BlackBerry PlayBook battery life may have been weakened by recent OS update

By on May 18, 2011 at 1:38 PM
Tablets May 18, 2011

According to a report from CIO, BlackBerry users who installed RIM’s latest update for the tablet’s QNX operating system are now experiencing weakened battery life. The recent 1.0.3 software update introduced BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and video chat to the device, but it also appears to have had a substantial impact on battery life, possibly reducing it by 11% or more. RIM addressed the issue by suggesting that users accept the new license agreement for video chat, which may drain the battery if left unchecked, and the company also suggested that users fully charge and discharge the PlayBook battery several times in order to restore full function. Many users report that neither proposed solution has has an impact on the weakened battery life, however.

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  • Total phoo

     oh joy

  • Calvin Williams

    But is almost an hour of battery worth BBM and video chat? 

  • Anonymous

    on a avg I am getting 8-10 hours (running adobe flash/showcase mode/screen brightness set to around 70% level)

    • Anonymous

      Actually, you’re not. 

      • BoLdBuRrY

        ActuAlly hE Is U PuSsY AsSsSs HaTaAaAaAaaaa..

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746237253 Porfirio Reyes III

        Actually, you’re a moron. 

      • BoLdBuRrY

        LoLOLOLOL YoUzzzZzZzz a PuSsY AsSsSs HaTaAaAaAaaaa….

      • Anonymous

        actually he is, cause i get about 10-12 hours and this update hasn’t affected me at all. So, unless you know the product, don’t speak

    • Anonymous

      Wow you must have a super duper battery i’m getting 6 maybe 7 at best running flash and screen brightness at 60. Hmm must be me. 

    • Anonymous

      And flash sucks on this thing BTW it’s laggy choppy and slow they better fix it. It reminds me of android os. Now I know why flash is not on the ipad.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746237253 Porfirio Reyes III

         You know how I know you’ve NEVER used one? Because Flash is NOT laggy, choppy nor slow on the Playbook. Damn noobs….

      • Anonymous

        Wrong had this since it came out. And yes the flash lags. Other then that it’s a good little tablet.

      • http://twitter.com/TheTigerTek TheTigerTek

         I don’t what you have all I know is it aint a PlayBook… Flash works great on my PlayBook… way better than on my Atrix.

      • Nightfox111

        Replace the unit… my second PB had what you described… a little slow and 6-7 hour battery life. I’ve replaced in with another one from an different bestbuy and it’s now 10-12 hours with no flash issues what so ever just like the 16gig. Would have never know about this if it where not for the 16Gig Playbook. Yes I have two … one 16gig and 64gig.

        I seem to notice this also across the different reviews… some have long battery life, while others have much shorter battery life. Very wide range… some claim 6-7 hours others 10-12.

        Just replace the unit…. go to a different bestbuy so you get different batch of Playbooks.

      • Nightfox111

        BTW… the Playbook that I’ve replace had the never reached 100% charge…(96%) But, I’ve managed to fixed that with full discharge and charge, but it still never had the battery life of the 16gig Playbook, even after few days of charge and discharge. Very happy that  I’ve replaced it, now both are running very well, and by far the best tablets out there.

        IPad1 owner which still own and bought and return Moto Zoom after 2 days. Android 3.0 is garbage.

      • Rudy

        Paint it white and put an Apple sticker on it.  You will appreciate it more…
        This may even add 150-200 hp to the Playbook, along with increase your battery life!

      • Anonymous

        Oh kinda the way I paint your ma’s face white. Gotcha great tip.

  • Rocker

    Seriously…nothing new here..BGR bashing RIM products…just like the 900/250,000 PB’s being recalled.
    Pretty sure that’s not even 1/2 a % point of total PB’s sold according to reports.

    Cheers, beers on me.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746237253 Porfirio Reyes III

       How and where are they bashing RIM in this article?

      • Rocker

        Just negative sentiment in general…his positive article regarding PB sales HAD to be followed by something like this…wouldn’t be BGR if it didn’t….prove me wrong haha

      • Anonymous

         BGR only reports on negative articles regarding RIM, never positive. The last earnings report that RIM release, BGR stated, “RIM lowers expectations on sales”….they forgot to mention that they shipped a RECORD amount of blackberry’s and had record revenue. Typical BGR, such Apple fanboy’s

    • Anonymous

       To be fair,it’s just Zach that will include a negative take on every RIM story. While Jonathan has written negative articles, when RIM does something he likes he can be positive without a critical comment.

  • Anonymous

    No issues here with battery…. will last days with light use… but the I’ve accepted the “license agreement” .

  • JoeyPeeps

    Didn’t effect my playbook one bit. I watched 5 HD movies on it while on a recent vacation as it was plugged in via hdmi to my tv. After the trip, I still had 17% battery left. What more could anyone want?

    • http://www.droiddoes.com/ Norm

      What more could anyone want? Well in your case, truth and reality might be a nice start. You did not play 5 HD videos unless they were 5-10 minute long HD pr0n clips.

      • Anonymous

         Your avatar is an Android logo with “Norm”. Shut up you nerd.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746237253 Porfirio Reyes III

        I’m assuming you’ve never used a Playbook, so why don’t you STFU with your ignorance and stupidity? :)  

      • Anonymous

        Hey look it’s newman. Hello newman. Beat it. This is a tech blog. Not the nathans hotdog site. Tell me what I have and what I don’t have you know shyt.

      • http://twitter.com/TheTigerTek TheTigerTek

         Like! Same thing with my PlayBook…

      • Anonymous

         I actually did something quite similar…wanted to test out how many movies i could watch via HDMI before it died. I got through 5 and a half. I’d be lying if i said i wasn’t pleased.

    • Anonymous

      native e-mail
      native calendar
      native contacts
      native Skype
      native Netflix
      native DropBox
      native Kindle
      native video editing app
      Apps that don’t look like class projects in BASIC programming  
      Android compatibility
      Autocorrect/Autotext
      A real native word processing app (meaning one you can actually use for composition)
      A real native spreadsheet app (ditto)
      A real native presentation app (ditto)
      general developer interest

      Let’s start with those. Keep me updated.

      • Anonymous

         why the fuck would you want a video editing app on a 7″ tablet. there’s no native skype on Android or iPad either. Native email/calendar/contacts coming soon. Kindle coming by end of May. Android compatibility this summer. What do you mean ‘real’ office apps? Docs 2 go seems to work fine.

      • Anonymous

         I assume by “native” he means an app as opposed to using the web. In which case, Skype is “native” on Android and iOS, as is the email client, etc.

      • Jamil

        Perspectively…SUCK A DICK SON…bitch…

      • http://www.droiddoes.com/ Norm

        I’m not sure which I find funnier, Blakberry fanboys or Applesbags

      • Jamil

        I’m a Macberry…

      • Anonymous

        1080p video recording (only tab to do that)
        showcase multitasking (only tab to do that)
        browser  with full web fidelity and close to desktop performance (best so far what we seen)
        1080p video playback (only tab to do that)
        wifi network sharing (only tab to do that)
        bridge feature (only tab to do that)
        pre-packaged free productivity apps(MS Word/ Excel/PPT and PDF capable)
        video chat with HD cameras
        upload files via browser (only tab to do that)(you can directly upload files to dropbox, youtube etc )
        Best Screen so far on a tablet
        Best Speakers so far on tablet
        Best Cameras so far on a tablet
        Bezel gestures (only tab to do that)
        One of the best OS with huge potential
        support for Blackberry apps and Android app — coming this summer
        native email, calendar – coming this summer

      • Anonymous

         Why in the world would you need or even want to record 1080p video on a TABLET??

        And what is a practical benefit of the showcase?As far as the MS Word/Excel/PPT/PDF capabilities, is it Read/Write or just Read-Only? If the latter, all iOS devices can view any of the above, and apps can be downloaded to edit them on the iPad.

      • Anonymous

        One, I’m not grading based on what’s “coming,” just what the device is today. 

        Two, is this bizarro world? An RIM device lacks native e-mail yet has the “best speakers” on a tablet? Really? That’s just said. 250K units is better than Android, but it’s nowhere near the rate necessary for RIM to hit its sales goal. Sorry. 

      • BerryKing

        @pendergast by the way, the playbook comes with native ms office with full editing you moron! get ur facts right! and like my homie said above, its the only tablet to have it natively and most important, ITS FREE! 

      • Perspective Penis

         Dude, allow me to copy and paste a recent reply I had to one of your comments on a previous article:
         
        “Apologies for the lack of profound verbiage, but you’re just so damn condescending I can’t help it. You love trolling articles blatantly insering your iboner with you’re misguided (and frankly unrealistic) aire of superiority. You’re pretty convinced that you’re a smart guy (and you might be), but you come across like such a huge prick that the only realistic comment that could suffice is “iboner”. Chances are you’re some geeky dude with a washed up career spending most of your time beating off your iboner to BGR blogs as you peruse the comments section RIM bashing and fandroid blazing. Again, my apologies…”
         
        Now re-read your original post on this article and tell me you dont sound like a complete tampon.

      • Anonymous

         as usual, perspectively the DOUCHEBAG is trolling on RIM articles. Never has anything good to say, has never even tried a playbook. He’s a one-track-mind LOSER who spends his whole day on BGR. I would love to meet this guy so I could ram his head in a bat.

  • 1eyebandit

     & i bet all of America’s “smart” consumers will still flock to this device instead of something more logical like a Xoom or LG pad (not to mention the maxiPad)

    • Anonymous

       the Xoom? it’s been ripped apart. The best Android tablet out right now is the Asus Eee Pad.

  • Jamma

    Boy Genius ASS has no news today…don’t worry it will be a praise to Apple tomorrow.

  • Racker

     accepting the video chat agreement fixed my PB’s battery life. It was losing a lot in standby after the update but now fixed

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1204664 Kyung Park

    “RIM addressed the issue by suggesting that users accept the new license agreement for video chat, which may drain the battery if left unchecked”

    Whoa, so basically, RIM said “accept our terms and conditions or else your device will eat more battery and degrade your user experience. You don’t want that, do you? (holding knife to battery)”  Isn’t that.. not kosher?  Seems like the license agreement has to be accepted and agreed upon under duress.

    • Bobdonhim

       Still not as bad as Android and iPhone tracking people via GPS….oh and Steve Jobs telling people they are holding their phone wrong when the antenna issues came out.  Apple and Android sheep keep following blindly

    • Anonymous

       Are you this over-dramatic in real life?

    • Anonymous

       Does anyone ever seriously read the agreements anyways?  If you buy a $500 tablet, you are going to agree to any of the terms.  You are nitpicking here.  Obviously RIM will address this issue in the next update, but this is a short term solution that will help.

    • Anonymous

       actually, no, when you install any app or program, you have to agree to terms and conditions…do you not? The reason is was draining the battery is because it was constantly running in the background waiting for this to happen. And video chat is a LARGE program, thus, eats battery. Once accepted, just like any app or program, the problem goes away.

  • Martin

    yesterday, woke up at 540, put on some coffee and came back to bed at about 545-550…,unplugged the playbook and started browsing. watched tv (not on the playbook) and browsed during the commercials or boring parts. played nfs while i took a dump. got ready for work and then used it throughout the day for checkin emails and various browsing functions. came home and browsed and played games some more. battery showed 30% at 9:55pm…

    pretty good to me

  • Anonymous

    RIM sucks so bad…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746237253 Porfirio Reyes III

      Like your mom? 

      • Tony

         no, his mom sucks sooooo good

  • http://www.QEDMethods.com Philip

    This is a bit odd, but there’s a license agreement in the video chat that you have to agree to.  After you do that, the battery life is OK. I was very surprised to see the one I got at the BB Conference to be going through battery when it was sleeping (my iPad will live for days while sleeping, the PlayBook was lasting hours).  After agreeing to the EULA in the video chat, the battery life got much better.

    • Anonymous

       if i let my playbook sleep, it’ll last well over a week. so i don’t know what ur doing.

  • UpUpandAway

     The easiest and best fix is return the Playbook and purchase an ipad 2. Basically, what you should have bought in the first place. :)  Apple OWNS the tablet world people…..All other bown down.

    • Martin

      yea and that way we can have a new one every 2 weeks…you know, after we see the light leak/discolored screen issue and take it back, only to be given another with light leak and discolored screen issues 

  • Anonymous

     Hmm – I don’t use BBM or video chat, but I haven’t noticed any less battery than I was getting before.

  • http://twitter.com/UrbanEnigma Yves

    I’m not surprised that, of all the articles being posted about the PlayBook on other tech sites, Zach chooses this story

  • http://twitter.com/TheTigerTek TheTigerTek

    I don’t see any difference, battery life on my PlayBook is great.  

  • Jimmy K

    He he he.

    I think if you don’t accept the video chat agreement, it prevents the PB from going into full standby when not used, so it slowly drains away….

    OOPS! Ah well at least it’s an easy fix.

  • Anonymous

    I haven’t had any battery issues since the update.

  • Alexidemi

    Glad I got an iPad 2!! LOSERS!!!

  • max

    RIMjob sucks and their users do too.

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