[Q] Screen takes up battery life? - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello. Out of curiosity, I decided to see the battery usage for my nexus 7. It said that the screen took up about 60% of battery life. My brightness is on auto, which is about a quarter of the full brightness. I do lock my screen. Is it normal for the screen to take up this much?

As far as I know, it is normal for tablets. Since they have huge screens that sap up a lot of juice. It is possible to hit 10 hours of screen time. I've watched youtube for around 80 minutes and it only knocked down to like 87%.
One issue I see is the deep sleep mode drains too much, and the maps application is always taking up like 15% of my total power usage. I'm stumped on that.

Related

Epic battery performance after months of use

Hoping to get some good feedback from those who have used the epic for a couple months or more. Now that you're probably using the device normally, as in not attached to it all the time, how is battery life? I've heard initial reports that it's not so good... Also, for those of you who have updated unofficially to Froyo, does the upgrade help with battery life? Can anyone comment how Epic's battery compares to EVO's?
Thanks.
I usually get about 9 hours in my stock battery and 6-7 on my cheap eBay ones. Overall idea say meh, its about on par with most other android devices. I'm running the stock dk28 leak as well with no battery tweaks or mangers of any sort.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
On most of the DK28 roms I'm pulling a solid 10 hours with moderate use. For reference, If I leave the phone on standby all day in my house it's lasted 23 hours, if I recall correctly. Honestly that's pretty damn good for a smartphone.
EDIT: I don't use any battery-manager or powersaver either. Brightness = Auto, bluetooth/wifi/4g/gps = 1 is on at any given point in time usually. Google auto-sync = on as well as touiteur (twitter) and facebook notifications every 15 min.
I have been impressed by my battery life actually. I can't speak for the EVO(although maybe soon since my friend might give me his as a backup). I can usually get between 4-5 hours of play time(surfing, texting, apps, music, wireless tethering, movies, etc) The rest of the time it is usually idol. I usually charge it over night, unplug it around 7am, then plug it back in around 11pm. At 11pm, I usually have between 10- 30% battery left.
I just switched to a froyo ROM(bonsai, which is excellent) and so far the battery seems to be about the same. By lunchtime 12:30 it is usually between 70-80% and right now I am at 72% but I also had some extensive time testing the tethering feature.
To be honest, I had a blackberry, and the battery life was a little better, but the features were not nearly as good. It amazes me the battery these things get with that amazing samoled screen.
disclaimer: I do not play games outside of sudoku and spades, so my CPU does not really get challenged, which probably accounts for some battery savings. Oh and I use regular wallpapers, cause I don't really like the live wallpapers.
Im on 2.2.1,and I have to say I see a 40% increase in battery life compared to 2.1,and thats about 11-12 hours,no battery saving apps either,well except setcpu,which does help,but its set at 100mhz - 1ghz conservative.And I use it more now then when I got it,I havnt got tired of it at all.I have noticed the first 10% goes the fastest,and I have calibrated twice since moving to the ROM im on,and its the same in all,so if you get an Epic dont let that scare you.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I've had an Epic since a couple weeks after it was released and I think the battery is probably working the way they meant it to, which means a solid day. I charge it overnight, unplug it when I go to work, plug it in when I go to bed, and I'm usually at around 40% by that time with moderate use. I don't generally have problems with battery drain.
The exception to this is when using GPS with the screen on. It's really difficult to use this phone as a direct PND replacement even though it's basically made for it (especially with Froyo, which fixes the GPS lock issues), because the screen and GPS together will drain the battery from 100% to 0% in about 40 minutes. My dedicated PND, by contrast, will give me 8 *hours* of continuous use on battery power.
Also, I have a 1000mah car charger and even with that connected, the battery still drains when using GPS and the screen (it just drains slower). I have to just turn the screen off when I know I won't be needing to make a turn for a while.
The one thing I wish about the Epic is that it had a regular old LCD screen. The AMOLED screen is the one battery killer - you really need to watch how long you have it on. In normal use it isn't much of an issue, but you just can't do much of all the cool things they advertise that you can do with this phone (like GPS or watching movies).
I do also keep my screen turned way down, which makes a difference, but it's still a killer.
Well, I reported over in another thread that with Froyo, and basically having my phone sit around and do nothing with no WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, no "fixes" such as switching to airplane mode or killing the DRM service, and no "battery saver" programs, I was able to get 108 hours on a single charge with the stock battery (1500mAH). That was with the screen on time of about 50 minutes and talk time of about 40 minutes... (pictures here)
It all boils down to how you use your phone, but in a stock configuration, the power management seems to be better on 2.2 than 2.1 as shown by the large amount of "idle" time I was able to get on a single charge.
Koadic said:
Well, I reported over in another thread that with Froyo, and basically having my phone sit around and do nothing with no WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, no "fixes" such as switching to airplane mode or killing the DRM service, and no "battery saver" programs, I was able to get 108 hours on a single charge with the stock battery (1500mAH). That was with the screen on time of about 50 minutes and talk time of about 40 minutes... (pictures here)
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Click to collapse
I don't disbelieve that - in my post above, when I'm talking about draining the battery with GPS and the screen on in 40 minutes, or when I'm talking about having 40% battery left at the end of a regular day, it's almost always with a screen on time of 30-40 minutes. So 50 minutes sounds about right to drain the battery completely, with nothing else on.
I'll bet if you had 0 minutes screen on time - just let the phone sit idle - you could have probably gotten 200 hours or more.
badasscat said:
I'll bet if you had 0 minutes screen on time - just let the phone sit idle - you could have probably gotten 200 hours or more.
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Click to collapse
LOL, what's the point of having a phone then? 8-9 days without using it? I dont think I could hold out that long.
And I didn't even see your post until after I posted.
Koadic said:
LOL, what's the point of having a phone then? 8-9 days without using it? I dont think I could hold out that long.
And I didn't even see your post until after I posted.
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Click to collapse
No I know, I was more just clarifying so it didn't seem like we contradicted each other. I think the important stat is really screen time and then any extra radios you have turned on. Just with the regular radio and nothing else, you could get ridiculous battery life on the Epic. It's the extra radios and screen that kill it.
My phone gets me through the day. About 20% down in 7 hours on standby, so thats decent. Heavy usage with full brightness on and live wallpaper starting in the morning, stopping at like 6 A.M...it'd probably die there, for me at least.
The battery is good; I'm running the dk28 rom but it really hasn't affected my battery life at all.
On phoenix kernel i was getting 20-36 hours moderate to light usage. With acs xtreme kernel I'm getting 12-20 hrs w/ moderate use.
That's about 3-4 hrs of screen on time, 45-60 min of talk time. Emails, text ing, twitter, xda, and some various forum reading. Angry birds if waiting in line somewhere..
Note: I leave background data turned off and manually sync/refresh mail/contacts/data. I have no need/desire to be alerted evrytime someone updates twit/fb. I also use juice defender.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I can barely look at my phone on full brightness - it hurts my eyes with beams of awesome.
I get between 13 and 16 hours depending on how much Angry Bird time I put in that day. If I'm doing normal browsing, facebooking, etc then I'll be closer to 16, but gaming drops my battery like a rock.
Thanks for the replies! I think I'm convinced a lot of it has to do with how you use the device. Pretty much how it went with the EVO when it first came out... lots of people complaining about battery and then it kind of faded once everyone settled down. All I need is to get from early morning to right before bed.
GPS with google nav is a killer on any Android with decent screen size and resolution I think. Anyway, I thought SAMOLED is supposed to save a little battery? Or is that only if the background is black? In any case, I usually dim my screen to 30%, keep GPS off, keep auto-updates down to a manageable size, and use some other tricks to save battery, so I should be good to go.
I tried to thank all of you with the new thanks button, but didn't realize there's a limit per day haha. I'll finish it up tomorrow.
As far as I am concerned the battery life on DK28 is amazing. I use overclock widget set at 1000/200 screen on and 400/200 screen off. I can pull more than 30 hours with multiple phone calls, texting, email, web and games for over an hour. Here's the screen shot I took today before putting the phone on the charger.
I've noticed a substantial improvement in battery life since upgrading to 2.2. However, I also began using the Epic Experience ROM shortly afterwards, which boosted it even further. That, plus Juice Defender nets me a perfectly acceptable battery life.
I used my phone heavily today and still got about 18 hours out of it before plugging it in before bed at a 35% charge. On top of that, my phone's never felt snappier.
whoa, is it normal for the epic to take 3.5 hours to charge? If so, any explanation? Past devices i've had tend to take an hour less... Running 2.1, does Froyo help?
Currently on Epic Experience with SuperPower installed. I unplugged the phone about 16 hours ago and it's sitting at 36% with light voice and moderate SMS/data use.
Battery life definitely improved after upgrading from 2.1, even with light use it would be dead in under 12 hours on stock 2.1/DI17.
How to get unbelievable battery life
I have some very VERY helpful hints of great battery life for the Epic 4g. (as i am on hour 26 to 28 and have 20% left with about 1 to 1.5 hours of screen on use.)
First off, use black, or almost black background. Our screens are superAMOLED. This means that if the screen is showing black... those particular black pixels... are simply not on. If you have the home screen black, and have no icons on it, then the status bar is all that is using power... maybe 6 or 8 percent.
Next, Lose the brightness. A few helpful hints on this. 1) uncheck the autobrightness in the display settings 2) turn the brightness down in the display settings 3) If you slide your finger from right to left across the status bar at the top, the screen will dim, if you slide your finger from left to right, it will brighten(this causes accidental brightness 4) cover this light sensor on the right side at the top (I believe) because the phone seems to have a problem always autobrighting even with the uncheck in the settings. This is done best with electrical tape, or perhaps finger nail polish. These things should ensure to always be at minimum brightness
Next, Install Frankenstein Froyo Rom(lightest rom=less cpu usage/blackest rom=less screen battery usage), And Genocide Kernel(undervolted)
Next, install task killer(keeps the rom at optimum efficiency meaning less cpu usage assuming you are killing the apps 3 or 4 times a day) install set cpu(This allows you to limit the cpu clock speed(400mhz is optimal usable and battery settings)
Things to remember, ALWAYS TURN THE SCREEN OFF.
If you pick it up every thirty seconds to see if you have a text, then just sit it down... whats happening now.. The screen is staying on for another 15 seconds probably. DUH!!! bye bye battery!!
TURN OFF THE SCREEN BEFORE YOU SIT THE PHONE DOWN!!!
Turn off gps when not in use.
Turn off wifi when not in use.
Turn off 4g when not in use
Dont use it as an mp3 player.
Dont talk on speaker phone.
Those last few were pretty obvious.. but some people need to be told.
I Hope this helps anyone looking to conserve battery. Follow these steps and i promise 24 hours plus ever time and often as much as 48 hours.
Enjoy
EDIT****
By the way, When you set yourself up with this rom, you are making your phone TWICE as fast... LITERALLY. Hard to believe that a ROM could be twice as fast.
With stock android2.1 this phone gets 800 to 900 in quadrant(benchmark tool/tell how fast your phone REALLY is) Stock android 2.2 quadrant score is a little better scoring as high as 1000.
With this setup, i have gotten as high as 1950 in quadrant. No joke. This is reflected as you cant even tell the phone is clocked down to 400mhz without heavy apps and REALLY paying attention.
I used to get about 8 hrs of use before having to charge. Battery would drain even when I wasn't using the phone. Since flashing to DI18 a few months ago battery life has been great. A good 15-17 hours of moderate/high use and minimal drain with the phone on standby.
I lower the brightness all the way, end the DRM process and do the TWS trick after a reboot. No fancy battery management app that disables all your phone for the sake of battery.
I expect 2 hrs of the screen being on before my battery gets down to 20-30%. Which I think is very reasonable for moderate to high usage.

[Q] Battery Life - Screen On

I've had my Droid X for about a month now. In general it goes about a day before I have to charge it. That seems to be about normal. My questions is in that day of total time, how much time can the screen be on before having to charge. I seem to get about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours with the screen on. That doesn't seem that great, but I was wondering what other folks are seeing.
Thanks.
Depends what else is going on for the phone, and what the brightness is set to (in extremes, what the temperature is).
But, even in the worst case, 2.5hrs is a bit low. I recently got just about 3 hours streaming Netflix, 100% brightness, on a decent cell connection, on my 11-month old DX.
I would expect close to 8 hours on a constantly on screen, just running the clock, 1% brightness, in airplane mode.
Extended Battery
I didn't mention that it was about 2.5 hours, with the extended battery (1850maH). I'm running GB, auto brightness adjustment, no over/under clocking. Push email/calendar/contacts/tasks from our Exchange server. Auto-off after 30 seconds.
Shouldn't I be able to expect at least 4 hours screen on time under this configuration?
Yes you probably should be getting better battery life

Screen battery drain

I'm curious if anyone else is having an insane battery drain just from Using the screen. this is my first Android device after switching from an iPhone so I'm not sure if it's normal but with auto brightness I still get 60-80 percent battery drain. I have a Us AT&T version of the S4.
Having a 5 inch 1080p screen will be the biggest battery drainer on the phone currently im getting 3-4 hour screen on time which imo is amazing
krump2buck said:
I'm curious if anyone else is having an insane battery drain just from Using the screen. this is my first Android device after switching from an iPhone so I'm not sure if it's normal but with auto brightness I still get 60-80 percent battery drain. I have a Us AT&T version of the S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're looking in the battery stats then yes, the screen always consumes the most battery out of everything.
Its when an app consumes more battery then your screen you've got some problems.
Its really not insane battery drain, its normal if your screen is on all the time. think of a laptop that s not plugged in it will go for days or hours sitting closed with the screen off but still on but with the screen on it draws a lot of power and your battery life soon goes down to 4 hours.
The percentage it is telling you is also misinterpreted. Its not telling you that 60%-80% of your battery is consumed by the screen
Basically if your battery is at 80% and its saying 80% of the battery is used by the screen its telling you that so far out of the 20% currently used of the battery 80% was by the screen and 2% by facebook and 6% by browser ect.
krump2buck said:
I'm curious if anyone else is having an insane battery drain just from Using the screen. this is my first Android device after switching from an iPhone so I'm not sure if it's normal but with auto brightness I still get 60-80 percent battery drain. I have a Us AT&T version of the S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screens have always been the biggest drain on a mobile device (laptops included). If you want to minimize this (even though it is absolutely normal) you can try going to the Power Saver settings and enabling the "use low power Screen" or something along those lines. I've set that on mine, noticed a bit of a life increase, haven't seen any difference in the screen... so seems like a win-win situation.

Battery life

I got a refurb Note 10.1 2014 from Groupon about a month ago. The battery life has been poor but I didn't use it enough to quantify it. I got home form work today and it was at 65%. After exactly an hour of use, it told me it was about to die at 5%. I can literally watch the battery percentage tick down while writing an email or browsing the web. Is this normal? I've had 11 android phones but this is my first tablet, I've never seen performance this poor.
This is my issue with android devices. If you are not an above average user and know how to trouble shoot to find what app or apps is causing your battery drain you will be left thinking the device itself is not good, when it's probably a wakelock or some background app killing your battery.
My device has good battery life. I wish it would do better with simple Internet browsing, but watching videos and other tasks are great in my opinion.
My advice, try to find if your issue is software related. After ruling that out, the only option is that out must be hardware related.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
I found the battery poor for the first couple of weeks. I gave it a full charge, took it off a couple of mins after 100% each time, only letting it drain down to about 15%. I was getting about 6 hours on screen time without power hungry games.
Then a few days ago drained it full, and charged it over night, now getting 9-10hours on screen time - mainly web surfing, watching full hd film streamed off home servers and low power games (5's.....far too addictive and simple). This also includes some use streaming bluetooth to wireless speaker with screen off, so at least another hour use on top of the 10 but with the screen off.
I'm about like redsurf. 6-10 hours of screen-on depending what you are doing with it. If you are only getting 2-3 hours there is something wrong. You can check under power in the tools/settings menu to see what is eating your power. If it is a program, kill the task. If it is the screen (more than 50% any time I have checked) and you are only getting 2-3 hours, definitely something wrong.
Oh, also try turning down brightness.
Note10.1Dude said:
I'm about like redsurf. 6-10 hours of screen-on depending what you are doing with it. If you are only getting 2-3 hours there is something wrong. You can check under power in the tools/settings menu to see what is eating your power. If it is a program, kill the task. If it is the screen (more than 50% any time I have checked) and you are only getting 2-3 hours, definitely something wrong.
Oh, also try turning down brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny enough, I probably have my screen brightness set to between 10% and 25% and rarely ever need it to be turned up any higher than that.
By rooting and disabling alot of bloat stuff I get an additional 1-2 hours out of my note 10.1. Just saying
I'm sure there could be a software issue, but even if i was gaming at full brightness with 40 background apps (I don't), 2 hours is unacceptable and probably defective.

Post your battery!

Hello, post your battery. I've posted mine in the attachment.
16Hrs 45Mins
5Hrs 25Mins SOT (50 mins of HD YouTube, good amount of Facebook, Whatsapp and browsing)
Help grow this thread by sharing your battery stats:
1) On battery time
2) Screen on time
3) Usage patterns
4) ROM/Rooted tweaks (if any)
P.S. - Make sure you vote in the poll to give other prospective buyers an idea of how the user experience has been with battery life.
My battery stats
Hey there!
I bought this phone on Monday and I started using it yesterday. Here is a screenshot of my actual battery.
I've used 3G and Wi-Fi, downloaded some apps and used GPS a bit. Now I'm using only 2G connections and the brightness is set to low.
Very happy with it!
Just a request
When you all post battery Screenshots please mention the on screen time all of you get and if possible mention the brightness also
Addition
Mention screen on time...
Mention rom (when available lol)
If possible mention ur personal setup like u greenify apps or not...
First charge.
5h screen on, autobrightness, 1 1/2h gps and some other game testing so pretty much like the old G
Seems very solid, 5h SOT. I might be joining your community soon
On average usage it will last for one day
The battery life is better than what I expected. It has dual sim and a large screen but still manages around a day on battery.
Managed to get slightly over 7 hours before the phone shut off.
GPS: Power saving mode
Screen: Brightness set to indoor conditions (manual / below 10%)
ROM: Default
Battery Saver: Disabled
Battery saving apps: None installed
WiFi and Sync: Always enabled
Screen Time Out: 2 minutes after inactivity
Usage: Mainly Facebook, Chrome, WhatsApp, few YouTube vids and Google Docs. Nothing intensive.
Phone charged from 0-100% in under 2 hours without entering the OS. I used Anker Power IQ 40W 5-port desktop charger and Moto's USB cable. Back of the phone remained cool throughout. Could have squeezed more life out of the battery by setting screen time-out to 30 seconds, but I'm happy with 7 hours. Used to get between 3.30 to 4 hours on my NEXUS 4.
Moto G has one of the most (if not the most) efficient SoC (especially the CPU core). So the biggest improvement to battery life comes from adjusting the screen manually. Don't use auto brightness if possible and keep the brightness low without sacrificing image quality. Mine is set to below 10%.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask :good:
Impressive
Nielo TM said:
Managed to get slightly over 7 hours before the phone shut off.
GPS: Power saving mode
Screen: Brightness set to indoor conditions (manual / below 10%)
ROM: Default
Battery Saver: Disabled
WiFi and Sync: Always enabled
Screen Timeout: 2 minutes after inactivity
Usage: Mainly Facebook, Chrome, WhatsApp, few YouTube vids and Google Docs. Nothing intensive.
Phone charged from 0-100% in under 2 hours without entering the OS. I used Anker Power IQ 40W 5-port desktop charger and Moto's USB cable. Back of the phone remained cool throughout. Could have squeezed more life out of the battery by setting screen timeout to 30 seconds, but I'm happy with 7 hours. Used to get between 3.30 to 4 hours on my NEXUS 4.
Moto G has one of the most (if not the most) efficient SoC (especially the CPU core). So the biggest improvement to battery life comes from adjusting the screen manually. Don't use auto brightness if possible and keep the brightness low without sacrificing image quality. Mine is set to below 10%.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask :good:
View attachment 2936796 View attachment 2936795
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WOW, that's really impressive. Yes, auto brightness can drain the battery soon. I use auto brightness whenever I'm outdoors for a couple of hours and I get 5+ hrs of usage. Very happy with the battery life.
Sent from my XT1068 using XDA Free mobile app
Over someone?
I'm in doubt between G and the new Moto Moto X (2014)
Who has better screen time on 3G / 4G will take my money.
No gaming in this cycle of battery charge
But internet use is there over Wi-Fi.
Sent from my XT1068
Very happy with battery life. Very first charge, just received phone in the afternoon and was fully charged by 3:30 or 4. Downloading applications, syncing accounts, installed GTA:SA and played a tiny bit(used a controller through OTG) snapped pics, took some slo no videos and auto brightness. Texting, IM'ing, some YouTube videos, etc and also music, which sounds amazing through the speakers!
Not bad at all
Battery is not bad. I was using Wi-Fi n downloaded applications. Still I got it for 20 hrs n had around 15% left.
Sent from my XT1068 using XDA Free mobile app
Kunal5894 said:
WOW, that's really impressive. Yes, auto brightness can drain the battery soon. I use auto brightness whenever I'm outdoors for a couple of hours and I get 5+ hrs of usage. Very happy with the battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I was kinda amazed. Wasn't expecting 7 hours. Expect the battery to increase even further when Android L is released
Five hours screen time
Pretty good for Android phone
My new Moto G has been amazingly good with respective to Battery backup. :good: When phone is idle... it is alove for almost 1 and a half day... Amazing.. I also had Lumia 520.. It could last for 2 days and still have juice left.. Very impressed..
I find the battery life to be average, I get about 3.5 to 4 hours of screen on time. Which is what most phones get, but the original G could go for 5hours. And by about 7pm, my battery run out.
You could get 5hours screen on time if you stay indoor and connected to WiFi all the time and on 50% screen brightness, but this is not for someone who is moving about, being outdoor and not connected to WiFi during work.
Battery is pathetic...The phone was in deep sleep for 8 hours. Battery consumed while in deep sleep, was 1% per hour
What's wrong? Feels like eclair days...

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