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Before anyone accuse me of it, I did, in fact, look through the other battery threads on this forum (and other forums, for that matter), and I've already applied numerous tricks. I managed to get my phone to last roughly 9 hours from my typical usage, which now makes it comparable to other phones I've used in the past.
However, in about a day or two, I'm going to be getting a bluetooth headset...which basically means that I'm going to need to keep the Captivate's bluetooth on 24/7 (or, at least, most of the day). I really don't know how much battery this is going to cost me on the Captivate, so I'm trying my best to make things better now to make things smooth in the future. However, I appear to be at the end of my rope.
I have pretty much gimped the Captivate as much as one could reasonably take (more, I'd dare argue). I cut all of my volume down to half of what it was and I removed most of the quick icons. I also set a completely black wallpaper, I turned off all animation, and I turned the brightness down to its lowest setting.
I honestly don't know how to make it any worse. The SAMOLED screen is basically a meaningless PR term to me now and I'm actually missing phone calls from sheer lacking of hearing my phone ring...despite it being right in my pocket.
Going even further, I also attempted to switch to ADW.Launcher based upon recommendations by others that it increases battery life (I found that it had little to no effect). I also attempted to severely underclock my CPU (down to 200Mhz) based, again, upon other claims that it increases their battery life all the way to as high as 30+ hours on a single full charge.
Somehow, underclocking my CPU actually made the battery die out faster.
Furthermore, I attempted to use programs (SMODA, 2G/3G) which claim they allow me to switch to EDGE because, for some God-forsaken reason, Android doesn’t seem to have any toggle for doing it. Unfortunately, none of them seem to work; rather than switching to 2G, they all just completely disabled data, which, unfortunately, is completely unacceptable to me. So at this point, I only seem to have a few more extreme (from my perspective) options. Once I actually get the bluetooth, I plan to turn off most of the auto-updating apps (email, weather, twitter, etc), and just update them myself periodically. Furthermore, I plan to turn off the GPS location feature once I get my GPS unit.
Beyond the above, though, as I said, I'm at the end of my rope. Once I employ the other tricks, I figure I might be able to stretch battery life to 9.5-10 hours, but I would like to go even further. If anyone could offer me some help, I would highly appreciate it.
if your gonna have a bluetooth headset on disable your ringtone completly that would be meaning less. if your near wi-fi a lot have it connect only though that.
also you can clock the cpu down to 100Mhz along with the GPU.
AND to force 2G/edge read my howto in general
oh the ext2 lagfix can also save you some battery life
xatrekak said:
if your gonna have a bluetooth headset on disable your ringtone completly that would be meaning less. if your near wi-fi a lot have it connect only though that.
also you can clock the cpu down to 100Mhz along with the GPU.
AND to force 2G/edge read my howto in general
oh the ext2 lagfix can also save you some battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm already doing the first sans disabling ringtone. I'm not so sure doing such a thing would be acceptable to me.
As for the underlocking suggestion, as I said, I underclocked the CPU all the way down to 200Mhz and the battery actually drained even faster. I doubt underclocking even further is going to help. Furthermore, I actually did try 100Mhz originally, but the performance was so horrendous that it was unbearable.
As for the lag fix, I already have it. Lastly, I knew about that 4636 technique to switch to 2G already, but, unfortunately, it doesn't appear to work for me. The setting doesn't save and 3G still remains.
EDIT: I actually found a way to make the above work. Simply dial *#*#197328640#*#*, then go Debug Screen > Phone Control > UE State Control > Change RAT to GSM. This will actually force your phone to use GSM only. This seems like the answer to all of my battery problems....except it doesn't work. Once you make the change, the INFO menu reports that it has been changed to 'GSM Only', but data appears to have been disabled. Restarting your phone makes data works again, but the INFO menu reported that data has been reset back to 'GSM/CDMA auto'. Yay.
If you haven't already, turn off GPS when you aren't using it. Use the Power Control widget to help. Make sure all of the things in the power control widget are off unless you are using it. And use advanced task killer if you haven't already.
i say screw underclocking let run at whatever i dont think it makes a difference.
forget advanced task killer, i like auto killer.
leave gps off unless needed, and backround data
switch to 2g when you can.
no live walls of course use dark or black, no updating widgets
i dumped stuff like juice defender, cause with backround data off i dont think it does anything.
flight mode it at night (when sleeping) if not charging
ive been running jh3 (now jh7) with sre. get to work (i run 2g at work)at 9am listen to pandora all day through bluetooth (which is on for 6-8hrs) and wifi (6-8hrs) good amount off browsing bout 30 min of voice calls, some texts email checking, more browsing, some games. on average lately after being unplugged for 13-17 hrs at the end of the day with 20-30% life left,using bout 3hrs of display, 30 min voice calls, bluetooth doesnt use crap bout 3%, media server usually 15%, cell satndby i wanna say 10%, im pretty happy i guess, even though im always lookin for better results, tryin the new sre with undervolting, heard some good things.
still when that seidio 3200 mah battery comes out im gettin it, dont care how fat it makes the phone, things to dang thin as it is, and without some sort of cover its like a wet bar of soap!!
What is your typical daily usage? I have fairly light usage (few games here and there a little music and a good amount of web surfing, app browsing and texting with a few phone calls using speaker phone) and I'm at 28 hours of use with 55% battery.
I have just the typical power saving tricks(gps off, bluetooth off, screen at minimum or 30% and my data doesn't sync automatically), no under clocking or anything. I should point out I'm running a euro galaxy rom and am not ever on a wifi connection.
NotAppropriate said:
What is your typical daily usage? I have fairly light usage (few games here and there a little music and a good amount of web surfing, app browsing and texting with a few phone calls using speaker phone) and I'm at 28 hours of use with 55% battery.
I have just the typical power saving tricks(gps off, bluetooth off, screen at minimum or 30% and my data doesn't sync automatically), no under clocking or anything. I should point out I'm running a euro galaxy rom and am not ever on a wifi connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow you are lucky. Yesterday I got 2 phone calls for a total of 3 minutes. I sent 7 text messages. I surfed the web maybe for 15 minutes. No games. Nothing else major. GPS off. Bluetooth off. Wifi on. Screen at 22%. Only background data I have is email which checks once every hour and a weather widget that refreshes every 6 hours. I got barely 12 hours in before my battery died.
fishgator said:
If you haven't already, turn off GPS when you aren't using it. Use the Power Control widget to help. Make sure all of the things in the power control widget are off unless you are using it. And use advanced task killer if you haven't already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm keeping GPS off, and I'm using ATK already.
NotAppropriate said:
What is your typical daily usage? I have fairly light usage (few games here and there a little music and a good amount of web surfing, app browsing and texting with a few phone calls using speaker phone) and I'm at 28 hours of use with 55% battery.
I have just the typical power saving tricks(gps off, bluetooth off, screen at minimum or 30% and my data doesn't sync automatically), no under clocking or anything. I should point out I'm running a euro galaxy rom and am not ever on a wifi connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typical usage for me runs along this line: A lot of web browsing, perhaps 30-45 minutes of music, and plenty of IM. I also use Aldiko to read now and then. Calls do factor into this, but typically only two or three 10-15 minute phone calls.
Truthfully, I simply don't see how it is possible for you to use the phone for 28 hours straight and still have 55% battery. I could lose 30% battery just by leaving my Captivate on stand-by for 30 hours.
I certainly understand the interest in having the best battery life possible.
Are you in a work environment where you cannot plug it to a computer for part of the day?
Fortunately, I am. And I always have it plugged in in the car.
I don't want to have a powerful phone with all the features turned off in order to keep it going.
I dont see how you can get 28hrs @ 55% either, with the kind of usage he was claiming, i wouldnt exactly call that light usage
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
28hrs @ 55% What firmware you runnin
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
ewingr said:
I certainly understand the interest in having the best battery life possible.
Are you in a work environment where you cannot plug it to a computer for part of the day?
Fortunately, I am. And I always have it plugged in in the car.
I don't what to have a powerful phone with all the features turned off in order to keep it going.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I do have a work environment where I can keep my Captivate plugged in, but only half of the time. Other times, I need to move. Aside from that, it kind of annoys me to use a phone attached to a wall socket. I prefer to keep my smartphones plugged in only long enough for them to fully charge (or at least charge to 80+%), then unplug them for usage. This is kind of tough for the Captivate considering it takes 3-4 hours to fully charge.
I also fully agree with you on the last point, which is what makes all of this so frustrating.
*Sigh* It's really too bad the Captivate is my first Android phone; it's been kind of a negative experience for me so far. Ironically enough, the one issue that hasn't been a problem for me is the one issue most seem to be having -- GPS performance.
roadrash7 said:
I dont see how you can get 28hrs @ 55% either, with the kind of usage he was claiming, i wouldnt exactly call that light usage
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in class for most of the day so the phone is idle most of the time but i only play about 10 minutes of music with about an hour or 2 combined web surfing and games but my phone is still chugging at 39 percent battery life at 38 hours of usage. I guess that qualifies as light usage then.
edit: jm6 with unhelpful kernel and sre
also, you have let the battery die out completely and recharge completely with the phone powered off correct?
NotAppropriate said:
I am in class for most of the day so the phone is idle most of the time but i only play about 10 minutes of music with about an hour or 2 combined web surfing and games but my phone is still chugging at 39 percent battery life at 38 hours of usage. I guess that qualifies as light usage then.
edit: jm6 with unhelpful kernel and sre
also, you have let the battery die out completely and recharge completely with the phone powered off correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm honestly shocked at your usage. Am I reading right that in the 38 hours since you last charged it, you only used it for 10 minutes of music and a combined 1-2 hours of web surfing/games? I wouldn't call that light usage. I would call that hardly any usage.
Under such conditions, I can see why your battery life lasts so long.
I don't see why you can't get a days worth of usage out of your phone. Cell phone calls use the most battery - that is why the phone is rated at about 5 hours of talk time. This would be in the best signal area. If you are in a lower signal environment (especially in a heavy building all day) you will see faster battery drain.
I am not sure why you are bothering with BT if you are only talking on 2 or 3 calls - but if you take 3 15 minute calls that is at least 15% of your battery - the only way to change this is force the phone to Edge.
I would not lower ringtone volume - that is not a big battery saver in the grand scheme of things and you are missing calls - not a good trade off. If you are doing a lot of web surfing, go WiFi instead and you will see big battery imrovements. 3G voice and data suck battery - it doesn't matter if you have android or iPhone.
If you put your phone in Airplane mode you can go for 5 days between charges with minimum use.
The radio does kill the battery, I don't think the battery usage screen really depicts this. Since I've gotten my captivate my old BB Bold (at the time would only last 3 hours due to its degraded battery) lasts days on end with its radio disabled while sitting in my desk. I'd love to see native 3G toggle or at least a captivate catered app, I'd even pay for the latter
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
alphadog00 said:
I don't see why you can't get a days worth of usage out of your phone. Cell phone calls use the most battery - that is why the phone is rated at about 5 hours of talk time. This would be in the best signal area. If you are in a lower signal environment (especially in a heavy building all day) you will see faster battery drain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that rating is probably the battery life if your decide to talk on your phone for five hours straight. I really, really doubt it takes into consideration the in-between times (games, apps, and, of course, web surfing). Phone calls undoubtedly takes the most amount of battery, but Internet usage is probably second place and, as said, I use that fairly often.
Lastly, I'm not planning to use my bluetooth exclusively for phone calls. I'm going to use it for calls, listen to music on the Captivate, chat on my PC, and so on. It's multi-usage.
Next, you're missing a lot of the things I said. As I said, I already tried numerous methods to force the phone into 2G; not one of them works (they either don't work at all or actually completely disable my data). I'm already using wifi as opposed to 3G as much as possible.
Lastly, I'm sorry, but using airplane mode to save battery is not acceptable. If I'm even willing to consider this, then I might as well just turn off the Captivate to save battery.
I just read something about an external sd card being another battery drain.
Took mine out and we will see. I was already getting through the day with about 20%left.
8525Smart said:
Well, that rating is probably the battery life if your decide to talk on your phone for five hours straight. I really, really doubt it takes into consideration the in-between times (games, apps, and, of course, web surfing). Phone calls undoubtedly takes the most amount of battery, but Internet usage is probably second place and, as said, I use that fairly often.
Lastly, I'm not planning to use my bluetooth exclusively for phone calls. I'm going to use it for calls, listen to music on the Captivate, chat on my PC, and so on. It's multi-usage.
Next, you're missing a lot of the things I said. As I said, I already tried numerous methods to force the phone into 2G; not one of them works (they either don't work at all or actually completely disable my data). I'm already using wifi as opposed to 3G as much as possible.
Lastly, I'm sorry, but using airplane mode to save battery is not acceptable. If I'm even willing to consider this, then I might as well just turn off the Captivate to save battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't meant to suggest that airplane mode was an alternative, just to point out that the cell radio for Voice and Data is your biggest drain.
If you are going to use the phone for almost an hour of talk time, heavy web surfing and BT connections for tethering then your battery life will be limited. If you are using BT to chat on your pc - then maybe tethering with USB would be better - you could charge at the same time.
Your other option is to get a spare battery.
And I did read what you had to say, I just didn't realize how much you were expecting your phone to do. The only numbers your provider were around talk time.
I use my phone a lot and I charge it every 24 hours - I am more then satisfied - but I know that if a spend an hour or more talking on it and bunch of web surfing that I will have to think about charging it as my usage increases.
There is a way to force the phone into 2G. It isn't very user friendly. I have tested this and it works great.
Enter the Phone app.
Dial *#*#197328640#*#*
Select [1] DEBUG SCREEN
Select [8] PHONE CONTROL
Select [4] UE STATE CONTROL
If you want 2G, select:
[3] CHANGE RAT TO GSM
If you want 3G, select:
[2] CHANGE RAT TO WCDMA
Ok going to try and start a conversation here to get feedback from everyone on what you guys do to get the most out of your battery. I see alot of people always asking what kernal is best for battery life and some people seem to have horrible battery life and some have exceptional battery life. I personally get decent battery life. Nothing super amazing but that comes down to the way I use my phone.
My current battery I'm using - Andida 2000mah battery
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/280843217453...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_4497wt_1396
I also have - GTMax 3500mah battery
http://www.amazon.ca/GTMax-Extended-Battery-3500mAh-Microfiber/dp/B006VAP102/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_t_4
The Andida gives me generally a extra 2-3 hours more over the stock. I had to cycle the battery 4 times before I started seeing any real improvements. If I take these off the charger at 6:30am I can ussually make it to around 10pm without needing to charge.
The GTMax get me through a day (630am - midnight) with around 50% left.
Now keep in mind this is based on my usage habits, and when I'm at work my signal is horrible so it drains a bit harder for the 8 hours I'm at work.
I don't have LTE where I live or work, I do get LTE in areas close by but on a regular day I don't see it. With the bad signal at work I've started to switch to gsm only mode (phone was constantly switching from Edge to 3g/4g and wouldn't provide a stable connection most of the time). This seems to have helped my battery at work.
When I flash a new rom I always give it at least 2 good full battery cycles before judging the battery life on it.
Ok onto some apps. My first foray into getting better battery life started with wanting to control my data. I used Juice Defender to that but I found that having to wait for the data to turn back on was at some times taking way to long and even sometimes I would have to reboot to get it back. Tried a few others and had similar experiences. When it works its nice and I did see some gain from it but at the same time it seemed bloated and slow and I decided I like having my data on and readily available quickly. After some searching I found an awesome app...
Better Battery Stats
Play Store link - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asksven.betterbatterystats&hl=en
XDA Forum link - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809
I highly recommend reading up on this app and trying it out. If your seeing a big drain on you battery while the screen is off, it's probably because there is something that is keeping it from going into a deep sleep mode. This won't save you any battery just by installing it but with a little work it can make a pretty good difference.
Ok now this is where I'm looking for suggestions, are there apps that you find specifically run smoother or are lighter than their stock counterparts or rival apps that put less of a strain on the battery?
Instead of the stock messaging app I run Pansi SMS. It gives me a few extra options but I never really used the stock mms on ICS so I can only compare it to Handcent SMS and I think it is definitely lighter and a lil bit more battery friendly. It's not a huge difference but I try and squeeze everything I can w/o giving up functionality.
For a launcher I'm running apex right now, but for a lightweight launcher I'd recommend FTL. Runs really nice and smooth, nothing fancy about it, just fast and light.
Some apps sometimes can just be poorly coded and thus have a bad effect on battery life. Alot of people seem to feel the Facebook app is one such app that suffers from that. The app that gets the most recommendations as a replacement and being a bit easier on the battery is Friendcaster. I tend to agree with that, and would recommend trying it out.
I'd really like to hear about what everyone else does to try and squeeze out the most of their battery. Theres more stuff that I do, such as reducing the amount of things that are synced to only the stuff I actually want, default settings just sync everything and I don't feel I need to sync my contacts on a daily basis as I rarely change them around. So share your tips, experiences good and bad with apps in regards to your battery, and if theres enough feedback I'll try and re-organize this into a bit better structure.
I personally always leave data off. WiFi is on a lot. I wrote this:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1631831
I am very please to get a day and a half with the extended battery. Generally I am always texting,also.
iStatiK said:
I personally always leave data off. WiFi is on a lot. I wrote this:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1631831
I am very please to get a day and a half with the extended battery. Generally I am always texting,also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right here, this is the key. I have data off all the time. I only turn it on when I need to look something up or browse. IMO auto updates really kill the battery and aren't worth leaving your data on all the time. I'm on wifi a lot as well. Currently I'm on DarkRaider and I'm ending the day with around 30-40%, great improvement over stock.
It seems that with every new handset that comes out this is one of the hottest topics but the parameters all always the same with regard to battery life.
The 3 biggest things that drain our batteries are Display Usage, Data Connection & Radio Cell Connection. These are listed in order of current used. Of the 3 we can have some control over the 1st 2. Lower screen brightness and disconnect data when not needed and use wifi when possible. While wifi does use a good amount of current it's not as much as mobile data. The last one, Radio Cell Connection, we have very little control over. It's also the reason we see people having great differences in battery life. The further the phone is from the tower it's connected to the more juice it needs to make a good connection. So other than leaving the phone in airplane mode or planning your life around where towers are, neither of which are very practical, there is not much we can do there.
To get the best all around life from Li-ion batteries do not fully discharge them very often and also don't keep them plugged in after they're fully charged. It's best to recharge them when they get down to 20-30% and unplug them after they're charged. They also don't need to be fully charged every time, they have no memory. If your on the go and can only leave it plugged in for a short period of time that's fine. Also if you have more than one battery and your not going to use the 2nd one for a while don't store it at full charge. drop it down to 50-60% before pulling it out.
I'll update this post when I get home tonight with more info and links. Hope it helps.
slapshot30 said:
Right here, this is the key. I have data off all the time. I only turn it on when I need to look something up or browse. IMO auto updates really kill the battery and aren't worth leaving your data on all the time. I'm on wifi a lot as well. Currently I'm on DarkRaider and I'm ending the day with around 30-40%, great improvement over stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always make sure my auto updates are off. WiFi isn't an option for me when I'm working. How do you manage your data connection? Do you manually turn it on and off or use an app? I never really tried manually turning the mobile data on/off, just found with apps like JD that it sometimes took way too long to establish a connection. I always shut off my wifi when I leave for work. I know with ICS the widget toggles for gps don't work, they take you to the settings to turn it off, is there one for mobile data?
iStatiK said:
I personally always leave data off. WiFi is on a lot. I wrote this:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1631831
I am very please to get a day and a half with the extended battery. Generally I am always texting,also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With my 3500mah battery I don't really worry about turning anything off. That thing is great. Made a bumper case for it but I miss having a real case on it so I picked up the 2000mah andida battery so I could get a few more hours on some days. If someone ever made a real case for those big batteries i'd use it all the time.
citsong said:
I always make sure my auto updates are off. WiFi isn't an option for me when I'm working. How do you manage your data connection? Do you manually turn it on and off or use an app? I never really tried manually turning the mobile data on/off, just found with apps like JD that it sometimes took way too long to establish a connection. I always shut off my wifi when I leave for work. I know with ICS the widget toggles for gps don't work, they take you to the settings to turn it off, is there one for mobile data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try 2x Battery from the store. It will shut off data as soon as the the phone sleeps, it reconnects at screen on after unlock almost instantly. It also allows you to white list apps, like Pandora. The free version only allows 1 app though.
citsong said:
I always make sure my auto updates are off. WiFi isn't an option for me when I'm working. How do you manage your data connection? Do you manually turn it on and off or use an app? I never really tried manually turning the mobile data on/off, just found with apps like JD that it sometimes took way too long to establish a connection. I always shut off my wifi when I leave for work. I know with ICS the widget toggles for gps don't work, they take you to the settings to turn it off, is there one for mobile data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The DarkRaider ROM I am using has a nice extended settings menu in the notification bar with a data toggle. I also have a nice widget from switchpro widgets where I can customize what kinds of things I want to be able to toggle from my homescreen. Currently I have data/wifi/vibrate-silent/gps. Doesn't take long at all when I toggle the data on/off, it's pretty much instant.
citsong said:
I always make sure my auto updates are off. WiFi isn't an option for me when I'm working. How do you manage your data connection? Do you manually turn it on and off or use an app? I never really tried manually turning the mobile data on/off, just found with apps like JD that it sometimes took way too long to establish a connection. I always shut off my wifi when I leave for work. I know with ICS the widget toggles for gps don't work, they take you to the settings to turn it off, is there one for mobile data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the 2X Battery app. When the phone goes to sleep, the app turns off the data radio. I can still get calls and text messages. I don't have a need for push notification of e-mail, etc., so this saves me some battery usage. Of course, if e-mail and other app notifications are important, this app will help only if you are willing to wait until you wake up the phone.
Here's what I do. I'm on the stock HTC battery.
I SetCPU screen off to 192/192 ondemand, in call to 810/192 ondemand, and regular use to 810/192 ondemand.
I listen to about 2 hours of music a day, have 3 GMail accounts on autosync, a Facebook account on hourly autosync and HTC Weather on hourly sync. Automatic brightness. Roughly 1.5 hours of cumulative web-browsing, no apps/games used.
I never use WiFi and I don't live in an LTE area.
I typically end the day (19-21 hours unplugged) with ~40% remaining.
Now I am not sure if living in area with LTE is a bless or curse....
I would unplug around 7am everyday, and by the time I get home (around 6pm) I would always in red mode (meaning, it is either 14% or under). Using the Holics-0.6 with the kernel that came with it, battery seems to die fast. Even when I am on the stock ICS before this, seems LTE would just bleed this baby to death....
Reading other comments, might as well start looking for a bigger battery....
It actually seems like I'm getting better battery since LTE came to my town. I'm on dark raider using kozmick's rc1 kernel and it's even better now. Try turning off vibration feedback...I think it's located in the sounds menu in settings. You can also try using automatic brightness or even just setting it to stay at 50% or lower. The screen is a battery hog. There's a stickied thread somewhere on here that has other things you can try too.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
Really is a shame that we have to disable or ease everything back so much to get through the day on a battery. Anyhow, I have a Velocity (which comes out of the box with the processor running at 1500) on Dark Raider. Therefore I use SetCPU to throttle the beast back, depending upon the circumstances. It only is allowed to run at 1500 when on charge and down to 400 when battery below 25 percent. I also use 2X Battery to take care of the netowrk and Wi-Fi and have purchased the andida battery for extended life. I also have JD installed, however it is rarely used - reason is that I am in agreeance with "citsong" that it takes too long to establish connections, even causing me general connection issues from time to time. So for around $25 AUD you can get through the day on a battery with moderate use and reasonable performance. I have not tried the extended battery pack, though I will probably get one of those as well...not sure which are the best???
I personally don't like the vibrate response thing, so I turn that off right out of the box, also, auto brightness is another that I set. When I go in the battery tab to see what is bleeding it to death, and most of it would be the display....
Though, vivid seem to have a smaller battery compared to other phones of similar functions and/or size, so that might be the reason I am not really seeing a very good battery life?
deathnai said:
I personally don't like the vibrate response thing, so I turn that off right out of the box, also, auto brightness is another that I set. When I go in the battery tab to see what is bleeding it to death, and most of it would be the display....
Though, vivid seem to have a smaller battery compared to other phones of similar functions and/or size, so that might be the reason I am not really seeing a very good battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually there are only a couple phones that have a larger battery...
The galaxy note and the atrix are the ones that come to mind...
And the note has a larger screen and Samsung's rediculious samoled screen which eats battery like potato chips...
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
rignfool said:
Actually there are only a couple phones that have a larger battery...
The galaxy note and the atrix are the ones that come to mind...
And the note has a larger screen and Samsung's rediculious samoled screen which eats battery like potato chips...
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My solution was to get a larger battery (2100mAh, the largest one with stock format) and using juice defender to control my Data Connection. I am getting about 60% more using time on a normal usage whan before!
I actually have both Motorola Atrix 2 and HTC Vivid. However, my Atrix 2 would last about two days between charges, which is kind of weird. I have my personal account and company account on that phone (personal is to activate the google stuff), so it eats up data twice as fast, yet it is almost twice as long battery life.
And to update a little bit from my post before, it seems I am getting better battery life now, after 4-5 days of flashing the new ROM, let's hope it is true....or I am just going to go hunt for a bigger battery
---------- Post added at 08:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------
rignfool said:
Actually there are only a couple phones that have a larger battery...
The galaxy note and the atrix are the ones that come to mind...
And the note has a larger screen and Samsung's rediculious samoled screen which eats battery like potato chips...
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the Samsung Galaxy Note is way bigger than either Atrix or Vivid, so with a bigger body, I would assume that a bigger battery is possible. But if you look at current phones, I rarely see batteries that are above, say, 1800mAh, let alone 2000mAh and above, stock of course.
ideaLduK said:
My solution was to get a larger battery (2100mAh, the largest one with stock format) and using juice defender to control my Data Connection. I am getting about 60% more using time on a normal usage whan before!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you share the details on the battery?
Andida batteies are easily found on Ebay, but beware of Chinese fakes!! I got mine from a seller in Canada, all good.
I get good battery life by turning off data while I'm working . 70% with 8hrs unplugged
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
I spent a few hours looking through other threads, but nothing seemed to quite fit my scenario.
Stock droid 4 with the latest over the air update.
I use the phone very sparingly during the day, and my battery drains very quickly...
Usually take off the charger around 8am and battery is below 20% by 2pm.
My usage is usually one or two 5 minute calls, and probably 10mins of facebook.
Is there a good smart action I could try?
I had one that turned off the 4g while the screen was off, but it made sending picture messages unbearable...
My battery use indicator blames screen, then OS, then facebook....
I feel as if it's not reporting the culprit correctly...
Any help is much appreciated.
F3M4 said:
I spent a few hours looking through other threads, but nothing seemed to quite fit my scenario.
Stock droid 4 with the latest over the air update.
I use the phone very sparingly during the day, and my battery drains very quickly...
Usually take off the charger around 8am and battery is below 20% by 2pm.
My usage is usually one or two 5 minute calls, and probably 10mins of facebook.
Is there a good smart action I could try?
I had one that turned off the 4g while the screen was off, but it made sending picture messages unbearable...
My battery use indicator blames screen, then OS, then facebook....
I feel as if it's not reporting the culprit correctly...
Any help is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had similar issues, not sure what I did to cause them. When I first got the phone, 16hrs+ with what I would consider moderate usage was normal. I've flashed AOKP and the battery life is back to normal (on track for 15hrs today), but the stock rom is a disaster.
I'll let you know what I turn up (if anything), but I have a feeling I'll probably be wiping everything out since I actually like the stock ROM (plus no hw accel in ICS).
Edit: Also, how did you have a smart action turn 4G on/off? I was under the impression we can't control that at all, except via system menu. Is a downside to VZW's 4G...
I believe that was actually via the app Juicedefender.
even with it on i was still only getting about 8 hours...
I am semi interested in rooting/flashing a rom etc, but my last experience there was a disaster(thanks to a ****ty droid eris)
I disabled all widgets except for facebook, being that it's the only one I use...
The only non essential apps running all the time are battery circle, and facebook(widget i guess?)
I'm now charged to 100%, gonna see where these changes take me.
What are your settings as far as Brightness, Haptic Feedback, Screen Timeout, Vibration (Incoming Message/Call or End Call). Also, I recommend just using the FB app instead of the widget as I notice most of the widgets draw power even when the screen is off.
I am currently running Eclipse 1.3.7 w/ xrjxMod, Brightness all the way down, all vibration and haptic feedback is off. Since I am rooted I also used ROM Toolbox to adjust my scan interval to the minimum. I have the screen timeout to the max, but I always turn it off manually after use. I am constantly on either FB, XDA, txt messages or the occasional game/Netflix use and with the exception of watching a full episode or movie on Netflix, I am averaging about 6 to 8 hours on a full charge.
My battery is now sitting at 46%.
Since my last post I used the phone for 18mins of phone calls and nothing else.
The breakdown is 46% voice, 23% android OS, 12% display, 9% phone idle, 8% cell standby...
The brightness is as low as possible, haptic feedback is off, phone is set to vibrate(thats the only way I get calls)
All three location settings are on....Should I turn them all off? I dont know which are important...
I agree with azreal. Check your setting. Haptic feedback sucks up juice and unless you like it is more of an annoyance imo. There is an option for it in language and keyboard as well as in the screen menu for your soft keys.
Do you have your gmail setup to constantly sync? If its not needed un-check it in you accounts menu.
Are you leaving wifi on when your not in range of a remebered router?
If you are not in a strong 4g area set it to cdma only in your wifi and networks menu.
My opinion of apps to extend battery life is a negative one. Its an app that always runs to make things stop running???? Some work ok but most do not.
If all else fails I would suggest the eclipse rom for the d4. As long as you are safestrapped and follow directions properly you can't go wrong. In the case of a bootloop shut the phone off and reboot and you will come back to the recovery screen to try it again or go back to stock. Its nearly foolproof.
You may also want to do a battery stat wipe if your still having issues. Just discharge your phone completly, then fully charge wipe stats and completly discharge again then fully charge once more, and see if you notice a difference.
I get around 15-16hrs on stock and up to 22hrs on eclipse (varies with usage) by following these few things.
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk
I have wifi permanently off...
I have 4g almost all the time.
I use a gmail, but I cannot find a way to limit it's syncing...I still want it to check for emails, I guess just not as frequently.
F3M4 said:
I have wifi permanently off...
I have 4g almost all the time.
I use a gmail, but I cannot find a way to limit it's syncing...I still want it to check for emails, I guess just not as frequently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would hazard a guess that having 4G on all the time is one of the main culprits. I leave 4G off unless I am browsing the web, forums, or something else where the extra speed is nice. I use the 4G Toggle widget from the market to turn 4G on and off. I always turn it off before hitting the power button to turn off the screen. No need for it to be sucking juice when I'm not actively using my phone.
Sent from my DROID4 using XDA
I just installed the toggle switch, I'm gonna give it a go.
To turn off the gmail sync go to accounts click on you tap the account. Then uncheck the sync box.
When you want to check your email go to the gmail app hit the menu and sync. Takes about 30 seconds extra but saves some battery.
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk
I'm always skeptical when people blame gmail sync or 4G on battery issues. When the phone was new on stock, and on ICS now, I have three gmail accounts, a yahoo account, and one Exchange account all syncing in the background + 4G on 24/7 and getting around 16hrs of battery life. This was the case for weeks. Then I started having trouble with Verizon's Backup Manager, did a factory reset, and now stock battery life is ~ 8hrs, with 4G OFF
I'm thinking at the very least, there is an issue with the stock battery information panel. My feeling is it hides battery use by the stock bloatware...
podspi said:
I'm always skeptical when people blame gmail sync or 4G on battery issues. When the phone was new on stock, and on ICS now, I have three gmail accounts, a yahoo account, and one Exchange account all syncing in the background + 4G on 24/7 and getting around 16hrs of battery life. This was the case for weeks. Then I started having trouble with Verizon's Backup Manager, did a factory reset, and now stock battery life is ~ 8hrs, with 4G OFF
I'm thinking at the very least, there is an issue with the stock battery information panel. My feeling is it hides battery use by the stock bloatware...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that there is probably more to it than just 4G or syncing. Especially where people are getting only 8 hours or so battery life. I personally have noticed definite battery savings with 4G toggled off when not in use though. I can usually still go most of the day even with it toggled on all day but with 4G off, except when I actually need it, I usually get to bed with 30% - 40% battery left as opposed to 10% - 20% left with 4G on all day.
Sent from my DROID4 using XDA
I would also turn all 3 locations off. No need to run the gps when not using navigation. I keep my 4G on as I use it frequently but I am going to try the toggle as well for the extra savings on battery when not netflixing/browsing.
Sent from my DROID4 using XDA
Yep. I'm also having big issues with my Droid 4 battery. First I thought it was the firewall. But even after uninstalling the app, the drainage is absurd. The battery drains so fast, the phone gets warm.
I don't know where to look. I read something about logcat in another thread but could't find it anymore.
My Droid 4 can work about 5 hours on one battery charge. No gps, no 4g and no wifi. If I turn on wifi, it lasts about 8 hours, so I'm suspecting that some process loops when in non WIFI mode.
If you're out of options try using an app called watchdog. It let's you see if there is an app that's draining your battery unusually fast.
Thanks for the tip. But what whatchdog should I use? There are many apps called watchdog
vmu said:
Thanks for the tip. But what whatchdog should I use? There are many apps called watchdog
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watchdog task manager lite (free version).
I tried that this morning. Still poor battery life on stock, but watchdog doesn't flag anything. Very weird
Oh well, I would definitely recommend AOKP for anybody having battery problems.
For me today: 4 hours 55 minutes since unplug, 80% left.
Screen time on: 50 minutes (!)
That being said, I do keep my screen on pretty low. Still, you can tell I've been using it...
Watchdog couldn't help me but. My data monitor showed that motorola.services was generating a lot of data the past few days (800+ MB :O ) and responsible for the battery drainage. I blocked it with droidwall. It's better now, but sometimes it still pops up and generates data despite the fact it's blocked.
So glad that I have an unlimited internet plan or else I was really screwed
So yes this Phone's battery unfortuanatly is not well at all.. but here is how i managed mine to last a day without charging. Let me also say im a heavy user also. I text A LOT and always pull out my phone in class play a few games to pass the time or just browse my phone. So this does work for heavy / light users.
Go to Wifi/ menu / advanced and click never on Keep wifi on during sleep.
Go to settings/ Location access - Switch to off
For your brightness it will be on Auto switch that off and put it almost to the lowest as you dont really need it high just kills the battery.
- Go to the App store and download Easy Battery savor. When you access the app choose intiligent mode. It really helps !
-Dont ever use live wallpaper it just drains it so fast.
- DOwnload Faux App It really helps (Faux kernel Enhancement Project) Once downloaded go to CPU and set max clock to 1.35 instead of 1.5. it will still be buttery smooth and it will drain the battery less.
Also I am using the Franco Kernel - nightly #53 which in my opinion really helps !
- Try to turn off the WiFi usage as much as possible and you will see a huge difference.
That's all from me guys. By doing all this my battery significantly improved and lasts about a day now.
Anyways if you have better solutionson how you manage your battery and how you extend its life.
- post pictures
- post the apps you use
- post everything !
Thank you !
I use harsh. Whenever I don't game, I lower the max freq to just 810mhz, ondemand, row, mpdecision on (as harsh recommended) and it's still buttery smooth, and of course battery life is incredible, and I also do check the Disable HW Overlays and Force GPU in 2d rendering. And since no kernel controlling apps are needed, my phone feels cleaner too I can't upload battery stats yet as I'm in an area with only edge connectiom and I hate using slow internet connections
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Hi.
I think that autobrigthness it's very hard in all phones. It would be an app Download the brightness.
Bye.
In my testing having wifi connected(like ay home and not going saves more battery, this been texted in several android devices including gs3,note 2 and iOS like 4S and iPads, just giving some info
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Why dont you buy an old nokia since you almost get rid of all the cool stuff this phone offers? Brightness to lowest level...that cracked me up lol
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
A couple of things I noticed with this. The first thing I notice is, in two of your screenshots, you appear to have mobile data disabled completely. The second thing I noticed is that your final screenshot shows 24hr 52 min on battery, yet according to your clock, a it should really be a total of 33hr 6 min since unplugged. Your first screenshot shows 88% battery remaining with it already having been unplugged for 7hr 35 min. With that screenshot showing a time of 3:11pm, that would mean your phone was unplugged at 7:36am. If the phone was unplugged at 7:36am, then how is it only showing a total of 24hr 52min at 4:42pm the next day? It should be showing 33hr 6min. That's an odd inconsistency there. All in all, even with the data that is showed in your screenshot, it shows very little use as phone idle and cell standby are both in your top 5. Your screen was your highest drain, yet there isn't anything else there accompanying it. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that all you did was keep the data turned off on your phone, and connect to wifi where available. You turned your screen on, but didn't really do anything with the phone besides having the screen just on. That said, even stock with no changes, a person can get 24 hours on a charge if they're disabling their phone and not using it.
Interesting tips however I have a few points:
Your first tip suggests having WiFi to Never stay connected during sleep. I am part of another Android forum which deals with tablets. We tested this feature as with a tablet, you are likely to leave it for hours on end before using it again. It was excellent if the tablet was not touched, however we noticed that it significantly increased the battery drain if you were regularly switching between sleep and using it.
Agree with the second but don't throw away practicality, use Location settings when they need to be use, not just turn them off and don't use them.
Leave it on auto-brightness dude, why ruin the nice visuals of a fantastic screen by having it so dark you can't see it? I only ever use lowest brightness when its dark or the battery is nearly dead.
No idea about the battery saver.
I definitely disagree with this. If you use 3G permanently, like I do, then turning on WiFi definitely reduces battery drain. I don't turn off data ever, so switching WiFi where possible is quite a useful battery saving technique.
skezza said:
Interesting tips however I have a few points:
Your first tip suggests having WiFi to Never stay connected during sleep. I am part of another Android forum which deals with tablets. We tested this feature as with a tablet, you are likely to leave it for hours on end before using it again. It was excellent if the tablet was not touched, however we noticed that it significantly increased the battery drain if you were regularly switching between sleep and using it.
Agree with the second but don't throw away practicality, use Location settings when they need to be use, not just turn them off and don't use them.
Leave it on auto-brightness dude, why ruin the nice visuals of a fantastic screen by having it so dark you can't see it? I only ever use lowest brightness when its dark or the battery is nearly dead.
No idea about the battery saver.
I definitely disagree with this. If you use 3G permanently, like I do, then turning on WiFi definitely reduces battery drain. I don't turn off data ever, so switching WiFi where possible is quite a useful battery saving technique.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
His solution is to turn off connectivity and functionality on the phone. That defeats the purpose of even having the phone at all.
That said, I think a safe UC of maybe 200MHz can have a difference, but to me, it's all about enjoying the phone and the phone experience. No need to screw with it
Don't do the wifi feature. It will use more battery because it will constantly have to reconnect to the wifi connection every time your phone comes out of sleep mode and that will consume more battery.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Crisisx1 said:
Don't do the wifi feature. It will use more battery because it will constantly have to reconnect to the wifi connection every time your phone comes out of sleep mode and that will consume more battery.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crisis, I pointed that out above...
Someone tell me how I can go all day AND listen to 8 hours of Bluetooth audio and I will be impressed.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
ronnyg12 said:
So yes this phone battery unfortunately is not well at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious, why did you buy it then? Personally, I'm leaving everything on because I bought the phone for the looks and usability.
And yes, the phone lasts me all day while using it for everything including emails, conference calls, web browsing etc.
I've set up profiles using the Smart Profiles app to quickly turn things on and off at will - hit CAR and bluetooth/GPS turn on, Wifi turns off. Hit HOME and the reverse happens, etc.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
chrisrozon said:
I've set up profiles using the Smart Profiles app to quickly turn things on and off at will - hit CAR and bluetooth/GPS turn on, Wifi turns off. Hit HOME and the reverse happens, etc.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing here..but I use scripts When I'm in school and all I need my phone for is some tethering and music, I activate my script that sets the max freq to just 810mhz and I undervolt an extra -50mv from the stock undervoltages of harsh, but when I'm out and away, I enjoy the full 1.5ghz quadcore beast trapped inside my pocket
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Don't get me wrong, it's useful to have a decent battery life, but I really don't see the need to turn the device into an expensive brick. My suggestions, which may or may not be better than the ones in the OP, but they seem to work for me on every Android I've come across without screwing with undervolting etc:
1. Turn Auto-Sync off, or increase the duration between each sync. On my old phone, the phone would use Auto-Sync every hour or so which totally killed the battery over the course of day. I turned it off and would sync it manually (taking all of 15 seconds) on a Friday. Made a huge difference, although simply increasing the time between syncs is just as effective if not more so as you still save a bit of time (might opt for that myself :good
2. Use Inverted Apps on SAMOLED, Don't use Inverted Apps on IPS, white colour uses more battery on SAMOLED, but a lot less on IPS :fingers-crossed:
3. Get yourself a Toggle-based Notification bar, you will remember to switch off your WiFi when walking around in public. To that end, switch your WiFi off unless you are connected to a hotspot, the constant scanning will drain your battery and depending on the interval may take quite a large hit over the course of a day. If you rely on WiFi then maybe increase the scan interval time.
4. Turn off all mobile networking services when in a known signal blackspot. e.g. When work pays for us to go to a hotel on the Welsh border in Cheshire, there is absolutely no signal guaranteed unless you go to the end of the driveway, so I turn off all phone services unless I am there. Your phone will drink your battery very quickly otherwise, guaranteed. The easy solution is to use WhatsApp, switch your phone onto Airplane mode then turn on WiFi and connect to a hotspot (if they have one available, hotels usually do). This is surprisingly low on battery consumption.
So basically, just leave my phone in my pocket and not use it. Okay. Gotcha.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
chancy319 said:
So basically, just leave my phone in my pocket and not use it. Okay. Gotcha.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My battery life is amazing. I guess it just depends on what you compare it to. I had an evo 3d before, and my 3d would be dead by noon without even turning on the screen. My work blackberry lasts 5 days with fairly heavy email usage.
My N4 though, I use it fairly often for browsing, occasional calls throughout the day, streaming audio, this and that. After 12 hours of use I am still at 60% usually. From 7am to 5:30 (typically when i get out of work) I will be at 70%+
Not sure why people are so bent out of shape about it...
On my 3d if I ran facebook app or any stupid **** like that it would kill my battery like i didnt even have one.
Here's another idea get a job or pay attention in school. That will save battery life as well. I have literally seen people stare at a screen without doing anything with the phone, just because they are so obsessed with it being in their hand
Oh and my Sig does not represent the nexus in the mail
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk 2
What about those external battery things? Does anyone know where I can find some decent ones online?
Hooray yet another Battery thread!!
Feel free to shoot me down or close the thread and ban me if people find this not useful but I though I'd share..
I'm running AOKP PUB with Matrix 8.5 on my N4 and battery on WIFI was great but once I switched to H+/3G I would see an increase in wakelocks and hence battery drain. I'm sure more than a few people can relate to this problem..
after 9 hours from unplugging my phone, going to and from work and arriving back home I would have about 75-70% battery left with light use. Now after installing Auto3G from the play store I am going home with between 88-85% left which is making a massive difference to how long my device lasts,
Typically I'm getting 2 days standby and between 4-4.5 hours data/WIFI and at the weekends 5-5.5 hours on just WIFI.
The app simply turns data off when the screen is off then on again when you wake your phone up and it will turn data on every 30 minutes for 1 minute so your apps and accounts can sync. I have try apps like this before on other phones but this one has impressed me, plus its free! I haven't felt like I'm missing out on fresh content from my widgets or accounts because the syncing seems to actually work. You can set delays on when the data switches off too!
Anyways, here's the link..
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.slv3r.auto3g&hl=en
Best thing I have done to draw out my battery life is to disable location services and then reboot. This alone has given me an extra hour of screen on time. I used to struggle to get to 3 hours and now I am getting over 4.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Are you doing it just to get max longevity or are you guys really struggling to make it through a day? Mine has been excellent, best battery life of a smartphone I have had since my old Windows Mobile days.
best and most visible boost for battery life is turning off the localisation and dimming the screen
I wasn't losing any sleep over battery life, my N4 has always lasted at least a day but I was a little disappointed with how long a charge was lasting me on H+/3G compared to WIFI. Now I have no complaints on either..
"When the user unlocks the phone, data will be enabled.
When user locks the phone, data will be disabled."
Sounds a lot like Juicedefender that's been around for a long time. I'm sure its good for some people, but kind of defeats the point of having a smartphone. Especially for me when most of my messaging is through Whatsapp / Facebook.
I used to use juice defender and I found that it became too complicated for its own good. You can change the syncing interval but I agree if you do you messaging through FB or WA then its probably not for you. I dont really use either often so the 30 minute cycle works well for me and maybe others..
Its not really defeating having a smartphone since its saving you battery when your not using you phone, its stupid to have the thing draining away when it's just in your pocket..
i'm using this app on my N4 too and have to confirm that works like a clock, simple and light but powerfull as let you choose when turn data on and for how many minutes, how much to wait before turn data off after shut down the screen and when to turn it on after the screen goes on...
if you want to make the battery to last longer it's a very good app...btw i think N4 has a decent battery that can drive you till the end of the day without problems
I just have a Tasker profile to run my data sync once every 2 hours or if I open up Gmail or anything else that needs to sync. This cuts down on the constant notifications when my phone is idle. I haven't noticed a big difference with leaving my phone on auto brightness of if I just turn down brightness manually.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2