Battery Life Sprint vs AT&T

[HicksFamily6ix]

Sorry for the length...
I have the Galaxy S9+, of course, why else would I be in this forum...
Anyway. I was looking at my mother-in-law's S9+ the other day because the backlight we not going off. She just purchased her phone through AT&T and doesn't really know how to use it yet, so I was helping her out. Low and behold, I stumble upon the estimated battery life in the Device Maintenance and hers says that she has 26+ hours of battery life available.

I don't EVER remember seeing that kind of BL for my Sprint! Granted, she, again, just got her phone and doesn't have that many apps, but like I said, I've never seen that kind of battery life on my device even when I first purchased it.

Anybody else having this issue? This is really bothering me and beginning to **** me off. Especially since I just realize the other day that everyone with an Android phone thru other carriers can video call straight from their phones, but with Sprint you need Duo! What kind of CRAP is that?

 

[anony_mouse]

1. Your mother in law probably doesn't use the phone much or have any power hungry apps installed. There's no need to be "**** ed off". That won't help.

2. How is using Duo different from video calling "straight from their phones"? If you don't like Duo, try WhatsApp.

 

[HicksFamily6ix]

Do you have Sprint, my friend? If you don't, that's cool and your obviously smart. If you do, you're still smart, but you can also understand me... The reason using Duo is different is because not everyone has that app so I can't video call everyone. On the other hand, if I have the native video calling feature, most everyone has that.

Now, you're right that being p****ed off won't help. So, ok. However, I don't have any power hungry apps on my phone. At least I don't think so. Additionally, don't you think that is a BIG discrepancy when the devices are the same?

 

[anony_mouse]

Video calling: you mean, old fashioned PSTN video calling via your mobile network? I wasn't aware networks still offered it. Maybe it's a US/Europe thing. I didn't use it for probably ten years. My phone doesn't even offer the option. Here, WhatsApp has pretty much taken over that market.

Battery life: it's probably to do with your usage of the phone. The predicted battery life takes into account whether you're constantly playing Pokemon Go or just sending a couple of messages per day. Or something in between. Otherwise, it might be to do with your network. Does Sprint still use outdated CDMA technology?

 

[MrDoh]

I've found that the predictions of battery life left that I get from my phone don't map into the reality of simple math. I've got no idea how it cooks these battery life numbers up. For example, if after 10 hours I have 95% of my battery charge left (light usage *smile*), it will tell me that I have 47 hours of battery life left. Do the math...I've used up 5% of my battery life in 10 hours, which is 0.5% per hour. How does Android figure that I'll only get 47 more hours with average use of 0.5% per hour? Unless the message is that remaining battery charge is very non-linear, and starts dropping really quickly at some point *smile*.

Anyways, my point is don't worry about the battery life that your phone tells you that you have left. I've learned to use the phone for long enough to get an "average" per-hour battery consumption, and go from that to figure out how much time you have left on your battery. At least you can count on the "time since the last full charge" to be accurate *smile*, and that's a very useful number when combined with your current battery charge level. Battery usage is non-linear, but over a period of time that should average out, god willing and the creek don't rise.

 

[D.P.G.]

It builds up history and over time the prediction will become somewhat more accurate. Has nothing to do with cell carrier.

 

[HicksFamily6ix]

God willing and the creek don't rise! Lol I love that saying!

 

[HicksFamily6ix]

But honestly, don't you good people think it's rather unnerving and disconcertingto see such a great discrepancy between the same devices from different carriers?

 

[anon(5719825)]

But honestly, don't you good people think it's rather unnerving and disconcertingto see such a great discrepancy between the same devices from different carriers?

In my experience, my battery life has varied between carriers simply due to signal strength. I've used AT&T and because I have horrible signal while I am at home, my battery life has many times been cut in half then when I use a T-Mobile sim in the same phone.

My S9+ is factory unlocked so it has all the latest frequencies that T-Mobile and AT&T use but no matter which phone I have used, the phone being used has always had better battery life with T-Mobile. The phone doesn't have to constantly keep searching for a strong signal to link with on T-Mobile as it does with AT&T so the battery life is greatly increased.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Carrier can effect battery life as it effects signal strength, but it shouldn't create a dramatic difference.

How you use your phone makes a big difference. I'm betting you have a lot more screen on time, I may be wrong, but it's what I would check.