seriously, WTF is wrong with the morons who design these new smart phones? I got my first smartphone maybe a week ago and and already have a VERY strong love/hate relationship with it.

how is it that, thanks to modern technology, I can
~ get a 32 gig memory card for my phone that's the size of my thumbnail if not smaller
~ get unlimited free music downloads rolled into a standard "unlimited minutes/texts" plan for $50 a month
~ download free, addictive games from a seemingly unlimited selection
~ take pictures and videos, plug the phone into my computer, do wireless/bluetooth whatnot, even use my phone as a wireless "hotspot"... and god knows what other crazy features this thing has that I haven't discovered...

...and yet, the battery doesn't live long enough for you to do anything!!

I am NOT exaggerating when I say that, while playing online games, my battery gets drained 3% in no more than 20-30 seconds or so. I know, because once it hits 15%, it gives me an annoying warning every 3%. I swear gaming can destroy a fully-charged battery in about 15 minutes.

I literally can NOT play games on my phone for more than an hour or two straight no matter what. stupid me, I assumed it would work like every other phone I've had in my life, not to mention my nintendo DS (which is, at this point, 5 1/2 years old)... where you NEVER have to worry about running out of battery life as long as you have it plugged into the charger.

if I start with a battery that's not at least 80-90% charged then the battery gradually drains as I use the phone EVEN WHEN IT'S PLUGGED IN, until it ends up dying on me. if I start with the battery at 100% and the charger plugged in, then the battery overheats and the charger turns off (and by then the battery is down to around 15%), causing me to get constantly spammed with low battery warnings until it dies or I give up and turn it off.

is there something wrong with my phone, or just my expectations?

~~~~~

on a side note, my stupid air conditioner is acting up again something fierce... which really sucks, since I live in south texas... and it's hot and muggy and miserable in my house right now - too uncomfortable to do much. would be really nice right about now if I could lie down in the tent, snuggle with gliders and play games on my phone without it crapping out on me >.>

I don't have a smart phone (don't want one), but I think that the more phones can do the less good they are at doing them. I hate on the phone how it tells you every few seconds that your battery is low by flashing lights and beeping at you therefore draining your phone quicker.

I probably still wouldn't have one if it weren't for the fact that cricket has certain phones/plans with unlimited free music downloads and the phone I got was on sale + had a rebate offer, bringing the total to $130. I had the same phone for maybe 7-8 years before this and until I changed my mind less than two weeks ago, figured I'd stick with it until it broke :P.

I also like that if I go to Joann's (which is a bit of a drive) and I print out a coupon but forget to bring it with me, I don't have to turn around and go back for it because I can just pull it up on my phone.

That is probably the only reason that I wish I had a smart phone.....when I have an online coupon and forgot to print it before going.

yup, main perk for me! also, I figure this way I can get the nifty free credit card swiper dealie from PayPal on the off-chance I ever end up selling any of my joeys in person :P.

When you first got the phone did you charge it 100%, then use it until it was absolutely dead?

If you didn't do this you may have messed up the battery and it's why you're having issues.

I can run my DroidX2 for 2 days using any apps I need without trouble.

I definitely didn't use it until it died... if it needs to be done like that, why the heck can't they do it at the factory instead of being inconvenient? >.>

I DID charge it all the way, though. I remember being miffed that my new phone came with a dead battery and that the instructions told me I had to sit there and let it fully charge before I could even do anything with it. it didn't say anything about emptying it, or else I would have.

another potential factor is that I was told by an employee in a cricket store that phones are $20 cheaper when you buy them online because they're refurbished (they give you 30 days to change your mind about a new phone and return it for a refund; apparently the discounted online sales = how they get rid of the returned phones (very nice of them to not mention this ANYWHERE on their website >.>)).

if this sort of absurd, over-board battery consumption is abnormal, then it sounds like I need to take my phone into a Cricket store and bitch at them about it. unfortunately, I'm 99% sure that the mini locations only do the basics - not repairs and whatnot - which means I have to go to the nearest main location, where the shortest wait time I've encountered was 20+ minutes and the longest was over an hour (their customer service is as [expletive deleted... because apparently self-censoring the word with an asterisk wasn't good enough for the filter :P] as their rates are cheap, heh). guess I better bring my charger with me so I can play games while I wait... they're gonna get SUCH an earful if they don't have an outlet I can plug it into, seeing as the phone won't make it through a 20 minute wait.

They don't send phones out fully charged because there's a risk of it exploding in transit (they aren't nice to packages in the mail room!) and as a consumer its your responsibility to take care of your phone and it's set up.

As for refurbished phones- that's what mine is. All my phones have been refurbished and its really no different than a new phone. They don't send it out without rigorous testing and a new battery.

Your battery issues are either from you messing up the battery life (patience is a virtue) or it could possibly have to do with where ever you're located.

I'm from Washington state, pretty moderate climate. When I visited Minnesota last summer (really hot!) my battery life sucked horribly. So depending on where you are that might be mucking up your battery also.

At this point I would recommend you go buy a new battery and set it up properly. Don't put the new battery in until you go to bed, let it charge all night. Next day(s) run it until its so dead you can't turn it back on, then charge it all the way up while it's off. Don't touch it, just let it charge. Your battery will have a great life.

Oh! And make sure your battery setting's are on "battery saver" and that your screen is on "auto" brightness. Moving backgrounds will shorten your batter life.

it sounds like you have a faulty battery.I have owned smart phones for awhile now and usually my batteries will only do that the older it gets. I would go ahead and purchase a new battery.

I hear ya on that, my iPhone's battery never seems to last the full day. I can have it unplugged after letting it recharge over night and it will lose 3% of life with in an hour. They can make these amazing phone's that we can do so much with but the battery life is so bad that we can't do anything unless we keep it on the charger the whole time. I got rid of the land line cause the cell offered me freedom, but if I have to keep it on the charger all day I might as well get my land line back.

Least my babies love the face to face feature, Menchi keeps hitting the face to face time button when ever I am on the phone with mom.