4G vs Wifi and its effect on battery while idle-my test

dannyro77

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May 28, 2011
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Hello,

I have wondered in reading many posts exactly what the effect on your battery is when it is on wi-fi as opposed to when it is on 4G. Most of the posts I read stated that while your phone is idle, it drains less battery while on 4G, but Wi-fi is more effective when you are actively using it. I ran some tests that challenge one part of this theory with my Verizon G-Nex.

I wanted to test the 4G vs Wifi effect on the battery while the phone was idle. So all day yesterday while I was watching the Flyers crush the Penguins (Go Flyers) I tested the effect on the batter in 1 hour increments: I.E 12pm -1pm wifi, 1-2 4G, 2-3 wifi, and so on until about 11pm that night. I typically found that leaving the phone idle with Wifi on always either used less battery or tied 4G in battery usage. Typically over 1 hour, wifi would only consume 1 point of battery I.E. 95-94 (and sometimes no points at all) while 4G typically used between 1-4 points of the battery-it varied through the day). I know this is not too much of a difference but it could matter over the span of a full day, and I just wanted to know which was better. Result - wifi drains less of the battery while the phone is idle than 4G for sure. Not sure about active usage results.

Anyhow for others that have tested- did you have the same results? Also, has anyone tested this effect on battery while actively using the phone? Any thoughts, comments, etc. are welcome.
 

nasellok

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Jan 25, 2011
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If i leave my wifi on while at work, with moderate usage throughout the day, i get home with 30-40% battery left. With 4g, and i am barely making it home with any battery life. I have unlimited data, so i like to stick it to Verizon wherever possible, but due to the battery life savings on wifi, its sort of preventing me from sticking it to the man
:mad:
 

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