Android 4.4 (KitKat) update for Moto X is really a sweet treat for all Moto X owners. Most of us are enjoying the new and improved features in our Moto X after the KitKat update.
However, some users reported battery drain problems (i.e., shorter battery life) after the Android 4.4 update. They noticed the battery percentage drops faster than that before the update. For example, after 8 hours normal usage, your Moto X now reports less than 15% juice left. But you remeber before the KitKat update, you used to get about 30% left when reaching home. It seems your Moto X drains battery faster after the Android 4.4 update.
The most likely cause of the battery life issue in Moto X: battery calibration
Why does the battery life of Moto X become shorter after the KitKat update? Is something wrong with the Android 4.4? or is something wrong with the Moto X battery?
The answer is: there is nothing wrong with the Android 4.4 (KitKat) or Moto X. Most of the time, it is just battery calibration issue. Of course, it occasionally may be caused by some crappy apps.
So if you are facing this battery life issue or you feel the Moto X drains battery faster now, you may just follow the following 4 steps top solve the battery life issues for your Moto X.
5-step solution for battery life problem in Moto X
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Step 1: Use your Moto X as normal
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Step 2: When battery percentage is lower than 5%, watch videos, surf the web, and do whatever that drains battery faster
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Step 3: Continue to use your Moto X until it shuts down itself (no more juice)
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Step 4: Charge your Moto X for 3-4 hours without powering it on.
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Step 5: Power on your Moto X, and use it as normal.
Why need I drain the battery completely?
It sounds stupid that your Moto X has to “guess”, not measure, the juice left. But this is the reality for all smartphones today.
Moto X gives you the percentage of battery juice left based on the discharge curve. However, to correctly use (define) the discharge curve, Moto X needs to know at least two battery states: full and empty.
The full state (100%) is easy to get because when the full capacity is reached (when charging), the circuit in the battery will stop the charging to protect the battery from being over-charged. Almost all batteries in today’s smartphones have this circuit already.
But your Moto X has no way to know the empty state unless you drain it completely. Moto X has to guess based on previous usage. It is a trial-and-error process.
The problems may comes after the major update because Moto X has to re-start a new trial-and-error process. This is the reason why the technician in the service centre always asks you to wait a few days to see whether the battery life changes after the major update.
But sometimes, you can facilitate the trial-and-error process for your Moto X by providing the empty state (by drain the battery completely). This is needed only when you notice considerable battery life reduction in your Moto X.
Will draining battery completely hurt my Moto X?
A lot of smartphone users are scared of draining the battery completely. They feel this may hurt or damage the smartphone.
For most Android phones, at least for Moto X, this is seldom an issue. Moto X is shut down automatically when battery reach the “near-empty” state, which is not based on percentage readings. This is different from removing battery when the phone is working. Actually, for a lot of smartphones with removable battery, you may have to manually remove the battery when the phone hangs (not responsive to any buttons). Seldom you may hear warranty claims related to battery removal.
If you still sceptical about the possible damages to your Moto X , you can drain the battery to 0% and continue to use 5-15 mins. Then put it on the charger. This will also help the battery calibration in Moto X.
Will draining battery completely hurt the battery in Moto X?
Another concern some Moto X owners may have is whether draining battery completely will hurt or damage the battery in Moto X. As Moto X has a non-removable battery, you have to ask Motorola’s authorized service centre to replace the battery when you need replace the battery. This may take considerable time, and is usually not cheap.
The quick answer to this concern is: no.
Actually, draining your battery to 1o% is not different from draining it to 0%. Normally, draining the battery to less than 20% (some vendors use 15%) is considered as one deep discharging cycle. After 30o-500 deep discharging cycles, your battery will lose considerable (about 15-30% for good-quality batteries) capacity (this is that battery life that you have). This explains most smartphones ask you to charge them when battery is lower than 15% or 20%.
But most vendors do not tell you, the Lithium-ion or Lithium polymer battery also loses capacity with time with or without deep discharging. After 2 years without using it or without deep discharging, the battery loses about 20-40% of the (original) capacity. Deep discharging only slightly accelerates the process for most users.
Another misconception is draining battery completely may damage the battery.
This is actually baseless. For Lithium-ion or Lithium polymer batteries, when you drain the battery completely, it is actually not “completely” drained. Once the current or voltage reaches certain level, the circuit inside will stop the power supply to protect the battery cells automatically.
What should you do if the 5-step solution does not work for you?
Battery life problems in Moto X after the Android 4.4 update may also be caused by some crappy apps. A most common and most obvious symptom is a “warm” Moto X. If you feel the Moto X is always warm even when you are not using it, then the battery life problem is very likely caused by some apps, not battery calibration.
If this happens, you may try to backup your data, and perform a factory reset.
If factory reset does not solve the issue, and your Moto X is still warm all the time (even when not in use), you may try to find out the culprit apps. You may follow this guide to identify the culprit app (it was written for Galaxy Note, but it works for Moto X as well).
Are you still have battery life issues with Moto X? or do you have any tips on battery life for Moto X? Share with other Moto X owners in the comment box below!
so you mean after update to 4.4 the moto x cannot get through 24 hours with all setting on such as brightness high , sync on and gps or location setting are on ? and even this company made a good battery phone but still when it comes to phone usage this phone only can get through like 8 hours and battery result will show to user around 5-10% left ? that’s so sad. I did the calibrate just like you told me and leave it fully charged and still in charging mode for more than 30 minutes after it said 100% but funny thing I got my wifi on and leave it on my table in the morning and before I’m off to work I saw my phone battery is drop to 87% with wifi on. That’s ridiculous
Actually, some Moto X owners reported longer battery life after the KitKat update.
For your case, it is very likely due to the calibration. You can leave the Moto X on the charger overnight for a few times to see whether it helps.
My Moto X doesn’t drain all that much after the KitKat update, but this is very good info otherwise did not know about the lithium discharging battery. Great post.
what do you mean by deep discharging ? like no charge the phone for a long time when the phone battery is empty ?
Technically, deep discharging just means your battery level is lower than 15% (vendor dependent, somewhere between 10-20%). It is better to fully drain until phone shut itself off, then connect to the charger.
I’ve calibrated the battery twice and maybe pulled the phone out of my pocket twice today, WIFI off, BT off, and only had 22& remaining at 7 hours. Screen 31%, OS 19%, Google Services 8%, 7% Phone Idle. Phone is cold and I have no apps syncing so I’m lost on my poor battery life thus far 🙁 Phone seems pretty sweet otherwise, but I’m missing the 2+ days of the Razr Maxx
Battery life of Moto X is not comparable with Maxx..
For your battery, it is very likely casued by some apps. You can install CPUSpy (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bvalosek.cpuspy) and BetterBatteryStats (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809) to find the culprits.
If the battery always charges to full capacity, and doesn’t go into auto-shut-off until the battery is actually drained dry, then how does a calibrated reading give you any more battery life?
Before the calibration, (First fully-charged day of use, Kit Kat update before charge, with Google Voice, Kindle, Pandora and a non-invasive flashlight app (Moto Torch LED) as the only non-preinstalled apps) my phone went into auto-shut-off after 12-15 hours, reporting about 5 hours of screen time. The screen was about 50% of consumed power, “Android OS” ate 30% or more. This doesn’t seem consistent with the 10 hour screen-time experienced by reviewers.
Having drained and charged: I’m currently looking at 56% after 17 hours with 38 minutes of screen time. (The screen used 18%, Wifi 20%, Android OS 30%). This doesn’t seem to imply tripple-digit standby time.
the system can “estimate” the capacity of battery base on some factory curves. Most of the time, this is quite reliable. Re-calibration is just to correct some errors, especially, the lower capacity point estimation. Some users can use the phone for more than 0.5 hours after 0% is reported. Re-calibration is useful for such scenarios.
10-hour screen time probably is playing video with very low brightness (without mobile data). For web browsing (through WiFi), it can only lasts about 6-7 hours with less than 20% brightness. For most moto x users, they probably have to charge it daily.
If you still have battery drain issue after re-calibration, you may try to install CPUSpy (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bvalosek.cpuspy) and BetterBatteryStats (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809) to find out the real causes.
I must have plugged in the phone and forgotten about it when I mentioned 5 hours of screen time before.
Here’s what I saw the other day:
The moto x went into auto-shut-down at 12hrs.
Screen 51% of power consumption; on for 2hrs 41mins. (Either on auto brightness or <25%)
Android OS 12%
WiFi 10%
Chrome 7%
I didn't have wake lock data for that day, but on 16-hour days with 1-2 hours screen activity, my checks have shown PowerManagerService.Wakelocks at 1 – 1.5 hours and Deep Sleep for about 12 hours.
Is this as good as it gets for everybody else?
This looks not so good.
The kernel wakelock “PowerManagerService” is just the summation of partial wakelock. So, check the major contributors of the partial wakelock to find out the real culprits.
You may check the second and third ones under kernel wakelock. Sometimes, you can try to restart the phone to see whether the duration of such kernel wakelocks become shorter.
My understanding is that partial wakelocks are hidden from non-rooted phones as of 4.4.
The other wakelocks I tend to be pretty small compared to PowerManagerService. I’ll start paying attention to the little ones. Currently, at 7 hours since full charge: PowerManagerService has 1 hour 17 mins.
bam_dmux_wake lock is at 13 mins,
wlan is at about 12 mins,
radio-interface took 5.5 mins
and everything else is 2 mins or less.
yes, to read the partial wakelocks in KitKat, root is needed. But for Moto X, I do NOT recommend you to root it.
Usually you check the Awake time–screen on time (you need also minus the music playing time), to get an rough estimation.
For yoru case, you can try to reboot your phone, then check again the bbs reading after a few hours or normal usuage.
Thank you for this! I love my moto x but was ready to trade it in for a droid max. Your 5 step process worked. Battery life back to normal. 89% after 3+ hours of normal use.
Glad to know it works for you.
I miss my old iphone 4 it was awesome in terms of battery life – currently i have a 2nd moto x since the battery on the 1st was reaching 110f and it would drain in 3 hours, this phone (2nd moto x) battery lasts for 5 hours with minimal use. The suggession above doesnt work
It could be caused by some apps. Normally, Moto X has a decent battery life.
Also, there is a big where wifi is always scanning with the screen off. This is fine usually, but drains the moto x. Open your wifi, go to menu and advanced settings and turn the wifi active to only when plugged in. Solved my 4.4 battery problems.
thank you for your input.
I had battery drain problems on my Moto X after KitKat update also.
After I went back to factory version of my ‘Google play services’ app its back to jelly bean battery life.
Try it guys it will help for sure
thank you for sharing the trick of solving battery life issue..
Thanks very much. I have a MotoG that went from having excellent battery life to less than 24hrs with minimal usage after the latest upgrade to KitKat. The majority of battery usage was caused by “Android system” and “Android OS”. I re-calibrated based on your instructions and I’m now at 29% remaining after 3days 6hrs 6mims of use! It’s better than it was before the upgrade.
Glad to know it solves your Moto G’s battery problem.
Hi I have bought Moto G in last week and it was shipped with KitKat upgrade, but I noticed that battery is draining very fast. I didn’t even activate 3G and stopped all the google app to sync with internet but still can see a drop of 1% every 4 minutes in normal browsing along with running the apps like whatsapp. Company claims the battery life to be more than 24 hrs and there are people who even reviewed an and confirmed the same after a heavy usage.
Are these tips applicable to Moto G as well? I have drained the battery completely and now will see if it helps…
It worked perfectly with my Moto G. I’m getting well over 3 days out of my battery with casual usage after calibrating it.
Okay, seems it didn’t work in my case. Infact after discharging it completely and charging it again to full(as mentioned above), I noticed the drainage even faster now. in standby mode(no bluetooth,app sync stopped,no 3G activated,completely no usage) the battery level was dropped from 100 to 90%. and in normal usage it is not giving more than 10-11 hrs backup.
Today I had no option but to raise a request with Flipkart to return it. Hoping to get a new set with no such issues.
If it is hardware defect, you should return it or visit local service centre.
Sometimes it can be due to some apps. You can find out the app that drains battery.
It was found to be the issue with battery. I have got the replacement and now the new Moto G is giving the backup of more than a day in a mod usage.. 🙂
thanks for the update.
Yes, battery drain issue can be due to the faulty hardware (battery) sometimes, although it is not common nowadays.
Do the same with Moto G?
Yes, this guide also works for Moto G if your Moto G has battery drain/battery life issues.
Good to know, cuz I too am researching Moto G battery life issue.
Until recently, battery life has been pretty good on my Moto G. I’ve grown accustomed to experiencing 48 hrs with minimal usage ( a few texts, 20 mins calls, 1 or 2 hrs screentime) with 30% left before needing a recharge. However, this week, i’m losing 2% within 1 hour after taking phone off charger and no use whatsoever. Furthermore, i’m down to 92% within 4 hrs. this is after a 2 minute call, 1 or 2 texts and no web browsing or syncs, etc. I only use Aviate Launcher. The funny thing is, once the battery level hits around 90 or 92% after a full charge things level off. i followed your calibration suggestions about a month ago but perhaps i should try again? it just seems like the battery is being misread by the OS as my daily usage patterns haven’t changed.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Did you check the battery usage graph and found out which app drains most battery except screen and Android system?
One reason I noticed which causes the fast drainage is if you are using 2G net connection and it is selected over 3G. My Moto G drains little faster when it runs on 2G than on 3G or Wi-Fi
i have a moto x and have couple of questions
1. while charging, my phone gets almost stuck for some time at 77% and moves slowly to 79% and then directly shows as fully charged. is it normal? does it happen the same way to everyone.
2. im getting nearly 3hrs to 3hrs 20mins of screen on time by the time it reaches 1%. is it good, normal?
3. im little scared of discharging the battery completely and used for almost 45mins when the battery was 1% and it doesnt seem to shut off or come down to 0%. then i shutdown manually and charged for 3hrs. will this take care of the issue?
There is definitely a problem with battery calibration, The above instructions mentioned will help you calibrate the battery. Also, after few charging cycles you will notice battery’s charging and discharging rate is back to normal.
Hi Sajal and SImon,
My Moto X is lasting around 5-6 hours. I have recently bought the phone and was checking it out, so the screen time was almost 5 hours in one recharge cycle. My usage was playing games for 2-3 hours, 3G on, Surfing / streaming videos for half hour, Auto sync on, screen brightness in auto mode, and call duration of 20 minutes. The battery drained in 5-6 hours for similar usage since last 4-5 recharge cycles.
Is this battery life ok as per my use or would you suggest me for replacement from Flipkart?
5-hour screen time of mixed usage for Moto G is normal.
Thank You Sajal and Simon! I took the risk and did drain my battery by runnnig benchmarks and opening all application and finally phone turned off automatically and charged for almost five hours. Now after using it for 6 and half hours with 2hrs 10 minutes screen on, i still have 60% juice left. 🙂 🙂 wating to see whether i still have the battery level jumps while charging.
i just bought my phone last week and was so worried about the poor battery performance. Thank you so much guys 🙂
1. It is not normal. This may happen for aged batteries, for example, more than 2 years old. But your Moto X is surely less than 1-year old.
2. It depends on other usages (e.g., network, CPU, signal strength…). Normally, most people get more than 4 hours screen time. Again, it depends on many factors. 3-hour screen time is in the very low end for Moto X.
3. If you can use (actively use, not sleep) Moto X for more than 45 mins after 1%, it usually means the battery level calibration may be not accurate. Complete discharge is not good for battery, but sometimes, it is essential to get accurate calibration.
When Moto X indicates that it is fully charged, leaving the phone on the charge for a few hours may help the re-calibration as well. After you fully discharge the battery, you can leave the phone on the charger overnight.
Anyway, if you suspect possible hardware quality issue, you can contact Motorola to check the battery in a professional way.
hello sir
i recently purchased Moto X via flipkart….while charging my device heats up very much…with case on it,i have naked tough case of case mate,i am worried about the heating of phone i have android assistant installed which shows temperature up to 50 degree Celsius,will this heating damage my moto x in any way or the internal components are at some risk… ..my device also many times got freeze and rebooted is heating one of the cause of random reboots…..Please Help me…
When charging, you should avoid to use it for long time or play games.
If the device is overheated, it may freeze (as CPU is scaling down), and may reboot or shut itself down.
Normally, Moto X does not have such issues and is very responsive. If your Moto X freezes often, or not so responsive, you may check with the vendor or service centre to find out the causes.
I’ve got a problem. I charge my Moto G everyday at night. When I plug it to my computer and start using it whlist plugged, the battery meter drops instantly to 1% and the phone shuts down. Of course this is only an error, I know the battery is 100% charged, then I have to turn the phone on again and use it all day until it REALLY reaches 1% and shuts down again. Then I won’t be able to turn it on, ’cause the battery really died.
Then I charge it until it reaches 100% again and the problem is solved, BUT, the battery meter keeps dropping to 1% sometimes, and, when that happens, as I use it in university at night, the phone suddenly dies without warning while I’m using it, and that’s a problem.
A few Moto X owners reported similar issues. There are no official solutions.
Some solved this issue by trying a different USB cable. Some through factory data reset (backup your data first) .
Guys I have the answer that works.
You have to enable android runtime (ART) in developer mode.
It changes the way apps are run on your device and will replace the current runtime in the future. By putting it in developer mode you can already benefit from it. It doubled my battery life but not sure if it is the same as before kitkat as I got the phone with kitkat installed.
Steps:
Turn on ART, navigate to:
Settings -> About Phone -> Tap 7 times “Build Number”
Then go back —> Developer Options —> Select ART instead of Dalvik
Now your phone will optimize your apps and this can take a while (20-60mins)
enjoy!
Thank you for sharing your solution.
Please note, some old apps may not work properly with ART.
It sounds like 4.4.3 has ART on by default. I hope it actually addresses our battery problems. It sounds like Nexus 5 on 4.4.3 is starting to have our kind of issues: https://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!category-topic/nexus/e5fgrWayFz8
Hi .!!
I got my new moto x five days back from flipkart. The problem is , the continuous usage of 20 mins heats up my mobile . Is this normal or should replace with another . !! Please help me on this..
And I’m getting 4hours of screen on time and 1 hour of voice calls. Is this the batter battery back up.!!?
My battery temperature varies from 38 c to 44c . what’s the normal temperature should be there. !
The “heating” depends the activities and the ambient temperature. If you are in an air – conditioned room, you should not feel the hot. But if you are under sun with 35 site temperature, you should feel the hot after 15-30mins active use (e.g . playing 3D games).
The screen time also depends on the activities and brightness. Most Moto X owners get 5-6 hours screen time.
The battery life may be not accurate as the battery is new. You need wait a few charging cycles to see the actual battery life.
Hi simon. .
The weather temperature in my place will around 28-35°c .But as you said I don’t play games but I use WhatsApp , Facebook and browsing in chrome browser.
I tried to find the application( if any) that causing this problem, running in safe mode. But having same temperature in safe mode also.
I didn’t face this problem with my old smart phones (samsung) so I’m little bit tensed with my device..
I forgot to tell you that when charging the mobile its temperature is 45c -47c ..
This is probably normal if the ambient temperature is above 32c. It may be even higher if you use it while charging.
If the temperature is to avoid possible damages.
You can install cpuspy app to check whether the phone enter deep sleep when not in use. BetterBatteryStats can also provide similar info.
If the phone can enter deep sleep state, you probably should not worry about the temperature or other isdues unless it restarts itself for no reason.
So, if I’m down to the 14% warning after 2 – 3 hours of Google+ on 4g, is that enough to judge my battery life substandard?
I’ve been dussapointed with my battery life since the day after I got this phone; and have been hoping they’d fix it when they fixed the Kit Kat bug (sounds like that’s kinda not happening). What would it take to prove that I have a defective unit?
They can run some simple tests on the battery.
Of the battery life is not good, you can try to install cpuspy or bbs to find out whether the phone enters deep sleep state when not in use.
Most of the battery life problems are due to some poor written apps. Seldom it is due to battery quality(for branded phones).
I bought Moto G a week back and faced a battery drainage issue as the charge level went down to 1% from 54%. I am really worried and confused that whether should I continue with this phone or should get it replaced as flipkart has 30 day replacement guarantee.
Please help
You may monitor the actual battery life and battery usage for a few days. Moto X has decent battery life for most owners.
I got into moto x family 3 days back, was happy to see update 4.4.4 after updating battery issue has started (:. From 100-30% it gives very good battery back up but after 30% it directly changes to 10% then 2% then dead within 2 minutes. Bit scared because its awesome smartphone and I don’t wanna lose. I ll try above 5 steps and check. Please help in troubleshooting this issue.
After major update, the system need some time to get an accurate reading on the battery level. There are no known problems related to battery in 4.4.4 update.
Thank you Simon. Wish it will fix soon.
hi Simon, I am a new Moto x user. What is your recommendation for maintaining a longer battery life. At what percentage levels should one recharge the battery so that the phone battery has a longer life cycle.
When you charge, let it charge fully.
You can charge it at any percentage levels. But it is not a good idea to often charge the phone with more than 30% battery levels left (unless you need this). Every month, you should drain the battery level to 10% or lower once or twice at least.
Most mobile phone battery usually has a shelf life time of 2-4 years, with about 300-600 charging cycles. For most users (unless you charge the phone more than once everyday), you should not worry about battery for first 18-24 months.
My 1st gen Moto X Battery: 41% for Android System, 13% Screen, 13% Email 13% exchange services 6% WiFi and battery life is poor. 41% for Android must be the culprit, right?
What is the fix?
In my opinion, apps (especially free apps) behind the scenes, eat your battery life. I have a first gen moto x, originally haf a bunch of apps, twitter, disney world wait times, etc. did a factory reset, only loaded necessary apps and my battery life is great…easily get full day out of a charge. Use ms exchange server for work. I am not a techie …came from a bberry.
Thanks Peter, I’ll give that a try but I’m real concerned about the 41% Android System battery use.
In addition, you need check whether the phone is always “awake” (tap the plot). If it is always awake, you may try to reboot the phone.
Thanks guys, I’m Not sure what “(tap the plot)” means but anyway by doing a factory reset and removing several not used FREE apps my problem seems to be solved. Android System dropped from 41% to 5% battery usage and battery is doing much better now. More time will tell but it’s looking good so far. 🙂
Thanks again
thank you for the update. When you check battery usage at Settings–Battery, you can tap the plot (showing how battery drains with time) to find out more info.
How can I get it to drain all the way to 0%? It shuts off at 47% telling me there is no charge left. And then once I get it on the charger and can get it turned back on it takes 2 hours to go through and optimize everything.
It can be storage issues. Did you check the storage usage?
I always have storage issues I try and stay on top of. However it’s never done that before. On the up side, I found and installed an app called “Advanced Battery Calibrator” that worked like a charm. I am no longer having this issue.