Losing battery life while phone is idle - Thunderbolt General

Hello everybody, I notice lately my phone is losing about 10 percent battery life every 2 hours while it is idle. The funny thing is I have data off no text message and made one phone call. I don’t know what’s going on. I am running stock.

The Newest apps I downloaded were comicbook reader, Spotify and Netflix, but that shouldn’t matter right? Because my mobile data is off

that sounds about average to me. since its stock, i would just put Juice Defender on it and leave it set to "balanced", then see where youre at battery wise.
additionally, you could try Watchdog to see if theres any background apps that are consuming a ton of cpu(it can happen)

voxigenboy said:
that sounds about average to me. since its stock, i would just put Juice Defender on it and leave it set to "balanced", then see where youre at battery wise.
additionally, you could try Watchdog to see if theres any background apps that are consuming a ton of cpu(it can happen)
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Thanks alot man..will get those apps and report back in a few days

Funny thing is this seems like its just started out of nowhere. I had my phone since launch and never had this problem.

mbrown3460 said:
Funny thing is this seems like its just started out of nowhere. I had my phone since launch and never had this problem.
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do you ever charge your phone in your car?
i know when you charge it via a wall charger or your PC, there's overcharge protection so realistically you can leave it "plugged in" as long as you'd like.
apparently though, if it gets fully charged and you still leave it plugged in in your car it can eventually do some damage to the battery and eventually kill it.
i had that happen to my old Galaxy S 4G & when i went to get a new battery they confirmed that that was the culprit.

You need to go into settings/ power/ and uncheck fast reboot . It runs all the time and eats up battery.
Sent from my Verizon 4GLTE HTC Thunderbolt

voxigenboy said:
do you ever charge your phone in your car?
i know when you charge it via a wall charger or your PC, there's overcharge protection so realistically you can leave it "plugged in" as long as you'd like.
apparently though, if it gets fully charged and you still leave it plugged in in your car it can eventually do some damage to the battery and eventually kill it.
i had that happen to my old Galaxy S 4G & when i went to get a new battery they confirmed that that was the culprit.
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no only charge my phone on the wall or PC. Wow I didnt know I can leave my phone plugged I thought my battery would be damaged if I left it plugged in.
jbh00jh said:
You need to go into settings/ power/ and uncheck fast reboot . It runs all the time and eats up battery.
Sent from my Verizon 4GLTE HTC Thunderbolt
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fast reboot is not checked in my settings.

phone idle isnt as important as the time it says it's without a signal. if you arent getting a signal, it's looking for one and really really draining the battery

yareally said:
phone idle isnt as important as the time it says it's without a signal. if you arent getting a signal, it's looking for one and really really draining the battery
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Yep TWS is the biggest culprit of battery drainage on these Android phones. If you're in a poor reception area, you're SOL because the phone will eat through the battery searching for a signal. I have an Epic and have similar battery drain issues due to this.

yareally said:
phone idle isnt as important as the time it says it's without a signal. if you arent getting a signal, it's looking for one and really really draining the battery
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hmmm you might be on to something. Don't get good reception at home and my reception is ok at work, not perfect tho.

mbrown3460 said:
Hello everybody, I notice lately my phone is losing about 10 percent battery life every 2 hours while it is idle. The funny thing is I have data off no text message and made one phone call. I dont know whats going on. I am running stock.
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Click to collapse
First, you should seriously consider rooting, then flash a custom rom & kernel. The stock rom is no battery sipper, and custom roms & kernels are much more efficient. I was getting ridiculous overnight drain (>20%) on stock, but now I'm getting only 1% per hour (6-8%). Also, grab Autostarts from the market. It prevents unnecessary apps from launching in the background & wasting battery (& memory)
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

mbrown3460 said:
hmmm you might be on to something. Don't get good reception at home and my reception is ok at work, not perfect tho.
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It'll show in the about stats when you press on the phone usage stats how long it was without a signal if you want to look (in case you weren't aware). Also I would make sure your phone is set to use wifi when sleeping always and not mobile (under wifi settings → press menu → go to advanced).

yareally said:
It'll show in the about stats when you press on the phone usage stats how long it was without a signal if you want to look (in case you weren't aware). Also I would make sure your phone is set to use wifi when sleeping always and not mobile (under wifi settings → press menu → go to advanced).
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My mobile data off when I'm at work. So pulled my phone off at 6 am, made one call, checked my email and now I'm down to 93 percent. This is just ridiculous seems like my battery getting worst by the day.

I'm at home now on WiFi...my mobile data is usually off all day at work. Watch dog only alerted me to dolphin browser and I always close that out when I'm finished. I don't know what's going on.

Why do I need to baby sit my phone to get good battery life?

voxigenboy said:
do you ever charge your phone in your car?
i know when you charge it via a wall charger or your PC, there's overcharge protection so realistically you can leave it "plugged in" as long as you'd like.
apparently though, if it gets fully charged and you still leave it plugged in in your car it can eventually do some damage to the battery and eventually kill it.
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Click to collapse
This is not correct. The battery charge is controlled by the phone itself. the battery also has some electronics in it to limit the charge. The car charger provides 5 volts just like any USB port. You can (and I have) leave phone plugged into a car charger with no issues.
It is true that you should avoid charging the phone when it is HOT. So leaving it in a HOT car or any place HOT is a bad idea.

Checked the settings and my phone is using 3% battery life while it is idle. So I shouldn't be losing so much power. Is my battery damaged?

Yep, backing this guy up. The battery has it built in where it'll cut off the charge after it's full- and android has it that after it reaches 100% it'll let it drain down to ~90% because keeping it at 100% for extended periods of time is bad for the battery health.
For those more interested in your phone's battery and how charging works, check out this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=871051
----
If you're losing battery life when you're idle you have a few main reasons.
- First check to make sure you have a low min. set for your CPU, you don't want to have your CPU rev'd all the way up all the time- it's just not good.
- Download "spare parts" and check under "battery history" and you'll be able to see if you have a lot of GPS usage, data usage, CPU usage, etc.
- I'm not sure if mobile data turns both 4G and 3G off. I know the 4G here totally demolishes the battery, even more if you don't have it in your area.
If you don't have 4G and would like to save your battery from a painful death, do this (easy to change back)
*#*#4636#*#* -- Go to "Phone Settings" >> change to "CDMA auto (PRL)"
This will turn off 4G and stop it from searching, while still allowing you to use 3G and not have to turn off all data.
Hope at least one of those points helped you out and hope you get some better life because that's pretty bad, shouldn't be normal.

mbrown3460 said:
Hello everybody, I notice lately my phone is losing about 10 percent battery life every 2 hours while it is idle. The funny thing is I have data off no text message and made one phone call. I don’t know what’s going on. I am running stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Losing 5%/hour is normal for my phone when it's sitting doing nothing. The battery is a joke. I have Juice Defender Ultimate and that brings it down to maybe 2-3%/hour.

Related

Amazing battery life!

I'm just wondering if anyone here is getting the super amazing battery life that I'm also seeing. I'm running Virusrom (basically just themed stock rom with no bloat) had my data connections off, and screen off clock speed set to 200MHz (using overclock widget to control speed)
I got through 12 hours on 3% battery. Is anyone else seeing this?
what overclock widget you using? Just curious...
Bleeds
I would love that...
If I never touch the phone I get this
But unfortunately I can't leave it alone xD
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
kdb424 said:
I'm just wondering if anyone here is getting the super amazing battery life that I'm also seeing. I'm running Virusrom (basically just themed stock rom with no bloat) had my data connections off, and screen off clock speed set to 200MHz (using overclock widget to control speed)
I got through 12 hours on 3% battery. Is anyone else seeing this?
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seems alittle fishy since the processor cannot go below 245Mhz.
plus what do you mean by data connections off? No LTE or 3G?
Or do you mean you disabled always-on mobile data? I myself usually drop 10% in about 7-8 hours with that enabled and normal use, with SetCPU telling the processor to run at 245Mhz when the screen is off.
Yea, 245mhz, I didn't have my phone on me, and couldn't exactly remember. No data means no wifi, 3G, 4G. It just could receive/send calls and texts. As for the overclock widget, it's just called "Overclock Widget" in the market.
I am on a stock Tbolt and have disabled the lock screen and GPS when not needed and am getting at least 12 hrs with life to spare. MUCH better then my first day of use
1 1/2 more hours I will reach 12 hours. All I did was to follow this man's tips. I still have 30% left. I'm sure it's nothing new to some of you but new to me as I never had to do this w my old Samsung or Nokia phones.
http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2011/...tery-cover-should-be-free/#IDComment136566791
I have
1. MS Exchange sync every 15 min
2. Gmail sync
3. Facebook sync
3. SipDroid calls for about 2 hours
4. Pandora streaming for 1/2 hour
5. Surf net about 1 hour
6. Xda app about 1/2 hour
I'm happy and i'm still stock TB!!!
Unless I'm actively using data, I always have it off. Well unless it's on charge haha. As for sync, I don't even sync email (gmail), or anything. I don't really count contacts or apps as syncing as it's almost a one time thing. Most people tell my i Baby my smartphone, but I'm the only one I knew that could get 3 days on my Dinc 3 days no charge on stock battery haha.
Uhh... congratulations?! You made your device entirely useless and got trough 12 hours on 3% of the battery.
What is the point of using your Android smartphone without data all day? Is this a pissing contest to see who can disable all of the core functionality of the phone and see how long the battery lasts?
I turned my phone off the other day and when I turned it back on I used .5% of the battery... woah!! That is absurd battery life for such an awesome smart phone.
Sorry for all the BS... but honestly, why go through all of these lengths to prolong battery life longer than 12-18 hours. It renders the device useless and it no longer provides service to the user. I completely agree with optimizing the device (running custom kernels when they become available), using SetCPU profiles, etc... to a certain extent. If those optimizations impede on performance or functionality in any way then they are not worth it to me.
So ultimately, why sacrifice performance and functionality for the sake of ridiculous battery life. As long as you can make it through the day, then no worries. I charge my device every night anyhow.
I've started using this widget as well, I'll find out its effectiveness in a day or two once I leave it off for a while (like overnight). Only complaint I have though - every time I turn the screen on, it says it's been granted su permissions, right above my dock. Is there any way to turn that off? It's just kinda weird too, if I go to show off the phone it looks bad.
Edit: I do have data usage in the background though.
Well honestly, I am around a computer most of the day, sleeping, or at work (can't be on my phone) I was sleeping most of that 3% loss. When I'm near a computer I tether so that charges without me thinking about it, and in my car I have it on charge because of the battery rape of GPS and 3g/4g. It's still a fully functional phone with no data... I can text and talk all I want. And it's not like I don't toggle on my data when I need it. I just don't see the point of being THAT connected to technology ALL off the item, and I'm a programmer, and an I.T. gupy >_>
Russ36363 said:
I've started using this widget as well, I'll find out its effectiveness in a day or two once I leave it off for a while (like overnight). Only complaint I have though - every time I turn the screen on, it says it's been granted su permissions, right above my dock. Is there any way to turn that off? It's just kinda weird too, if I go to show off the phone it looks bad.
Edit: I do have data usage in the background though.
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Click to collapse
In the Superuser app you can change that notification. Also, there is a preference for the notification letting you know the clock changed in the widget's prefs. I turn them off. I normally use a smartass kernel as it works with much less power, but this is better than not having it for now IMHO.
bmcclure937 said:
Uhh... congratulations?! You made your device entirely useless and got trough 12 hours on 3% of the battery.
What is the point of using your Android smartphone without data all day? Is this a pissing contest to see who can disable all of the core functionality of the phone and see how long the battery lasts?
I turned my phone off the other day and when I turned it back on I used .5% of the battery... woah!! That is absurd battery life for such an awesome smart phone.
Sorry for all the BS... but honestly, why go through all of these lengths to prolong battery life longer than 12-18 hours. It renders the device useless and it no longer provides service to the user. I completely agree with optimizing the device (running custom kernels when they become available), using SetCPU profiles, etc... to a certain extent. If those optimizations impede on performance or functionality in any way then they are not worth it to me.
So ultimately, why sacrifice performance and functionality for the sake of ridiculous battery life. As long as you can make it through the day, then no worries. I charge my device every night anyhow.
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This. One of my pet peeves is people bragging about amazing battery life when they're using their phone as a paper weight. Why buy a smartphone?
want a droid said:
This. One of my pet peeves is people bragging about amazing battery life when they're using their phone as a paper weight. Why buy a smartphone?
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Click to collapse
I'll tell you why.
1. 4g tether that rivals my cable internet, and I can have both at the same time
2. I always have data and GPS, which is amazing in my car or anywhere.
3. Why no I have to be strung to the internet 24/7 and not just when I want to? It's always there, at the toggle of a button. I'd rather not be lazy and toggle data versus looking for a charger every few hours >_>
kdb424 said:
Well honestly, I am around a computer most of the day, sleeping, or at work (can't be on my phone) I was sleeping most of that 3% loss. When I'm near a computer I tether so that charges without me thinking about it, and in my car I have it on charge because of the battery rape of GPS and 3g/4g. It's still a fully functional phone with no data... I can text and talk all I want. And it's not like I don't toggle on my data when I need it. I just don't see the point of being THAT connected to technology ALL off the item, and I'm a programmer, and an I.T. gupy >_>
In the Superuser app you can change that notification. Also, there is a preference for the notification letting you know the clock changed in the widget's prefs. I turn them off. I normally use a smartass kernel as it works with much less power, but this is better than not having it for now IMHO.
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Thanks, I somehow missed that setting when I was setting it up earlier.
Also, I kind of agree with what's said due to the fact that 75%+ of the time I'm awake I'm at a computer. I don't need to have my phone do much more than texts/calls during that time. Why waste battery for that? But when I'm not at a computer, I need it, and that's why I have this phone.
Russ36363 said:
Thanks, I somehow missed that setting when I was setting it up earlier...But when I'm not at a computer, I need it, and that's why I have this phone.
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Not a problem. We all miss something at times
As for "needing" data, I personally find myself "wanting" it. I don't have anything that I can't let go of on the internet while I'm at work (can't use my phone for anything but texting once in a while). I always enjoy my data, and use a considerable amount of data, but it's either tethered or plugged in as I'm driving, and may as well. I guess being a minimalist is against the law now a days
i get great battery life stock not rooted but when i added adw launcher and gingerbread theme with ginger bread keyboard i went 1hr and it was a 60% and i never touched it so stock my battery is awesome
bmcclure937 said:
Uhh... congratulations?! You made your device entirely useless and got trough 12 hours on 3% of the battery.
What is the point of using your Android smartphone without data all day? Is this a pissing contest to see who can disable all of the core functionality of the phone and see how long the battery lasts?
I turned my phone off the other day and when I turned it back on I used .5% of the battery... woah!! That is absurd battery life for such an awesome smart phone.
Sorry for all the BS... but honestly, why go through all of these lengths to prolong battery life longer than 12-18 hours. It renders the device useless and it no longer provides service to the user. I completely agree with optimizing the device (running custom kernels when they become available), using SetCPU profiles, etc... to a certain extent. If those optimizations impede on performance or functionality in any way then they are not worth it to me.
So ultimately, why sacrifice performance and functionality for the sake of ridiculous battery life. As long as you can make it through the day, then no worries. I charge my device every night anyhow.
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Click to collapse
I think you've missed the point. Noone will last even more than 6 hours if you don't do the trickle charges or whatever you call it. That's the point. I know you reply to OP but just want to point it out. After charging it the right way, you will certainly last 8 hours at least which then bring to your point "I charge the phone every night anhow".
FP5241 said:
I am on a stock Tbolt and have disabled the lock screen and GPS when not needed and am getting at least 12 hrs with life to spare. MUCH better then my first day of use
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How did you disable the lock screen?
Thanks
in settings, there is a setting to turn off data and wifi after a certain epriod of time when the screen is off, saves battery very well.

Battery draining AGAIN

So i tried what you guys suggested. I rooted the phone, bought setcpu, using anttek to freeze running services, and used the battery calibration app still NOTHING. I just woke up and my battery was at 0 before i went to sleep it was at 62%!! How can it die in idle with no running servislces wi fi off gps off BT off i mean it has to be the battery right?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
I was just getting on here to rant about this. It seems that whenever I use the phone the battery gets warm and declines quickly. Lost over 40 percent battery over 2 hrs mostly playing mp3s
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
This may or may not be related...just something to think about. For years I've placed my phone in the top drawer of my nightstand when sleeping. What I noticed when switching to Android is if I leave syncing on it will drain my battery. My theory is...in the drawer my data signal is very week or non existent. The phone dutifully tries to sync on that weak signal...searching for signal...fails and retries...or succeeds and transfers at a snails pace. Result dead battery. I've found that disabling data before bed results in less than a five percent drop. Just my experience.
If not then I'd suggest a phone swap.
Also...Why in the world did you start another thread? If we scatter all these x is wrong with my phone posts across multiple threads it really hampers the effort to solve the problem.
greengoldmello said:
I was just getting on here to rant about this. It seems that whenever I use the phone the battery gets warm and declines quickly. Lost over 40 percent battery over 2 hrs mostly playing mp3s
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Did you look for a solution before deciding to "rant"? Just curious...
greengoldmello said:
I was just getting on here to rant about this. It seems that whenever I use the phone the battery gets warm and declines quickly. Lost over 40 percent battery over 2 hrs mostly playing mp3s
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I've also noticed this. In the morning my battery life is decent but by the after noon I can do light web browsing (10-20) mins in an hour and loose over 15% tmobile told me that isn't good lol I have a new battery on the way. They shipped it out yesterday we'll see if that helps. Also my battery was dead when I got my phone did anyone else get one that couldn't even power the phone on?
bdkinney said:
Did you look for a solution before deciding to "rant"? Just curious...
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Click to collapse
Yes. Like the OP, I tried the solution of the person that is so called getting 20hr battery life under medium usage. Just doesn't seem feasible at all. And its really annoying to have to cut the data off completely to keep the phone from getting warm...
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
greengoldmello said:
Yes. Like the OP, I tried the solution of the person that is so called getting 20hr battery life under medium usage. Just doesn't seem feasible at all. And its really annoying to have to cut the data off completely to keep the phone from getting warm...
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
If you researched the problem and tried the solutions offered, then the logical next step is to contact T-mobile for a replacement. This is an early release of a new phone; there will be defects. And you don't have to settle for a defective device/battery. I can assure you, I get battery life on par with my previous phone (8-20 hours depending on my usage)..so, bad battery life isn't a problem inherent to the phone. And my phone doesn't get warm with data usage. It sounds like you might have a defective battery or phone. If you aren't satisfied, don't settle...make 'em make it right.
I get about 5-10% battery drain overnight most nights and I am not mindfull of what apps are running or what is on. My experience obviously differs from yours. I do get great service in my bedroom where the phone is overnight. The other night I did experience a bout a 60% drop when I left the phone in my daylight basement (underground). I get crappy 2G service in my basement and it looses signal a lot. I think it adds some credibility to the searching for service slowly killing the battery. maybe try putting the phone in airplane mode before going to sleep. That should give you some indicator.
I'm now are 28 percent after 3 1/2 hrs with the display only using 13% if that..
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
greengoldmello said:
I'm now are 28 percent after 3 1/2 hrs with the display only using 13% if that..
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Just curious, does your phone feel hot right now?
You might have a bad battery or something. My first g2x rebooted constantly and drained the battery and got hot.
New one goes 8am to midnight with 20% battery left, on moderate usage. And even at the 20% left i can leave it overnight and it'll still have power in the morning.
greengoldmello said:
I was just getting on here to rant about this. It seems that whenever I use the phone the battery gets warm and declines quickly. Lost over 40 percent battery over 2 hrs mostly playing mp3s
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
The phone is going to get warm is use because the CPU is under load and that produces heat. As long as its not overheating this is normal.
Have either of you tried the factory reset? That fixes the idle drain for most people.
Also... Your phone is going to drain battery faster while actually in use no matter what you do. The LCD and data connection are the biggest battery drain for smartphones. Until battery technology improves, there is nothing that can be done about this. But like I said try a factory reset and you should see your idle drain improve dramatically.
Sk8trfred said:
I've also noticed this. In the morning my battery life is decent but by the after noon I can do light web browsing (10-20) mins in an hour and loose over 15% tmobile told me that isn't good lol I have a new battery on the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you on wifi? Because if you weren't that much drain is within the norm. Web browsing = constant data connection = more power consumption = faster battery drain.
I had 10 hours of heavy use yesterday and had 25 percent left... 2.5 of those were in airplane mode cuz I was flying from Phoenix to Atlanta but I watched a movie during the flight and had music playing the rest of the time... during my layover which was 4 hours I browsed the web, watched a stream of the Celtics vs heat for a bit, more music... I plugged back in with 25% left and had 3h20m of screen on time... this battery is freaking awesome! I had drain issues initially but they went away and now I'm golden
when i did a factory reset, my phone was getting hot until i remember about the *#*# thing and changed that to wcdma/gsm auto. then my battery life got better.
Get juice defender. Its work wonders for me and my buddies thunderbolt actually makes it through the day now
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Battery Drain is mostly Cellular radio
I too am have been looking for a way to have this phone last at least 8-12 hours with normal usage, but I don't think its going to happen unless there's some major update to the radio firmware coming in 2.3 Gingerbread..
All the evidence seems to suggest two culprits... for battery drain.
- First is the 4G radio, look around at almost ALL 4G enabled phones (whether on GSM at&T Tmo or Verizon), all eat your battery, from the very beginning EVO 4g, Verizon Thunderbolt, Mytough 4G every single one of those phones has the users complaining about horrid battery life. You can confirm this by looking at the battery usage on the G2X and you'll see that the number one use is Cell Standby (that's the cellular radio) on my phone its anywhere between 35% to 60% of total power used.... on kmy nexus one it used to be the display.
-Second, Tegra 2 is more power hungry , granted its a mobile SoC but its mainly designed for Tablets and such with beefy batteries, this is the reason that the Atrix comes with a 1950MaH battery, you can try and use SetCPU to lower the speed, but I have had minimal success.
Here's a test , when you don't need your phone put it on Airplane mode, for 24hours and watch HOW LITTTLE the battery drains.. reason the cellular radio isn't on..
bdkinney said:
This may or may not be related...just something to think about. For years I've placed my phone in the top drawer of my nightstand when sleeping. What I noticed when switching to Android is if I leave syncing on it will drain my battery. My theory is...in the drawer my data signal is very week or non existent. The phone dutifully tries to sync on that weak signal...searching for signal...fails and retries...or succeeds and transfers at a snails pace. Result dead battery. I've found that disabling data before bed results in less than a five percent drop. Just my experience.
If not then I'd suggest a phone swap.
Also...Why in the world did you start another thread? If we scatter all these x is wrong with my phone posts across multiple threads it really hampers the effort to solve the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. These battery threads are driving me nuts.
Go in the other million threads and read
The thing that is strange to me is how quickly these phones charge. It seems to go from 0% to 100% in well under an hour. Was thinking I should try charging it while off (well, screen w/ battery only).
What???? Having the phone on makes my battery drain? WTFO?!?!?!
Seriously though, I have not experienced bad battery life on this phone. Last night I left my phone off the charger, gps, wifi and wifi calling on, and when I went to bed at 1030 I had 64% battery. At 700 this morning I had 54% battery. Only a 10% drain for me overnight, or a little more than 1% per hour.
All I've done to achieve this is the following (and I realize that supposedly you no longer have to condition Li-ion batteries):
-when I got the phone, I didn't charge it but instead let the battery die completely to where I couldn't even turn the phone on.
-charged the phone overnight w/o turning it on.
-let battery die completely again.
-charged phone overnight w/o turning it on.
-let battery die completely again.
-charge and use phone normally.
I've also rooted the phone and used Ti Backup to remove most all of the bloatware except wifi calling, but otherwise it's the stock rom.
I typically get an entire day of my normal use on this phone. If I use it alot, I have to top off the battery w/ my car charger on my way home from work. This isn't unusual. I had to do this w/ the blackberrys I owned and my evo when I was on Sprint. The battery life doesn't seem any better or worse for me than any other smartphone I have owned, and it's certainly better than my evo or my wife's evo, and both of those were rockin' custom roms and uV kernels.
jayohwhy said:
when i did a factory reset, my phone was getting hot until i remember about the *#*# thing and changed that to wcdma/gsm auto. then my battery life got better.
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Click to collapse
forgot about doing this lolz
...also you can also change it in the mobile network settings

Maximizing Battery Life

What do you guys do to maximize your battery life? I just can't seem to get decent life. Average is probably 5 hours with heavy usage.
Any recommendations?
Sorry if there is already a thread, I don't have a computer right now and I don't think I can search on tapatalk.
Thanks in advance.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
The usual - brightness as low as you can stand, radios not in use turned off, screen timeout 15 seconds, 200-1400 conservative governor in SetCPU.
Search AutoKiller in the market -- choose "optimal" profile, so far has given me an extra two hours today over what I got yesterday.
5h of heavy use is good already.
You can tweak your idle batt life, 2g-only, undervolted kernel, avoiding power hungry rom.
Idle battery life is just amazing with stock... just test it over night, 6hrs get 2/3% for me.
I can get 30hrs with 4hrs with screen on, the screen is the key here, i can get 5hrs with 4hrs with screen on too. ;o)
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
thiagodark said:
Idle battery life is just amazing with stock... just test it over night, 6hrs get 2/3% for me.
I can get 30hrs with 4hrs with screen on, the screen is the key here, i can get 5hrs with 4hrs with screen on too. ;o)
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a kernel that is made to optimise batt life with display active, like the XTEUV92 Trinity kernel.
rentaric said:
Try a kernel that is made to optimise batt life with display active, like the XTEUV92 Trinity kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried almost every single combination of rom + kernel. And for me, pure stock has the best battery life, by far.
But i'm getting bored and should flash something... )
Ps: afaik trinity doesnt work with stock. Did it change?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
thiagodark said:
I tried almost every single combination of rom + kernel. And for me, pure stock has the best battery life, by far.
But i'm getting bored and should flash something... )
Ps: afaik trinity doesnt work with stock. Did it change?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See my signature, stock (rooted and removed soom Google apps) with Trinity, works together just fine
How would you define "heavy" usage?
Also, what does your "battery use" stats say? (Settings - About Phone - Battery Use)
5 hours of truly heavy usage (online gaming, for instance) is actually to be expected.
rentaric said:
See my signature, stock (rooted and removed soom Google apps) with Trinity, works together just fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm using the same stock 2.3.4 as your signature and tried the morfic kernel from yours, but got no lock at all, freezes and reboots...
that's a little strange for me, first time i see it in my device... =o\\
johnbibbs said:
What do you guys do to maximize your battery life? I just can't seem to get decent life. Average is probably 5 hours with heavy usage.
Any recommendations?
Sorry if there is already a thread, I don't have a computer right now and I don't think I can search on tapatalk.
Thanks in advance.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can create a custom prl setting. Turn wifi to never sleep when you're at home... Have the prl to auto *CDMA or GSM* Which ever your network is on. (This goes to all Nexus S. users). So you have wifi on with a signal and 3g off. The phone stays in 2g for calls and uses wifi for data. Turn off google location services while your at home, turn off roaming, turn all of that off. I get about 13 hours of battery life with heavy usage. People think wifi drains your battery but it doesn't if you have mobile data turned off. When you have 3g turned on it's constantly searching for a better connection. If you have wifi on and a strong connection it isn't constantly polling.
are there any charging habits that would help prolong battery life? I usually just charge my phone every night cause, if I remember correctly, these batteries don't have a memory or anything. anyone know if that is the smartest thing to do?
hoponpop said:
are there any charging habits that would help prolong battery life? I usually just charge my phone every night cause, if I remember correctly, these batteries don't have a memory or anything. anyone know if that is the smartest thing to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you don't mean overnight. I don't know if phones have auto-cutoff feature (a la laptops), but it's safer just not to charge overnight.
I personally use an extension that has a timer built-in. Nifty. Set the timer, plug the phone in, it will automatically start and stop the charging at the predetermined times. I usually time the charging to end right before I wake up, so the battery doesn't stay fully charged for too long. I heard batteries corrode faster when they're fully charged.
When my battery life starts getting shorter than usual, I let them drain until the phone turns off automatically (well I actually try not to get to that point, but seldom succeeded ), and as soon as possible charge it until full.
Usually the battery holds longer then. It has something to do with teaching the battery about the true empty and true full.. or something.....
AFAIK. CMIIW.
doesn't the nexus s have a built in cut-off feature so it will only charge to 95% though? I figure that would take care of the full charge issue. i'm also not sure if lithium ion batteries have a memory, but you could always reset the battery stats if you're on root to compensate for the whole draining and fully charging thing.
hoponpop said:
doesn't the nexus s have a built in cut-off feature so it will only charge to 95% though? I figure that would take care of the full charge issue. i'm also not sure if lithium ion batteries have a memory, but you could always reset the battery stats if you're on root to compensate for the whole draining and fully charging thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery stats! That's the word I was looking for No I wasn't referring to the memory effect
I don't know what would happen when the cut-off feature kicks up. My Nexus S still shows a charging icon even a while after full, so I don't wanna risk it.
The best way is by touching the charger unit after a while and see if it's warm/hot. If it is, it's still charging. But you gotta give it time to cool down first (after it's finished charging) Haven't gotten around to it, though. Always forgot to check the charger
bprabawabr said:
Battery stats! That's the word I was looking for No I wasn't referring to the memory effect
I don't know what would happen when the cut-off feature kicks up. My Nexus S still shows a charging icon even a while after full, so I don't wanna risk it.
The best way is by touching the charger unit after a while and see if it's warm/hot. If it is, it's still charging. But you gotta give it time to cool down first (after it's finished charging) Haven't gotten around to it, though. Always forgot to check the charger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, I know that my phone for sure won't charge to 100% from watching it, so even after a night of charging it's still at 95%. I've read a few explanations on this forum about the whole not fully charging thing too, so i'm pretty sure that it's like that on purpose.

Fast discharging

I896, Rooted, factory Gingerbread.
I have a Captivate and a Tab. Both Wifi only, no Sims, Airplane mode on, Bluetooth off. Machines are on but screen is off. The Tab looses 3% over the course of the morning and the Captivate looses 20%!
I'm running regular 'power user' type apps; Titanium Backup, Tasker, LauncherPro. If there are any apps notorious for secret batt consumption, let me know what to avoid.
Running SystemPanel Lite - I can't see any app that is taking up more CPU time than normal that would explain this kind of drain. The battery page shows a good proportion of battery use display and wifi. In one instance I used the Captivate so little that display showed less use than wifi. In the course of just checking phone power consumption, the display use percent way up, just like expected (Just to show that wifi was really doing almost nothing) and still I had lost more than 15% of battery over the time when the phone was supposedly idle, not connected to anything with the screen off. Some ghost is sucking the life out of my battery. Grrrr. What could it be?
I loose 30% in a night with wifi off, backlight set to absolute min and nothing runninng or syncing.
I don't get it. Any ideas? What do I try next?
get use to it, its androids horrible power management
rsx19 said:
get use to it, its androids horrible power management
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
His tab is running Android too.
If you don't have anything helpful (or knowledgeable) to say don't say anything.
Op, download watchdog from the market, (system panel is kinda ..meh.) and see if there us a rogue app munching battery.
You may consider flashing a ROM see if its just that firmware/kernel reacting to your phone.
Have you tried Juice Defender?
Also, check to make sure you don't have applications constantly running. What version of android are you running? Check in system settings -> status -> somewhere in here you can check the battery status and what applications are pulling the most juice ... From there if one application needs to be removed you can action it ...
Also try the "Battery Calibration" app in the market. It's free.
studacris said:
His tab is running Android too.
If you don't have anything helpful (or knowledgeable) to say don't say anything.
Op, download watchdog from the market, (system panel is kinda ..meh.) and see if there us a rogue app munching battery.
You may consider flashing a ROM see if its just that firmware/kernel reacting to your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my captivate running cm7 STOCK will drain down to 20% from being idle for 12 hours
my battery will also drain 30% from 45 mins of wifi only use.
doesnt help him but thats my experience from my captivate
Menu -> Settings -> Wireless and Networking -> Wi-Fi settinngs -> Menu -> Advanced -> Wi-Fi sleep policy
Set it to when screen turns off.
We have to switch that every time we flash. I really wish it was default. Some ROMs also have background data control, but it's usually when wi-fi is on so it shouldn't be a problem.
rsx19 said:
my captivate running cm7 STOCK will drain down to 20% from being idle for 12 hours
my battery will also drain 30% from 45 mins of wifi only use.
doesnt help him but thats my experience from my captivate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do know that cm7 doesn't have the proper hardware drivers from Samsung so the battery life is known to be HORRIBLE right? If not you should really read up on the ROM you're using
Flash any touchwiz ROM, especially a native I897 build and you will see a dramatic increase in battery life.
studacris said:
You do know that cm7 doesn't have the proper hardware drivers from Samsung so the battery life is known to be HORRIBLE right? If not you should really read up on the ROM you're using
Flash any touchwiz ROM, especially a native I897 build and you will see a dramatic increase in battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on CM7 and am going on 27 hours with moderate usage.. Granted, I have the 1800 mah battery from the Sprint Galaxy S2
trying flashing to pinnacle. I too have battled weird captivate drain issues.
if you wanna try CM, read my thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1364357
I've held off replying as I was trying a few things and figured I would report only once I was done.
I found and ran Battery Calibration, just before I read the post. Between that and turning Wifi sleep policy to off with screen off, I had a great weekend. I was getting a day and a half out of my phone, which considering the use, was very acceptable. I was getting about the same drain as my Tab. I had 1% battery drain after 4 hrs of screen off time. That seemed fine for me.
I got back to school where I teach and yesterday the phone drained as fast as it has before. Interestingly, it continued its rapid drain even after I left the school and went back home. So, it died at 4am this morning. I heard it shut down. The school has at least 4 routers, two of which have 5k access options. I know if I choose them, my laptop drains way faster. Is there a way to limit my wifi connection on the captivate and not use the faster 5k connection?
But, this still doesn't explain why, even after I leave the school, the Captivate continues to drain when it is 10ft from a single 100mb wifi router.
I'm almost ready to try a custom Rom, but not sure how that will affect my ability to use it as a phone, once I get my Sim activated. Still new to this all.
You think everyone running a custom ROM doesn't use the phone?
Shouldn't affect your ability to do anything...
The WiFi and cell radio do increase power on lower signal as we know, but that's not always the cause of drain. I remember times using Froyo when kswapd goes nuts for no reason, or trillian, email, twitter or some other app just starts using massive CPU. Many apps are probably never tested on a system that has no connection most of the time. That's where all the utilities come in handy to find the culpret. OSMonitor can help find CPU hogs. TiBu can freeze apps, or uninstall them temporarily. Juice Plotter can monitor drain over time (newer Androids have something like it built-in). It takes some time to find it, but newer versions of the OS make it easier and have less trouble.
Also the battery % is only estimated. I'd trust full to empty time rather than 90% to 80% time as 10% use since it's not really as linear as we think.
Not to point out the obvious, but it can be the battery itself that has the problem. They aren't exactly manufactured to NASA standards... well, maybe their standards lately, but the point is, sometimes the ghost you're chasing is staring you right in the face.

Marshmellow Upgrade | Awful Battery Life

Anyone else experiencing this? Atrocious battery life post upgrade. Nothing odd running in background, program or processes. Rebooted phone. Started the day at 100% with moderate usage at best, I'm already down to 19%.
Battery life is relatively unchanged in mine after the mm update. Easily make it through the entire day with 50-60% battery life remaining. I disabled a whole bunch of the bloatware (and will be removing it entirely when I decide to root my phone) and battery life is wonderful.
shaels said:
Anyone else experiencing this? Atrocious battery life post upgrade. Nothing odd running in background, program or processes. Rebooted phone. Started the day at 100% with moderate usage at best, I'm already down to 19%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine has been fine, slightly better with doze/disabling packages. Do a back up through Smart Switch and try a factory reset. I do that every time I update.
I'm envious of your successes. I'll give it a bit to see if it stabilizes, if not I'll use SS and reset/restore.
shaels said:
I'm envious of your successes. I'll give it a bit to see if it stabilizes, if not I'll use SS and reset/restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will recommend "Package Disabler Pro" to disable bloatware. Costs but is worth the cash.
Mine went through on Thursday and so far battery appears ok.
I have noticed however the lighting is messed up all over. Play books night light feature is broken and dims it to unrecognizable levels. I have to go into the settings again when in the book and disable auto lighting and manually raise it. When back at the list of books screen, the brightness drops to nearly off again.
Also it seems the notifications when listening to music are much louder. I could listen to mp3s via poweramp while reading a book and get an SMS text and itd be a light little sound. this is playing louder than my music and very annoying.
My batter life was horrible after the upgrade. Here's what I did to fix it.
1) Wifi sleep policy - Changed that to "While Charging" (big difference noticed after that)
2) Fully charged phone then let it run down to 0 (must let it power itself off)
3) Wifi Scanning has been moved under Location setting. Go to Location -> Improve accuracy, make sure Wi-Fi scanning is off.
Batter life is awesome now.
jasong127 said:
My batter life was horrible after the upgrade. Here's what I did to fix it.
1) Wifi sleep policy - Changed that to "While Charging" (big difference noticed after that)
2) Fully charged phone then let it run down to 0 (must let it power itself off)
3) Wifi Scanning has been moved under Location setting. Go to Location -> Improve accuracy, make sure Wi-Fi scanning is off.
Batter life is awesome now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1: Apps/sync will use mobile data as priority if this is done while waiting to connect to wifi. In turn, using even more battery if an app/sync wakes the phone switching between networks.
2: This is damaging to Li batteries. To extend the life of your battery, it is better to keep it topped above 80% and cool(not very common in real world applications). These aren't Ni batteries, long gone are the days of "memory discharging".
If you don't need notifications at night, use airplane mode. I miss Xposed, Autotasker, and Amplify(formerly Bounce)... Greenify is a good alt atm
Note: Sometimes even Play service updates will introduce bugs and or "retarded" policies that will destroy the battery, especially the "Now" systems. It can happen at the most random times as well and not at all most. Every now and then the fat man will get stuck in the tube.
All thoughtful replies. I don't have Location on ever, unless I'm using Waze, so that's a non-issue for me. Allowing WiFi to sleep when the phone is off, while I'm only connecting via WiFi, effectively makes my smartphone a dumb phone, until I wake it up, right? The fact that I need to start changing around "normal" settings on my phone, to lesser benefiting ones, to get back to the battery life I had before I installed MM is pretty silly. I've been hoping things would settle down, but they don't. I can try using SmartSwitch later to see if that helps.
Steamer86 said:
1: Apps/sync will use mobile data as priority if this is done while waiting to connect to wifi. In turn, using even more battery if an app/sync wakes the phone switching between networks.
2: This is damaging to Li batteries. To extend the life of your battery, it is better to keep it topped above 80% and cool(not very common in real world applications). These aren't Ni batteries, long gone are the days of "memory discharging".
If you don't need notifications at night, use airplane mode. I miss Xposed, Autotasker, and Amplify(formerly Bounce)... Greenify is a good alt atm
Note: Sometimes even Play service updates will introduce bugs and or "retarded" policies that will destroy the battery, especially the "Now" systems. It can happen at the most random times as well and not at all most. Every now and then the fat man will get stuck in the tube.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it will connect LTE and then switch to wifi. LTE use more battery life, the network switch uses a bit, then finally you are into wifi. If your phone wakelocks or alarms(location ping, play service ping, etc) it will use more battery than wifi always on. Personally, I've tested both to make sure a wifi wakelock bug hasn't been introduced as I do with every update and play service update(it does happen and it's horrible drain). I see more savings always on.
If you meant you disable mobile network, yes, dumb phone, text and call. Also, I disable mobile usually always as I piggyback off work cell at work, and always wifi at home. I only toggle mobile data when necessary.
jasong127 said:
My batter life was horrible after the upgrade. Here's what I did to fix it.
1) Wifi sleep policy - Changed that to "While Charging" (big difference noticed after that)
2) Fully charged phone then let it run down to 0 (must let it power itself off)
3) Wifi Scanning has been moved under Location setting. Go to Location -> Improve accuracy, make sure Wi-Fi scanning is off.
Batter life is awesome now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe this is what most people encounter. Most dont have unlimited data and use WIFI always. I think by default, WIFI is set to always on, even when phone screen is off. WIFI will rape your battery. I did my own tests with wifi vs 4g and just by using my 4g all the time, battery quadrupled. Many argued that WIFI uses less battery, and i have the best of the best wifi router/modem/isp with 5ghz ac excellent coverage. Not the case for me. I have unlimited and just stick with that now. Battery life on MM has been great for me.
My battery life is 4x better. I couldn't be happier.
shaels said:
Anyone else experiencing this? Atrocious battery life post upgrade. Nothing odd running in background, program or processes. Rebooted phone. Started the day at 100% with moderate usage at best, I'm already down to 19%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been on MM for about five days now and my battery blows, so much worse than what it was!
musicfreak190 said:
My battery life is 4x better. I couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is exactly 4 times worse
Battery the same.
But I have to tap the screen harder to chose app.
Going to factory reset and start clean, been a while.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Has Verizon released any new updates to patch the issues with Marsh Mellow update
utsc said:
Has Verizon released any new updates to patch the issues with Marsh Mellow update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I know of.
Though they JUST released Marshmallow. Verizon is probably still patting themselves on the back even though they released several months late. What I'm waiting for is a miraculous root.
I never use my phone the same amount every day, so it's hard to say exactly what kind of battery life I get, but I have noticed that it has improved. I would usually be near 15% by 10pm after coming off charger at 6am. Now I float around 25% at 10pm. So it seems to be better, even if only slightly so.
I see a minimal improvement, but I was doing what I could without root prior to sleep unnecessary crap.
Weird, when thye MM updated happened, up until the last two days, I was getting much better battery life under MM. But the past few days my battery life has declined dramatically to the point that I am not getting through a day of minimal use. Screen only 2%, Android OS consuming 76%.
I just fiddled with settings (Changed Wifi sleep to While Charging; Turned off wifi scanning). I am going to also try a reboot to see if that helps. I swear it started just about the time I started looking at Nexus 6p replacements).
Update, rebooting, and removing a few more useless apps and battery life has returned.

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