Database Develop

Battery Life any good

Hi,
I'm thinking of changing from the M3100 to the Kaiser.
Is the battery life any better as my phone with push email goes flat so quick.
Cheers.

What do you consider "quick"?
My TyTN II is running 24/7 with a constant 3G-connection, 5 minute interval for POP3-mail and Exchange-pushmail. I also call about 45 minutes/day and send out a few SMS.
Based on my experiences so far, my battery should last about 2 days before going to backup-battery. And I think that's decent enough for the usage I demand from this device (it also helps to have 4 chargers laying around in various places).

Getting ~ 18 hours with ActiveSync email push "As items arrive", 3G / HSDPA, around ~ 3 - 5MB data download per day, ~ 30 mins calls, light GPS usage. Not pretty but given the large featureset and speed of the device (e.g. data download) one has to make compromises. A larger battery design would have been nice but a charger at home and in the office and a spare battery when at neither one do the trick as well.

davidlucas said:
I'm thinking of changing from the M3100 to the Kaiser.
Is the battery life any better as my phone with push email goes flat so quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case - rather light usage - it's roughly the same as with my previous Hermes, which means ~2 days when Auto (2/3G) mode, and ~3 days when on 2G-only mode.

Not so good on mine
I am very unhappy with mine, particularly compared with my Trinity (same usage pattern, but I get probably twice less battery).
- Listening to music on the speaker for 15-20 mins drops the battery from 100% to less than 90% (after a full night charge).
- Using GPS for 60 mins drops the battery by a 20-30%. These are not scientific measurements, but I am almost reluctant to use the device because of this.
It would seem, compared to other people’s comments, that my battery or device has a problem, so it might not be a good indicator.
Compared to Trinity (wm6), screen, performance, Bluetooth (no problems with SE DS 970) is a big improvement. Weight (190g) and size is not. Trinity felt very robust, particularly due to absence of keyboard.
Compared to Hermes, everything is much better.

Is the trinity 3G? If not, it's not a fair comparison.

Thanks for those answers.
Well I'm getting about 12 hours from my 3100 so it seems the Kasier is pretty good.

Battery 95% when started - GPS for 2+ hours + a few phone calls - battery 44%. Which I actually consider ok - GPS uses a lot of juice at the best of times. For long trips I will just use my external GPS receiver.

Most of the time you use GPS when you are in a car. Get a charger for in the car.
I have one at home, work and in the car. Works just great! Its a price to pay to be continuously online on a mobile phone, a price I am willing to pay. Just need to get used to charging even if battery isnt low.
I probably will buy a 2nd accu pack later.
If there's a Kaiser cradle that will be sooooo cool.

Battery is highly sufficient for myself.

Battery not too great for my usage patterns. 3G push all day and night, beam autoreceive off, bluetooth WIFI off. Lasts about 24 hours.
Just out of curiosity, what brightness/auto-dim/auto-off settings do you guys use?

i take my phone off the charger at 7am have push mail running and have band set to gsm. im down to 60% by 4pm with light use(30 min talk+15 min internet)
heavy use(1 hr talk + 30 minutes internet im down to 40%. subtract an extra 35-40% if i listen to internet music through BT for an hour while at the gym. when i use gps in the car i have the charger hooked up so no drain. i only use 3g when listening to internet radio watchin slingbox or surfing large pages. I dont think i could use this as a work phone without constantly chargin. at work im on the phone at least 3hrs a day.

Yep, Trinity is similar to TyTn I except no keyboard, but with GPS.
jamijam said:
Is the trinity 3G? If not, it's not a fair comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

For long calls, I rather use a normal phone than a cell phone. Because at work I am using a laptop, I got used to charge it when I am using my laptop.
What helps is change the brightness settings.

Hi. I am trying to adapt free and commercial version of bandswitch and commmgrpro to work with kaiser to be able to switch between 2G and 3G with one click and a few seconds so save batterty. Because a unknown reason the system that works in Universal, Athena and Tynt doesnt work correctly with Kaiser and Soft Reset is required. I will keep you reported.
Dani

danielherrero said:
Hi. I am trying to adapt free and commercial version of bandswitch and commmgrpro to work with kaiser to be able to switch between 2G and 3G with one click and a few seconds so save batterty. Because a unknown reason the system that works in Universal, Athena and Tynt doesnt work correctly with Kaiser and Soft Reset is required. I will keep you reported.
Dani
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's very fast if you use phone configuration... you set to GSM or AUTO, and in a few seconds you have 3G o GPRS connection..

laapsaap said:
For long calls, I rather use a normal phone than a cell phone. Because at work I am using a laptop, I got used to charge it when I am using my laptop.
What helps is change the brightness settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The power it requires to lit the Screen, the less light the less power needed. Thus making the battery last (a bit) longer

pepeto2001 said:
it's very fast if you use phone configuration... you set to GSM or AUTO, and in a few seconds you have 3G o GPRS connection..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi pepeto.
Yep, you are right, but you ve to go to phone/menu/options/band.....And this system doesnt allow to go to 3g, for example, for 10 minutes and then automatically switch back to 2G if you forgot to do it...
Its easier to do one click in today plugin....At least in my case because I ve to switch many times per day.....
Dani

My tilt battery is amazing...

i am not seeing what everyones problem with theire battery is? i havent charged my phone in days. last on the weekend, sunday to be exact. i've been browsing the web, specifically posting on these very forums, downloading programs, texting and talking on the phone as i have no house phone, and just getting to know my phone. using the action screen, ultimatelaunch, etc.
now i do notice i go from 100% to 70% in an instant but once i get under 70%, the phone is a champ. im just not seeing the issue. im getting 2 days easy. no car charger. only time i charge is at home, when im headed for bed. maybe its just me
Specs:
HTC rom (2/15/08)
stock radio
Quick menu
home plugin
action screen
home customizer
google maps
pocketcm

Interesting!
Can you provide more details on the ROM version you are using?
Go to Start/Settings/System/Device Information to get that info.
Or if you can post a screenshot of such screen, the better....
However, you failed to mention if you have used the internal GPS at all.... That's when we start seeing poor battery performance... Just after some GPS use and sometimes not even then, but at random GPS uses.
Cheers!
RayanMX

a screen shot of it would be nice

havent used the internal GPS yet.
ROM: 1.62.502.0
ROM date: 1/17/08
radio: 1.27.14.09
protocol: 22.45.88.07h

i get nearly 50hrs with my tilt.. no gps but push is active and bout 200 txts a day maybe 2h of phone calling now.. i drained it down to 0% twice b4 doing full recharges now battery seems to be good. also my screen brightness is set to the 3rd notch.. 30%.

i think the old battery (the one that had plastic on its back) had better life than the new one (the one with a solid aluminium plate) this is my second tilt, and i liked my frist one a lot more..
on my old tilt my GPS worked indoors, and the batterylife was a lot like yours due to the battery.. i get down to about 60% now at the end of the day instead of the previous 70%
the newer tilt just improved the USB plug, the battery (now it doenst get hot), and the keyboard.

I really am starting to wonder about this. I have a TyTN2 and I installed the new Google Search bar for the home screen. I saw a huge difference in how quickly the battery would die. I'm convinced this GOogle search bar was the culprit.
Now I'm wondering if I disable the really awesome HTC interface if the battery will go up accordingly. Worth a shot.

htc home is a battery sucker.. try PDC project digital clock its very easy on batt

well mine does drain a bit, mainly w/ gps.
I wonder what your doing with it? just leaving the phone on? ive got 2 days without using it. Usually mine is streaming stereo music at least and logged into irc all day, ive just been bringing my plug everywhere with me.
Do the new 6.1 roms do anything to fix this?
Also working in the cellular world, (im sure you guys know this already) if your phone is searching for signal where you are most of the day your battery will drain really fast also. When i get somewhere w/ no signal for the phone i shut that part off.

What makes a big difference is the setting of backlight. Just to see the difference, try navigating with TomTom with brightness level 0, and test it with the maximum amount. Same goes for browsing the web. The backlight consumes a lot of power. A lot of people aren't mentioning the backlight setting, so it's really hard to compare these devices with each other. So closet410, what backlight setting do you use? And maybe you should be more specific about the phone call durations, time you browse with it, etc. Some people are calling 2 hours a day or more with it, and some not even 10min in 2 days. So it's a big difference.

u guys r forgetting the most important factor, are u in a 3G area? i have tmobile usa, and only have edge, and easily get 2 days with moderate/heavy use. ive put my wifes atnt sim into my tilt, and honestly was not impressed with the increased surfing speeds. tethering is night and day difference, but not worth the insane battery drain if ur not gonna be tethering..
omar

try using WIFI on full performance... that shu kill it in about 4 hrs...

this is all basic stuff people if you dont use 3G, wifi, GPS it will last for ever! As soon as you use any of those or all at the same time your screwed. also phone calls are the worst second is wifi then GPS and the 3G

i dont use wifi/gps or 3g

I think worse is 3g.
I can listen streaming radio thru WiFi and wireless bluetooth headset for 10 hours
and just 3 hours over 3g connection

3g connection would kill the batt fast but then again if you think about it. if you are going to pay for it everymonth you might as well use it. or else the money is just going to waste. sometimes i am hesitant when turning off my 3g becuase when i start surfing again i always forget to turn it back on

no phone calls since i made the thread. just playing around with the cube for about an hour and a half. backlight setting at 15 seconds. still no internal GPS usage. had a few probelms with the cube last night so i played with it a lot. got it right now. did not charge it last night. today no texts sent and no calls. just checked the time every now and then. sitting at 25%. still havent charged it since sunday. obviously its now thursday. and others are reporting even if they dont use the phone the battery gets drained alot. did i luck up and just get a great phone? i'll keep a running log of what i do starting now. granted it wont be a scientific test but i will just keep track of what i do with th phone.

ChInEsE ChIcKeN said:
3g connection would kill the batt fast but then again if you think about it. if you are going to pay for it everymonth you might as well use it. or else the money is just going to waste. sometimes i am hesitant when turning off my 3g becuase when i start surfing again i always forget to turn it back on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
used kaiser tweaks to set it at HSDPA

closet410 said:
used kaiser tweaks to set it at HSDPA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HSDPA is amazing, get around 500-750 Kbps connection !
It's "3G" plus some.

GPS for Hiking

I'm hoping some Diamond users can help me with some questions I have.
I use memory-map os software and have been usinng it on an ipaq ppc. The ipaq has just died on me so I need a new device and rather than carry two gadgets around with me it seems to make sense to buy a smart phone. This has to be a windows device to run memory-map and the Diamond 2 seems to be the best such device in my price bracket.
The questions I haven't so far found an answer for :-
1)How long does the battery last for while using gps? Most users seem to use their gps for road naviagation in the car so don't have a problem with this but I will be using it for hiking.
2)Can the display be turned off while using the display to extend battery life?
3)How quickly does the gps obtain a fix?
TIA
Alan

Hi Alan,
I have been using GPS software with my Diamond for the last year and have mixed feelings about it.
TomTom Navigator 7 - works great - almost immediate fix - highly recommended. Works as well as a dedicated car GPS except screen is smaller.
PathAway GPS 5 with SoftMaps maps. Works fine - sometimes slow to get a fix - track log to .GPX file unreliable, you never know if it works or not and cannot rely on it because of that. Nice Pocket Mode where the unit is in sleep mode with GPS on.
GPSCycleComputer - great freeware application - live track upload to crossingways.com - I use it a lot to measure distance, speed, and build .GPX track logs to geocode my photos. I have not used it with maps.
The Diamond/GPS system has 2 problems IMO:
Problem 1: reliability. When in the field, you have to rely to your GPS and, IMO, this is not possible with my Diamond. It is too easy to hit a button accidently and disable the software. I tried different lock applications to no avail - I cannot be 100% sure, like with my Garmin GPSMap 60 CSx. Switching to another application - like phone, voice recorder or camera - and coming back is also often a problem.
Problem 2: battery life. It is possible to turn off the screen to improve battery life but you can never be sure it will resume back on - unreliable.
My Diamond is the North American unlocked version and has a 1340mah battery. Here are 2 examples of battery life:
GPSCycleComputer
Set to read GPS every minute
Set to send track to crossingways.com every minute
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Screen off
Battery life: about 4 hours
PathAway GPS 5
Screen ON 25% Pocket mode 75%
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Battery life: 2 to 3 hours
Conclusion:
In car use with TomTom: fine
Field use: as a gadget and a toy: yes - as a reliable tool to find your way back if you get lost: definitely NO. However, it is fun to use.
Regards
Jules

Jgobeil said:
Hi Alan,
I have been using GPS software with my Diamond for the last year and have mixed feelings about it.
TomTom Navigator 7 - works great - almost immediate fix - highly recommended. Works as well as a dedicated car GPS except screen is smaller.
PathAway GPS 5 with SoftMaps maps. Works fine - sometimes slow to get a fix - track log to .GPX file unreliable, you never know if it works or not and cannot rely on it because of that. Nice Pocket Mode where the unit is in sleep mode with GPS on.
GPSCycleComputer - great freeware application - live track upload to crossingways.com - I use it a lot to measure distance, speed, and build .GPX track logs to geocode my photos. I have not used it with maps.
The Diamond/GPS system has 2 problems IMO:
Problem 1: reliability. When in the field, you have to rely to your GPS and, IMO, this is not possible with my Diamond. It is too easy to hit a button accidently and disable the software. I tried different lock applications to no avail - I cannot be 100% sure, like with my Garmin GPSMap 60 CSx. Switching to another application - like phone, voice recorder or camera - and coming back is also often a problem.
Problem 2: battery life. It is possible to turn off the screen to improve battery life but you can never be sure it will resume back on - unreliable.
My Diamond is the North American unlocked version and has a 1340mah battery. Here are 2 examples of battery life:
GPSCycleComputer
Set to read GPS every minute
Set to send track to crossingways.com every minute
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Screen off
Battery life: about 4 hours
PathAway GPS 5
Screen ON 25% Pocket mode 75%
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Battery life: 2 to 3 hours
Conclusion:
In car use with TomTom: fine
Field use: as a gadget and a toy: yes - as a reliable tool to find your way back if you get lost: definitely NO. However, it is fun to use.
Regards
Jules
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply Jules. That is very helpful. It sounds like the Diamond will not do the main job I want it for then.

Memory Map with hTC diamond
Works very well on Diamond. Quick GPS fix. Battery life not great as in most GPS phones. I just have the map loaded & use as necessary. I would not be without it. Also works very well with tom Tom & Garmin XT.

Like you, i used MM on an ipaq and now use it on the HTC. The big adavantage over the HTC over the ipaq is that you can switch it to standby to conserve battery power and it will immediatly come back to life with gps signal.

ahardie said:
Thanks for your reply Jules. That is very helpful. It sounds like the Diamond will not do the main job I want it for then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should know that there are extened batteries for diamond that take the battery life to really high values. I posted a review of a 3000 mah Mugen battery here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3447797#post3451845 (read the posts after that as well, for instance this one) ... it is a huge battery but well worth if you are looking for something for "in the field". There is also a Mugen 2000 mah version and an official HTC 1350 mah version. The Mugen ones are *very* high quality, don't confuse them with the cheap chinese/asian crap that are all over ebay or the internet.
I've never had the problem with the screen coming back on when I don't want it and I use GPS Cycle Computer all the time. You switch off the screen from the GPSCC interface and it stays that way (unless someone calls you or you power it on from the power button, of course).

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful.

Last but not least - in my hikes i don't look constantly at GPS - I prefer the views, so only sometimes I check my position on track crossing, or when I'm not sure of my position.
GPS fix - flash better radio, and you will have instant fix (outdoors), try 1.15
Switching off - just use the sleep button. It will switch the gps off.
Good luck!

Battery and no signal

Hi all, I just got my HTC Pure over the weekend and I had a question from those with more experiecne.
First I know (or I think) that the battery life will improve over the next week or so as the battery gets used and charged. Today however was an issue. The phone came off the charger this morning at 100% and then went to work. While at work there is absolutely no signal in the building. (never has been) The only time it was on the network was a 1 hour lunch, and then light internet use for approx 25 minutes this evening. That is all, no calls, nothing, and it had 19% battery left in only 12 hours off the charger.
Again, I am sure that it will improve, but the question is ... does being off the network (GSM) drain the battery faster? Does the phone use a lot of charge "searching" for signal?
I am sure that there are a lot of things that I could do to extend battery life, as a work around (no bluetooth, plug it in to the USB on the computer at work, turn off 3g etc) but I was just curious if someone in the know on how the network and battery use go together if the dead zone is the biggest problem.
Thanks

Not exactly scientific results, but before att put decent coverage in my neighborhood, the battery seemed to drain a lot faster. I guess turning it off would help, but down to 19% that quick just seems ridiculous

cmstackar said:
Not exactly scientific results, but before att put decent coverage in my neighborhood, the battery seemed to drain a lot faster. I guess turning it off would help, but down to 19% that quick just seems ridiculous
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny enough it is my wifes first smart phone. I was just looking at it to change some things to better suit her needs. When I opened the task manager I discovered that a) the programs would only minimize when the X button was pushed, not close and b) windows Live messenger was loaded. I would guess that even though she was not signed in on live messenger it could have killed the battery. Gonna make a couple of tweaks to ensure that it does not fire up again, and see what it looks like tomorrow.

So today was better, but she seems to have had intermittent service. Her media net indicates that it was connected all afternoon. She burned through 40% battery in the AM and only 18% in the afternoon.
I would imagine that the location services for the weather on the sense home screen as well as possibly push email running out of control searching for the signal. I will turn things off 1 at a time until I find out what is driving the battery loss.
Is there any software to monitor battery use and what was using the battery? There is in android.

O.k. continue to have issues with this phone.
Tested last night. Charged to 100% and then light use. Approx 10% down after 3 hours.
Set commmanagerpro to turn off the data and phone radio during the hours my wife is at work. She called today and the screen is showing that the phone radio is off, but it has lost 90% in less than 4 hours. She also said it is hot.
Maybe her purse is somehow turning the screen on? Would the screen being on without any radios cause the phone to plow through battery?
I am gonna try a battery monitoring app and see if it will tell me anything. Its freekin weird.

What radio version are you running?
You may want to consider flashing to a different Radio ROM.

try to see if there are any TSR, residente program, active, maybe be the the problem...
as far as radio versions the 4.49.25.91, for my exprience run far...
you can try to swcht to other radio version...

I am using the AT&T stock radio. I flashed to the energy ROM, but the battery issue is so extreme that I doubt that the radio or the ROM are the driving factor.
She does have 3 magnets in her purse. 2 magnetic catches on her side pockets and 1 on her wallet. While I could not reproduce the device turning on by itself from the magnets, that does not mean that it is not.
The other thing is that there was some warning on the screen about the GPS signal. I imagine that is a side effect of turning off the radios, but maybe not. Is the GPS always on normally? Would a GPS pop up cause the screen to stay on for possibly 3 hours.
This afternoons test will be having her leave her phone in her jacket pocket rather than her purse. We will see how it goes.

saunet_ptg said:
try to see if there are any TSR, residente program, active, maybe be the the problem...
as far as radio versions the 4.49.25.91, for my exprience run far...
you can try to swcht to other radio version...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will look at that radio. I doubt its a program since I had no problems with it at home last night. It has to be environmental. My money is on the purse, but we will see. I'll post later and let you know what we came up with.
There was a few days ago where she lost 60% of her battery in the morning but only 12% after lunch, so that convinces me that it should be something that we can identify and work around.

Energy's ROM may have included the radio.
I had horrible luck with .91 and flashed back to .17.
Symptoms of a bad radio are rapid battery drain and device heating up.
Also, if the device heats up, it will no longer charge until the battery cools down.
If you have AGPS enabled, that was likely your error message when you turned off the radio.
A couple of pointers;
Make sure you monitor which programs are running as you may just be minimizing instead of closing.
Check your power settings and make sure to turn off screen after X minutes
make sure all updates (weather, e-mail, stocks, etc) are set to every hour.

Bruce Inman said:
Energy's ROM may have included the radio.
I had horrible luck with .91 and flashed back to .17.
Symptoms of a bad radio are rapid battery drain and device heating up.
Also, if the device heats up, it will no longer charge until the battery cools down.
If you have AGPS enabled, that was likely your error message when you turned off the radio.
A couple of pointers;
Make sure you monitor which programs are running as you may just be minimizing instead of closing.
Check your power settings and make sure to turn off screen after X minutes
make sure all updates (weather, e-mail, stocks, etc) are set to every hour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your advise. The biggest area of opportunity from your list for me is the Radio I think.
The rapid discharge of the battery due to a bad flash, would that be location specific? The rapid drain only seems to happen in a spot where she has no signal (thus the reason I programed it to turn off the radio in those hours)
The running program should no be an issue. To prevent that, as a matter of standard setup for my phones, they have a small script that soft resets them every morning a 4am, so that they are fresh and clean for the start of the day.
As for updates, I have adjusted everything that I can, and some did not have any effect (mostly because the radio was off, can't save much more than that).
I do leave the bluetooth on all day. That should not be draining the battery in 3.5 hours though. I have read a lot of the battery life threads and many of the ideas would cripple the phone, and I am not going there. Sure maybe I don't need weather updated every 30 minutes, but I want me email when it comes in, not once every few hours. I also don't want to have to push 20 buttons each time I want to make the internet work. Its this kind of usability that sells iPhones... I hate them, but they really do just work... and my wife wants a phone that you don't need to be an expert to use.

boufa said:
Thank you for your advise. The biggest area of opportunity from your list for me is the Radio I think.
The rapid discharge of the battery due to a bad flash, would that be location specific? The rapid drain only seems to happen in a spot where she has no signal (thus the reason I programed it to turn off the radio in those hours).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know how to view your radio version? Its listed on the bottom of your phone when you reset, the 3 numbers that display, R is the radio version.
You can go to the radio thread and flash another version, just keep testing different versions until you get one that works well. Radio ROMs will not overwrite your data.
Radio's are definitely location specific in regards to region and carrier.
Borderline coverage is a major battery killer, but you're disabling the radio, which should resolve that issue...
G-Profile is a nice app that allows you to set what type of connection and when.

Bruce Inman said:
Energy's ROM may have included the radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine didn't and I used the May 1st update. Still Stock.
If no signal is happening in the building, I would think it's the various things continuously trying to run, like Email, GPS etc. Constant failed attempts to update your phone's apps would definitely drag the battery down in a hurry. I have my email set to 3 hrs. updates along with weather updates. Nothing I do is so important at this point in my life that faster than 3 hr. responses are required. I also don't use things like Tweeter and FaceBook so those aren't constantly eating my battery. I get about 1.5 to 2.0 days from my battery currently.

Here is the current (no pun intended) testing results...
This AM 3.5 hours used 100% of the battery (in the purse)
This PM 4 hours used 21% of the battery (in the jacket pocket)
Gonna try to leave the phone outside of the purse all day friday and see what the results are. Then see how it works around the house on saturday, in a standard limited use type scenerio. Then Sunday put it into the purse and see if it becomes an issue again.
If all of this works out that the purse it the problem, then I will start tweaking it out, and changing radio's etc to get the max I can out of the battery.

boufa said:
Here is the current (no pun intended) testing results...
This AM 3.5 hours used 100% of the battery (in the purse)
This PM 4 hours used 21% of the battery (in the jacket pocket)
Gonna try to leave the phone outside of the purse all day friday and see what the results are. Then see how it works around the house on saturday, in a standard limited use type scenerio. Then Sunday put it into the purse and see if it becomes an issue again.
If all of this works out that the purse it the problem, then I will start tweaking it out, and changing radio's etc to get the max I can out of the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So today we left it out of the purse. Here is what we got...
On the table next to the computer, so confirmed that the screen is NOT activating at all. Phone radio off, data off.
AM... used 40% in 4 hours.
Better, but still not good. Gonna try to ensure that the email is set for longer, currently it is set for 10 minutes, and then try to turn off a-gps and the regular gps and make sure that those things are not killing the battery. Then flash a new radio. We'll see how that works next week.
First, test it and watch it over normal, with signal, average 4 hours at home this weekend. I think it will do great... meaning that it is the purse, or the environment that is causing the problem.

I don't know if anyone is following my personal drama, but maybe it will come up in a search some day and help someone.
Here is the saturday update.
Took the phone off charge at 2am and looked at it at 11 am this morning. Used only 2% in those 9 hours. So it is definitely NOT a defective device, or battery. (it actually charges up in only a couple of hours)
So looking into the profile schedule manager that I installed, turns out it has not been running. So the whole purse/no purse thing may be horse hockey still. Monday I will be setting it manually to airplane mode to verify that it holds a charge, then finding a new program to do the scheduling. (looking into phonealarm)
If the radio was on, at full power searching for a signal, it would only last approx 4 - 5 hours at best. So it makes sense that this is what is happening.

Urbane 2 is not a cycling fitness device

I'm now 3 days into having a refurbished UB2 and learning what it can and cannot do, its limits, before I rely on it.
I have a usual bike loop of about 70 miles with 6000ft of ascent and I do it in about 5hr30m typically. I thought I'd try the UB2 "standalone" off from BT, left the mobile at home, to see what happened.
The UB2 was losing 25% of its battery an hour meaning it cannot do more than 4 hours. It kept connecting / disconnecting. It had no clue about my actual calories, I was using Google Fit and it was giving the same dumb 500Cals/hour even when going up a steep hill, it seemed to only know about speed even though GPS obviously knows you are going up or down hill, so it was showing me burning calories quickly on a downhill and slowly on an uphill when the truth is the opposite. If all it is going to do use is elapsed time, I can do that math easily.
As I had no mobile with me, the problem was the UB2 was my emergency phone so I took it off my wrist, when I got to 44% of power left at around 2 hours in to ensure it was not flat, connected it to power (I have a USB power socket on my bike via front dynohub) to top it up, and then Google Fit determined the act of connecting to power must equal I was no longer biking when not true so it stopped the timer.
I have previously tried Google Fit on a mobile and it drained the mobile battery pretty fast too.
The heartrate was unreliable, I was getting between 56 and 133. It seems reliable when stationary but not when moving, so meaning its not going to accurately tell you much of value.
The GPS got stuck and it stopped recording distance. I was not sure if this was me trying LG's fitness app (which I cannot uninstall) vs Google Fit, I was wondering these competed for GPS and the watch got confused?
The radio frequencies, across 2g 3g 4g were in general worse coverage than a mobile, I was getting no signal on UB2 in places I'd get a signal with a mobile.
Probably this is a better device for walker/runners who go out for less time, more in urban situations near stronger radio signals.
I have now flashed to AW2 and will try it again, see if its less dumb than AW1.5. I think I'm going to totally give up Google Fit, its laughably less than useless given its wildly wrong and a battery drain, and just go away from mobile and see how long it lasts.
I'm not sure what is the point of LTE and a stiff band for antennae, if it holds a weak signal, nor of it being a fitness device if using it more than a 4 hours makes it go flat, nor what is the point of the heartrate monitor which is so wildly inaccurate.
Still, could have been worse, I could have paid double with the LG Sport. :laugh:

I'm not a cyclist but I've been recording my runs since the original release of the watch in November 2015. It doesn't compare to fitness focused devices like Garmin for battery life, HRM, etc., but with some trial and error I've setup mine to be perfect for my needs. I use ghostracer to record activities. It is very customisable and has many metrics to choose from. The developer is a cyclist as are many that use it, and responds quickly to questions/issues over in Google+.
I've noticed with mine the GPS is spotty if the watch contacts sweat/moisture, similar to the same issue with the SW3. I started wearing a 2" wristband under the watch for runs about a year ago and the GPS has been nearly perfect since then, in rain/snow/heat. The built in HRM isn't the best during activities but ghostracer also allows you to connect a BT chest strap for much more accuracy, since I'm wearing a wristband this is handy if I choose to use one. I also use Wear GPS (same developer) to get a lock before I switch over to ghostracer and I'm always paired through LTE to my phone that I leave in the car. I think this improves GPS as well with assisted data from the phone. I don't think they meant for the battery to last like other trackers, but I can get a few hours or more out of it and for my running that's plenty. If I ever run another marathon, I may have to find an alternative, but a half should be no problem. I've had pretty good cell signal and that probably helps but I'm sure it doesn't receive as well as a phone. For me the watch was a big improvement. Streaming bluetooth music from audio on the watch while tracking GPS and having a phone available has been great. It's nice leaving the phone behind. I just forward calls to the watch during runs.

mward1995 said:
...ghostracer ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll look up ghostracer, thanks.
Today I was all alone with no mobile and just the UB2 running AW2 developer preview.
The battery life was about the same problem, and often, more often than with a mobile, I lost cellular connectivity. Now on reading up on AW2 that loss of connectivity may be deliberate as it turns LTE on/off as an app needs it, i.e. if the app collects data every 5 mins but waits til say 30 mins to upload, then that would mean one brief LTE enablement per 30 mins, so the fewer apps running wanting to talk to the mobile/cloud the better. I still however got about 25% battery loss per hour so in effect a 4 hour maximum usage. That is fine for runner and the shorter bike rides. I'm not clear if the cloud with an arrow through it on the display = "I can connect but I'm choosing not to" or "I can't connect".
I used Strava, and it was losing GPS and saying "paused" even when I was moving, but on getting home and looking at the ride, it seem to have fairly accurately guessed I must have been moving between getting GPS signals and estimated what I'd done in between, fairly accurately.
So you reckon a damp wrist worsens GPS? Surely your wrist is down and GPS is up so they should not interfere? It would interfere with pulse checking?
To turn 4 hours battery life into 5-6 hours of my actual ride, on long downhills I took the watch off and connected to power, I could see the green flashing of the heartrate monitor flashing, and due the weak magnetic connection to the USB cable, I was forced to ride one-handed to pinch the UB2 to its cable, but doing that I managed to top-up battery and got home without a flat battery. The Strava ride shows the periods of no pulse but otherwise looks reasonably accurate of route, moving times, mileage.
So now I know its standalone battery limits of about 4 hours, I will try it next with it BT connected to a mobile in a pocket, as then it only has to do BT not LTE, and possibly it doesn't have to do GPS as the phone does, see if that helps. I keep the mobile connected to power so its reasonably able to withstand its tasks, and hopefully the asks of the UB2 are reduced to last longer.

FYI today I had the UB2 on AW1.5 current stock and had cellular off, and it was BT tethered to my phone. I told the UB2 I was about to road cycle. It went into battery saving after about 5 hours and stopped doing anything fitness related. It did say it was using the phone for GPS and obviously it was only doing BT, not Wifi or LTE.
On Google Fit it got the time about right but the distance completely wrong. Calories quite a bit wrong too.
Basically, its rubbish as a cycling fitness device whether its standalone or tethered.

Not to come off improperly, but your review doesn't mean a whole lot since you're not using a proper app. The guy above mentioned ghost racer yet you go back out and use Google fit again and expect different results. It's like eating soup with a fork. GR is a great app. Install it, use it, then post a review.
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