Screen On Time Inquiry (Not what you think)

[Existence_Inc]

Okay, so I see a tonne of folks using Screen On Time measurements as the primary measure of device battery life and such, and while I don't see much validity in SoT as a measurement for battery life (too many variables), I see that people are not happy getting less than ~6h of SoT out of a device. That brings me to my inquiry:

What do people do on their phones that require the screens to be on for 4+ hours each day? (Genuinely curious.)

(For reference, I can usually get through an average work day with 1:15 SoT. When I check an email, or send a text or BBM, or Check my Calendar, or Weather, or even take a picture or screenshot, I have the display on for just a few moments, and then I re-lock the phone with the power button. I never let the screen automatically time out.)

Thanks for looking.

~Ex

NOTE: I could have placed this inquiry anywhere, but as the 10 is my 1st Android Device since the HTC Incredible, I thought I would poll other 10 owners. And this should keep it from descending into an S7/e v 10 v G5 pissing contest, as I don't care which is the "best."

 

[aha]

Assuming 8 hrs of sleeping time, an average person will stay active 16 hrs a day. If in 25% of the time this user have to use the phone, it will require at least 4 hrs of SOT for a phone to avoid mid day charge.

For guys who use their phones for work/business and play, 25% of active day time is easily required.

Not to mention in some time slots, like when you are watching a video, playing a game, or in a area with poor signal reception, you demand even more from the phone.

So if you are a mid to heavy user, 4hrs SOT is not a crazy requirement for a modern smartphone.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Eclipse2K]

I'm using a Nexus 6P and get just over 4 hours of screen on time. I will generally hit this number each day because I use my phone for a lot. Not everything I do requires my display to be on but those activities also drain my battery at a slower rate. While my display stays off, using Google Music through Bluetooth in my car uses battery. For the screen on time, I text a lot and check forums such as Android Central or even news sites. The reason I use it so much is that even though I have a nice laptop with a bigger display, I find myself happier using my phone due to the conscience and simplicity of doing so.

With this said, I am missing my Droid Turbo much more than I thought I would. I never worried about battery on that phone. When this fall comes, it'll be a difficult decision for me. Better battery or the Nexus experience? While Motorola is basically stock Android with a few nice add-ons, the update process is slow. I know, kind of off topic but it goes with my point if SoT.

If you're not a heavy user SoT isn't generally a concern. If you're like me that uses their phone daily, you need the extra juice.

 

[mwake4goten]

I get what the OP is saying kind off... Whenever I've seen people saying they get 4/5/6 hours sot I think to myself that they must not be very social people... But some people might be using communication apps like Skype, messenger, Facebook etc.. and games can take up a lot of time too... So if you do all that then it can be easy to rack up the hours...

 

[Rukbat]

If in 25% of the time this user have to use the phone, it will require at least 4 hrs of SOT for a phone to avoid mid day charge.

That's 4 hours of using the phone, not 4 hours of SoT. When you're on a call, the screen is off. When you're doing anything the screen is usually off most of the time. (The screen timeout should never be more than 30 seconds.) So in 4 hours, you may have as much as an hour of SoT. SoT isn't "phone use time", it's the time the screen is actually lit. There's a LOT you do with the phone that doesn't require the screen to be on. (Shortening the screen timeout to 30 seconds s one of the most-suggested ways of getting more battery life.)

 

[dennis246]

That's 4 hours of using the phone, not 4 hours of SoT. When you're on a call, the screen is off. When you're doing anything the screen is usually off most of the time. (The screen timeout should never be more than 30 seconds.) So in 4 hours, you may have as much as an hour of SoT. SoT isn't "phone use time", it's the time the screen is actually lit. There's a LOT you do with the phone that doesn't require the screen to be on. (Shortening the screen timeout to 30 seconds s one of the most-suggested ways of getting more battery life.)

Sometimes a simple reply like the above speaks volumes about what SoT actually is and how it can vary between people. Thanks Rukbat.

 

[Existence_Inc]

Thanks Rukbat. That's exactly what I was talking about. Rocket Player keeps my device "awake," but my device has very little SoT. That is why I was curious about what people do on their phones that keeps the screen on for 4+ hours a day. I can understand watching Netflix and Youtube and the like being a huge drain on the device, especially during lunch and after work, but I can't imagine doing that for 4+hours during a work day.

I guess I am a rogue case for smartphone usage, as I am getting 2-3days between charges on my 10 with what I consider normal usage.

~Ex

 

[VagrantSaint]

Excellent post. I feel battery time complaints are very subjective. When someone says "this battery sucks", my first thought is they don't realize how how many battery sucking activities they are engaged in. And then there are so many variables.

I was working this weekend and my phone I assume went into Doze mode and lost like 5% battery all day.

To me the complaints about battery life, the polarized screen, and the camera are just ridiculous

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[sydneycooper1979]

I agree. I just need my battery to get me through a day. If it will do that, then I really don't care what the SOT is.

 

[leops1984]

I use my phone for navigation with Waze, and my daily drive (one-way) is around an hour long with "normal" traffic and could be even longer if traffic is heavy. That, by itself, is a pretty severe test.

 

[Existence_Inc]

I agree. I just need my battery to get me through a day. If it will do that, then I really don't care what the SOT is.

Me too, though, my preference is 2 days. Mostly because I travel by motorcycle quite a bit and I need to be able to be off of the grid for a few days at the very least. Excellent standby times and a solid 3/4G connection for calls is way more important to me than SoT.

I use my phone for navigation with Waze, and my daily drive (one-way) is around an hour long with "normal" traffic and could be even longer if traffic is heavy. That, by itself, is a pretty severe test.

That is the kind of case that I am curious about. High Accuracy GPS + Screen On + Traffic Data is probably very hard on the battery life. With that said, how has your battery life been under these circumstances? Do you lose a lot on your commute?

~Ex

 

[leops1984]

That is the kind of case that I am curious about. High Accuracy GPS + Screen On + Traffic Data is probably very hard on the battery life. With that said, how has your battery life been under these circumstances? Do you lose a lot on your commute?

For a commute of around 35 minutes to work today, I think I lost about 7% of the battery - 100% to 93%.

I usually just recharge it about an hour or so before I leave so that I have a full battery whenever I navigate. It's okay for now, but I do distinctly worry if it's good for keeping the battery alive for at least two years. I used Qi charging on my previous phone, but that probably didn't do wonders for that battery either...

 

[mikesmith0902]

I've looked into this subject thoroughly and have come to the conclusion there is no conclusive answer to how to assess your SOT, there are so many other factors to consider that it's just not possible. I have an Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML with an Intel Atom 2.3ghz processor and 4 gbs of RAM. I'm a fairly heavy user but struggle to get through a day on one charge, typically looking for the charger every 6 or 7 hours. Many people blame the display for eating all the power so I decided to test just how much of my battery was being used by the screen alone. The phone was charged fully, everything switched off which would normally use power, and then put into Flight Mode. The screen was set to maximum brightness and allowed to stay on from 100% of the battery down to zero. Expecting to see the battery plummet I was amazed to find the screen stayed on for exactly 9 hours at maximum brightness with nothing else running, typically dropping 11% an hour. After recharging the battery again to 100%, I switched off Flight mode and used the phone as normal and found that the battery dropped quite rapidly as soon as I used the browser. Other battery eating apps installed included Microsoft Outlook with 5 push email accounts set up and Facebook messaging running constantly in the background. I also found that the live wallpaper I was running also had an adverse effect on battery life so reluctantly I have now stopped using it. Clearly dimming the screen had very little effect on battery life so I now run the device at 100% brightness rather than have to put up with viewing a dim screen all of the time. The obvious power hungry culprit is the Intel processor, so if I want the phone to last me most of the day, I try to steer clear of web browsing as much as possible. As I said at the beginning, there is no way to assess the average SOT as every make and model of phone will be different, all running different apps and functions, so you need to find out what drains your battery quickest and avoid using it as much as possible to extend usage time.

 

[MartinMPL]

The screen is generally the largest draw on the battery. This is why SOT is so important to many.

 

[mwake4goten]

This is what I get at the moment... Around 6 hours SOT..
BUT that is with the phone optimized to death.... Switched off all Google wizardry, disabled a lot of syncing and switched off Java script in browsers.. without all these optimizations I would get about 4 hours SOT.

 

[anon(9918034)]

I feel that the sot measurement is used as a base. The screen will always use the most battery. For instance. If my phone is in my pocket all day being untouched and I have 15% battery with 35 minutes of sot. Then I know there is a rouge app or setting that is eating my battery up.

It's more of a measure of all around performance for a battery not just how long the screen has been on.

 

[mwake4goten]

I feel that the sot measurement is used as a base. The screen will always use the most battery. For instance. If my phone is in my pocket all day being untouched and I have 15% battery with 35 minutes of sot. Then I know there is a rouge app or setting that is eating my battery up.

It's more of a measure of all around performance for a battery not just how long the screen has been on.

I agree! I feel people should say either, light, medium or heavy usage when quoting SOT stats as it helps to give more information as to how good battery performance really is...