1 hour browsing, 2 hour movie and about 4 hours of music playback with the usual software update and Social applications updates happening every hour or so. Sola falls short on that. I have to lug around the data cable (I always have a powered on computer nearby) to make sure I can use the phone the  way I want.

Why the phone industry is hell bent on thin phones if the size can't accomodate a sufficient capacity power source? I will be happy with extra 2-4 mm if the battery lasts longer. What is the dual core or the great display good for if you can't use it because it will drain the battery.

I mean you can't sell a sleak car and expect the driver to stop or every second gas station for a fillup just because the manufacturer wanted to keep the weight down?

[austinlobo]

I did a full repair three times - also did a full reset and reinstalled the 6.0.B.3.184 update. But it didn't work. I even uninstalled all the crappy apps Sony fills the phone with.

I've read that after updating their phones some users begin to encounter wifi, network and other problems like hang-up's, restarts etc.

I've even read that many users actually experienced better performance and battery life after the update. Whereas many other users (like me) begin to face various issues after the update.

What I deduce is that the 6.0.B.3.184 update is UNSTABLE. I don't think Sony did proper quality testing prior to releasing it. That's the problem a company would face when they have so many handsets out there. Carrying out proper testing and ensuring the stability of a software update on one handset would be a tedious task - let alone doing it for the varied handsets they currently have.

No wonder ICS is delayed for so long. Sony better release a full proof stable version of ICS for their 2012 handsets - or else they're gonna start loosing a lot of customers and fans. People wanna have the latest OS's, and it's very surprising to me that the promised 3rd quarter ICS update (for some of the 2012 handsets) still hasn't seen the light of day.

Can you please update me on your phone status after you did a clean update. Thanks !!

[sheetal]

Agreed!!!

Battery life is really sad on Sola. I am not sure if it was better before this update as i am using the latest update from day 1. This is very annoying. Will this issue be fixed or not??

[austinlobo]

Very true - I too carry my charger around coz of fear of battery exhaustion. I can confidently claim that my aged iPhone 3gs lasts much longer that this shitty 2012 xperia handset. I mean c'mon......i got this phone with the intention that i would use it on 3G coz i assumed the iPhone 3GS battery was dying out fast when using my data plan. Now due to the battery drain issue I switch off data traffic and only use it like for 2 minutes or so within every 3-4 hours.

Like you said, what good is a damn smart phone if it cannot be used for even a day on a single charge (assuming the user doesn't watch 5 hour length videos or uses wifi/3G-2G for hours in a day on their smart phone and expects the battery to last the entire day).

Now thanks to this silly battery problem with my Sola, I have to charge my phone at least three times a day to ensure i can use and enjoy it. I barely use wifi/3G and nor do i use it to watch videos. I mainly use it to listen to music and for reading. That too when the display is in use I have to turn off the backlight coz of the complicated battery life after the update. It sucks to be using a smart phone in this fashion - I mean what the hell did I gain out of buying this piece of shit? Nothing.

I am so very happy that I have a back up phone (my iPhone 3GS) just in case this junk runs out of battery. It's way much bulkier and heavier than my Sola, but I just love and respect it coz it's battery life (for a 2009 released phone) is still pretty darn good.

Dual core processors and HD displays - my ass. What do they matter if we cannot enjoy them properly without compromising on the battery life.

[Johan]

I agree with Asakura, you should have your phone examined at an repair center. Contact your local support team, they will be able to help you with this.

http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/support/contact-us/contact-info/

[Solaria]

i just bought this phone 3 days ago and very surprised how the battery runs dry, i've tried everything ! upgrade system, turn off background sync, set display brightness to lowest, turn off backlighting.

Today i do a fully recharge at 11.30 am, do  chat ym chat about 15 minute, open tweeter 15 minute. and leave this phone on the table.

now 5 pm i check battery meter 30 %