Does weaker - but not no/barely any - signal still affect battery life?

[icouldntpossiblycomment]

Sorry for what may be a dumb question, but does having a weaker signal impact battery negatively, even if the signal is not so poor that it is dropping or the phone is needing to search for a signal?

Does stronger connection = better battery life even when the "weaker" signal strength isn't dropping?

 

[Golfdriver97]

Sorry for what may be a dumb question, but does having a weaker signal impact battery negatively, even if the signal is not so poor that it is dropping or the phone is needing to search for a signal?

Does stronger connection = better battery life even when the "weaker" signal strength isn't dropping?

No question is a dumb one, except for the one you don't ask.

Keep in mind at the end of the day, your smartphone is still at it's core, a phone. It will kill itself to maintain any cell signal regardless of signal strength. So yes, a stronger signal can result in better battery life.

 

[icouldntpossiblycomment]

No question is a dumb one, except for the one you don't ask.

Keep in mind at the end of the day, your smartphone is still at it's core, a phone. It will kill itself to maintain any cell signal regardless of signal strength. So yes, a stronger signal can result in better battery life.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. So stronger signal generally can mean better battery life, even if the "weaker" signal isn't necessarily very poor or dropping.

One more question, if you don't mind. When you look at the battery graph, under Mobile Network Signal, what do the different colours mean? (i.e.: sometimes it's an olive-y green, etc.)

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. So stronger signal generally can mean better battery life, even if the "weaker" signal isn't necessarily very poor or dropping.

One more question, if you don't mind. When you look at the battery graph, under Mobile Network Signal, what do the different colours mean? (i.e.: sometimes it's an olive-y green, etc.)

Keep in mind it is kind of a critical effect. If the signal is so weak that the phone can't stay connected, it will kill itself. A stronger signal as opposed to a mediocre one probably won't mean a few extra hours of use.

As for the battery graph the colors reflect signal strength. I have seen Green, 2 shades of yellow, and red. Obviously more green is good, and the darker yellow is next best.

 

[icouldntpossiblycomment]

Keep in mind it is kind of a critical effect. If the signal is so weak that the phone can't stay connected, it will kill itself. A stronger signal as opposed to a mediocre one probably won't mean a few extra hours of use.

As for the battery graph the colors reflect signal strength. I have seen Green, 2 shades of yellow, and red. Obviously more green is good, and the darker yellow is next best.

Yeah, I was wondering because I noticed when I'm at a friend's place I get better battery life than when I'm at my own place - I think my connection is stronger there. My connection isn't poor at home - the phone isn't searching for a signal - but if you go by the number of bars showing, there are always fewer than at my friend's place.

The colours of the mobile network signal (above Wi-Fi) kind of confuse me. I mainly see an olive-green, and a slightly lighter olive - that's what I had all day today at my friend's place, and my battery life was excellent (I was at 45% with over 18 hours on battery and almost 5 hours screen time when I got home). I just looked at my chart again and the time I have the bright green - right now, ironically - is when I am home and my signal bars are indicating lower strength. Weird!

 

[Golfdriver97]

Yeah, I was wondering because I noticed when I'm at a friend's place I get better battery life than when I'm at my own place - I think my connection is stronger there. My connection isn't poor at home - the phone isn't searching for a signal - but if you go by the number of bars showing, there are always fewer than at my friend's place.

The colours of the mobile network signal (above Wi-Fi) kind of confuse me. I mainly see an olive-green, and a slightly lighter olive - that's what I had all day today at my friend's place, and my battery life was excellent (I was at 45% with over 18 hours on battery and almost 5 hours screen time when I got home). I just looked at my chart again and the time I have the bright green - right now, ironically - is when I am home and my signal bars are indicating lower strength. Weird!

I consider the chart a rough indication of signal strength. It is strange, but even different phones on the same carrier can have different cell reception.

 

[icouldntpossiblycomment]

I consider the chart a rough indication of signal strength. It is strange, but even different phones on the same carrier can have different cell reception.

Yeah, very true. I guess it's more a better indication of when signal is very poor or you're losing signal altogether without realizing? I suppose as long as my battery life is okay, I won't focus too much on that. It's really only if I'm seeing anomalies or trying to troubleshoot an issue that I'd need to refer to it more, I'd imagine?

So, to put this thread to bed so I stop wasting your time ( ) essentially consistently stronger signal can mean better battery life; Obviously frequently dropping signal so the phone has to constantly search for a tower = battery suck. And weaker signal (even if still connected) = poorer than if you have a consistently strong signal.

Thanks for not thinking my question was ridiculous by the way!

 

[AZgl1500]

The real reason that the battery use is poorer in weak signal areas has not been properly addressed.

When you/the cellphone is in a weak area, the Radio Transmitter in the phone has to greatly increase the Strength of its' output signal (more power).

Cellphone radios transmit power is governed by signal strength. If the cellsite is close and very strong, the phone transmit power is decreased to the absolute minimum required to be heard at the cellsite.

If the signal is poor, the phone's transmit power is ramped up to the maximum it can provide. That can easily run multiple values of battery use compared to a full signal.

so, if you live or work in a poor signal area, you will experience worse than normal battery use.

I live in a strong area, as I have a Network Extender in my home. (cell sites are very weak for me, so I bought a cell site Network Extender)

When I go to work though, which is in a very rural area and deep down in wooded ravines, etc... I notice my battery percent drops faster than it does at home.

 

[PsychDoc]

The real reason that the battery use is poorer in weak signal areas has not been properly addressed.

When you/the cellphone is in a weak area, the Radio Transmitter in the phone has to greatly increase the Strength of its' output signal (more power).

Cellphone radios transmit power is governed by signal strength. If the cellsite is close and very strong, the phone transmit power is decreased to the absolute minimum required to be heard at the cellsite.

If the signal is poor, the phone's transmit power is ramped up to the maximum it can provide. That can easily run multiple values of battery use compared to a full signal.

so, if you live or work in a poor signal area, you will experience worse than normal battery use.

I live in a strong area, as I have a Network Extender in my home. (cell sites are very weak for me, so I bought a cell site Network Extender)

When I go to work though, which is in a very rural area and deep down in wooded ravines, etc... I notice my battery percent drops faster than it does at home.

^^^
What he said. In my experience poor/marginal signal strength is the #1 batter killer just edging out using the Maps navigation feature. My suggestion is that if you're in a poor signal area...turn off data. So yes, you are 100% correct, this is a HUGE battery killer.

 

[icouldntpossiblycomment]

The real reason that the battery use is poorer in weak signal areas has not been properly addressed.

When you/the cellphone is in a weak area, the Radio Transmitter in the phone has to greatly increase the Strength of its' output signal (more power).

Cellphone radios transmit power is governed by signal strength. If the cellsite is close and very strong, the phone transmit power is decreased to the absolute minimum required to be heard at the cellsite.

If the signal is poor, the phone's transmit power is ramped up to the maximum it can provide. That can easily run multiple values of battery use compared to a full signal.

so, if you live or work in a poor signal area, you will experience worse than normal battery use.

I live in a strong area, as I have a Network Extender in my home. (cell sites are very weak for me, so I bought a cell site Network Extender)

When I go to work though, which is in a very rural area and deep down in wooded ravines, etc... I notice my battery percent drops faster than it does at home.

Thanks! One more question, if you don't mind...does having wifi access BUT poorer WIFI signal strength (as opposed to a strong signal, lol) also affect battery life? Say I'm connected to wifi and using wifi, but the wifi signal strength isn't as great as it could be.... does that affect battery life?

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thanks! One more question, if you don't mind...does having wifi access BUT poorer WIFI signal strength (as opposed to a strong signal, lol) also affect battery life? Say I'm connected to wifi and using wifi, but the wifi signal strength isn't as great as it could be.... does that affect battery life?

No where near as much as a poor cell signal.

From a Carbon M8 and AC Forums app

 

[Thegreatone3]

I have barely one bar of signal on Verizon at work (local dead spot). The network is constantly flopping between 1X, 3G, and LTE. I can be dead by lunchtime with decent use.

Sent from my GS5

 

[AZgl1500]

Thanks! One more question, if you don't mind...does having wifi access BUT poorer WIFI signal strength (as opposed to a strong signal, lol) also affect battery life? Say I'm connected to wifi and using wifi, but the wifi signal strength isn't as great as it could be.... does that affect battery life?

WiFi is much more efficient and not as hard on the battery as DATA is via the carrier cell sites.

 

[Richard Frenkel]

Thanks for post.

I recently encountered this issue (I think), but the Android battery usage chart shows screen as the main battery drain (22%). Cell standby shows only 9%. I assume that a very weak signal would show up as more usage in the cell standby category?

In short, my phone went to 16% charged in 7 hours with screen using 22% of that for a whopping 17 minutes. Either the battery is dying (and it's almost new) or there is battery usage not showing up in the Android battery usage breakdown. This is a Samsung S3.