Random Turn-off when battery is less than 50%

[Dixit]

I experienced these kind of shut-downs on my Gemini as well, both on Android 7 as on 8. I do think, that the battery is getting worn out.

It is getting stranger and stranger. Today the Gemini was at 33%. The screen suddenly went orange (power safe mode) and I saw the battery percentage drop to 0%, followed by an immediate shut-down. This was, therefore, not a sudden black-out, it went 'controlled', be it, that the battery dropped from 33% to 0 in two seconds.

I then restarted the Gemini and it came back on 25%. Euh, ok...
After which the power steeply dropped and within three minutes it was again on 5%, after which I put it on the charger. Now, some 25 minutes later, it is happily at 34% and charging.

I would not be too happy with a battery failing after only one year of service.

[RSS]

I recently started getting this issue too. I'll be using Termux just below 50% battery life and all of a sudden, the battery saver mode will enable (that orange/red theme) and the Gemini will turn off.
This never used to happen with Android 7, only 8. I have noticed the battery life becoming much shorter than what it used to be, so I do hope this is a firmware issue. If not, then I also wouldn't mind purchasing a new battery.

[jakfish]

I can chime in too: stock Nougat often screen-blanks when I start calling through Skype. It doesn't shut down the machine, the call still goes through (mostly), but a Skype call clearly makes a power demand the Gem can't meet.

This happens regardless of battery level.

Jake

[smapmap]

I experienced the random shutdown issue with Oreo - I contacted Planet and they advised re-flashing back to 7 until they figured out what was causing the issue. Seems to be related to the battery calibration as far as I can tell but meditek haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. Back to 7 it is for me....

[gidds]

Hmmm — my policy of sticking to Android 7 for the time being seems to have paid off!  (Unfortunately...)

Now, if only there was some way of preventing Firmware Update notifications twice a day...

[Konehaltia]

I've had the same random shut-off problem with my Gemini for over a year now.

At first, it seemed to occur only rarely. I didn't take any specific notes, but it seemed to generally happen in conditions with bad radio connectivity, like on a moving train or on a mountain, and only when the device was in active use. It never shut off in my pocket. Every time, the screen just went blank with no warning. Yet, when I started it back up, it would have a high battery level and continue to run normally for hours more.

More recently, the shutoffs became more frequent. Sometimes, after I started it up after the first shutoff, it would happen again as soon as it finished booting and got to the PIN code screen. Sometimes this even repeated 3 or 4 times.

The shutoffs have never happened while the Gemini is plugged into the official USB charger, so it definitely seems like a power issue.

I'm not sure if the reason it's been getting more frequent is the Android 8 upgrade or not. It could simply be the battery wearing out over time, since recently I've also been seeing some normal signs of the battery getting old, such as it showing 10% left and then suddenly jumping to 0% and showing a "powering off" message. To be clear, the low-battery shutoffs are a different issue that I've also had with other phones when the battery gets old. The blank-screen shutoffs are different - the battery level doesn't matter at all, and the shutoff is instant, with no message.

At any case, I got to borrow my friend's almost-unused Gemini a couple of weeks ago. I upgraded it to Android 8, and I've been using it normally ever since. It hasn't shut off once. Either it doesn't have the same bug, or the battery on it is still fresh. At any case, the problem is clearly not caused by Android 8 alone, though it may of course happen more often if Android 8 uses the battery in a different way.

However, the new Gemini does have the disappearing SD card issue mentioned earlier in this thread. I didn't use an SD card with the old Gemini, so I hadn't seen the issue before, and don't know if it would have happened with Android 7.

[Radovan Garabík]

I've had the same random shut-off problem with my Gemini for over a year now.

It happened to me only about twice (in half a year or so). I was not paying much attention to it, considering it a random fluke, but I remember once the Gemini was quite maxed out (connected via HSDPA and running as an access point, while simultaneously I started a browser on it). Perhaps there is no reasonable margin of error in the maximum battery current and random increase in power consumption switches on the protective circuit and cuts the power.

[loop]

My Gemini also turned off a couple of times (in a row) when the battery level was below 40%. I drained the battery to 5% (running Linux as Android obviously cannot be used for that), then turned the device off, charged to 100%, and started Android. The problem seems to have disappeared.

[Ifanafi]

Yep, my Gemini SUDDENLY (and invariably) shuts itself off / powers down during EVERY PHONE CALL.

Planet says it is a known issue (with "select" carriers?).

Some users say they've dropped their Gemini and suggest that a hard impact might be the cause or a causative factor.

BTW, I had never dropped the device until recently and thereafter (coincidently?) this shut down issue began.

Frankly, this sudden powering OFF has rendered my Gemini g-damn USELESS.

Ifanafi

-------------------------------------

Hi guys,

I am using mi Gemini as my daily driver. I use Android, because it seems to be only full featured OS so far.
Recently I noticed strange behavior.

My Gemini is sometimes randomly turning off. It happens when battery is about 38%. But it happened about 30% too. But never when batter was full.
If device is in idle mode, it is OK. But when I am doing something - browsing in Firefox for example, or in the middle of call with someone - Gemini screen just turns black. Then I must turn it on by long pressing "On" button. It boots up Android. And if I do same thing (run Firefox) right after boot, it mostly crashes to black screen again. If I wait for few minutes after boot it is in most cases OK (for some time), sometimes I must charge battery and then it is OK.

Anyone with same issues? Or any thougts? From mine point of view it seems to be some problem with battery or with Gemini itself. Because it happens only on energy-intensive activities (which I suppose having phone call or running big app like Firefox is).

[Ifanafi]

Ditto the same issue exactly.

My Gemini is now USELESS as a cell phone.

Planet says to revert back to Android 7 (from upgrade until they release a fix soon.

We know what 'soon' means in Planet Speak....!

Ifanafi
-----------------------

Mine has recently started to "turn off" as well. However, it does not appear to have anything to do with the battery level. It has only happened when I have been using the phone... After a couple of minutes the Gemini suddenly is dead, requiring a Esc long-press to come back to life.  Still on 7...

SNi

Hi guys,

I am using mi Gemini as my daily driver. I use Android, because it seems to be only full featured OS so far.
Recently I noticed strange behavior.

My Gemini is sometimes randomly turning off. It happens when battery is about 38%. But it happened about 30% too. But never when batter was full.
If device is in idle mode, it is OK. But when I am doing something - browsing in Firefox for example, or in the middle of call with someone - Gemini screen just turns black. Then I must turn it on by long pressing "On" button. It boots up Android. And if I do same thing (run Firefox) right after boot, it mostly crashes to black screen again. If I wait for few minutes after boot it is in most cases OK (for some time), sometimes I must charge battery and then it is OK.

Anyone with same issues? Or any thougts? From mine point of view it seems to be some problem with battery or with Gemini itself. Because it happens only on energy-intensive activities (which I suppose having phone call or running big app like Firefox is).

[Ifanafi]

Update From:

Customer Care (Planet Computers)
Sep 4, 12:53 WEST

"Unfortunately, we have not yet been provided with information on when there will be a fix. All we can say and know is that both Planet and Mediatek are looking into the issue to try and find a fix for it.

As it stands right now, reverting to Android 7 would the best stable choice.

We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards,
Customer Care Team"

...and so it goes from nice toy to useless (as a cell phone) POS.

Ifanafi

--------------------------

Ditto the same issue exactly.

My Gemini is now USELESS as a cell phone.

Planet says to revert back to Android 7 (from upgrade until they release a fix soon.

We know what 'soon' means in Planet Speak....!

Ifanafi
-----------------------

Mine has recently started to "turn off" as well. However, it does not appear to have anything to do with the battery level. It has only happened when I have been using the phone... After a couple of minutes the Gemini suddenly is dead, requiring a Esc long-press to come back to life.  Still on 7...

SNi

Hi guys,

I am using mi Gemini as my daily driver. I use Android, because it seems to be only full featured OS so far.
Recently I noticed strange behavior.

My Gemini is sometimes randomly turning off. It happens when battery is about 38%. But it happened about 30% too. But never when batter was full.
If device is in idle mode, it is OK. But when I am doing something - browsing in Firefox for example, or in the middle of call with someone - Gemini screen just turns black. Then I must turn it on by long pressing "On" button. It boots up Android. And if I do same thing (run Firefox) right after boot, it mostly crashes to black screen again. If I wait for few minutes after boot it is in most cases OK (for some time), sometimes I must charge battery and then it is OK.

Anyone with same issues? Or any thougts? From mine point of view it seems to be some problem with battery or with Gemini itself. Because it happens only on energy-intensive activities (which I suppose having phone call or running big app like Firefox is).

[smapmap]

Update From:

Customer Care (Planet Computers)
Sep 4, 12:53 WEST

"Unfortunately, we have not yet been provided with information on when there will be a fix. All we can say and know is that both Planet and Mediatek are looking into the issue to try and find a fix for it.

As it stands right now, reverting to Android 7 would the best stable choice.

We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards,
Customer Care Team"

...and so it goes from nice toy to useless (as a cell phone) POS.

Ifanafi

There must be a battery calibration issue with the Gemini - this is my experience...
- on Nougat, sometimes I'd plug it in and wake up the next day and the battery hadn't charged but was super hot. Bizarre.
. Sometimes on Oreo, I'll see the phone randomly turn off without warning.
- Other times the battery will drain to zero super fast, and yet when I plug it into charge (whilst off) will sometimes register as 40-50% full. The OS and battery are out of kilter.
- I rarely get more than 8 hrs before I have to charge it again (Oreo seems even worse then Nougat for power utilisation) - I'd expect 2 days of usage out of a 4400mAh battery...

I can't help but think all of this is related. There is something not right about the way the Gemini has been set up - I think it really needs to be optimised.

Whilst Planet figure this out, I've tried draining my battery to zero, restarting a few times until the Gemini turns itself off, and then charging from zero to 100% with the phone off. I then disconnect the charger and turn the phone on. Hopefully the phone will register a full charge, if not I plug it in whilst on until 100% is reached. This seems to have helped a bit but it's not 100%.

[mithrandir]

Hoping for higher capacity 3rd party replacement batteries in the future...
Unfortunately Planet did not include a larger one with the Gemini or the Cosmo...

[smapmap]

Hoping for higher capacity 3rd party replacement batteries in the future...
Unfortunately Planet did not include a larger one with the Gemini or the Cosmo...

You think a 4000mAh battery woudl last at least a day though - the screen must be an absolute power hog??

[jakfish]

I think my battery is shot. Anybody know where we can find replacements?

Jake