Database Users

Battery Life Guide - Worth a read if you are having issues.

Ive spent the last few days fiddling and testing stuff to increase battery life. Here is what i have learnt...
(Im running R2BA026)
Firstly, personally i do not want to lose any functionality/performance in order to gain battery life. I think that if you are going to spend the money to get a phone with awesome hardware it should be able to run at full whack.
This guide will not be useful to all, but hopefully it will be handy to those in my situation.
This is a guide for what i have found to be the best compromise between battery life and user experience, with the emphasis being on user experience.
My specific goals are:
- I do not want to lose any performance i.e cause any slowdown/choppiness.
- I am only looking for a 24h battery life as i can charge every night.
- I want to be able to use my phone without worrying about battery. Specifically I never want to think "i shouldnt do that it might run down my battery". I should be able to use all the features on my phone without questioning if i can afford to.
-=-
In my experience using a task killer resulted in only minimal gains to battery life but it meant that opening up apps could be a lot slower and apps could be choppy just after opening them.
Additionally the idea of setCPU is a good one however when coming out of sleep or opening an app it takes a little while to get back up to speed. This also causes choppiness. Personally I find lag/choppiness a real pet peeve, it irritates me alot, so I do not use setCPU either. It is true that with careful set up the lag can be minimised but then the battery life gains are also minimal, so I choose to keep full performance and dispense with setCPU. Bear in mind that the hardware platform is already very efficient and well optimised so a software solution will pretty much be a straight trade of performance for battery life.
-=-
With those two common options out of the way, what else can be done to save juice?
Well generally the biggest consumer of energy is the screen. The simplest option is just to turn it down to minimum brightness, but in my opinion that is not a good solution, its too nice a screen to have dimmed all the time. Thankfully the auto-brightness does a pretty good job of keeping the back light at a good level. It can be a bit disconcerting if you enable it when using full brightness as the drop can seem somewhat dramatic but don't let that put you off, give at 1/2 a day or so and you wont even notice.
Other easy but important things you can do are turning the screen timeout to minimum and always turning off the screen (power button) as soon as you are finished. They are tiny changes but really do make a big difference.
-=-
Onto wifi...
I think there may be a bug with the firmware because if I disable wifi I get a HUGE increase in battery life when Im at home. I have good 3g coverage here and a 3GB allowance so I only need to turn on wifi when Im browsing the web or market, seeing as it takes seconds with the widget this option suits me fine.
I suspect that when the phone is connected to wifi it doesn't sleep properly so drains very fast.
Only turning on wifi when i want it made by far the biggest difference to me, and as it doesn't affect my user experience in any appreciable way I am happy to do it.
I think its a good idea to mention app/widget updates and refreshes here, personally i have all my widgets and apps set to refresh only once a day, that suits me fine because I can refresh them all manually very easily if I want to to be absolutely up to date and I'm not a twitter or facebook addict Most of my widgets are news/article based so once a day is perfect.
-=-
GPS, again this is rather obvious, if you don't use it, turn it off. Personally i use latitude so I have it turned on all the time. Android seems very good about only using it when it is needed and the phone seems to get a fix very quickly so in reality it doesn't spend much of the day being active.
Same goes for bluetooth, although I don't use it so it stays off.
-=-
Nothing i have said here is particularly revelatory mostly common sense but I have always had battery issues often with the battery lasting ~12 hours before asking to be charged.
Updating to 026 made a big difference and following these rules means my battery drains on average 2-2.5% an hour under normal use.
Normal use for me:
-Wifi Off
-GPS on (With latitude widget)
-Gtalk always running
-3 news widgets + timescape
-frequent texting
-moderate calls
-frequent fiddling
The phone is very very snappy, everything apart from timescape opens as near to instant as makes no odds, the phone is a pleasure to use. My battery life has comfortably doubled without the use of any apps or any loss of performance.
Mission Accomplished

Thanks
Cheers for that. Very interesting .
I definitely agree about the task killer apps, the OS does a perfect job at running itself!
One question, Am i correct in presuming you have 3g always running? Network mode set to GSM/WCDMA preferred? Ive been afraid to do this as i have it in my head that 3g eats up my battery for fun! I'll have to try it out.
Thanks again!

I bought an extended battery for my X10 the sloping sides stop it looking like a brick. The G1 always looked like a brick with an extended battery but the X10 sloping sides do serve a purpose.

helliewm said:
I bought an extended battery for my X10 the sloping sides stop it looking like a brick. The G1 always looked like a brick with an extended battery but the X10 sloping sides do serve a purpose.
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Click to collapse
I prefer this:
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bjohnny85 said:
Cheers for that. Very interesting .
I definitely agree about the task killer apps, the OS does a perfect job at running itself!
One question, Am i correct in presuming you have 3g always running? Network mode set to GSM/WCDMA preferred? Ive been afraid to do this as i have it in my head that 3g eats up my battery for fun! I'll have to try it out.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, thats correct With the 3g on it seems to stay in 2g when sleeping then switch to 3g when you wake it, you can see the change in the status bar about a second after waking. Pure speculation though ...
Well, let us know how you get on with 3g active all the time
helliewm said:
I bought an extended battery for my X10 the sloping sides stop it looking like a brick. The G1 always looked like a brick with an extended battery but the X10 sloping sides do serve a purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love how slim the x10 is, that combined with the fact that the 3rd party backs are ugly and can be poor fitting mean an extended battery isnt really an option for me, whatever suits though ^^

iead1 said:
I prefer this:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice one where i can get one.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

I certainly plan on getting a pair of bluetooth headphones, will be interesting to see how they affect battery life...

TechGuru_x10 said:
Nice one where i can get one.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's from Sanyo. It's being released in Japan in October, but, I'm sure it will come out internationally as well.

James thanks u were helpful
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

Some additional tips based on my personal experience:
-Using a third-party task launcher helps too. Some may not agree, but it works for me.
-Use a third-party digital clock widget instead of the stock one. Again, YMMV.
-Use a third-party(AGAIN!) MP3 player instead of Mediascape. I'm using Meridian, and notice an increase in battery life when playing MP3s.

I like having some control so I run task killer but there's no auto-kill enabled and if I know the phone is just going to turn it back on in 5min, I don't bother killing those apps. Maybe I should just remove it altogether, but it seems convenient to be able to kill an app at will (I do it with windows sometimes).
mmsbludhound said:
-Use a third-party digital clock widget instead of the stock one. Again, YMMV.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the reason why you find that the stock one drains your battery is due to the "use network provided values" being checked in the date and time settings.

Interesting article. I am running 024 and my battery is life is poor. I managed to get seven hours use yesterday after a full charge. My usage throughout the day wasn't anything too crazy. Where I work I get only a standard signal (no 3G). I seem to get a better battery life.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

I agree battery life is horrible. It makes me really miss my blackberry.
Even when battery life is low, charging it takes FOREVER, not to mention if you plug it in and play with it at the same time, it charges even slower.
My Blackberry Tour charged fully in what seemed like 45 mins from less than 10% batt life. I know they are different phones, but it just really sucks to me.
I'm debating going back to a blackberry now. The X10 and other android phones (and Iphone), are more toys than anything else.
/end rant.
hehe sorry

Thats odd, my phone charges pretty damn fast, just a few days ago i was pleasantly surprised that it charged from completely empty (id forgotten to charge it) to ~80% in less than an hour.

Ballfuzz said:
Even when battery life is low, charging it takes FOREVER, not to mention if you plug it in and play with it at the same time, it charges even slower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, mine charges from <10% to 100% within 1 - 2 hours.
Make sure you are charging by AC, charging by USB does indeed take forever.

mmsbludhound said:
Hmm, mine charges from <10% to 100% within 1 - 2 hours.
Make sure you are charging by AC, charging by USB does indeed take forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I agree by USB takes forever.

JamesBarnes said:
Additionally the idea of setCPU is a good one however when coming out of sleep or opening an app it takes a little while to get back up to speed. This also causes choppiness. Personally I find lag/choppiness a real pet peeve, it irritates me alot, so I do not use setCPU either. It is true that with careful set up the lag can be minimised but then the battery life gains are also minimal, so I choose to keep full performance and dispense with setCPU. Bear in mind that the hardware platform is already very efficient and well optimised so a software solution will pretty much be a straight trade of performance for battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite interesting for me, I decided to add some statistical experiment about it.
Under my situation and environment. (I won't go in detail, sorry about that)
With SetCPU were 2.32% per hour without any usage.
W/O SetCPU were 3.18% per hour without any usage.
or approximately 7% maximum saving per day time. (for me)
My SetCPU only effected sleep state.
Not a big deal but still significant different, but it could survive for whole day anyhow.
I'm more interested about Killing app. I might try after this as I see many argument about it.

Cebees said:
Quite interesting for me, I decided to add some statistical experiment about it.
Under my situation and environment. (I won't go in detail, sorry about that)
With SetCPU were 2.32% per hour without any usage.
W/O SetCPU were 3.18% per hour without any usage.
or approximately 7% maximum saving per day time. (for me)
My SetCPU only effected sleep state.
Not a big deal but still significant different, but it could survive for whole day anyhow.
I'm more interested about Killing app. I might try after this as I see many argument about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh figures, good stuff! Always better to have some numbers to work with.
Do you not find that for a few seconds after waking up the phone gets choppy?
I would definitely be interested in seeing the stats with a task killer

Do you guys leave internet/gps on or something? I get 3 hours/percent on idle.

JamesBarnes said:
Ohh figures, good stuff! Always better to have some numbers to work with.
Do you not find that for a few seconds after waking up the phone gets choppy?
I would definitely be interested in seeing the stats with a task killer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, with SetCPU for sleep state, it was 'choppy' for a few sec, mostly effect lock screen and screen switching.

When is Sprint changing terms again? Have they recently?

Because...
I want to drop them and sell my Evo.
I can't deal with the battery life on this phone anymore, no matter which ROM I use, and how much I tweak SetCPU and/or JuiceDefender...
It's a great phone, but I am going to settle for a little less but allow my phone to last more than 1.5 days (at best, with minimal usage)
If somebody could let me know I would appreciate it dearly..thank you
Mike

I have no idea when they will change their TOS again but I'll gladly give you $100 for your evo..

Who could possibly know if/when Sprint would change their TOS?
Battery life is great on the Evo. I charge my phone every 35 hours or so.

Battery life isn't great on the Evo, don't be that guy.
But, any modern smartphone isn't going to last 1.5 days with heavy usage, except maybe a blackberry.
If your only complaint is battery life, sell your evo and buy a bold or something.

Battery life is the same across all smart phones, not sprint and their last change was earlier this year, you won't c one anytime soon. Get a bb
Sent from my Evo beeesshh

Ha, I'm gonna get that Nokia N8.
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=2725
And I didn't expect to get flamed in this thread, so quit acting tough on the internet

Bielinsk said:
Who could possibly know if/when Sprint would change their TOS?
Battery life is great on the Evo. I charge my phone every 35 hours or so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
35 hours??
You do know your EVO has internet capabilities.. right? (you must not be using them if you're getting 35 hours! )
But yeah, I use the crap out of my phone and I average 20 - 24 hours..

I have never heard someone complain about a smart phone only lasting a day and a half. You seriously can't charge while you sleep?
I mean get any phone you want, I could care less, but man, you are strange.

nebenezer said:
35 hours??
You do know your EVO has internet capabilities.. right? (you must not be using them if you're getting 35 hours! )
But yeah, I use the crap out of my phone and I average 20 - 24 hours..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What Rom are you using?

mikeDCMDVA said:
Ha, I'm gonna get that Nokia N8.
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=2725
And I didn't expect to get flamed in this thread, so quit acting tough on the internet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who's flaming you? Looks like everyone is being pretty civilized so far.. man if you think this is flaming you should look up the "WTF WIFI?!?!" thread, or the "is CM6 overrated?" thread, although I think the second one got deleted already.
tomp517 said:
What Rom are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM6 Final with the kernel that comes with it.

nebenezer said:
CM6 Final with the kernel that comes with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not final, it's 'stable'
There would be a very disappointed community if CM became 'final'

Fresh 3.2.0 with the standard kernel.
This was with some general facebook, browsing, texting, talking etc. I would say moderate to heavy use. 7 hours of use out of a single charge is pretty damn stellar I would say.
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Pao23 said:
It's not final, it's 'stable'
There would be a very disappointed community if CM became 'final'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it is final..
It's CM6.0.0 final. The next release will be (presumably) 6.0.1

Bielinsk said:
Fresh 3.2.0 with the standard kernel.
This was with some general facebook, browsing, texting, talking etc. I would say moderate to heavy use. 7 hours of use out of a single charge is pretty damn stellar I would say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, that's impressive.. 29 on, 7 awake.. nice
I'm still curious if you realize your phone connects to the internet though.. (and I hope you have a sense of humor)

I'm not aware of any modern smart phone with a fast processor, touch screen, multiple wireless radios, etc. that can last through a day of heavy use. Not iPhone, Evo, Galaxy, etc. Like any mobile device, you learn to manage power. When I am out and about on my laptop and not using wifi, I turn it off. I lower the screen brightness, etc. When I need to use it, I turn it on. Leaving everything and anything turned on is like leaving all the lights on in your house while staying in a single room at a time--wasteful of power.
I keep a charger by my bedside and one at my desk. I charge my phone overnight and with regular use (checking emails and texts as they come in, maybe some light web browsing on the can, etc) I am usually around 40-50% when I get home after work. If I am using it a lot or end up someplace with poor reception like a basement or a control room that is surrounded by ducts and wiring, I will either turn off data or use the charger at my desk to top off at some point during the day.
I have yet to have any problems with this since it's a workflow that evolved from my personal uses and needs. Yours may be different. Maybe you drive a lot and use GPS or music streaming. If so, get a car charger. If you are away from all outlets and not in a car for large parts of the day, maybe grab a spare battery off ebay. At least you have the option. Some smart phones don't even let you swap the battery in emergencies if you want to. I've found Evo pretty much on par with other phones with similar hardware. Just turn off radios not in use and keep chargers or MicroUSB cables in convenient places like nightstand, desk, car.

7 hours out of a single charge sucks, my iphone 3G got 1-2 days on average with heavy usage, but I didn't want to be an Apple fanboy anymore, so I went HTC, and HTC batteries SUCKKKKKK
Anyways, I hope Sprint changes terms soon so I can PEACE OUT

neodorian said:
I'm not aware of any modern smart phone with a fast processor, touch screen, multiple wireless radios, etc. that can last through a day of heavy use. Not iPhone, Evo, Galaxy, etc. Like any mobile device, you learn to manage power. When I am out and about on my laptop and not using wifi, I turn it off. I lower the screen brightness, etc. When I need to use it, I turn it on. Leaving everything and anything turned on is like leaving all the lights on in your house while staying in a single room at a time--wasteful of power.
I keep a charger by my bedside and one at my desk. I charge my phone overnight and with regular use (checking emails and texts as they come in, maybe some light web browsing on the can, etc) I am usually around 40-50% when I get home after work. If I am using it a lot or end up someplace with poor reception like a basement or a control room that is surrounded by ducts and wiring, I will either turn off data or use the charger at my desk to top off at some point during the day.
I have yet to have any problems with this since it's a workflow that evolved from my personal uses and needs. Yours may be different. Maybe you drive a lot and use GPS or music streaming. If so, get a car charger. If you are away from all outlets and not in a car for large parts of the day, maybe grab a spare battery off ebay. At least you have the option. Some smart phones don't even let you swap the battery in emergencies if you want to. I've found Evo pretty much on par with other phones with similar hardware. Just turn off radios not in use and keep chargers or MicroUSB cables in convenient places like nightstand, desk, car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the most positive response here
The extra battery is something I have not yet done, but I do have my charger with me and one in the car....just feels like it stinks having a phone that has died much faster than any of the rest

mikeDCMDVA said:
Anyways, I hope Sprint changes terms soon so I can PEACE OUT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, me too..

mikeDCMDVA said:
Ha, I'm gonna get that Nokia N8.
http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=2725
And I didn't expect to get flamed in this thread, so quit acting tough on the internet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a huge leap in between
"Talk: 5.8 hours max. (348 minutes)
Standby: 408 hours max. (17 days)
1200 mAh "

DirtyShroomz said:
That's a huge leap in between
"Talk: 5.8 hours max. (348 minutes)
Standby: 408 hours max. (17 days)
1200 mAh "
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still got love for Nokia, never did me wrong..

Question for you MT4G Users

I've been reading up on a couple threads, but would like to get some more information...
what are your opinions on the MT4G vs the Samsung Vibrant? Anyone gone from one to the other?
I just got rid of my iphone 3G that I've had for over 2 years...I had a free upgrade from T-Mobile so I tried out the MT4G. I took it back the next day because the battery life SUCKED! And that's being polite about it. It didn't even last me all day, and I was in either edge or no service all day...I never went into a 4G or 3G area.
I now am using a BB 9780, but am wondering, was I too harsh on the MT4G? Should I give it more time? It's coming down to the Vibrant or the MT4G. Everywhere I'm reading, the only con is the battery life...it seems to be a consensus that HTC botched that part of the phone.

bballcat03 said:
It didn't even last me all day, and I was in either edge or no service all day...I never went into a 4G or 3G area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since there is nothing wrong with the MT4G's battery life, that would be why. Constantly searching for service uses a ton of battery...certainly more than being on 3G/4G consistently all day.

Sorry, I'll be more clear. I was in service at my house, and then I went into the boonies to watch a basketball game and lost service for 3 hours (switched to airplane mode the entire time). I was never flipping back and forth...I had service, lost service, had service. That's it.

Yeah I gotcha. I'm saying that's why your battery life seemed so bad.

How though? If I used the phone in edge, put it in airplane mode, and then turned off airplane mode and was back in edge...how would that eat battery life? That makes zero sense to me. My iphone did just fine in edge/airplane mode

I have had no battery issues similar to yours. When I was still traveling frequently, the phone was actually able to make it a 6-7hr car drive through the boonies in/out of signal searching for service the entire time and still above 50% battery.

I came from an iPhone 4 and I absolutely love my MYT4G...i had some battery issues (would last me almost the full day) so I downloaded juicedefender and told it to connect to the internet every 15m to download data. I unplugged my phone at 9 this morning and I still have 33 percent remaining as of now.
Don't get a vibrant. The myTouch 4G is one of the best android phones out on the market right now and everyone who has a vibrant ends of regretting it.. GPS issues, etc.

Genocaust said:
I have had no battery issues similar to yours. When I was still traveling frequently, the phone was actually able to make it a 6-7hr car drive through the boonies in/out of signal searching for service the entire time and still above 50% battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cybereclipse said:
I came from an iPhone 4 and I absolutely love my MYT4G...i had some battery issues (would last me almost the full day) so I downloaded juicedefender and told it to connect to the internet every 15m to download data. I unplugged my phone at 9 this morning and I still have 33 percent remaining as of now.
Don't get a vibrant. The myTouch 4G is one of the best android phones out on the market right now and everyone who has a vibrant ends of regretting it.. GPS issues, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do either of your live in 4G areas? If so, does that eat it much? How do you like the 4G speeds? I had my iphone stolen once, and replaced it with a BB Curve 3G, and the 3G ate up that batteries life, so much that I'd switch off to EDGE before getting frustrated and buying another iPhone off craigslist.
My only concern is I need a phone that will last all day...between class/practice/tutoring, etc...I don't always have time to get back to my dorm to charge my phone, I'm running around all day. One of the perks of the iPhone was it lasted me all day, though again that was on edge all day.

bballcat03 said:
Do either of your live in 4G areas? If so, does that eat it much? How do you like the 4G speeds? I had my iphone stolen once, and replaced it with a BB Curve 3G, and the 3G ate up that batteries life, so much that I'd switch off to EDGE before getting frustrated and buying another iPhone off craigslist.
My only concern is I need a phone that will last all day...between class/practice/tutoring, etc...I don't always have time to get back to my dorm to charge my phone, I'm running around all day. One of the perks of the iPhone was it lasted me all day, though again that was on edge all day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My parent's house is in a 4G area and I don't notice any battery use change whatsoever. I know what you mean about the iPhone...my iP4 lasted all day and still had like 60% battery life at the end, but all my friends who had iP4's on AT&T with 3G all had like 20ish percent. If you use Juicedefender like I do, I guarantee that your MYT4G will last the entire day...You might also want to invest in a backup battery from Target that you can use to plug into your phone when it starts getting low

Thanks. I honestly wish I coulda stayed with the iphone, but ios4.3 and after will not include updates for the 3G, they are getting fazed out. And I have a free upgrade, so I thought I'd try something else.
Is rooting worth it on the MT, if that applies to yours? I JB all my other iPhone's, so curious to see what it'd be like on another device.

Yes, I do live in a 4G area. My phone IS my radio in the car with Pandora on my commute, and if I'm out and about with the wife (lol shopping, sigh...) also my entertainment. About the only time I perceptibly notice battery drain is playing 3D games for an extended period of time, but for just SMS/Email/Web it doesn't seem to noticeably drain.
Rooting is certainly worth it even if the only thing you do is install AdFree -- no more wasting bandwidth and battery downloading ads that you probably don't want to see anyhow . Also, root while you can, if just for future use -- HTC has started blocking one of the existing methods on newer models being shipped.
As for 4G speed:
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That was tested at my son's school, about 1.4mi from my house. Just ignore distance to the test server, it is wrong.

Saint Louis huh, I was raised for a couple years just across from STL in Illinois.
Do they make an adapter for the MT so you can play it through your radio, or are you just using a universal one?

bballcat03 said:
Saint Louis huh, I was raised for a couple years just across from STL in Illinois.
Do they make an adapter for the MT so you can play it through your radio, or are you just using a universal one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for which phone is better that is personal choice. I have a vibrant and my wife has a mytouch. I personally like my vibrant better but that's just me. As for the battery life these phones are expected to use a hella amounts of juice because they are mini pcs. I noticed my screen takes most of the battery. After a proper battery recondition I can easily get about 17 hours out of a single charge. If you are looking at the vibrant wait for the vibrant 4g that's gonna drop next month.
Oh and to play the music through car speakers any fm transmitter will do, just know if you live in a heavily populated are the reception will be ****ty. I had to remove my antenna to make out work half way decent.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

bballcat03 said:
Saint Louis huh, I was raised for a couple years just across from STL in Illinois.
Do they make an adapter for the MT so you can play it through your radio, or are you just using a universal one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I actually live right across the river in IL, too
I use the line-in jack to my car directly into the headphone jack on the phone, runs through AUX on my car stereo. Sounds great! Also any calls I receive broadcast through the car speakers and the phone automatically goes to speaker phone mode to pick up my voice, then resumes playing my music right where it left off when the call is finished.

so do you know where Brighton is?
what is ice glacier exactly? I see you have it and have seen others refer to it, but not what it actually is/does?

My g-friend has the mt4g and loves it. I changged the keyboard for her cause we both hated the stock one. Hers is left stock for now but I would say its worth it to root for juice defender-under/overclocking-blocking ads ect. Those will all help with battery life. If im not mistaken iced glacier is a rom u can flash to it. I assume u know about flashing roms and what they do. U just have to read about the rom. Glacier is htc's name for the mt4g
Edit: and being able to remove bloatware. Also good for space/battery issues.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using XDA App

I bought an extra battery with a stand alone charger that charges the battery by itself. So, if i am going to be away for an extra long time, i just bring the extra charged battery. that being said, i easily get about 14 to 18 hours with moderate use out of my battery.

Aside from knowing that it's similar to jailbreaking, I have no idea what flashing roms is

bballcat03 said:
Thanks. I honestly wish I coulda stayed with the iphone, but ios4.3 and after will not include updates for the 3G, they are getting fazed out. And I have a free upgrade, so I thought I'd try something else.
Is rooting worth it on the MT, if that applies to yours? I JB all my other iPhone's, so curious to see what it'd be like on another device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'd go ahead and do it...I was a hardcore iOS user (I've owned all 4 iphones) and I jailbroke and unlocked all of em (up til 4.1). I am rooted and since I don't like the sense ui too much, I installed the gingerbread launcher and I love how my phone performs right now. I was running EDGE only on my iPhone with TMO, but I love how the MYT4G has native tethering and the overall android os
Flashing ROMS is very different from the iOS world, ROMS basically contain the entire OS and you can flash custom versions of the Android OS on your phone.

Mytouch 4G all the way! I had a vibrant but you have to root that thing and install a lagfix just to make it run right. I have had no battery issues with mine but I do have juicedefender and I have sense rooted and am running cyanogenmod 7 build #13 and I get amazing battery life. I can go all day with heavy useage and still have 20% come 9pm.
The only thing I miss about my vibrant is the screen.
Sent from my HTC Glacier Gingerized using XDA App

Battery Life Thread!

Hey guys. Battery life honestly, is the most important thing when owning a smartphone. Everyone gets different battery life apparently. Some are great!! Some are.. well..
Anyways, my whole point of making this thread is so that we can discuss our various battery lifes. See who has the best. Who has the worst. And why we have such differences! Maybe we can make solutions and we can all have great battery life.
Please include what ROM your running, what kernel, if your overclocked, and little things you might find suitable to add.
For example this is for me:
I'm running Acer liquid ROM 1.1 with pershoots latest .32 kernel. I can get maybe 8 hours out of my battery with extreme mild use. I'm currently trying to recalibrate my battery with the help of bongz ( thank you so much!) I have my screen usually dim, nothing syncing from what I know of, bluetooth never on, gps never on, wifi only at home.
Sent from my Rooted God-like HTC Vision running Liquid Metal.

I'm running GingerVillan 1.5.
Battery life on standby is great - probably around 1-2% an hour. However, when I start using the phone, that drains QUICK. Generally I get around 12-14 hours out of a full charge with mild usage, including Phone Calls, Texts, 1-2 rounds of Words with friends, etc. WiFi is always off, bluetooth is off, GPS on. Stock kernel, newest radio near as I remember. Facebook and Google are the only two accounts.
I previously had a Vibrant that seemingly got better life - with mild use I could easily get 18-20 hours. However, having a keyboard and working GPS is worth the charge every night. The G2 could have gotten a couple hundred more mAh battery, if you ask me.

im running cm7 nightlies
my battery life is pretty good when not on. maybe 1% every 2-3 hours when off and in my pocket(set to absolute minimum via setcpu). with mild to extreme use i get ok battery life of about 4 hrs (starting at 80% usualy). im overcloacked to 1.8ghz ut have it set via setcpu to max out at 1.1ghz. i have gps always off, wifi always off, brighness to auto, and bluetooth off.

themeltingclock said:
I'm running GingerVillan 1.5.
Battery life on standby is great - probably around 1-2% an hour. However, when I start using the phone, that drains QUICK. Generally I get around 12-14 hours out of a full charge with mild usage, including Phone Calls, Texts, 1-2 rounds of Words with friends, etc. WiFi is always off, bluetooth is off, GPS on. Stock kernel, newest radio near as I remember. Facebook and Google are the only two accounts.
I previously had a Vibrant that seemingly got better life - with mild use I could easily get 18-20 hours. However, having a keyboard and working GPS is worth the charge every night. The G2 could have gotten a couple hundred more mAh battery, if you ask me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, I might consider upgrading radios. A lot of people are getting great battery life because of it.. will se.
I have never got more than 8 hours with my vision ever. Maybe because I have the old radio?
Sent from my Rooted God-like HTC Vision running Liquid Metal.

Hey,
I think there are too many variables at play here for this to be any use, but here is what I am running.
ROM: Virtuous 1.0.1, OCed to 1GHz using Virtuous Standard 2.1.2 Kernel
Radio: 12.18b.60.140eP_26.03.02.26_M
Build: 1.85
Brightness: Auto
Sync: Google, Facebook, Weather
Wifi: On at home, school; Off all other times
BT: OFF
Data: Always ON
Usage per day: 50-100 texts, 3-5 voice calls, 1-3hours of data/games
Current battery level including standby time and usage time is 57% after 6h 50m.
Good luck on the analysis!

stumpyz9 said:
im running cm7 nightlies
my battery life is pretty good when not on. maybe 1% every 2-3 hours when off and in my pocket(set to absolute minimum via setcpu). with mild to extreme use i get ok battery life of about 4 hrs (starting at 80% usualy). im overcloacked to 1.8ghz ut have it set via setcpu to max out at 1.1ghz. i have gps always off, wifi always off, brighness to auto, and bluetooth off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your oc'd that high lol? WHY?
Sent from my Rooted God-like HTC Vision running Liquid Metal.

Sorry, but battery life threads/posts are always such a joke. So many things effect the battery life that it really isn't as easy as just posting your ROM and Kernel and call it a day. Every single setting in your settings menu, every app you run or have installed, screen on/awake time, BT/GPS/wifi/3g/4g connections, and even just general areas that you use your phone pertaining to their signal strength can effect what your battery life is. Unfortunately, there really is no way to figure out what the "best" battery lives are. It really takes your personal preferences and some of your own tinkering in order to get your configuration just right. You can go into any given custom ROM thread and find someone claiming 30hrs of battery life.
Sorry to be a downer. I (personally) just get really tired of people posting battery life screen shots because there are an extreme number of variables that affect it. I think it gives people false hope of looking to switch to a completely new ROM or change huge numbers of things and expecting to double their battery life.

martonikaj said:
Sorry, but battery life threads/posts are always such a joke. So many things effect the battery life that it really isn't as easy as just posting your ROM and Kernel and call it a day. Every single setting in your settings menu, every app you run or have installed, screen on/awake time, BT/GPS/wifi/3g/4g connections, and even just general areas that you use your phone pertaining to their signal strength can effect what your battery life is. Unfortunately, there really is no way to figure out what the "best" battery lives are. It really takes your personal preferences and some of your own tinkering in order to get your configuration just right. You can go into any given custom ROM thread and find someone claiming 30hrs of battery life.
Sorry to be a downer. I (personally) just get really tired of people posting battery life screen shots because there are an extreme number of variables that affect it. I think it gives people false hope of looking to switch to a completely new ROM or change huge numbers of things and expecting to double their battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said and true that.

CM7 nightlies, new radio (forget which one), after 19 hours still at 74%. Mild usage, few texts, twitter, email, updating apps, etc. And I always use wifi whenever possible, and then edge only when I'm out or not in a wifi area.

cm7 latest nightly #14 , latest radio , pershoot's kernel i can go 4,5 hours screen time on , no problem with constant edge connection on..extremely happy..
oh.. oc @ 1ghz no profiles

quierotacobell said:
CM7 nightlies, new radio (forget which one), after 19 hours still at 74%. Mild usage, few texts, twitter, email, updating apps, etc. And I always use wifi whenever possible, and then edge only when I'm out or not in a wifi area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you go to about phone and check your radio?
Fellas hear this, with 2G constantly on only, the radio is using 47 percent of the battery. Do you guys find this normal at ALL? I'm running CM7 now with latest pershoot kernel and this damned .27 Radio which I am seriously considering removing for good.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

Shaquiel Harris said:
Can you go to about phone and check your radio?
Fellas hear this, with 2G constantly on only, the radio is using 47 percent of the battery. Do you guys find this normal at ALL? I'm running CM7 now with latest pershoot kernel and this damned .27 Radio which I am seriously considering removing for good.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
12.28h.60.140fU_26.06.02.27_M
It's that Hutch one from Australia or something. This one here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=959488

I just noticed that the battery life of my DesireZ is greatly dependant on where I am.... I have vacation now and I was mostly at home for the past three days the battery was still about 40% charged this morning so after 2 full days with moderate use, reading an Ebook, playing a game, wifi constantly on, exchange mail on Push and Gmail on push, with standard rom.
when I am at school the battery is often almost empty at about 5 pm...
maybe because of the bad coverage at school?

I don't know if anyone else really noticed, I seen it mentioned in another thread but not enough, if you don't use the wifi calling app, DELETE IT! I have noticed much better performance and battery life after getting of that ****
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

Can some one tell me their usage with 4g on all day and moderate use?
Ive begun to get lazy turning 4g off so lately im getting 10-14 hours usage before the battery is dead not using wifi at all ( work days no wifi at work). moderate use maybe 20 mins calling 20-30 text up to 45 min facebooking. nothing too much,
On nightly #29 no pershoot since i am lazy to update to newest nightly and newest pershoot only works after #30 and overclocked to 1.2ghz

I still don't get why people care about battery so much with g2. I got 2 extra battery and an external wall charger all for 10 bucks on ebay. why not use android to its full potential without ever worrying about battery for $10?

westchester1940 said:
I still don't get why people care about battery so much with g2. I got 2 extra battery and an external wall charger all for 10 bucks on ebay. why not use android to its full potential without ever worrying about battery for $10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a hassle to take off the case (in my case an Otterbox) every time to swap the battery out. Added with the looser hinge, you might accidentally snap something that you don't want to. Would rather have one big battery than multiple smaller ones.

Understood. I don't ever use protection covers. Didnt even know tHere are the kind of cases not interfering with keyboard pullout...
Sent from my HTC Desire Z using XDA Premium App

I want the Mugen battery, my G2 has been quite crap battery life for the past while, I wonder how much this one will help

No complaints here.
Just thought I would throw down my stats as well:
I can usually eke out a good two or three days from my G2. Some things of note: I'm on Wi-Fi with UMA at home, T-Mobile's home network (EDGE) when I'm in the town in which I live, but as soon as I leave town and head towards my place of work, I roam on EDGE all night (with roaming data always turned on) until I get back home. I don't think I've even seen the 3G or H indicators light up on this thing. Got to love the rural life. I leave Wi-Fi always on, in case I find new networks, I leave GPS always enabled, since it really only activates on Google's home page anyways, I use the 30% brightness setting that is the default 'low' setting via the HTC brightness widget, and Auto-Sync is always enabled (Facebook, HTC (weather once per hour), Google). I use the default 1 minute screen timeout, and I use the lockscreen that comes with Poweramp (which I use to listen to music on my drive to and from work via an FM transmitter.)
The capture below shows 2d 14h 2m 30s since being unplugged, at 7% remaining. I use Virtuous 1.0.1 with the stock HTC kernel and the stock T-MoUS radio. I am also using the stock HTC battery that the phone shipped with. I don't feel the need to overclock, as my last phone was a BB Pearl, so this thing is light years faster already.
The only time I really eat up my battery is when I play Wordsmith, because I'm always staring at the lit screen trying to make fancy words.
And while you're right, there are way too many variables when it comes to battery life and usage and signal strength and what have you, it amazes me just the same that others are fine with 8 hours of battery life and choose to carry around extra batteries. Sure, you have a mobile Linux box in your pocket (awesome!), but that's also why I keep a desktop PC at home. To each their own, though, no harm no foul.
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Battery life with 3G Always ON, Not connected to WiFi

Hi guys,
I'm interested in purchasing Galaxy note 3. I'm an iPhone user, but I've used Android until Nexus 4. I really want to switch back because I love customizing my home screen, but I'm really afraid at the same time. The reason is that with every single Android device I had, the battery life on 3G was horrendous. Even in standby in 3G, the battery drains super quickly, and when using, it's even worse of course. It was always hard to get it last through the day with only 3G and no WiFi connection. Signal I believe was okay too, not extremely good, but also not terrible.
Could you please (with no bias) let me know what the battery life with 3G is like on this device? Hopefully with Lollipop because that's the only reason I'm switching to Android. I don't like all the android versions before Lollipop.
Thanks so much!

Hello, i use a Note 3 (SM-N900) lollipop and im always on 3G. I get max 7 to 8 hours on 3G! But it depends how you really use the phone. Im not using power saving mode. Hope it helped you.
Sent from my SM-N900 using XDA Free mobile app

NaveeDo said:
Hello, i use a Note 3 (SM-N900) lollipop and im always on 3G. I get max 7 to 8 hours on 3G! But it depends how you really use the phone. Im not using power saving mode. Hope it helped you.
Sent from my SM-N900 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, thanks for replying!
7-8 hours screen on time, or the phone just lasts 7-8 hours in total? If it's the latter, that's pretty short, similar to my past Android experiences.
You said depends on how I use it, but how do you use your Note 3? Are you a very heavy user?
I'm a moderate user. I need it to not run out of battery for at least 15 hours, with maybe about 5 hours screen on time. Again, on 3G. Is this possible? I don't play games. Just browsing the web, quite a few mobile data messaging, etc.

If you use the battery saving mode, it is better... but V5.0 drains battery a lot more than 4.4.
You say you don't like previous versions to 5.0... but I don't think you have tried them and they look almost the same (you can even install a launcher that makes it look exactly the same). Newer isn't always better -- at least not until a few updates lol.
Picking a phone with large battery is always good if you want longer hours.
But if you're an iP... I can't even it say it, it makes me sick lol... perhaps also look at the Sony phones. They have amazing battery life and a lot simpler in function like an ippp -- you know.

sw6lee said:
Hi guys,
I'm interested in purchasing Galaxy note 3. I'm an iPhone user, but I've used Android until Nexus 4. I really want to switch back because I love customizing my home screen, but I'm really afraid at the same time. The reason is that with every single Android device I had, the battery life on 3G was horrendous. Even in standby in 3G, the battery drains super quickly, and when using, it's even worse of course. It was always hard to get it last through the day with only 3G and no WiFi connection. Signal I believe was okay too, not extremely good, but also not terrible.
Could you please (with no bias) let me know what the battery life with 3G is like on this device? Hopefully with Lollipop because that's the only reason I'm switching to Android. I don't like all the android versions before Lollipop.
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't answer about the 'always on 3G' because I use AutomateIt to switch between Data and Wifi. But you can get an extended battery that should give you much more time on - the zerolemon one is about 3X the mA/hr rating of the standard and there are others that simply replace the back on your phone so you can have a thicker battery.
But much can be done also by setting up the phone correctly - remove bloatware, check for settings that drain power, or even using something like AutomateIt to turn data off when the screen shuts off would help. Greenify is another app that can save a lot of power - it hibernates apps rather than let them keep running when you aren't using them.

Hello!
I understand where you are coming from. I have a Note 3 (Stock lollipop with root) and I am always on 3G because I travel quite often and barely bother to swtich to WiFi even when I am home. On the stock rom, I usually get about 4-hrs of screen time depending on what I am doing.
If I am downloading a lot of stuff and if I have too many apps that need updating, then the screen time drops considerably (Say 3 and a half hours). But with regular use (whatsapp, 4 email accounts all syncing, auto-updating via 3g turned on) I have never had any problems getting through the day.
Also, I have the Unified Daemon disabled. I have heard that this really chews through battery. It is used for updating weather and all, and it is not really needed. Also, on LTE however, battery drains much faster (even on standby). It has a standby life of maybe 15hrs.
If you really want great battery life, I agree with @cyberboob, they have outstanding battery life. My Xperia Z ultra lasts 3 days and then some under mild to moderate use and a week under light use. I have seen Xpera Z3 show similar resilience and they are fantastic phones to boot, not to mention waterproof. (Till you have used a waterproof phone while bathing, or near a (or in a) pool, you will never know what you are missing. Once you go water proof, you cannot simply go back!)
Hope this helps!

Thanks guys for your help! I will hold off for now and maybe look into Xperia Z3 or Z3 compact. these devices are more expensive because they are newer so i need to think about it more. again, thanks!

sw6lee said:
Thanks guys for your help! I will hold off for now and maybe look into Xperia Z3 or Z3 compact. these devices are more expensive because they are newer so i need to think about it more. again, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - don't take this wrong, but you should probably stay with the Jobs program. Android works best for the Classical types. Apple is better for the Romantics. (read 'Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' for definitions) Long story short... you want your solutions given to you. Android users (most of them) are willing to do a bit of work to make things betterer.
It is sad for the human race that Apple keeps selling so many crippled devices... le sigh...

Journyman16 said:
LOL - don't take this wrong, but you should probably stay with the Jobs program. Android works best for the Classical types. Apple is better for the Romantics. (read 'Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' for definitions) Long story short... you want your solutions given to you. Android users (most of them) are willing to do a bit of work to make things betterer.
It is sad for the human race that Apple keeps selling so many crippled devices... le sigh...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well..ive had android from 2009 to 2014 and i have tons of experience flashing roms and fiddling around. But the thing is, i could never get though the day with 3G. I tried so many things i could think of but even on standby one of my phones as example drained 4 percent per 30 minutes. Probably some apps i installed but i needed all the apps. Greenify didnt help though. I tried Anker extended battery that has 400mah more with no thickness change (for T989) but still no difference. Didnt want to try crazy big batteries cause that would make the phone way too thick. Iphone has similar battery life when screen is ON But standby is much longer. I'm a light to moderate user at work so i can actually get through the day with this phone. But then again i really miss home screen customization and lollipop's flashy design looks so cool so i was looking into android again.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I get about 5-7h screen-on time on stock with 75% brightness, no root. Disabled most bloatware. GPS & sync off. (depending on the app, 9GAG drains more than Moon+ reader, for instance.) More if I use a lower brightness.
If I watch a film (720p mkv) it lasts about 6 hours.
In deep sleep it drains about 1% per 8 hours on 4G. (3G uses even less).
Mind you, I'm on 4.4.2, and an older version at that. (feb 2014). On AMOLED black uses no battery, and Lollipop is all white. And people wonder why Lollipop drains faster?
Here's screenies of my best use. (I was reading a book, black background with grey letters.) :
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Sent From My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 Using Tapatalk

sw6lee said:
Well..ive had android from 2009 to 2014 and i have tons of experience flashing roms and fiddling around. But the thing is, i could never get though the day with 3G. I tried so many things i could think of but even on standby one of my phones as example drained 4 percent per 30 minutes. Probably some apps i installed but i needed all the apps. Greenify didnt help though. I tried Anker extended battery that has 400mah more with no thickness change (for T989) but still no difference...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it seems like you have the experience to be able to use a Note. Sorry if I seemed harsh. Most Note 3 users seem fine on battery, although most also use WiFi as well as data.
Mostly it's a matter of setting up, tuning to your setup & letting it settle in. 5 hours SOT is probably a minimum but it's rare for me to get to end of day with less than 30% left.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app