Bluetooth puck & power drain on Razr - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

**Musikmann** · 01-04-2007, 04:55 PM

Hello friends,

I bought the BT puck recently and upgraded to a Motorola Razr. I think my phone had a full charge when I left for a 4 hour trip. I turned on the BT power so I would have an active phone, but before I reached my destination, the battery was completely drained.

Should I try to find an extended-life battery, or just leave the phone charging via the cigarette lighter?

Lastly, for you guys who own a Motorola Razr, does this sound normal? I bought the puck and phone in November, 2006.

Thanks in advance,

Musikmann

jm55 · 01-04-2007, 05:25 PM

Having the puck or not really does not make a difference on your phone battery. Having Bluetooth turned on in the phone will impact battery life. I find having Blluetooth on for a earbud or anything cuts my battery life in half.

CalifSLK · 01-04-2007, 05:36 PM

I have an one year old Treo650 and BT is turned on all the time:
1. The phone is only placed on the charging stand when I get home in the evening and removed in the morning, never charged during the day. On the road charged with a USB cord tethered to the PC overnight.
2. My drive in the car is may be 4 to 6 short trips totaling 1 hour on a normal day.
3. On long trips up to 8 hours with BT HF in the car or with a BT ear piece, the phone would still last the day without charging in between.

jm55 · 01-04-2007, 07:05 PM

Mine will run in Standby (not talking) for about 150 hrs with bluetooth on and close to 300 with it off. I don't talk enough to judge the impact on talk time. I have a Cingular Razor.

Diesel Benz · 01-04-2007, 11:37 PM

I always keep my BT on. It does affect power consumption but only marginally on modern phones (the 150 from 300 hrs sounds a bit high already but 4 hrs is a serious problem). I take it you did not talk throughout the 4 hour trip.

I'm not using Motorolas and I'm using the SAP puck but could you two, jm55 and Musikmann, or anybody else with the same phone exchange more detailed info on your setup. If you have the same Razr with the same SW, you should expect similar power consumption (or otherwise the BT puck has a problem?).

**Musikmann** · 01-05-2007, 04:35 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys.

jm55: I could live with only half it's life - I think mine will run for 72 hours (not talking much) without BT power on. I bought mine from Cingular also.

CalifSLK: That sounds reasonable too.

Diesel Benz: My setup is only the M-B Bluetooth adapter (puck) and the almost new Motorola Razr phone. I'm sorry, but I don't know anything more about the software. You are correct, I did not talk at all during that trip.

My immediate plan is to talk with Cingular and see if they can check the battery condition - it sure sounds like it is not holding a charge very well!

TLC 320 · 01-05-2007, 12:44 PM

When I first got my Razr it had difficulty holding a charge, after about a week the standby time incrased dramatically. If yours have a good standby time take it back and get a new battery.

**Musikmann** · 01-05-2007, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TLC 320

When I first got my Razr it had difficulty holding a charge, after about a week the standby time incrased dramatically. If yours have a good standby time take it back and get a new battery.

Yes, standby time seems excellent, as long as the BT power is off anyway. I haven't had the time to get to a Cingular store since starting my new thread, but I plan to do that tomorrow.

jm55 · 01-05-2007, 07:37 PM

I have version R374_6_0E.42.15R. I think the power drain is more when actually connected to something than when not. Mine is connected about 8 hours per day to a BT device. I am only guessing, but it might not drain as much without being connected. I turn my phone off each night when I am home and be reached by land line so I use it about 10 hours a day on avg. It goes about 2 weeks without a charge if I don't talk a lot. My calls are usually very short. I just have to have it because I am on call 24x7. I got the 300 hours standby from Cingular web site (actually it is more like 286 or something, I would have to look again).

Diesel Benz · 01-05-2007, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jm55

I have version R374_6_0E.42.15R. I think the power drain is more when actually connected to something than when not.

This is a good point to note. In addition to being connected, getting connected consumes power. Think of the phone finding the MB BT puck and transferring the phone book etc. It is not only the BT part but the whole phone has to some work (it is not transmitting with the cell radio but this is a lot of activity compared normal idle).