Do you turn off your data connection?

darwincruz20

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A noob question: my brother says I should turn it off when not in use. I know it saves battery life but does it defeat the purpose of having a smartphone by being "always on"? Thanks in advance for your replies.

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Almeuit

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I agree with it defeating the purpose. If you're not worried about a data limit (or if you never come close to it) I'd keep it on. I like my smartphone being able to go online at any time.
 

Crashdamage

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I'd leave it on. I always have. It will have little effect on the battery. And my phone uses little data doing automated tasks in the background.

Android user since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.
 

Javier P

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+1 to leave data on. If you're worried about data usage just make sure that some background processes just work when connected to WiFi. For example. In the Play Store go to settings and select "never auto update" or "only on WiFi". Same sort of thing with Google + or any app you use to backup your photos.

Check the settings on the apps you use most and try to avoid they keep syncing and refreshing all the time when using mobile data.
 

JnEricsonx

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Hell, I got used to doing it with my first smartphone, the Thunderbolt, because the battery in that sucked. Granted, I still have UDP, but I always figure to turn it off if I'm not using it, and I guess it maybe helps the battery a little.
 

Javier P

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If you keep switching data and WiFi on & off all the time, most likely you're going to use more battery than leaving it on. You'll end up having your screen more time on (that's the battery user number 1) and your processor will be working an extra time. These are my basic rules.

- Use WiFi whenever available. Install some app or make your own shortcuts to toggle WiFi and mobile data with as few clicks as possible.

- You can leave WiFi and mobile on at the same time, after lollipop your phone will switch to mobile when no WiFi is available (and back). In your settings go to WiFi - advanced and uncheck network notifications.

- Try to avoid mobile data when you're in an area with bad signal. That will drink a lot of your battery juice.

- In your apps check the sync settings for mobile data. Keep them to the minimum that suits your needs. Apps like Facebook, Google +/photos, news readers, etc could destroy your data plan if you don't change those settings.

- Widgets are nice, but you don't want the weather info refreshing every five minutes, specially on mobile data. Same with news reader and so on.

- If you like reading in your phone use an app for offline reading, such as Pocket.

- And, of course, if you don't need to be online you can always switch the whole thing off :)

Look. I've got a veeeery cheap data plan with my prepaid SIM card. It's just 200 MBs a month. That's enough for my needs and I'm online most of the time. And I can get more than 5 hours SOT with no problem. So, you don't need to worry too much about these things :)
 

Raptor007

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Having a SmartPhone with the data off is like having a car with no gas in it. Looks nice, can do some basic things but you can't go anywhere you want to without gas or in this case a data connection.
 

Roger28G

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I leave it on. But if I'm out of the data quota I will turn it off. That's say every end of the month I need to turn it off, waiting for next month.
 

darwincruz20

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I see. I have unlimited data but I live in the Philippines where battery consumption is very heavy because of network stability. I usually turn off data except when I use a Blackberry Device before. Right now, I am just concerned about my battery life.

Another question is, do you turn it off while charging or you still need to get connected even while charging? Thank you for your answers.

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