Do custom kernels significantly increase battery life? - Google Pixel 3 Questions & Answers

Do custom kernels significantly increase battery life? - Google Pixel 3 Questions & Answers

So I just picked up a pixel 3 and the battery life is fairly mixed but I guess I was spoiled with my previous device (Oneplus 5).
Will installing a custom kernel improve my battery life? I haven't really bothered since my Galaxy S2 which was a shambles.
If so, are there any specific kernels which aim to do this by default?

My opinion is that this is all imaginary.

android8bit said:
So I just picked up a pixel 3 and the battery life is fairly mixed but I guess I was spoiled with my previous device (Oneplus 5).
Will installing a custom kernel improve my battery life? I haven't really bothered since my Galaxy S2 which was a shambles.
If so, are there any specific kernels which aim to do this by default?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A custom kernel typically gives you the option to customize the way it behaves. Increased battery life will come at the expense of performance. But even then you won't see a major difference. The biggest battery killer is poor cell service. Also, eliminate apps that run in the background, at least the ones you don't need running all the time. Screen brightness is another large battery user. Google does a pretty good job of optimizing the kernel out of the box.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

They used to, quite a bit. But most of that went away with O. There just isn't that much left to optimize anymore. Now they are about extra features.

Related

amazing battery.. better possible?

I'm using current venomxl Rom with elemental kernel (all default other than max 1.5ghz and flu overclock off) and getting what I feel are amazing results on battery life. On phones of the past, aosp style roms pulled better battery life, but I saw here in the forums people were getting better battery life with sense roms? Is that true? I posted a screenshot below of my battery life, sorry couldn't figure out how to get jpg link from dropbox app.
https://photos-1.dropbox.com/t/0/AA...g/d7MN66kx-qjvYssSKvKrYLP2xrN6GZy7R6-COot-8wM
Would be nice to hear what Rom/kernel combos others are using and what kind of battery life you are getting.

Put the picture in your public folder. Right click on the picture and click copy public link, or something to that effect then paste the link in your thread.
In any case, the only things you could do to get even better battery would be to undervolt your processor and maybe underclock as well. Some phones become unstable however and while I noticed the general ui and most apps run fine with a clock speed of about 1.2ghz, some, more CPU intensive apps do lag a bit. You can also disable radios when not in use. I actually use juice defender to do this for me automatically, which is pretty handy though not everyone likes the idea of having an app do that for you.
Last but not least, if your radio signal seems low most of the time, you can try flashing different radios to give you a better signal which will, in turn, increase your battery life.
Hope this helps, maybe others have had different experiences?
I use viper and bulletproof right now ad I wanted a stock kernel with swipetowake
And this holds up damn well in terms of battery life. Never used elemental for long though so not sure if it's better or worse.
*edit* I forgot to add, you can also turn off fastboot. Your phone will take longer to power on but saves some battery life.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

badhabits727 said:
On phones of the past, aosp style roms pulled better battery life, but I saw here in the forums people were getting better battery life with sense roms? Is that true?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Such reports are often just anecdotal and very subjective. Like you, I've also seen people claim better life on AOSP or certain ROMs on various devices, but never really experienced it in any consistent or meaningful way. Battery life often has more to do with the radio and reception in your specific care, than anything. Sure, various ROMs on various devices may have some subtle difference in battery life. But unless you are very methodical and scientific about comparing them, there are just too many variables involved, and you are often just left with subjective reports and placebo effects.
Can't open your pic. But if you are satisfied with the battery life (enough to call it "amazing"), I'd just go with the ROM that has the features you like the best, and leave well enough alone.

[Q] Stable kernel that improves battery life?

I realize this device has only been out for a very short time, but are there currently any stable/semi stable kernels that improve battery life? I've looked through a few kernel threads, but many seem to be unstable (which is to be expected) and optimized for overclocking. Are there any kernel developers focusing primarily on battery life?

jetrii said:
I realize this device has only been out for a very short time, but are there currently any stable/semi stable kernels that improve battery life? I've looked through a few kernel threads, but many seem to be unstable (which is to be expected) and optimized for overclocking. Are there any kernel developers focusing primarily on battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock kernel is fantastic. If you're having issues, we need a BetterBatteryStats log from you.

Aerowinder said:
Stock kernel is fantastic. If you're having issues, we need a BetterBatteryStats log from you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BBS is not compatible with 4.4 yet. Sven is working on it.
On topic: stock kernel is good. I'm getting excellent battery life, 4+ hours screen on time is no exception. It's a common misconception a custom kernel is a magical battery life extender.

jetrii said:
I realize this device has only been out for a very short time, but are there currently any stable/semi stable kernels that improve battery life? I've looked through a few kernel threads, but many seem to be unstable (which is to be expected) and optimized for overclocking. Are there any kernel developers focusing primarily on battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both faux and franco kernels seems to be maturing fairly well. I can't personally vouch for franco, but I've been stable on every iteration (betas and stable releases) of faux's kernel, with the exception of some aggressive undervolting, which is not a really reflection on the kernel. Battery life has improved, particularly for sleep mode. Can't say the screen on time has improved dramatically, if at all, under these kernels.
FWIW, I have been fortunate enough to have a phone with adequate sound output, so I have not played at all the the sound mods available through faux, only the CPU/GPU/memory settings.

Petrovski80 said:
BBS is not compatible with 4.4 yet. Sven is working on it.
On topic: stock kernel is good. I'm getting excellent battery life, 4+ hours screen on time is no exception. It's a common misconception a custom kernel is a magical battery life extender.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Franco kernel on the N4 gave me 1.5 to 2.5 hrs. extra screenontime compared to stock Thats a fact and no placebo.

gee2012 said:
Franco kernel on the N4 gave me 1.5 to 2.5 hrs. extra screenontime compared to stock Thats a fact and no placebo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried all popular kernels on my GNEX. And by trying I don't mean flashing a new one every other day, used them for a couple of weeks at least. None of them produced any noticeable increase in battery life. That's a fact as well. I only used them for their options.
I'm curious what makes people think what the mechanism is behind hours of extra screen on time with a custom kernel (where custom is 95% or more original AOSP code).

Petrovski80 said:
I tried all popular kernels on my GNEX. And by trying I don't mean flashing a new one every other day, used them for a couple of weeks at least. None of them produced any noticeable increase in battery life. That's a fact as well. I only used them for their options.
I'm curious what makes people think what the mechanism is behind hours of extra screen on time with a custom kernel (where custom is 95% or more original AOSP code).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read some Franco N4 pages and you`ll see my statement confirmed. The Gnex (which i only owned for a very brief period) is not the N4.

gee2012 said:
Read some Franco N4 pages and you`ll see my statement confirmed. The Gnex (which i only owned for a very brief period) is not the N4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read dozens of people claiming Franco, GlaDOS, Faux, Trinity, etc did wonders for their GNEX battery life. They never did for me, despite I used their recommendations and setup. I've yet to stumble upon actual proof (and I don't mean screen on time screenshots accompanied by opinions of users) a custom kernel actually uses less current than the stock one. If you have some, I'm very curious to read it.

Petrovski80 said:
BBS is not compatible with 4.4 yet. Sven is working on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a beta version posted on XDA that works with 4.4 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809

BBS beta has been available in the forum for weeks. It's almost always on the first page, somehow people keep overlooking it.
As far as kernel battery life goes, I think it can matter in certain cases. For instance, I came from the S3, and I don't know about other phones, but the battery life on the CM 3.4 kernel was absolutely terrible (3.0 was fine). Custom kernel was needed not only to tame the battery drain, but to improve stability (fix hotbooting, etc.). Support for that device has been sub par for a long time on the AOSP front. If it weren't for KT747 and leanKernel, CM wouldn't have been usable at all (3.4+). Though, there is still a very valid argument that it wasn't usable anyhow. So custom kernels can make a difference in some cases.
Sleep is an issue with the stock kernel? I get 0.2%-0.4% drain per hour while idling. Zero issues here. If you want proof, I'd be happy to attach a BBS log for you guys to inspect. I don't disable sync or GPS. Never have and never will. You need to be in control of the apps on your phone.

Perhaps I should have clarified: my battery life is actually very good. I don't have any major complaints, and my idle drain is insanely low (the 0.2% - 0.4% figure claimed by Aerowinder isn't too far off). I'm coming from a Note 2 though, so although the battery life is good, I'm always looking for something to make it a bit better . I've been watching Franco and Faux kernels, but they seem hit or miss based on what I'm reading and the personal experience of my friends. I may wait a while longer for a stable release.

Buying the Nexus 5

Hi all I've come to a decision that buying the Nexus 5 is worth it, a perfect collection to my devices
The Snapdragon 800 Quad 2.3 got my attention and its pretty cheap
I would like to ask about the battery life and if there are any custom roms that improve it
Thanks alot

Hi,
For the battery life it will vary from each users, it depends on your usage and settings (screen brightness, synchro, GPS, etc...), for more details you can take a look here for example: Nexus 5 Battery Results. Some users have 7 hrs screen on time, others 3 hrs (plus the idle time to take in consideration) for example, like I said it depends of your use. If you are a gamer the battery life will not be the same as the user who use its phone only for SMS.
Again you will have different opinions (and people that claims that x rom or x kernel is the best for battery life, you'll have the same number of opinions as there are different roms / kernels and it will not help you more...), for some the battery life is great and for others it's terrible, etc..., I would say the average is a day for about 4 Hrs screen on time with "normal" (or "light" use, I mean not 1 hour of Dead Trigger) use. It will depend of what you will do with your phone?
The battery life is mainly on the user side, it's not x rom or y rom that will give you better or worse battery life (unless a big issue in the rom, but... or sometimes it's the Gapps that drain more than usual it's right). If you have a bad signal or a rogue app that give you a ton of wackelocks so higher battery drain, whatever the rom or the kernel you will use it will be always the same thing.
If you want improve your battery life, know what apps you have, how and what they do in background for example (to avoid wackeloks), you can underclock, etc...
Take a look here also about battery life and kernel: Nexus 5 Battery benchmarks.
And there is already a bunch of threads (and review) about battery life in the Q&A forum...

viking37 said:
Hi,
For the battery life it will vary from each users, it depends on your usage and settings (screen brightness, synchro, GPS, etc...), for more details you can take a look here for example: Nexus 5 Battery Results. Some users have 7 hrs screen on time, others 3 hrs (plus the idle time to take in consideration) for example, like I said it depends of your use. If you are a gamer the battery life will not be the same as the user who use its phone only for SMS.
Again you will have different opinions (and people that claims that x rom or x kernel is the best for battery life, you'll have the same number of opinions as there are different roms / kernels and it will not help you more...), for some the battery life is great and for others it's terrible, etc..., I would say the average is a day for about 4 Hrs screen on time with "normal" (or "light" use, I mean not 1 hour of Dead Trigger) use. It will depend of what you will do with your phone?
The battery life is mainly on the user side, it's not x rom or y rom that will give you better or worse battery life (unless a big issue in the rom, but... or sometimes it's the Gapps that drain more than usual it's right). If you have a bad signal or a rogue app that give you a ton of wackelocks so higher battery drain, whatever the rom or the kernel you will use it will be always the same thing.
If you want improve your battery life, know what apps you have, how and what they do in background for example (to avoid wackeloks), you can underclock, etc...
Take a look here also about battery life and kernel: Nexus 5 Battery benchmarks.
And there is already a bunch of threads (and review) about battery life in the Q&A forum...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Revontheus said:
Hi all I've come to a decision that buying the Nexus 5 is worth it, a perfect collection to my devices
The Snapdragon 800 Quad 2.3 got my attention and its pretty cheap
I would like to ask about the battery life and if there are any custom roms that improve it
Thanks alot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To add to what they said though, certain Kernels with certain Roms can HELP with battery life but it all boils down to how the user uses it. I can tell you that with my same usage on KitKat and Cyanogenmod 11 (CM11), I get better battery life out of CM11. I recorded about a 4 hour longer battery life on CM11 as opposed to default KitKat that comes on the device.
You should look into CM11, it's a cleaner, more effecient, more customizable version of KitKat.
Hope this helps!
Great job to Viking on explaining battery life/Roms

@viking37, I Saw on some reviews on the internet that it comes pre-throttled ( pre underclocked ) is this true

Revontheus said:
@viking37, I Saw on some reviews on the internet that it comes pre-throttled ( pre underclocked ) is this true
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Underclocked, for the Nexus 5 , I never saw this, have you a link?
All Nexus 5 are clocked at max 2,26 Ghz, nothing less... It seems that there is different variants of the S800 (clocked at 2,4/2,5 Ghz) but the S800 in the Nexus 5 it's 2,26 Ghz (MSM8974AA).
Maybe you mean this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(system_on_chip)#Snapdragon_800?

I have no issues with battery life ... I consistently get 14-20 hours of use with 3-5 hours of screen time or 2-3 hours of screen with 1-2 hours of voice.
Auto brightness, GPS on, nothing special.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Oh thank goodness, I saw some reviews saying it comes pre-throttled to save battery
Thanks

battery life is terrible but after some modification, it better a lot.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I get 24 hours and 5 to 6 screen time. Tweaked heavily with battery life in mind.
Its nearly as good as my Moto x.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

ROM with best battery life

Hi
A friend of mine is endlessly complaining about the bad battery life on his stock nexus 5, the phone is off the charger at 7am and is all but dead at 4pm
Being a nice guy and all, I want to help him out by offering to install a ROM that optimises battery life.
Can anyone suggest a good rom for the task ?
If such a rom exists and battery life can be extended to 15 to 17hrs I might jump ship from my LG G3

None

roms have absolutely nothing to do with battery.
battery is determined by your personal use, your personal setup, apps installed, and very much the quality of your phone/data connection. there are other things that'll influence battery life slightly as well, but these are the main things that determine your battery life.

Turn off auto and set the screen brightness display to 15%!

galaxys said:
Turn off auto and set the screen brightness display to 15%!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Autobrightness isn't too bad if your ROM allows you to change the values/levels
Also, "Lux Autobrightness" is useless for saving battery on an LCD screen since the backlight is still the same brightness. on AMOLED (aka not the Nexus 5) it would help, however.

simms22 said:
roms have absolutely nothing to do with battery.
battery is determined by your personal use, your personal setup, apps installed, and very much the quality of your phone/data connection. there are other things that'll influence battery life slightly as well, but these are the main things that determine your battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so we shouldn't expect any battery improvements when Android L is released ?

ipguy said:
so we shouldn't expect any battery improvements when Android L is released ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its possible, a small amount. but that would be from new code that makes something more efficient. but, i personally, dont expect much difference in battery life.

simms22 said:
its possible, a small amount. but that would be from new code that makes something more efficient. but, i personally, dont expect much difference in battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure I agree with you, project volta looks like a concerted effort from Google to do exactly that.

Funny. I always use Auto-brightness and get 4 hours SoT at least twice a week. Other times, I get a little over 3 hours or below.

The best battery life for me is with elementalx 1.05 kernel with a stock rom. 2 days stand by and at least 5 hours sot is the usual verdict.
But i think the problem here is how your friend uses his phone

Different ROMs do have different battery usage. Even with the same kernel. He could stick on stock with elementalx aosp kernel. Then mess around with trickster mod to suck out the most use. Only use the high power goveners when needed. Then switch back to low power for general use. Honestly, had my n5 for a month. Also had a n4 before. The n5 battery isnt much better. Biggest downside. Just doing nothing its fine, but if I play some games on the train it dies in no time.
Some ideas
Vanir
Slim
Purity
Cm11
Vanir with elementalx was good for me battery wise. But after a certain nightly I was getting alot of heat and battery drain. Im now using sabermod carbon with elementalx.

Turn Location off. It has the biggest Impact in Battery life time.

"Best" ROM.
There is no such thing as a best ROM. The question itself is ambiguous. "Best" is obviously a subjective term.
What I want from a ROM may well differ from what you want from a ROM, ergo - what is best for me could be worst for you.
If you are asking what the most popular ROMs are, or which ROMs people are using, you can see which threads stay around on the first few pages (and have the most posts) in the Android Development or Original Android Development forums. You can also see what other people are running by reading the What are you running on your Nexus 5 thread.
If you are asking which is the most stable, being a Nexus device - they're all pretty stable.
If you are asking which is best on Battery, ROMs only affect battery if they have a feature that is badly coded. You will likely be able to read about this in the ROM threads. ROMs do not impact battery life. The only impact to battery life are your apps, your settings, how you use the phone and mostly, environmental issues such as Phone Signal.
For tips about improving battery life, please read [Battery Life Help] Troubleshoot battery issues here!
"Best" Kernel
Also, please note that as above, "best" is still subjective. What we all want from a kernel is different. Again, many people have the misconception that Kernels affect battery life. Let's get this cleared up. Although Kernel devs will build in optimisations and efficiencies that will improve battery life, these are very, VERY tiny...and if 1 kernel has these optimisations, they likely all have.
People will often say "Kernel x is better than kernel y for battery life". This is actually wrong. Kernels respond to user settings. Setting up the governor to favour either battery life or performance is simple enough to do, you just have to do some learning. The reason people think Kernel x is better than y is because developers set their kernels up with their preferred governor settings. This is what we refer to as out-of-the-box settings. The out-of-the-box settings for kernel x may well produce better battery results than the out-of-the-box settings for kernel y, which favour performance. The fact is, you as the user have the ability to tune kernel x or y to perform the same, be that battery or performance - so start learning how to do this yourselves - that way, you can choose the kernel based on the FEATURES you want, and not the fictional performance benefits of one kernel over another.
Hope this helps

rootSU said:
"Best" ROM.
There is no such thing as a best ROM. The question itself is ambiguous. "Best" is obviously a subjective term.
What I want from a ROM may well differ from what you want from a ROM, ergo - what is best for me could be worst for you.
If you are asking what the most popular ROMs are, or which ROMs people are using, you can see which threads stay around on the first few pages (and have the most posts) in the Android Development or Original Android Development forums. You can also see what other people are running by reading the What are you running on your Nexus 5 thread.
If you are asking which is the most stable, being a Nexus device - they're all pretty stable.
If you are asking which is best on Battery, ROMs only affect battery if they have a feature that is badly coded. You will likely be able to read about this in the ROM threads. ROMs do not impact battery life. The only impact to battery life are your apps, your settings, how you use the phone and mostly, environmental issues such as Phone Signal.
For tips about improving battery life, please read [Battery Life Help] Troubleshoot battery issues here!
"Best" Kernel
Also, please note that as above, "best" is still subjective. What we all want from a kernel is different. Again, many people have the misconception that Kernels affect battery life. Let's get this cleared up. Although Kernel devs will build in optimisations and efficiencies that will improve battery life, these are very, VERY tiny...and if 1 kernel has these optimisations, they likely all have.
People will often say "Kernel x is better than kernel y for battery life". This is actually wrong. Kernels respond to user settings. Setting up the governor to favour either battery life or performance is simple enough to do, you just have to do some learning. The reason people think Kernel x is better than y is because developers set their kernels up with their preferred governor settings. This is what we refer to as out-of-the-box settings. The out-of-the-box settings for kernel x may well produce better battery results than the out-of-the-box settings for kernel y, which favour performance. The fact is, you as the user have the ability to tune kernel x or y to perform the same, be that battery or performance - so start learning how to do this yourselves - that way, you can choose the kernel based on the FEATURES you want, and not the fictional performance benefits of one kernel over another.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with this guy

I used about every rom and kernel.... And my battery life for me, with my lean setup and usage was always 24 hoursish total and usually over 6 hours screen time on all of them.
So no one will ever convince me that different kernels and especially different roms affect battery life any more than in the smallest ways. Definitely not enough difference to base a choice on solely.
?

bblzd said:
Well said. I hope you don't mind but I've linked your well written response in a Reddit post. Users there argue daily over which ROM or kernel is best for battery life despite my best efforts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can lead a horse to water.... Etc... Etc. ?

bblzd said:
Well said. I hope you don't mind but I've linked your well written response in a Reddit post. Users there argue daily over which ROM or kernel is best for battery life despite my best efforts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all. I'm just copying and pasting it wherever needed now.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

ipguy said:
not sure I agree with you, project volta looks like a concerted effort from Google to do exactly that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we will see.

About kernels

What kernels are you guys using and why? I'm on stock but willing to try out some

https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/help/kernel-t3847767
This thread might help you.....

Currently using blu spark kernel, shifted from EX.

Im on EX. Using the stune boost recommended on the second post of his thread along with top app boost set to 1 so it gets pushed to the big cluster. Ultimate smoothness and no stutters whatsoever. I think the battery drain might be higher with the topapp setting but it lasts me the day anyways so I don't care.
I used bluspark before as well. Provided me with the best battery results but I did get some hiccups with it.
Radioactive was also speedy like EX. Didn't test it long enough to compare to the finer detail but I figured if it behaves similarly I may as well stick with EX since I'm already familiar with the work since the M7 days.

spartan268 said:
Im on EX. Using the stune boost recommended on the second post of his thread along with top app boost set to 1 so it gets pushed to the big cluster. Ultimate smoothness and no stutters whatsoever. I think the battery drain might be higher with the topapp setting but it lasts me the day anyways so I don't care.
I used bluspark before as well. Provided me with the best battery results but I did get some hiccups with it.
Radioactive was also speedy like EX. Didn't test it long enough to compare to the finer detail but I figured if it behaves similarly I may as well stick with EX since I'm already familiar with the work since the M7 days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the perks of owning this phone it's the insane speed. I've tried Ex in the past, on the OPO mainly, to try to get some extra hours out of a worn out battery. I used to use blu on my N5 for the same reason, I remember enjoying it.
I'm wondering why would someone tradeoff stock

quimbexa said:
One of the perks of owning this phone it's the insane speed. I've tried Ex in the past, on the OPO mainly, to try to get some extra hours out of a worn out battery. I used to use blu on my N5 for the same reason, I remember enjoying it.
I'm wondering why would someone tradeoff stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using EX kernel specifically because it supports WireGuard VPN kernel module, meaning the VPN connection to my home I have running 24/7 uses less battery and has higher throughput!
That, and the fact I have used EX kernel for many past devices, and the dev flar2 is really active with updates etc

Database Info

welcome