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Iv always considered battery life a very important factor in my purchasing of a phone and was one of the big reasons i moved from my Desire HD to the Nexus S (amongst many others). However having been on the android scene for a while im used to tinkering with kernels and roms etc and due to the new battery graph in gingerbread im now able to make direct comparisons rom by rom and kernel by kernel to see how they all differ. This is all shown + explained below.
First id like to explain my method;
I install the rom and kernel with the same apps I always use and charge the phone fully until i am about to go to sleep. I then unplug the phone and leave it in the exactly the same place on my desk with exactly the same settings (sync intervals etc) and i kill all apps before i leave it just to make sure the test is fair.
In the morning i then take a screen shot of the battery life over the period of usually 8 hours and will upload this for you to see. I then look at the over-night battery drain as a comparison on how good battery life is on specific roms and kernels.
Justification - Many of you may be thinking who cares about standby battery life? I care about the battery when im using it!?
Well although that's valid there are many reasons i have taken this approach;
1. It is completely fair i.e. no individual differences such as 'im a heavy user' but we all have different definitions of a 'heavy user'. This is eliminated by the fact the phone is not used and thus the same every time (no individual differences)
2. If a phone has severe battery drain during sleep general knowledge should dictate that battery drain should increase when the screen is on, cpu is working and your syncing your facebook wall, thus a direct correlation with sleep battery drain and usage drain should be apparent.
Therefore i have decided over the next few days/weeks etc i will upload on a regular basis a screenshot of the battery drain over night, along with the battery use details and screen on time etc etc. In addition to the rom and kernel info and i hope that over time this proves to be a very useful thread.
I have been doing this over the last few days on a less strict system and there have been some VERY interesting results which i will upload over the next few days.
(Just a final note iv never really done anything like this on xda before so if its a stupid idea then please tell me now so i dont waste my time doing it, however if people are really interested please let me know and il make sure i do my best!!)
Thanks for reading my extremely long post!
Bratfink
SCREENSHOT 1: This was using modacos custom rom r10 and the kernel that comes with it, i had quite a short sleep (about 6 hours) but the curve pretty much shows what the point im trying to make is. The battery life is great!!
SCREENSHOT 2: This is CM7 Nightly build 27# with Netarchy's latest 1.2.1 kernel and although i didnt use the screen once of charge for a few minutes as you can see once the screen was off battery life barely decreased and was over a long period of time.
If anyone wants me to test specific combos please let me know.
I'm actually looking forward to reading your results.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Yep, this would actually be pretty useful. Good luck and good work!
i'm a sucker for these types of tests, always love doing them and seeing the results. post soon!
I like others will be keeping an interested eye on your findings.
Uploading pictures of modaco r10 with it's own original kernel today. Its an interesting result!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Uploaded to OP
I'm interested too.
Can u try modaco r10 with Netarchy 1.2.1 kernel.
bratfink said:
Iv always considered battery life a very important factor in my purchasing of a phone and was one of the big reasons i moved from my Desire HD to the Nexus S (amongst many others). However having been on the android scene for a while im used to tinkering with kernels and roms etc and due to the new battery graph in gingerbread im now able to make direct comparisons rom by rom and kernel by kernel to see how they all differ. This is all shown + explained below.
First id like to explain my method;
I install the rom and kernel with the same apps I always use and charge the phone fully until i am about to go to sleep. I then unplug the phone and leave it in the exactly the same place on my desk with exactly the same settings (sync intervals etc) and i kill all apps before i leave it just to make sure the test is fair.
In the morning i then take a screen shot of the battery life over the period of usually 8 hours and will upload this for you to see. I then look at the over-night battery drain as a comparison on how good battery life is on specific roms and kernels.
Justification - Many of you may be thinking who cares about standby battery life? I care about the battery when im using it!?
Well although that's valid there are many reasons i have taken this approach;
1. It is completely fair i.e. no individual differences such as 'im a heavy user' but we all have different definitions of a 'heavy user'. This is eliminated by the fact the phone is not used and thus the same every time (no individual differences)
2. If a phone has severe battery drain during sleep general knowledge should dictate that battery drain should increase when the screen is on, cpu is working and your syncing your facebook wall, thus a direct correlation with sleep battery drain and usage drain should be apparent.
Therefore i have decided over the next few days/weeks etc i will upload on a regular basis a screenshot of the battery drain over night, along with the battery use details and screen on time etc etc. In addition to the rom and kernel info and i hope that over time this proves to be a very useful thread.
I have been doing this over the last few days on a less strict system and there have been some VERY interesting results which i will upload over the next few days.
(Just a final note iv never really done anything like this on xda before so if its a stupid idea then please tell me now so i dont waste my time doing it, however if people are really interested please let me know and il make sure i do my best!!)
Thanks for reading my extremely long post!
Bratfink
SCREENSHOT 1: This was using modacos custom rom r10 and the kernel that comes with it, i had quite a short sleep (about 6 hours) but the curve pretty much shows what the point im trying to make is. The battery life is great!!
If anyone wants me to test specific combos please let me know.
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Click to collapse
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
I'd be interested in seeing CM7, just whatever nightly build you manage to catch.
I don't think that result will give you precise result.
I found that statistic is wrong sometimes.
It is better to measure using "play video loop".
So, find a movie, set to the same brightness and play in loop?
gogol said:
I don't think that result will give you precise result.
I found that statistic is wrong sometimes.
It is better to measure using "play video loop".
So, find a movie, set to the same brightness and play in loop?
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Unfortunately that will not give you how well the rom does while it is idle.
I'm really looking forward to your results. My only issue with this phone is the battery life is terrible. I ordered an extended battery off Ebay 3 weeks ago and have yet to receive it. Never ordering anything from Hong Kong again!
Fuse8499 said:
I'm really looking forward to your results. My only issue with this phone is the battery life is terrible. I ordered an extended battery off Ebay 3 weeks ago and have yet to receive it. Never ordering anything from Hong Kong again!
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What were you using before that you consider this phone to have bad battery life? By far this phone has the best battery life of any Android device I've owned. If you want bad battery life, get an Evo. That is horrific battery life.
bratfink said:
Uploading pictures of modaco r10 with it's own original kernel today. Its an interesting result!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Uploaded to OP
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I am looking forward to the rest of these, however just a quick question. What was your battery use like in that situation with the stock ROM? Just for reference, because I'm thinking I might switch to modaco soon. Thanks!
More soon
Iv got a few more screenies but it seems i may have to end this thread prematurely. Its the SNS or 2.3 but idle battery usage for me is pretty much identical no matter what the kernel or rom (il upload a CM7 + Netarchy 1.2.1 shot top op). This was unexpected on my behalf because with my DHD kernels and roms had a big impact on idle battery consumption. I have noticed however that without a full wipe when changing some kernels such as with M r10 idle battery life can increase drastically. I will continue for the next few days and if i dont see any big changes i may move method to a video loop or something of the sort.
Interesting find
I found out something today that may interest may of you. I was messing around with the sleep profiles on SetCpu with netarchys kernel and i found that its better to leave the range from 100-800 than 100-400 or less. This i believe is because when the phone is asleep and carries out a process it will be forced to clock to the maximum of 400mhz and then stay at that speed for 10 seconds, instead of say going up to 800mhz for 1-2 seconds to complete the same process. So a tip to you would be set your profile to 100-800mhz conservative and see what you get!
bratfink said:
I found out something today that may interest may of you. I was messing around with the sleep profiles on SetCpu with netarchys kernel and i found that its better to leave the range from 100-800 than 100-400 or less. This i believe is because when the phone is asleep and carries out a process it will be forced to clock to the maximum of 400mhz and then stay at that speed for 10 seconds, instead of say going up to 800mhz for 1-2 seconds to complete the same process. So a tip to you would be set your profile to 100-800mhz conservative and see what you get!
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This kinda enforces the point that SetCPU is useless for the NS unless you really want to overclock...
Any battery saving tactics used buy lowering screen off profiles are counteracted by the system process;( So i think in the context of battery life you are probably better to not use SetCPU
JD
bratfink said:
Iv got a few more screenies but it seems i may have to end this thread prematurely. Its the SNS or 2.3 but idle battery usage for me is pretty much identical no matter what the kernel or rom (il upload a CM7 + Netarchy 1.2.1 shot top op). This was unexpected on my behalf because with my DHD kernels and roms had a big impact on idle battery consumption. I have noticed however that without a full wipe when changing some kernels such as with M r10 idle battery life can increase drastically. I will continue for the next few days and if i dont see any big changes i may move method to a video loop or something of the sort.
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Click to collapse
I would definitely move to a video loop or some other 'heavy use' task because when you think about it, not too much can really be changed when almost no power is being used in the first place.
You could also just mention your general feeling for the battery life of each rom, because quite often that is what I go by as my usage varies depending on a range of things (school day or weekend etc) .
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Could you please test modaco r10 with Netarchy's latest 1.2.1 kernel ?
I would love to see the difference between modaco's default kernel vs netarchy's kernel.
On CM nightly 13, I just went 11 hours and I'm at 90%. That's 1/2% an hour. Not bad. That is with stock kernel.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
I love to play around with new ROMs and kernels and usually don't mind a few hiccups and occasional poor performance. But soon I will have a one week period where I need my phone to be as solid as possible. What's the best ROM/kernel for this?
I currently use CM7 as my daily and have tested CM9. CM7 is great except battery life is pretty bad, with both the CM7 and Samurai kernels. I lose about 1% of battery for every 90 secs I'm actively doing something - even on Wifi and with a strong 3g signal. A 15minute drive with GPS (and screen off) easily takes 10% off my battery. This is unacceptable for my upcoming event.
I would like a ROM/kernel combo that can go for a minimum of 12 hours with moderate use. No voice, but frequent texting, email, twitter checks, some photos, and calling up pdfs. Battery life and stability are the top concerns, but GPS is important as well. CM7 gives me the best GPS results I've ever had with my Epic, but like I said, the battery performance is awful.
Any ideas? Focusing on all the cutting edge stuff means I've lost touch with the latest improvements on the more basic, but more solid ROMs.
Thanks!
get a larger battery or pick up a spare oe battery as a backup.
this is one of those questions you just dont ask cause it all depends on how you use your phone and all that i know you say what you mostly use it for but it still doesnt help if you are looking for a stable rom as far as mtd goes they are all good and as far as kernels go they are all good but the kicker is just finding what works best for you feel free to play around with them flash one per day and figure out which one works best for you cause honestly we cant tell you cause what would extend our battery life might not work for you because you use your phone differently than we do but trust me all of our devs are gonna throw out something that doesnt work all the warnings are there and all the help and how to's for each rom and kernel are in their respective threads sorry i couldnt give you a better answer bud
happy flashing
Oh and I forgot to mention since you have been running cm7 make sure you don't flash a bml rom not sure if u were aware of that or not so only flash and MTD rom and kernel
CleanGB. No OC/UV, and buy an epic touch 1800mah battery. For me I get best responsiveness vs battery life if I run 100/800mhz with governer set to performance. You'd have to REALLY try to kill that battery in a day with this setup.
Edit: you use gps in the car without plugging it in? No wonder your battery commits suicide lol. If I use gps and stream music through bluetooth it still discharges on the charger.
There is no such thing. Even pure stock has errors on some people's phones. You need to try one or if it is that important than stock is your best bet. EVERY Phone is different. Read through some of the ROMs...95% of the people have no problems and 5% do. It is the nature of the beast. No one can tell which is best for YOUR phone. And if CM7 is giving you terrible battery life, there already is something wrong with your phone setup. You probably need to start from scratch and restore no apps or data and download apps fresh from the market.
I've always had good luck with CleanGB roms & kernals by toadlife.
joedig52 said:
I've always had good luck with CleanGB roms & kernals by toadlife.
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But not everybody does. There is no best. I can easily say marcusantrom with shadow kernel is best on touchwiz and CM7 with the kernel it comes with is the best in general. I won't say this because different people have different phones and preferences... if you really want the best rom/kernel/theme, make it yourself.
In Soviet Epic forum, clockworkmod root you!
Hello follow XDAers!
I gave my old i9000 to my girlfriend, and now I'm looking for the most battery efficient ROM/kernel for it, since that's pretty much all she cares about.
Ideal would be if there was a pretty slimmed ROM already bundled with a good, battery friendly kernel.
Right now she's using SlimICS on it, but the battery life isn't very good at all. Haven't put too much time into it though, so might be configurable.
Anyways, opinions on best suited ROM/kernel for her?
Cheers!
Closed, there really isn't such a thing as a "best" rom, it very much depends on your usage, and wakelocks which is more of a user issues. (Download betterbatterystats and use that to check whats going on in the background).
While I've flashed a good share of ROM's on my Droid X in the past, it had a locked bootloader. As such, I never really learned much about custom Kernels.
Unlike the stock ROM for the Droid X, I'm very happy with the stock ROM on the N7.
I'm unlocked, and rooted on the N7, and very happy with how it performs.
Is there something I'm missing out on? I don't care about OC'ing it, because it's plenty fast. UV'ing it would be nice, but is there a good app that would do that for me, without having to mess around data wipes, and possible incompatibilities when updates are released?
Basically, I read through a bunch of the kernel posts, and aside from over clocking, or under volt'ing, I'm not sure I understand all the hype. I mostly see people saying that one kernel causes problems with certain ROM's, and another one causes other issues, and another works great with a certain custom ROM. Is there some really big performance gain, say in wifi range, or battery life, from any of these to make it worth the bother?
The only things I really care about are wifi range, battery life, and gps strength. Honestly, all of those are already really good just on stock, but I can't think of any real flaws, so nudge me in the right direction, if you would.
Are custom kernels worth it for someone like me? Are there good root apps that improve wifi reception range a bit, or extend battery life a tad, or speed up gps acquisition a little? Would a custom kernel do any of that anyways?
Regards,
--bb
// I should mention that I'm on 4.2.1, the HSPA+ model (but don't frequently use the cell connection).
bladebarrier said:
While I've flashed a good share of ROM's on my Droid X in the past, it had a locked bootloader. As such, I never really learned much about custom Kernels.
Unlike the stock ROM for the Droid X, I'm very happy with the stock ROM on the N7.
I'm unlocked, and rooted on the N7, and very happy with how it performs.
Is there something I'm missing out on? I don't care about OC'ing it, because it's plenty fast. UV'ing it would be nice, but is there a good app that would do that for me, without having to mess around data wipes, and possible incompatibilities when updates are released?
Basically, I read through a bunch of the kernel posts, and aside from over clocking, or under volt'ing, I'm not sure I understand all the hype. I mostly see people saying that one kernel causes problems with certain ROM's, and another one causes other issues, and another works great with a certain custom ROM. Is there some really big performance gain, say in wifi range, or battery life, from any of these to make it worth the bother?
The only things I really care about are wifi range, battery life, and gps strength. Honestly, all of those are already really good just on stock, but I can't think of any real flaws, so nudge me in the right direction, if you would.
Are custom kernels worth it for someone like me? Are there good root apps that improve wifi reception range a bit, or extend battery life a tad, or speed up gps acquisition a little? Would a custom kernel do any of that anyways?
Regards,
--bb
// I should mention that I'm on 4.2.1, the HSPA+ model (but don't frequently use the cell connection).
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I am using stock as well but I'm using the M-Kernel. Pretty good battery life and good on performance too. You should give it a try.
Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll just jump in and experiment with those.
A custom kernel won't do any of the 3 things you listed, extend WiFi, speed up GPS, improve battery life. I've tried most of the kernels available for the nexus 7 and only use a custom (omega) because It slightly smooths out a couple games I play daily. Battery life has never increased under the same usage for me, though some kernels did decrease battery life.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
95Z28 said:
A custom kernel won't do any of the 3 things you listed, extend WiFi, speed up GPS, improve battery life. I've tried most of the kernels available for the nexus 7 and only use a custom (omega) because It slightly smooths out a couple games I play daily. Battery life has never increased under the same usage for me, though some kernels did decrease battery life.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Gotcha, thanks for the response. I'll skip it then. It sounds like I'm not a good candidate for such things.
95Z28 said:
A custom kernel won't do any of the 3 things you listed, extend WiFi, speed up GPS, improve battery life. I've tried most of the kernels available for the nexus 7 and only use a custom (omega) because It slightly smooths out a couple games I play daily. Battery life has never increased under the same usage for me, though some kernels did decrease battery life.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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I didn't do any extensive battery life tests on the stock kernel, but after flashing motley I compared stock voltage to undervoltage (both while overclocked), and undervolting gave significant improvements.
OP, you mention you're happy with the performance at stock, but I'd give overclocking a try anyhow. My N7 was snappy to begin with, but after overclocking, it's insane.
Please post your battery life in stock marshmallow,stock nougut,RR,AICP and other roms.
So we can compare them.
yk1999 said:
Please post your battery life in stock marshmallow,stock nougut,RR,AICP and other roms.
So we can compare them.
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There is really nothing one size fits all kind of thing. Try these different ROMs for yourself to see what works best for you. It's hard to see which has better battery life since different users will have different usage stats.
I have to agree... One person might get great battery on RR and terrible on AICP, the next person the opposite. The only to really tell which one gets the best battery in your situation is to try them.
Data is too scattered to determine which ROM provides the best battery life. You see people getting all day battery life with different kernels, tweaks, usage, etc
yk1999 said:
Please post your battery life in stock marshmallow,stock nougut,RR,AICP and other roms.
So we can compare them.
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I'm not trying to bash your post but TBH, any comparison you make from others is practically useless. As mentioned, people have different experiences on custom ROMs. One specific ROM might have excellent battery life on one phone and have horrible battery life on another of the same model. But there is an even more important factor that makes comparing across ROMs just as useless... Everyone uses their phone differently. Not just with apps they install, but with the features of a ROM they they decide to enable or not.
On that note, if you are considering a custom ROM, the best way to determine if it is right for you is simply to try them. Make backups that way you can revert back to the one you decide is best.
I know that every user use their phone differently. I don't know what made you guys think i don't know that. But what i am trying to compare is not overall battery life but battery life based on individual usage. Like when some one use that rom for only calls and get a lot of stand by time how much battery it drains. from that i can know how much battery it drains when kept idle. Same goes for using wifi or using mobile data , watching YouTube or reading PDF. I want to know how much battery that rom uses on what usage.
Sorry for my bad English. I hope you guys can understand what i am trying to say.
yk1999 said:
I know that every user use their phone differently. I don't know what made you guys think i don't know that. But what i am trying to compare is not overall battery life but battery life based on individual usage. Like when some one use that rom for only calls and get a lot of stand by time how much battery it drains. from that i can know how much battery it drains when kept idle. Same goes for using wifi or using mobile data , watching YouTube or reading PDF. I want to know how much battery that rom uses on what usage.
Sorry for my bad English. I hope you guys can understand what i am trying to say.
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I understand this. But I think it would be easier to try for yourself, because to get say, me to try say 4 different ROMs, same usage, and then report back to you would be more time consuming than you trying for yourself.
I know you know that every user is different but the same user trying different ROMs for you just doesn't make sense.
yk1999 said:
I know that every user use their phone differently. I don't know what made you guys think i don't know that. But what i am trying to compare is not overall battery life but battery life based on individual usage. Like when some one use that rom for only calls and get a lot of stand by time how much battery it drains. from that i can know how much battery it drains when kept idle. Same goes for using wifi or using mobile data , watching YouTube or reading PDF. I want to know how much battery that rom uses on what usage.
Sorry for my bad English. I hope you guys can understand what i am trying to say.
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Referencing individual usage as you have, along with any specific ROM across devices, you are not going to get consistent results. I understand you are trying to consolidate this data on one post, but there are to many variables involved.
To highlight: I could run AICP on my XT1575 with a clean install and no extra apps installed and make only calls and I might get excellent battery life on standby. But another XT1575 owner can do the exact same setup, make the same number and times of calls and get horrible battery life. This pretty much goes for any custom ROM, especially those not based on stock. This does not even account for differences in MM vs N. This also does not account for an update to a ROM screwing up battery life and the next one may fix it (which is relatively common). I've even seen where someone gets great battery life up to a certain update and thereafter it sucks, but another can experience the opposite.
And once again, individual usage still matters as individuals will have different apps installed, which can take up varying amounts of battery depending on background processes and syncing. This affects standby time and SOT to some degree. Also do not forget that the chipset on this phone is prone to negative affects on battery depending on cell signal strength, so that is another kink in observing and comparing battery life across users.
Ultimately, the best way to determine what gives you the best battery life is too rest ROMs for yourself and your specific usages.
Spencervb256 said:
I understand this. But I think it would be easier to try for yourself, because to get say, me to try say 4 different ROMs, same usage, and then report back to you would be more time consuming than you trying for yourself.
I know you know that every user is different but the same user trying different ROMs for you just doesn't make sense.
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I am not saying anyone to try different roms for me. I was just wanting them to post battery stat of the rom they use as their daily driver.
yk1999 said:
I am not saying anyone to try different roms for me. I was just wanting them to post battery stat of the rom they use as their daily driver.
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Yes ok. So we should be on the same page about different users using their devices differently. So if user A posts about say ROM B, and user B posts about ROM A, you know you can't compare. I would post my stats with RR but you couldn't compare to someone posting AICP stats as we are different users. The only way to be even somewhat accurate would be to get the same user to try different ROMs. Which you can do. Honestly just try the different ROMs! I will say with my experience though DU has not had the greatest battery life.
yk1999 said:
I am not saying anyone to try different roms for me. I was just wanting them to post battery stat of the rom they use as their daily driver.
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Spencervb256 said:
Yes ok. So we should be on the same page about different users using their devices differently. So if user A posts about say ROM B, and user B posts about ROM A, you know you can't compare. I would post my stats with RR but you couldn't compare to someone posting AICP stats as we are different users. The only way to be even somewhat accurate would be to get the same user to try different ROMs. Which you can do. Honestly just try the different ROMs! I will say with my experience though DU has not had the greatest battery life.
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Well said!
@yk1999 As stated above as well as in my post, you just can't compare experiences of users across multiple devices and ROMs as there are to many variables involved. We understand what you are asking and we are telling you that there is only one way for you to get the information you are looking for. The only way for you to figure out what will have the best battery life in YOUR situation (how a ROM operates on YOUR specific device, YOUR selection of apps, and YOUR specific usage scenarios) is to test the ROMs for yourself.
Maybe there should be an app saving battery stats for the current ROM (internal storage or personal cloud), and comparing these personal stats with previous stats made when you had another ROM installed.
Of course there are other variables that affect the battery stats (like the apps installed, or the apps you actually open in a battery cycle) but at least the app would be able to list and compare battery stats on the same device and user.
Ie, I imagine a list like:
- ROM R1. Kernel K1. X1 apps installed. Battery rate: BR1
- ROM R1. Kernel K2. X1 apps installed. Battery rate: BR2
- ROM R2. Kernel K1. X1 apps installed. Battery rate: BR3
...
It could be able to group by Android version,...
I haven't found an app doing this. Do you know an app doing it? And, do you think this app would make any sense?