Phone battery draining FAST while flying - why?

[jasplat88]

Is anyone else having an issue where their phone's battery (I am using an iPhone 5) is quickly drained while running DJI's Vision app? I CAN'T make it through 2 Vision flights without my iPhone's battery going dead (even from a full charge). My iPhone will normally last all day with normal usage on a charge, but when I run the DJI app it just seems to kill my phone battery. Thoughts?

-Jason

 

[Nvr2fst]

Now I am even more glad I am skipping the 5. I am still using a 4s and the app barely moves the battery. You have to have something else going on with your phone. You close everything down, turn off notifications and all? Yada yada.....
Even so your battery should not being running down that much, I wouldn't think. If so that thing is a gas hog.

 

[jasplat88]

Thanks for the quick reply guys.

I don't have a issue with the phone battery on a day-to-day basis, so I believe my issue is related to the DJI Vision app not playing nice with some other app on my phone. I will trying killing all running apps before I fly next time and see if that makes a difference.

For reference, can someone with an iPhone tell me about how much battery their phone uses during a "normal" vision flight? Thanks!

-Jason

 

[BenDronePilot]

Is anyone else having an issue where their phone's battery (I am using an iPhone 5) is quickly drained while running DJI's Vision app? I CAN'T make it through 2 Vision flights without my iPhone's battery going dead (even from a full charge). My iPhone will normally last all day with normal usage on a charge, but when I run the DJI app it just seems to kill my phone battery. Thoughts?

-Jason

Using an iPhone 5 I've also had no problems with battery life during 3 batteries. Tho it certainly is normal for your device to use more power than usual as it's using more power to run the wifi connection. And the weaker the wifi signal the more power your phone has to output to hold connection. That was especially noticeable when flying parrot ar drone. Using a repeater tho as with the Vision greatly helps battery life as your phone only has to connect directly to the repeater vs sending long range signal to your phantom

 

[jasplat88]

Just flew again, and before I did, I deleted a bunch of apps on my iPhone that I don't use, checked that all apps were up to date and closed most everything running (although I forgot to do it right before I took off).

The Phantom Vision battery was not even fully charged (maybe 92%), but from that point to flying it to ~40% (probably ~15 minutes) my iPhone 5 battery went from ~72% when I started to <9% when I landed (which is why I landed before draining the Phantom Vision's battery). I did not take any video, and only took ~5 photos. The iPhone does not get hot (or warm) while running the Vision app, and I find it odd that when I go to recharge the phone, it seems to "recover" quickly (i.e. it will charge from a reading of ~5% to 50% in ~15minutes).

I am going to try deleting and re-installing the app. Any other suggestions?

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Maybe this can help : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/a ... phone.html

Very useful thanks

 

[Jax Quad]

Yes. I have the same problem. From day one. Can't make it through two flights. Nothing wrong with my iPhone 5. All apps closed. Nothing running in the background. My ipad batteries barely drain at all when using them.

 

[amrflyingdude]

Smartphones have power hungry processors and screens. Late models like the iPhone 5 have the capability to multitask at the expense of battery power also. try closing all apps before flying. Also, If you fully charge your phone and and fly in "airplane mode" you should make it through 2 batteries without a problem and still have power left to use your phone afterwards.

Hope this helps.

 

[LeoS]

I've gotten longer battery times moving from 4S to 5 and also from 5 to 5S. The 5 series also handles background apps much better than 4S.. (i.e.: sip phone clients). With that said, I use a first gen iPad mini for my PV, and on a full charge I could maybe fly 10-15 batteries before having to recharge the iPad.

So I never thought the PV app consumed that much power from my experience...

jasplat88:
Q: Does your iPhone get really hot after a flight?

 

[jasplat88]

jasplat88:
Q: Does your iPhone get really hot after a flight?

No, my iPhone 5 does not get hot after a flight.

I do find it interesting that I can have the app open after I land and want to transfer pictures and videos and the iPhone battery has no drain issues while transfering large videos which can take 20+ minutes sometimes (yes I know I can take the micro card out and transfer faster on my computer, but have been doing it through the app to date). It only drains during actual flying - not while on the ground. I am connecting to the Phantom_6xxxxxx network and am running the latest FW.

My wife has a 5s and my son has an iPod 5th gen I can test, but still not sure why it's draining the battery during flight.

 

[jasplat88]

Yes. I have the same problem. From day one. Can't make it through two flights. Nothing wrong with my iPhone 5. All apps closed. Nothing running in the background. My ipad batteries barely drain at all when using them.

Sorry to hear that, but glad I'm not the only one with this issue. Maybe we'll find a solution through this thread.

-Jason

 

[LeoS]

jasplat88:
Q: Does your iPhone get really hot after a flight?

No, my iPhone 5 does not get hot after a flight.

I do find it interesting that I can have the app open after I land and want to transfer pictures and videos and the iPhone battery has no drain issues while transfering large videos which can take 20+ minutes sometimes (yes I know I can take the micro card out and transfer faster on my computer, but have been doing it through the app to date). It only drains during actual flying - not while on the ground. I am connecting to the Phantom_6xxxxxx network and am running the latest FW.

My wife has a 5s and my son has an iPod 5th gen I can test, but still not sure why it's draining the battery during flight.

Are you on the latest app version?

Have you tried: turning on airplane mode, turn off your iPhone, turn it on again, just turn on wifi and just run the app.

 

[jasplat88]

Are you on the latest app version?

Have you tried: turning on airplane mode, turn off your iPhone, turn it on again, just turn on wifi and just run the app.

I have not tried airplane mode yet, but did reboot my phone after my last flight (today) so I will see if that makes a difference. I also deleted and reinstalled the DJI Vision app, so I'll give that a try but may not be able to get out flying again for a couple of days due to rain. I'll post my results after I fly again. Thanks!

 

[nhoover]

On my 18 month old Samsung S3, one flight (20-22 minutes or so) uses close to 20% of my battery. I started with 99% the other day and did 2 flights and was down to 63%. I've tried this a number of times and it seems to be consistent. Not so bad really - the screen is on that whole time and it's transferring data several times a second the whole time.

 

[Klaus]

On my 18 month old Samsung S3, one flight (20-22 minutes or so) uses close to 20% of my battery. I started with 99% the other day and did 2 flights and was down to 63%. I've tried this a number of times and it seems to be consistent. Not so bad really - the screen is on that whole time and it's transferring data several times a second the whole time.

I also have a Samsung S3 and find it to use a lot of battery when I'm flying, I'm not sure how much but I will keep an eye on it next time.
I'm sure, that the reason why they are using so much power are as you are writing

the screen is on that whole time and it's transferring data several times a second the whole time.

It must be like watching a movie on your phone.

 

[iDrone]

On iOS, NAV programs (maps, RunKeeper, etc) will drain a battery fairly quickly as they continue to run in the background. Stop navigation & clear the Search Box in Maps, stop Activity in RunKeeper, or stop apps completely.

iDrone

 

[BenDronePilot]

...

 

[BenDronePilot]

Just flew again, and before I did, I deleted a bunch of apps on my iPhone that I don't use, checked that all apps were up to date and closed most everything running (although I forgot to do it right before I took off).

The Phantom Vision battery was not even fully charged (maybe 92%), but from that point to flying it to ~40% (probably ~15 minutes) my iPhone 5 battery went from ~72% when I started to <9% when I landed (which is why I landed before draining the Phantom Vision's battery). I did not take any video, and only took ~5 photos. The iPhone does not get hot (or warm) while running the Vision app, and I find it odd that when I go to recharge the phone, it seems to "recover" quickly (i.e. it will charge from a reading of ~5% to 50% in ~15minutes).

I am going to try deleting and re-installing the app. Any other suggestions?

The power drain you're getting is not normal for an iPhone running properly. Also you should not be able to get. 50% charge in 15 minutes unless you're using a 2amp charger. I'd suggest fully draining your iPhone battery till 0 then Keep it plugged in to 100% do this a few times to help improve the charge life and longevity of your battery. Also what version of ios are you on! I was on ios 6.0.2 last when I used it on my iPhone 5 ill test again soon on ios7 but I suspect it will be fine. There is also a chance that there is a bug in the dji app that interacts poorly with the software configuration on your particular ios device.

Also keep in mind that these smart phones are small computers and can develops bugs problems and compatibility issues in time. In worst case scenarios the only way to fix a misbehaving ios or android device is to do a factory reset and start fresh without restoring a backup file which will only restore the problem you had to begin with.

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

Here is a wacky suggestion.

If you cannot fix the battery drain problem its time to take your laptop with you in a rucksack. Plug your charging lead from the laptop into the iPhone and let that recharge whilst in use. You should be able to fly for hours if your laptop battery is ok.

 

[BenDronePilot]

Here is a wacky suggestion.

If you cannot fix the battery drain problem its time to take your laptop with you in a rucksack. Plug your charging lead from the laptop into the iPhone and let that recharge whilst in use. You should be able to fly for hours if your laptop battery is ok.

A better alternative to this is using a portable hand held battery charger that can accomplish this same purpose. I highly recommend this one. It works great has two ports with 2amp charging capabilities.

RAVPower PB07

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 000Y-00034