I have read some disturbing reviews about the Thunderbolt which is a 4G LTE Verizon phone. Although the phone itself sounds great, what concerns me are reports that the battery life is around 4-5 hours with 4G turned on.
So my question and concern is, once we upgrade the Xoom to 4G when available, are we going to be victims of the same poor battery life with 4G?
You're not required to have data connection on all the time. A toggle switch widget can fix the problem. Just turns it on when needed. But yeah I do agree that 4g and 3g will drain the battery.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I already keep my Xoom on airplane mode to disable all radios that I don't specifically activate. Seems to help with battery life. I downloaded some toggle Widgets to shortcut all the steps.
[sent with Xooming Android technology]
wang1404 said:
You're not required to have data connection on all the time. A toggle switch widget can fix the problem. Just turns it on when needed. But yeah I do agree that 4g and 3g will drain the battery.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not really a solution. Currently with my Xoom, I can be on Wifi at home and when I am out, 3G kicks in. I do not want to toggle a widget when I need data (which is always) as I am sure most other people will not want to do. My battery life is totally acceptable currently with 3G and no toggling on/off. So will the 4G upgrade cause the battery life to be cut in half or worse?
keitht said:
That is not really a solution. Currently with my Xoom, I can be on Wifi at home and when I am out, 3G kicks in. I do not want to toggle a widget when I need data (which is always) as I am sure most other people will not want to do. My battery life is totally acceptable currently with 3G and no toggling on/off. So will the 4G upgrade cause the battery life to be cut in half or worse?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I seriously doubt 4g will be much (if any) worse than 3g is now. The only way would be that you are on it more and keeping the screen on for longer times because it will RULE! lol
ghoticov said:
I seriously doubt 4g will be much (if any) worse than 3g is now. The only way would be that you are on it more and keeping the screen on for longer times because it will RULE! lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just debating here but why do you think that? Why would Thunderbolt have a 4-5 hour battery life using 4G? You think that poor life is not 4G LTE related? And they have the luxury of swapping batteries which we cannot do with the Xoom.
I don't know how closely it is to sprint's 4g, but enabling 4g on my evo is a battery killer too. the good thing is that you can toggle 4g off and run in 3G mode. no need to disable data completely
madsquabbles said:
I don't know how closely it is to sprint's 4g, but enabling 4g on my evo is a battery killer too. the good thing is that you can toggle 4g off and run in 3G mode. no need to disable data completely
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That begs the question,why get 4g if you have to manage it manually like that?
keitht said:
That begs the question,why get 4g if you have to manage it manually like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind, that the 4g upgrade will be OPTIONAL and if you are seriously debating whether the upgrade will be worth it or not, then simply don't send it in for the upgrade! The less people to send it in (like you), would in turn mean faster return time for my upgrade! I personally don't give a damn about having to click a toggle switch when I want to download at crazy fast speeds!
Just my .02
I can also guarantee you that 4g will have a pretty noticeable impact on battery life. And to be perfectly honest with you, the HTC Thunderbolt (stock), even with 4g turned off, still has absolutely horrible battery life.
Instien said:
Keep in mind, that the 4g upgrade will be OPTIONAL and if you are seriously debating whether the upgrade will be worth it or not, then simply don't send it in for the upgrade! The less people to send it in (like you), would in turn mean faster return time for my upgrade! I personally don't give a damn about having to click a toggle switch when I want to download at crazy fast speeds!
Just my .02
I can also guarantee you that 4g will have a pretty noticeable impact on battery life. And to be perfectly honest with you, the HTC Thunderbolt (stock), even with 4g turned off, still has absolutely horrible battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your response is very defensive and that is not the purpose of my questions. I am looking for meaningful conversation regarding the possibity that a 4g upgrade will significanty reduce battery life on the Xoom. All speculation but something to talk about.
So what I can gather is more or less around what everyone says. Get your 4g upgrade but don't turn it on and stick to 3g unless you feel you need the speed bump. So nothing will change except you know you have your turbo button-widget (yes old school) available.
That is unless it will be stuck on 4g at all times but looks like that is a feature that is toggled by today's hardware not permanent yet due to battery capacities.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using XDA App
foreverinpanama said:
So what I can gather is more or less around what everyone says. Get your 4g upgrade but don't turn it on and stick to 3g unless you feel you need the speed bump. So nothing will change except you know you have your turbo button-widget (yes old school) available.
That is unless it will be stuck on 4g at all times but looks like that is a feature that is toggled by today's hardware not permanent yet due to battery capacities.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not one to complain without reason but I certainly hope this is not the case.
MY plan is to remove the dummy card right before shipping it out so I can put it back if I am unhappy with the battery life.
In theory, 4g should use less battery, not more. 3g chipset firmware is highly optimized, though, due to the technology having been around for a while.
It may be a few firmware revisions to hit minimum use for 4g, but it shouldn't use dramatically more than 3g.
The answer for this thread is simple. Yes 4G will use more battery power, that's the short end of the stick. If you live in a 4G area and don't need the speed boost and would rather save battery there will be a way to disable 4G and use 3G just like with the thunderbolt or evo
Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk
It isn't speculation. The evo has a long track record with 4g of a very similar type. 4g will be a battery hog. But I never use it on my evo unless I'm tethered or streaming. Otherwise I find 3g more than enough for most tasks. I will send my xoom in for the upgrade. But I don't activate it. I tether it to my evo. But yes it will be a battery hog. Whenever you use cutting edge technology they tends to develop the speed and reliability first and worry about power consumption last.
I work for Verizon and honestly rarely hear many complaints about the battery life on the Thunderbolt. Many of my customers get awesome battery life and we have 4g in my area. The LTE radio does consume more battery than 3g especially if you are downloading a large file or something. Another thing to consider is the Thunderbolt is like a big brother to the Incredible and that phone had HORRIBLE battery life. The Thunderbolt has a much larger screen, 4g, and does not have a very large battery. I don't see 4g having a huge impact for most people but for those that feel it helps there will always be a toggle widget or “turbo button” like someone said earlier. I will definitely be sending mine in right away...
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Ferradinho said:
I work for Verizon and honestly rarely hear many complaints about the battery life on the Thunderbolt. Many of my customers get awesome battery life and we have 4g in my area. The LTE radio does consume more battery than 3g especially if you are downloading a large file or something. Another thing to consider is the Thunderbolt is like a big brother to the Incredible and that phone had HORRIBLE battery life. The Thunderbolt has a much larger screen, 4g, and does not have a very large battery. I don't see 4g having a huge impact for most people but for those that feel it helps there will always be a toggle widget or “turbo button” like someone said earlier. I will definitely be sending mine in right away...
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but you either live in a nice vacuum or a bubble or a cocoon because EVERYONE I know with this phone (friends, foes and customers too) loves it to death but hates the battery life with 4g on, and by default there's no way to turn off 4g when not needed.
Had to root for some friends and show them the 4g LTE off widget that came out the other day. At least that helps.
As for the Xoom, even if you might not want to use 4g or sign up, still send it in to be done. Definitely will help with resale value down the road.
my friend has the thunderbolt and the battery sucks, and he isn't in a 4g area. Mr verizon rep is on a feel good drug, or something.
keitht said:
I have read some disturbing reviews about the Thunderbolt which is a 4G LTE Verizon phone. Although the phone itself sounds great, what concerns me are reports that the battery life is around 4-5 hours with 4G turned on.
So my question and concern is, once we upgrade the Xoom to 4G when available, are we going to be victims of the same poor battery life with 4G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's going to drain more then the cdma radio does, at least until the technology and the software support behind it is more mature. But that is to be expected with bleeding technology.
Also remember that part of the battery issues on the TB comes from the fact that people use it alot more then previous phones. Streaming data is alot more power intensive then just the comparable occasional usage their previous device saw. I have a TB and if I use the snot out of it then yeah I can kill the battery in a couple of hours. However if I am busy and use it like I used my D2 or DX then I can get through the day without having to recharge.
Also you can turn just the LTE radio off when you are not using it if you are that concerned
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Related
I tested the following:
Turning 4G on in a full bar area and letting it stand idle for one hour.
I lost about 20% battery in one single hour.
The phone had the screen off, wifi off and all apps but the essential ones off.
On 3G i lost about 5%/hour.
4G is supposed to be an "always-on" service with such a battery drainage?
I was sure it was supposed to be a power efficient service, like WiFi or at least like 3G.
Note the phone also gets a little hot after one hour if being idle with 4G on.
I wonder if other people are seeing the same results?
clubtech said:
4G is supposed to be an "always-on" service with such a battery drainage? I was sure it was supposed to be a power efficient service, like WiFi or at least like 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummmm...
Wow...
ummmm...
4g = bad for battery
OK...Thanks!
I really wanted someone else to test this and report back.
Maybe it is just my unit or the ROM that i am using?
clubtech said:
OK...Thanks!
I really wanted someone else to test this and report back.
Maybe it is just my unit or the ROM that i am using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL sorry brotha' I was just messing around
You gotta admit though, you set yourself up for that one
In all seriousness, 4g is an absolute battery killer! ESPECIALLY if your in an area where you don't get good 4g signal.
If your in a good area and surrounded by 4g then the phone doesn't really have to work at all to keep the signal BUT if your in an area where there's not much 4g signal, like most of America, then it will destroy your battery life (and make your phone hot) because your phone keeps searching for it over and over which chews up the battery. I would ALWAYS keep 4g off unless your downloading something until the 4g becomes more expanded across America. Also download the app battery indicator and make sure you keep track of your battery temperature with it in the status bar. I never let my battery get above 99*F since that will cause permanent damage. In your first post you were talking about losing 20% in an hour while on 4g which would alot of sense since the phone (on 3g) is only slated to get 4-5 hours of talk time, with 4g on always searching for signal the 20% loss seems about right.
Sorry again for messing with you earlier
np.
I am with full 4g bar when testing, so it is not a signal issue.
Yeah, it's a huge battery drainer. I forgot I turned it on in town, took a nap and had 85% battery left, fell asleep and took a 2 hour nap, woke up and it was dead dead mofo dead.
So yeah, it's a battery killer.
Good thing you can barely use the main advertising feature of this phone.
roybotnik said:
Good thing you can barely use the main advertising feature of this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL A+
stupid10char
Okay, so WiFi is usually better than 3G when it comes to battery life; but what about WiMax? I don't have a stable signal yet so I can't reliably test the two. What are ya'll experiences (for those within a reliable 4G area)? Better, the same, worse, or a lot worse?
Award Tour said:
Okay, so WiFi is usually better than 3G when it comes to battery life; but what about WiMax? I don't have a stable signal yet so I can't reliably test the two. What are ya'll experiences (for those within a reliable 4G area)? Better, the same, worse, or a lot worse?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have reliable 4G in my area, but I notice that even turning on the wimax 4G radio dramatically drains my battery. Don't know if its becasue its constantly searching for signal or just becasue the radio is turned on. My 2 cents, but I know it's not very thorough..
Any time you have a radio turned on and do not have a signal it will drain the battery trying to find a signal.
If you go to an area with poor 3g service, your battery will drain crazy.
They are testing 4g in my area, so it is up and down a lot, so I cannot test.
From reading other posts, I believe 4g may take slightly more battery.
Since Froyo has been released, the 4G battery drain isn't nearly as bad as it was on 2.1. I've noticed that the speeds have substantially increased as well as better battery management as well.
infamousjax said:
Since Froyo has been released, the 4G battery drain isn't nearly as bad as it was on 2.1. I've noticed that the speeds have substantially increased as well as better battery management as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's why I wanted to see how things are now. We all know how 4G got slammed by reviewers for killing the battery, but the new radio might have changed that. I'm just curious at how it compares to 3G now under ideal conditions (good signal).
I have full 4G coverage where I live and to be honest when 4G is on, the battery drainage difference is not much, when compared to 3G.
I have 4G in my area as well, but I leave it off because it goes back and forth from being connected to not being connected. I did notice last night that my battery went from 70% to 5% over night... Anyone know what could cause that?
pscalett said:
I have 4G in my area as well, but I leave it off because it goes back and forth from being connected to not being connected. I did notice last night that my battery went from 70% to 5% over night... Anyone know what could cause that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem. I'm in the Baltimore area and the 3G/4G switches back and forth. I figured out that when the phone isn't in 4G, it searches for a 4G connection, but you can put it to 3G only (with an app called Phone Info) until Verizon is done with their 4G coverage.
4G uses more power than 3g, which uses more power than wifi.
4g<3g<wifi.
it's significantly worse on 4G, so much so that I have an extended battery and I still don't use it.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
AvatarOfFrost said:
I have full 4G coverage where I live and to be honest when 4G is on, the battery drainage difference is not much, when compared to 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is something wrong with your phone then, maybe it's not sleeping. you should be noticing a huge difference.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
I have always wondered when the 4g sign gets the little zzz on top of it replacing the little wifi type sign, does it mean that the 4g is temporary disabled or that there's no data being transfered over its connection.
In short, is it equivalent to the arrows on the 3g sign being grayed out instead of colored in?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
yes, in other words its sleeping
Does that mean it's not draining my battery like it does on tha Evo ? Because they tell me to turn tha toggle off on my Evo if im not in a 4g area.I hope I made any sense.thx
Pito2k6 said:
Does that mean it's not draining my battery like it does on tha Evo ? Because they tell me to turn tha toggle off on my Evo if im not in a 4g area.I hope I made any sense.thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a good question. I want to know the answer to that myself. If your not in a 4g area then it will use up more battery because your device will be searching for a 4g signal. But if your getting 4g signal I don't really know if it uses more battery by keeping it on.
I keep my 4g on all the time. My battery life was crappy before using 4g and it just as crappy after using it.
Silent25r said:
That is a good question. I want to know the answer to that myself. If your not in a 4g area then it will use up more battery because your device will be searching for a 4g signal. But if your getting 4g signal I don't really know if it uses more battery by keeping it on.
I keep my 4g on all the time. My battery life was crappy before using 4g and it just as crappy after using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i imagine that the radio for 4g uses more then 3g radios but thats because the tech is new.. so will it eat more battery idling then 3g? i imagine so
No, while ur 4g is on it pretty much drains the same amount of battery power, my advice is if ur not in a 4g area just b safe and cut it off...but the zzz's aren't really saving power if u wanna save power ull actually have 2 turn 4g off
I'm not an expert on 4G but I *think* the Zzz indicates 4G connected in sleep mode which keeps your mobile IP session up. This in turn gives the spectrum back to the tower you're on to use for active connections. If traffic originates on either side (e.g. from your mobile device or from the internet) the mobile IP session is still active so your device is addressable by IP, traffic can be routed to or from, and the tower base station controller (BSC) allocates some spectrum/RF to your device for the traffic to begin flowing. In theory, the base station controller could allocate multiple WiMax frequency bands if you needed the bandwidth, but that would depend on how the BSC is configured, the load on that specific tower (both on RF and backhaul), and what the demand was like. It would save some battery being in Zzz/sleep, but not as much as turning the 4G radio off entirely when you don't need it.
I'm on Quantum ROM 1.5 which is a Froyo Beta build - I've noticed I have enough battery life with this ROM to turn on 4G on all day if I feel like it, but frankly I'm around WiFi 95% of my day - so I don't bother with 4G unless I really need speed on the move (away from home/work).
shabbypenguin said:
i imagine that the radio for 4g uses more then 3g radios but thats because the tech is new.. so will it eat more battery idling then 3g? i imagine so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're right shabbypenguin. CDMA EVDO chipsets have been around for awhile and fairly mature. WiMAX chipsets are available from a few different vendors and haven't been around as long, hence probably not fully optimized for performance and power use/battery life.
I'm thinking of switching to sprint, which means a new phone (yay) and as I browse my phone options I hear a lot of good things about the Evo. My question for you guys is, is the evo shift pretty much the same as the evo just with the slide out keyboard? is one somehow "better" in some aspects then the other? I would love to have the keyboard but to be honest I usually use the on screen one anyways on my current phone (Tmobile G2).
My second question is, which other phones would you say are worth considering as well?
Lastly, I'm also thinking of switching to Verizon when the Thunderbolt comes out. The main reason I'm switching is because I'm pissed off that Tmobile is cutting my internet speed after I reach 5 GB bandwidth and I know that Sprint and Verizon are the two providers that don't do that. However It appears that Verizon will charge you a higher fee once you go over 10gb bandwidth, which would be ok if the Thunderbolt is really cool
HTC EVO & HTC EVO Shift 4G
Here's everything you'll need for comparing and contrasting the HTC EVO along side the HTC EVO Shift 4G.
http://developer.sprint.com/site/global/devices/handsets/handsets.jsp
Wicked1ab said:
I'm thinking of switching to sprint, which means a new phone (yay) and as I browse my phone options I hear a lot of good things about the Evo. My question for you guys is, is the evo shift pretty much the same as the evo just with the slide out keyboard? is one somehow "better" in some aspects then the other? I would love to have the keyboard but to be honest I usually use the on screen one anyways on my current phone (Tmobile G2).
My second question is, which other phones would you say are worth considering as well?
Lastly, I'm also thinking of switching to Verizon when the Thunderbolt comes out. The main reason I'm switching is because I'm pissed off that Tmobile is cutting my internet speed after I reach 5 GB bandwidth and I know that Sprint and Verizon are the two providers that don't do that. However It appears that Verizon will charge you a higher fee once you go over 10gb bandwidth, which would be ok if the Thunderbolt is really cool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might want to hold off until CTIA and Sprints announcements there to see if you want one of those phones.
http://goo.gl/xwHrG
I agree with the post above, you may want to wait as Sprint will be announcing 2 new phones. The EVO 3D does sound interesting.
If you can't wait, I looked at both the EVO and EVO Shift and decided on the EVO Shift. The extra battery life alone is what sells me on this device. I also prefer the size of the Shift. As as added bonus the Shift has benchmarked higher than the EVO, and the keyboard has come in handy on many occasion.
There are many selling points to the EVO as well, primarily the larger screen, but pound for pound the Shift was and still is the better choice IMHO.
Try and buy a phone outright from bb and you will pay significantly more than a corporate store.
My 2 cents...
The evo with the sprint branded extended life battery makes up for the evo's biggest con, battery life. Only bad thing so far is I can't find a case for the fatter evo. My eyesight is getting worse so smaller screens and fonts aren't fun to deal with. I do have a shift and it's a nice little phone. I thought I wanted a keyboard phone but I'm growing out of that. Now, the thing I find the keyboard good for is playing emulator games. It's too frustrating with on screen controls with console games, for me.
Another feature to consider with the evo is it is supposedly one of the few phones that with wireless tether, it runs in infrastructure mode and not ad hoc like most the rest. You could, theoretically, run a xoom or other android phones on wifi with the evo as the access point. From what I've been reading, the xoom can't see ad hoc. Once again I digress.
I am willing to wager some money that the new Evo will be a much better phone then the Thunderbolt. I went with the shift because by the time the device comes out my 1 year upgrade will be rolling around again. Also I remember seeing something about Sprint having a cap on 3G speeds after 5 GB of data usage, but 4G is all you can eat. All phones can be run as Wifi Tether when Rooted, or you can pay Sprint for the unrooted version, which the Evo and Evo Shift both do.
Evo shift.. has much better battery life!!!
herbthehammer said:
Another feature to consider with the evo is it is supposedly one of the few phones that with wireless tether, it runs in infrastructure mode and not ad hoc like most the rest. You could, theoretically, run a xoom or other android phones on wifi with the evo as the access point. From what I've been reading, the xoom can't see ad hoc. Once again I digress.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really? The Xoom won't be able to see the shift's WiFi signal? I know the iPad can, because I use it all the time through my phone. That'd be yet another shortcoming of the Xoom.
Double 0 said:
Evo shift.. has much better battery life!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you use an evo extensively before using the shift?
anyone else perhaps switch from an evo to a shift? Im looking for battery life, i use my device all the time and recharging in my 10a class is getting annoying.(I leave my house at 6.30a)
I need better battery life without adding bulk so i dont want an aftermarket battery. been thinking heading to the blackberry camp because i loved the battery life on my tour.
is the shift significantly better on battery consumption than the evo? advise please.thank you!
tailsthecat3 said:
did you use an evo extensively before using the shift?
anyone else perhaps switch from an evo to a shift? Im looking for battery life, i use my device all the time and recharging in my 10a class is getting annoying.(I leave my house at 6.30a)
I need better battery life without adding bulk so i dont want an aftermarket battery. been thinking heading to the blackberry camp because i loved the battery life on my tour.
is the shift significantly better on battery consumption than the evo? advise please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I picked up the Shift last week, came from the Evo which I've had since last June. The Shift has much better battery life while in use compared to the Evo. With the Shift, if i use the xda app for an hour, I'll see the battery drop 13%-16%. With the Evo it was closer to 20% battery drop. Doing web browsing on the Evo sometimes the battery will drop almost 25% per hour, where as the same usage on the Shift will be less than 20%. Keep in mind battery usage will vary depending on location, signal strength, whether you're using wifi or 3g, etc. In my regular usage I do notice an improvement with the Shift.
I tried pretty much every ROM available for the Evo and had no issues getting through the day without needing to recharge with my regular usage. Battery life was great while the phone was sleeping - charge the phone to 100% at night, unplug and go to bed, wake up and the battery was at 95%. This was using some of the custom kernels available. With the stock rooted ROM on the Shift, I wake up and the battery is at 93%. I'm sure changing to an undervolted kernel will at least match the Evo when it comes to battery life while sleeping.
Bottomline is with heavy or moderate usage, battery life with the Shift is noticeably better. If you barely use your phone both phones can easily go over 24 hours.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App
Hey abanh... is it bad to keep ur phone on the plug? Does it wear out the battery?
lilgrass71 said:
Hey abanh... is it bad to keep ur phone on the plug? Does it wear out the battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No - HTC designed it so when your battery reaches 100% it will stop charging. So that means even though your phone is still sitting on the charger and the battery meter indicates 100%, it's actually not charging until the battery drops below a certain threshhold (I'm thinking 90%). The battery meter will still be at 100% even though it actually dropped somewhere into the 90 percent range. Thats why when you take your phone off the charger the battery drops down close to 90% so quick.
I take my phone off the charger every night, but when i wake up in the morning i put it back on the charger while i get ready for work. 15 minutes on the charger in the morning will put the battery closer to 100% to start the day versus leaving it charging all night.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App
I see. Makes sense... thanks
Battery life estimates for the Thunderbolt are in the neighborhood of 4hrs due to Verizon's LTE 4G. There is no way to disable the battery draining 4G.
How would this affect our Xoom's? I think the general consensus is that the Xoom has "very good" battery performance but that's on 3G. Maybe it's not worth doing the free upgrade right away???
Just throwing that out there.
Snapdragon has never had good battery life to begin with.
You don't have to worry since the 4G upgrade won't happen until around June and that is only what is speculated. Assuming June is the time frame to send back your xoom, Verizon should be coming up with a solution the 4G battery drain problem.
A few 4G smartphones are coming out in april (Motorola Droid Bionic, Samsung Charge, LG Revolution) which should give Verizon more feedback to see if these new devices are also draining battery like crazy using 4G. The hope is that by June/July, Verizon should have pinpointed the problem and have a fix by then whether that is small or big as long as there is progress.
Keep in mind that HTC is not known for its great battery life. Hopefully the Droid Bionic coming out in April does well since that is the phone I am planning to get and switch from Sprint to Verizon.
atoy74 said:
Battery life estimates for the Thunderbolt are in the neighborhood of 4hrs due to Verizon's LTE 4G. There is no way to disable the battery draining 4G.
How would this affect our Xoom's? I think the general consensus is that the Xoom has "very good" battery performance but that's on 3G. Maybe it's not worth doing the free upgrade right away???
Just throwing that out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can disable 4G threw an app called Network by Phillip Magelow. I have the Thunderbolt and 4G on it sucks the battery like no other. Plus, HTC is known for not having the best battery life (had an Eris and it sucked). Juice Defender and PowerMax have helped quite a bit.
I don't believe that 4G has much to do with the HTC Thunderbolts bad battery performance.
I have a HTC Desire HD, it doesn't have 4G and it's battery lasts maybe 4,5hrs of continuous use.
Wobblin30 said:
You can disable 4G threw an app called Network by Phillip Magelow. I have the Thunderbolt and 4G on it sucks the battery like no other. Plus, HTC is known for not having the best battery life (had an Eris and it sucked). Juice Defender and PowerMax have helped quite a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I figured that most people on XDA would figure out how to disable 4G but I was mainly considering the avg Joe.
Let's see if Moto/Verizon figure it out. To date I'm a little surprised we haven't seem more OTA updates.
I don't know that this is unique to LTE, either. I know that Wimax on my Sprint Epic also kills the battery life.
However, I'd imagine the impact on the Xoom would be less visible, since the Xoom has such better battery life to begin with.
wynand32 said:
I don't know that this is unique to LTE, either. I know that Wimax on my Sprint Epic also kills the battery life.
However, I'd imagine the impact on the Xoom would be less visible, since the Xoom has such better battery life to begin with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, all 4G technologies are battery hogs right now. The difference is you can disable Wimax and live on 3G if you wanted. That's what I do with my Evo. I treat Wimax just like wifi...I enable it when needed. LTE (as of now) cannot be easily disabled.
As for impact on the Xoom, I'd tend to agree with you. BUT, if you're device drops for 8hrs of constant use to 6hrs, I'm sure many people would complain.
atoy74 said:
Yes, all 4G technologies are battery hogs right now. The difference is you can disable Wimax and live on 3G if you wanted. That's what I do with my Evo. I treat Wimax just like wifi...I enable it when needed. LTE (as of now) cannot be easily disabled.
As for impact on the Xoom, I'd tend to agree with you. BUT, if you're device drops for 8hrs of constant use to 6hrs, I'm sure many people would complain.
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There is an app that turns it off with a push of a button, how much easier do you want it
Well, there's a few factors here that should be taken into consideration before getting your panties in a twist...
First, you can turn the 4G radio on or off on the TB, either by using an app or dialing into the test menu. I have no doubt the same will be possible on the Xoom. Second, VZ's LTE coverage isn't everywhere, so it may be a moot point for some folks anyway. Third, even if LTE is available in your area, some may not care to send their Xoom to Moto for the upgrade, even if it is free. Example- I hardly use the 4G radio on my EVO, though it was a big sellling point for me when I first acquired it. The only time I really use it is when browsing YouTube, or for wireless tethering (but of course YMMV).
Either way, nothing to get 'em in a twist over, eh?
It is known fact that faster modem consumes more power. Bandwidth is directly translated into power requirement.
However, because of larger battery modem energy consumption for Xoom may be only 5-10% of total energy available in the battery while that ratio might be 15-25% for the Thunderbolt having smaller battery.
I wouldn't worry about it for Xoom. Besides you can save it switching to Geico (or 3G).
Keep in mind that its not just the 4g radio that's draining the thunderbolts battery. It has a huge screen, fast processor, and a tiny tiny tiny battery (around 1250mAh?). Case in point the Evo 4g had crappy battery life even staying on 3g with a larger battery than the TB.
From what I can tell the screen is by and large the hugest drain on the Xooms battery, LTE will of course have more drain, but it won't affect it as much as it does on a phone I don't think.