I'm super scared of LTE & Battery life...

[AllenRulz]

I keep seeing every where that LTE is eating the battery so bad on the phones. How is the phone going to work properly if you can't even use it too long? Are people over reacting or is this really a big issue???

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

I don't think there's a doubt in anyones mind that LTE is going to be a battery hog. Exactly how much, we're not exactly sure. The good news is that LTE, just like WiMax on Sprint 4G devices can be turned off, so if you're that concerned about it you won't be forced to use 4G if you're in an LTE coverage area.

 

[AllenRulz]

I don't think there's a doubt in anyones mind that LTE is going to be a battery hog. Exactly how much, we're not exactly sure. The good news is that LTE, just like WiMax on Sprint 4G devices can be turned off, so if you're that concerned about it you won't be forced to use 4G if you're in an LTE coverage area.

I will have 4G in my area, but why would I want to turn it off if the point of having a 4G phone is to use 4G speeds, ect. lol

 

[Cyber Warrior]

I see you're on the Storm.... Downloading a web page on your device and taking two minutes for it to render should equal out to the power used of an android taking two seconds to download that same page.

I'm a long time BB user and can tell you the battery on my phone now lasts a good 3-4 hours longer then it did on my BB. 4G will definitely take its toll on the battery but overall you will have better battery life then what you have now.

 

[AllenRulz]

I see you're on the Storm.... Downloading a web page on your device and taking two minutes for it to render should equal out to the power used of an android taking two seconds to download that same page.

I'm a long time BB user and can tell you the battery on my phone now lasts a good 3-4 hours longer then it did on my BB. 4G will definitely take its toll on the battery but overall you will have better battery life then what you have now.

Now that sounds very promising lmao. And yes, you have that totally right about my storm. IT'S COMPLETE CRAP lol.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Dear lord...I feel for you, I had a Storm and wanted to kill myself.

 

[AllenRulz]

Dear lord...I feel for you, I had a Storm and wanted to kill myself.

OMG I feel the same now dude. Sooooo tired of dealing with this phone. Having to take the battery out every so often to reset it just for it to run better is BS.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

I had 1 and 2 on the first day they were released. I was waiting for the Storm3 to come out before I switched to Android....good thing I switched. It would have been close to 4 months now and it's still nowhere to be found.

 

[AllenRulz]

Yeah, that is why I was so worried about the Battery life on the phones because of how much crap I go through with the Storm.

 

[eric6052]

Right now LTE is a first generation technology so its bigger and more power hungry than it will be later. When 3g first came around it was a power hog to. The thing to do is to use the LTE radio when you need to and shut it off when you aren't going to be needing the extra speed. If you're plugged in and want to stream a video then have at it otherwise use it sparingly.

 

[AllenRulz]

Right now LTE is a first generation technology so its bigger and more power hungry than it will be later. When 3g first came around it was a power hog to. The thing to do is to use the LTE radio when you need to and shut it off when you aren't going to be needing the extra speed. If you're plugged in and want to stream a video then have at it otherwise use it sparingly.

So what are the only times I should turn 4g on??? Just watching videos???

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

That's going to depend on how good your 3G coverage is. I know in my area Verizon has a very strong 3G footprint and I have no problem streaming videos, even HD, over 3G.

 

[AllenRulz]

That's going to depend on how good your 3G coverage is. I know in my area Verizon has a very strong 3G footprint and I have no problem streaming videos, even HD, over 3G.

It's really good here. I live in Tampa, Florida.

 

[KB3MMX]

Right now LTE is a first generation technology so its bigger and more power hungry than it will be later. When 3g first came around it was a power hog to. The thing to do is to use the LTE radio when you need to and shut it off when you aren't going to be needing the extra speed. If you're plugged in and want to stream a video then have at it otherwise use it sparingly.

Kind of the opposie of what LTE stands for...long term evolution.
Power used for data sent and recieved are supposed to be more efficient than 3G, we'll see though.

 

[eric6052]

I guess what I was trying to say is that these are the first generation of LTE radios and they are going to use more power than a. technology that has gone through several generations of improvement and miniaturization like 3g radios have done. Listening to some of the podcasts from bloggers at CES the lte modems were fast but very big and they ran down the battey on laptops rather quickly.

 

[RUSH]

You might be surprise about battery life using LTE™. I'm using Sprint WiMax™ 4G and I don't see any significant battery drain.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

That's surprising then, because almost every one I know, and a lot of people here on the forums, has had lackluster at best battery performance when connected to 4G on the Evo or Epic.

 

[Raptor]

When I got the iPhone 3G in June 2008 ATT had spotty 3G and battery life was bad. When 3G was more completely built out the battery problem went away. I now have an Evo and the 4G is spotty in most places that have it so battery life sucks. As the towers with 4G/LTE get built out the battery issue should diminish.

But, the batteries in smart phones are, I believe, purposely inadequate so as to limit system utilization. The carriers like small batteries because the customers want slim phones and a smaller battery makes the user under-utilize the network to keep the battery alive until the end of the day.

Brian

 

[Xopher]

I can see the angle you are coming from, and can agree to it in part. When you have a device like the iPhone that does not have a removable battery, you are limited to using the device to as long as you have juice left (or access to a charger throughout the day).

If you have a device that has a removable battery, the limit is not as much. Even when I had a BlackBerry, I rarely made it through a day on one charge. That didn't stop me from constantly using it. It would sit in a desk charger while at work, a charging cradle in my vehicle, and I also carried a spare battery just in case.

Now that I have my SGS, and battery life is not as long as it was with my BB, I still follow the same routine: desk cradle at work, charging in cradle while in the vehicle, and a spare battery kept with me.

The point being that I can see how some may limit their usage based on battery life. But if they are a power user, they will find ways to keep the juice flowing...

 

[RUSH]

That's surprising then, because almost every one I know, and a lot of people here on the forums, has had lackluster at best battery performance when connected to 4G on the Evo or Epic.

It all depends on what application(s) you have installed on your device. Also, if you have conflicts going on with any modifications on the device. I'm not rooted and I haven't done any modification to my phone. Leaving all settings as stock — and also at a location where I'm getting excellent 4G coverage. Maybe that is why I don't see any significant battery consumption using 4G on my device.

Note: I'm not saying it doesn't drain your battery, but It's about the same drainage I get using 3G.