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← See the mouse arrow on the lower right on this screenshot?
The Epic 4G Touch has several great undocumented features. One is that you can connect many models of Bluetooth mice or keyboards and other Bluetooth devices. This is especially nice if you are playing back a 1080p recording or movie or doing a presentation. Here's how.
1. Go to your Bluetooth settings: Home > Menu > Settings > Wireless and network > Bluetooth settings.
2. Turn on your Bluetooth mouse or keyboard and tap the Pair (or Connect) button on it.
3. On the phone check Visible ON then tap Search for devices.
4. When asked to confirm the device, Tap OK. Have fun!
Thanks to RamboDroid for these Mouse Tricks!
• Left click is Select
• Right click is Back
• Click the wheel for Menu
You can also connect a Bluetooth enabled laptop as shown in this example to allow you to play music from your Epic 4G on your laptop using Bluetooth. The Kies Air feature can also use a PC-Epic 4G Touch Bluetooth connection to sync contacts, music, photos, and more.
Last edited by milominderbinder; 10-09-2011 at 02:31 PM.
← This screenshot shows an Epic 4G Touch after 30+ hours on battery. The [Only registered users can view links. ] shows 9+ hours to go.
That's 40 hours...if you know the tricks.
Battery and Display
To last so long, the Galaxy S II starts with a big battery plus the SAMOLED Plus display needs no backlight. An LCD display has backlights that are always drawing power and making black look dark gray. Black takes almost no power in a SAMOLED display.
Power Management Tools
The Galaxy S II also has great power management features. Turn all Power saving mode settings on. Tap: Home > Menu > Power saving mode. Make sure that WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sync, and Brightness power management are turned on (checked) as in this screenshot. To automatically find WiFi hotspots you can use, Tap Home > Menu > Settings > Wireless and network > WiFi Settings Network notification ON.
Power Management Basics
Do this simple test. Check your Battery level: tap Home > Menu > Settings > About phone > Status for Battery level % (or get the [Only registered users can view links. ] app to have the % in the status bar). Press Power to turn off the display and take it off any charger. Check again in an hour. If the Battery level has gone bown by more than 1%, something is taking your power. There are a number of basic steps you can take to help manage power that may also speed up your phone.
Reboot Your Phone
• If battery life has dropped or your phone is running slow, try a reboot: Long-press Power > Tap Power Off. Turn back on.
• Daily reboots can help keep rogue apps from taking battery life.
Batteries and Chargers
• 100% may not really be 100%. Charge to 100%. Remove from charger. Plug back in. The charge light may go back on!
• USB charging is slow because the current is cut in half. Use good wall chargers. • Get a good car charger or car kit.
• Consider an Extended Battery. External batteries are another option ([Only registered users can view links. ], [Only registered users can view links. ]).
Radios
Turn radios off when not in use.
• Install Power Control widget if not in your Notifications, : Long-press on the home screen > Tap Widgets > Power Control.
• Turn 4G OFF unless streaming HD, etc. 4G takes a huge of power.
• Turn Bluetooth and GPS OFF when not needed.
• Turn WiFi ON if available. 3G uses 50% more power than WiFi.
• Turn Airplane mode ON when not accepting calls or texts.
• Or try the [Only registered users can view links. ] • [Only registered users can view links. ] or Curvefish widgets: • [Only registered users can view links. ] • [Only registered users can view links. ] • [Only registered users can view links. ] • [Only registered users can view links. ] • [Only registered users can view links. ]
Display
Install [Only registered users can view links. ] (free, [Only registered users can view links. ]) to see the real Battery % in Your Status Bar.
• Use a dark non-Live wallpaper.: Tap Home > Wallpaper > Wallpapers. Live Wallpaper is always on. (How to add wallpaper)
• Try a dark blue, green, red, black or other dark wallpaper for high contrast to allow a lower brightness setting.
• Set Brightness to Automatic or low: Tap Home > Settings > Display > Brightness
• Set Screen timeout to 1 minute or less: Tap Home > Settings > Display > Screen Timeout
• Turn animations off: Tap Home > Settings > Display > Animation > No animation
• The free Curvefish [Only registered users can view links. ] lets you instantly tap a preset brightness or set any brightness you like.
• Widgets may be stealing your power. Remove one you don't use: Long-press the widget and drag down to the trash.
• Certain Streaming Music, Email, News, and Social Networking widgets are especially bad.
Apps
Streaming music, movies, games, navigation, Maps, chat, social media, live wallpaper, and widgets reduce your battery life.
• Update your apps. Upgrades often fix power issues: Tap Market > Menu > My Apps > Update all
• Facebook: Sync with Facebook less often: Tap Facebook > Back >Menu > Settings > Refresh interval > 4 hours
• Email: If you use regular email, reduce syncing: Tap Email > Menu > Settings > Email check frequency > 1 hour or longer.
• Email: Don't hoard emails. Delete old message to make Email load faster and save power.
• Texts: Don't hoard text messages: Tap Messaging > Menu > Settings > Text message limit to 100 messages per conversation.
• [Only registered users can view links. ] (free, [Only registered users can view links. ]) will what apps are using the Internet and taking your power.
Browser
Turn off Flash to make pages load faster and use less power. Often flash content is ads. Tap something if you want to see it.
• Set plug-ins like Adobe Flash to On demand: Tap Browser > Menu > Settings > Enable plug-ins > On demand.
Turn off the motor
Haptic feedback (vibration) powers a motor in the phone to make it shake.
• Turn off key vibration: Tap Home > Settings > Sound > Vibrate Feedback OFF
• Turn off keyboard vibration: Tap Home > Settings > Language & keyboard > {keyboard settings}
Clear your memory
If your have too little RAM available your phone struggles to keep swapping. Keep at least 80 MB of Available Space.
• Check your Available Space: Tap Menu > Settings > Storage and check the Device memory Available space.
• Move apps to the SD card: Tap the App then tap Move to SD card (unless it's a widget you use)
• [Only registered users can view links. ] and [Only registered users can view links. ] let you move a list of apps to or from your microSD.
Find the Battery Sucker
If your battery doesn't last long even when the phone is not is use with 4G, Bluetooth, and GPS off, no Life Wallpaper, and a reboot, let's find out why:
1. Turn off Background data and Auto-sync: Tap Home > Menu > Accounts and sync > Auto-sync OFF, Background data OFF
2. Turn Airplane mode On: Tap Home > Menu > Wireless and network > Airplane mode ON.
3. Note the [Only registered users can view links. ] % or tap Home > Menu > Settings > About phone > Status for Battery level %.
4. Turn the display off. Unplug from charger.
5. In 20 minutes, check the battery level again (step 3 above).
• If the battery level dropped over 1%, you have a bad app or widget. →→ Have you added any widgets? Try removing them for now: Long-press the widget and drag it down to the trash. →→ Tap Home > Menu > Applications > Running Services. Tap one you installed. Stop it. Test again until you find the bad app.
• If your Battery % dropped less than 1% in 20 minutes, check for poor signal strength: →→ Turn Airplane mode Off: Tap Home > Menu > Wireless and network > Airplane mode OFF. Turn the display off.
6. In another 20 minutes, check the battery level again.
• If the battery level dropped over 1%, it may be due to Roaming or poor signal (1-3 bars): →→ Try Roaming off: Tap Home > Menu > Wireless and network > Roaming > Roaming mode > Sprint only. →→ Tell your carrier (Sprint: ask for a free Airave for your Home). In your car, consider the [Only registered users can view links. ] ([Only registered users can view links. ]).
• If it still drops less than 1% per 20 minutes, check for an Auto-sync problem. →→ Turn Auto-sync ON: Tap Home > Menu > Accounts and sync > Auto-sync ON and Background data ON. Turn the display off.
7. In another 20 minutes, check the battery level again.
• If the battery level dropped over 1%, it is an Auto-sync or Background data problem. Check each app that syncs. →→ Keep Auto-sync OFF but Background data ON to see if it is an Account Auto sync problem. →→ Turn off Gmail sync: Tap Home > Menu > Accounts and sync > Google account > uncheck Gmail →→ Test again until you find the account sync problem.
If the battery level still drops less than 1% per 20 minutes, the good news is your phone is great. Your battery problem may be an app that you use such as music, movies, games, or navigation.
I'm getting about 10-11 hours from my battery. For some reason I am getting 89% of my usage on the Android OS, and I don't know why, but this could be what is causing my battery to drain quicker.
I got about 27 hours off my last charge. Wouldnt believe it if I didnt see it with my own eyes. Even under heavier use, I've gotten a 20 hour charge recently as well. Really impressed with this as opposed to my old Photon where I maxed at around 13.
That is not 30 hours of use, that is how long the phone has been on since last connected to charger, no way any one gets actual use our of the phone for 30 hours.
I have never ran out of battery but I usually get around 3 and half hours of display on time with 20-25% remaining or so. So it is still the best battery life I have gotten out of any phone.
Right now, in the two days I have owned this phone I have noticed a remarkable improvement in battery life.
Samsung's use of a Super Amoled Plus screen is a good explanation for why the battery life has improved so much. Today I listened, and watched, the entire Nascar race using the Nascar app with no fear of battery depletion. I could never had done that using my evo 4g.
The only setting I turn off when not in use is the GPS. Because I rely on push notication for my 7 email accounts I need to keep sync active. By the way, I also use the hotspot feature to tether my Tab 10.1 so I am most happy with the battery life I'm getting.
I don't know what's wrong with my phone then and why I am only getting about 10-11 hours!
I'm not doing anything fantastic with the phone. A few calls, some emails, texting, the occasional game. Not what I would call heavy usage.
Do any of you use 4G at all? I've only tried turning it on a few times, but the connection never seems to be stable so I just leave it off. I noticed when I had it on though that the battery does seem to drain much much faster!
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