So, just so I understand you correctly, what you're saying is...

...if you have the phone powered on, and place a call...talk on the phone for say...2 hours...the battery indicator still shows a fully charged battery when, in fact, the indicator should instead read that the battery has been drained to half of its capacity...right?  Yet, if you immediately plug the phone in to charge, the battery indicator suddenly displays the correct amount of battery life, right?

Now, mind you, my Motorola i90c does something similar.  It will display a full 3 levels of battery power even though the battery is at 50% capacity.  However, the second I go to charge it, the battery indicator reads like I would expect it to (i.e,. 1/2 charged...and then the charging on/off portion being displayed).  Now, this is NOT all that uncommon, but it can be disconcerting if you find that you have a VERY important phone call and your battery indicator shows a full charge, when there is really only 1/2 a charge...or...when you have 1/2 charge (i.e., good for a 90-100 minute call), but the battery only REALLY has enough charge left for merely a 10 minute call.  Trust me, I've been there in that situation.

Now, as far as I know, that's not a malfunction since all cell phones operate that way to a certain degree (or at least that's been my personal experience).  Now, if your battery is nearly drained and it still indicates a full charge, then that's a problem.  If you want to be on the safe side, have the phone examined at your local SprintNextel store to confirm if there is a problem or not.  You can also call Motorola (or email them) directly to see if they are aware of such a problem.

Historically, iDEN phones eat up more battery power than their GSM-only or CDMA-only cousins.  Just the way things are.  In the mean time, you may want to invest in a car charger (and perhaps another battery...preferrably the extended kind).

Yeah...it is a bit wierd.  I think it's the formula (equation?) that Motorola calculates to determine the current battery charge capacity.  It's obviously NOT the same as it is with BB devices.

Like I said, try running the phone battery completely to empty.  See if the battery capacity icon changes at all without you having to plug it in.  Keep in mind that the standard battery for the Motorola i1 is set up for 100 hours of stand-by time and up to 3.5 hours (210 minutes) of non-stop talk time.  When you test it, keep ALL of the bells and whistles on (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, Android sync should be set to the fastest interval).  That way the phone drains the battery that much faster.  If you see no difference in how much battery power you have after a few days (of actual use...say place a few phone calls, download a few Google apps, surf the internet, etc.), then odds are that somethig on the phone is malfunctioning.

Good luck and keep us updated on what you end up finding out.

It sounds like we may have a quality control issue in the making now.

Throws my two cents in.

I have two motorola razrs and two motorola em330's. The same thing happens! The battery level indicates full charge, but when I plug the charger in I see the inducator drop a few bars. I talked to motorola- they were clueless, apparently noone has ever reported such problem. Their reply was to simply point out that the phones are under warrenty for the first year and to return them- which to be honest, would be a complete waist of time, because I dont think the four individual phones are defective.

My solution?

Plug in the phone to the charger daily. Shrugs, not the best solution, but it works fer Me

taxman

I've had similar issues with my previous Motorola iDEN phones as well.  The phones will claim that they are fully charged when not plugged in to charge, but plug in the phones, and sure enough the phone battery indicator shows usually around 50% charge...or less.  It seems like wishful thinking to me...maybe this is Motorola's "you're charging it wrong" version of Apple's (err...Steve Jobs') "You're holding it wrong!"???  Or maybe it's an "algorithym" issue? Again, the Apple pun.   I couldn't resist.

Anyhow, I've personally placed an email to Motorola to let them know of the problem and to see if there is a solution that will be created.  One can only hope, eh?

In a word: Agreed.

Well, since 2002 I have had four Nextel Motorola iDEN phones, one Nextel Motorola PowerSource phone, spouse has had two Verizon Motorola phones. That's a total of 7 Moto's we've had in the past eight years and not a single one of them has ever had any issues with the battery level indicator, either when charging or when off-charger. So to say this is an inherent problem with Motorola phones is not accurate.

That said, Motorola's quality has definietly plummeted downward over the years.

The old Motorola, the one that designed and built positively bulletproof, properly engineered devices, is long gone. Shed a tear for what once was an excellent American company with a clear mission and the world's best products in its markets. Say hello to the "new" corporate America that does not value a job well done, one that only focuses on the maximum profit in the shortest time and the quickest move onto the next glitzy product that generates buzz.

To an extent, Joe public is responsible. During the 1990's and early 2000's we got to where we expected, and now demand, annual returns of 10-20% or more for all the stocks in our 401k's and our other investments. We rode the stock market bubble for so long we think the returns of the 1990's are normal. Any  corporation in a mature market that is forced to give shareholders those historically very high rates of return, HAS to cut corners to make those kinds of profits and generate those levels of year-on-year increases in share price.

Not to mention, we Americans also want the latest products, packed with ever more features, delivered to our doors while paying almost nothing. And we want ANOTHER new one that is even more whiz-bang than the last one, for less money, within six months.

Although poor corporate management is mostly to blame, we the people also share in the blame because we demand consistent quarterly profits and unreasonably high annual returns. Maybe you as individuals don't demant that, but America as a whole does demand it, and all of us are caught up in the stampede for profits & growth, and things like stellar out-of-the-box quality and durable products are what is sacrificed.

There are not enough engineers to perform all the required testing to guarantee a trouble-free product, and the deadlines they must meet for product introduction keep them on a dead-run every single day of the workweek, year after year, and a lot of quality engineering is sacrificed and significant compromises are made every single day. They, too, want to keep their jobs.

Is it shameful that Motorola has slipped so far down in quality? Absolutely. Do we as consumers and investors in America have anything to do with that? Yes, as a group, we definitely do. So "you pays your money and you takes your choice" and you live with the consequences. You want consistently high rates of return in your stock portfolio? Then don't complain about less-than-durable, less-than-perfect commodity products.

   - Nxtl4me