Using S4 without cell service - battery life?

[krauster]

I've upgraded to a Note4 and want to use my S4 for wifi only in the house - basically for browsing at night in bed, while the Note4 is charging in the other room. The S4 is discharging very quickly. I have Bluetooth off, Location services off, I have turned off data and have it set in airplane mode and it still seems to be discharging in about a day to a day and half, which is just as fast as when I was using as my main cellphone.

 

[extraclass]

I would think that is about normal battery life even with every thing turned off. All the circuitry in the phone is still working except the receivers and transmitters. The radio parts are turned on for a very short time to check the connection and then turned off for most of the time. This saves a lot of the battery life. This can also be the reason the battery life is so short when you have a very weak or no signal. After checking for a signal and finding out there is no signal the transmitter turns on full power to try to establish a connection.

 

[tbenedict]

I use mine that way and for streaming music. I have mine in airplane mode and just turn off WiFi and Bluetooth when I'm not using them. Battery lasts pretty good.

 

[krauster]

The thing is I have an iPhone4 from a few years back, and have been using that way - no cell phone or data - just for wifi browsing and the battery doesn't discharge much if it is not being used. Seems that turning off data on the iphone does a better job of stopping the power drain. Maybe there is some extra setting on the GS4 to make that I am not aware of.

 

[krauster]

I use mine that way and for streaming music. I have mine in airplane mode and just turn off WiFi and Bluetooth when I'm not using them. Battery lasts pretty good.

I am curious what you consider pretty good. A day? two days? a week? I just charged the S4 to 100% and I'l report back how quickly it drops without any use.