New EVO Battery Life Sticky: Please Contribute

aspen_matthews

Active member
Jun 15, 2010
28
0
0
Visit site
Hmm, okay, I hope this is in the right place. I downloaded shoot me and took a screen shot to show everyone my battery use and it tells me where the file is located...and sorry to be an idiot, but I have no idea how to retrieve that to post it up here. Sorry, this smart phone thing is new for me, I was only texting on my older dinger phone until the Evo came out.

I have horrible battery life, I find myself at 15% and charging usually once in the middle of each day. I have followed a lot of the advice on here to reduce my battery drainage but it's still bad. I have noticed my 3G arrows are always white, in response to the first post recommendation, but I don't know how to change that. I don't have wifi available so I have to use the network. If someone can tell me how to put the screenshot up here I can show you guys that at well. Thanks so much for helping the newbie. :)
 

rem1acs

New member
Jun 3, 2010
2
0
0
Visit site
Battery saver tip

Download Setting Profile app and pay the $3.49 for it, you setup custom profiles by time, event or location. When I'm at work I turn off GPS, WIFI and Bluetooth. When I'm not at work I set it to change to WIFI and Bluetooth. You can change everything, so turn off what you don't want or need and you will be much happier with the battery life. :D:D:D:D
 

aspen_matthews

Active member
Jun 15, 2010
28
0
0
Visit site
I have already turned all those off. I have tried to follow a lot of the recommendations including those things as well as lowering screen brightness, etc. So far today I have checked my gmail once and made 3 phone calls for maybe 20 min of call time and I am already down to about 75% battery. It drops just sitting idle. I am not roaming, I have a good signal.
 

darrylb1

Well-known member
Jun 5, 2010
75
0
0
Visit site
off topic warning!
hope this is Ok. otherwise, flame away.

i don't have a reference to the scholarly article to post, but i'll summarize. all connected devices work hard and use batteries up because of routing. a new generation of routers designed around newer software is coming and will probably double battery life of smartphones. that's huge and something to look forward to when our places of employment and us home gamers update to the new routers.
 

japclev

Well-known member
Jun 4, 2010
289
4
0
Visit site
I have already turned all those off. I have tried to follow a lot of the recommendations including those things as well as lowering screen brightness, etc. So far today I have checked my gmail once and made 3 phone calls for maybe 20 min of call time and I am already down to about 75% battery. It drops just sitting idle. I am not roaming, I have a good signal.

Check Settings/About Phone/Battery to see what is using most of your battery. Some say Task Killers are bad, but get ATK anyway and kill some background tasks. Spare Parts isn't bad to see what battery is doing...

Hope it helps.
 

OnePalmAddict

Addicted 2 Mobile Gadgets
Jun 6, 2010
139
1
0
Visit site
Important note about turning on/off gps

When earlier cell phones and smartphones began implementing the GPS feature, it was pretty much exclusively for the purpose of 911 operators being able to approximate your location when you made an emergency call. Thus, if you invoked the option to turn of the GPS feature, there was usually a warning letting you know that if you do turn it off, your location will not be identified in an emergency situation. Beyond that, these earlier phones with such technology had no other features that used GPS (navigation, location-based services, etc.).

I am now a police dispatcher, meaning part of my job includes receiving 911 calls. Thanks to ever-evolving technology, most cell phones in use today and all newly-produced cell phones incorporate what's referred to as "Phase II" technology, which allows a 911 call-taker to identify your estimated location when you call using a cell phone, which I find the majority of calls to 911 are made from these days (land lines are easy to identify and are almost 100% accurate because the phone company knows from exactly where the call is placed and passes that info on to 911 centers). This is very significant as the single most important piece of info a 911 operator needs to acquire is the location of the emergency. The importance of this is amplified when you consider that, a) many 911 calls come from locations that the caller may not be familiar with (along a highway, in a downtown area with limited familiarity, at a friends house whose exact address is unknown, etc.), and b) in a crisis, people are often so emotionally charged that they forget their exact location or inadvertently communicate the wrong location. (You may think, "Not me," and perhaps you're correct; but trust me, these two scenarios play out ALL THE TIME.) So whether you call 911 from your cell phone or a land line, you DEFINITELY WANT the call taker to see where your calling from.

That said, unless technology is programmed differently now in smartphones, IF YOU TURN OFF GPS ON YOUR PHONE, YOU PREVENT YOUR LOCATION FROM BEING SEEN WHEN YOU MAKE AN EMERGENCY CALL. Now, as I just alluded to, newer phones may be programmed to never allow you to block that GPS signal that accompanies a 911 call. However, I do know that on earlier cell phones/smartphones, when you turned off this GPS feature, your screen showed the little cross hair icon with a slash through it; conversely, when it was on, the icon had no slash through it. At the very least, this visual indication seems to be the same on today's phones.

So unless someone can confirm that "turning off GPS" DOES NOT affect how emergency (911) calls are identified, AS A DISPATCHER, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU NOT TO TURN OFF GPS. The last thing you will think about or have time for in an emergency is turning on your GPS before you dial 911.

Just something to consider. If anyone can add additional info or provide clarification, please do.

HTH,
ME
 

Darth Mo

Well-known member
May 17, 2010
1,306
52
48
Visit site
When earlier cell phones and smartphones began implementing the GPS feature, it was pretty much exclusively for the purpose of 911 operators being able to approximate your location when you made an emergency call. Thus, if you invoked the option to turn of the GPS feature, there was usually a warning letting you know that if you do turn it off, your location will not be identified in an emergency situation.

...

ME

The Evo will use GPS when dialing 911, even if it's turned off in settings.

Thanks for the heads up though.
 

Averix

Well-known member
May 17, 2010
894
63
0
Visit site
After the last software update, I'm seeing a 30% - 50% increase in battery life. I don't even plug it in to charge at work anymore. Still half full when I head out 9 hours after it charged in the morning. Prior to that, it would never make it through the whole day without a little extra juice.
 

AndroidOne

Well-known member
Jun 5, 2010
803
36
0
Visit site
What charger unit are you using

I am reposting this from another battery thread to test a theory about potential problems with the HTC Evo charger. please read on and contribute your experience with battery life and charger unit used. Let see if there is a pattern here that may narrow down the culprit and gets us closer to a solution for all.


I have read multiple threads about Evo battery problems on this and other boards and I found one talking about problems with the HTC charger failing to fully charge the battery; many indicating the charger stopping the charge before reaching 100% battery. This prompted me to look up a bit further into charging circuit design flaws and made me wonder if the external HTC charging unit may be also to blame on this issue.

This is why I post this question.

First, I have never used the OEM HTC Evo charger that came with the phone. The reason, I have four Palm OEM chargers from other phones that fit the Evo and provide excellent charge output. Other than my battery dropping to the mid to low 90's minutes after unplugging in the morning, I have never experienced any problems with battery life. Even if I fail to connect my Evo a second time to "top-off" my battery in the morning, I always make it through the day with plenty of battery power to spare. In fact, as unbelievable as it may sound to some, I don't recall ever getting home after work with less than 50-60% left on my battery.

Second, after reading through many similar threads here and elsewhere, it seemed that most people complaining of either poor battery life and/or grossly imcomplete battery charging, reported using the HTC Evo OEM wall charger unit. Most others that didn't have problems, reported using third party chargers such as myself.

So a pattern seemed to emerge from all those posts in my mind. Could it be that in addition to the way the internal Evo charge circuitry seems to works, some or all of the HTC OEM charger units may be suffering from poor engineering/manufacturing flaws, therefore adding to the deficient charge and as consequence, poor battery life? If this theory has some validity, then a substantial improvement in battery life for those affected may be achieved by using a good quality third party wall charger.

To test this, I post the following questions to you all:

1. How do you rate your battery life?
a. poor
b. average
c. excellent

2. What wall charger do you use?
a. HTC Evo OEM
b. another brand OEM
c. generic third party

I'll go first:

1. Excellent
2. Palm Pre OEM
 

japclev

Well-known member
Jun 4, 2010
289
4
0
Visit site
1. Average.
2. HTC EVO OEM

I am going to swap to my Pre OEM and see what the result is. Will give the Pre the HTC one and see what the result is. Then I am going to go to the bathroom...
 

Quizshow

Member
Jun 10, 2010
20
0
0
Visit site
I'm at 49% after after 7hrs of light txting, 1 phone call, and 30 minutes of watching futurama. Most days involve heavy pandora/streaming radio usage and yesterday I got only 6 hrs streaming slacker radio for an hour and iheart radio for 3 hrs.

ETA:

1.average
2. HTC Evo OEM
 
Last edited:

PM-Performance

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2010
582
17
0
Visit site
Im interested to see where this goes on the charger thing.
I think the charger takes a little long sometimes too.
I seem to notice the times I get a better life out of it is when i do the green while turned on, then turn off to go green, then turn back on to green.
Goes green in all states after the charge fairly quickly, but i noticed the times i do this, i get +20hrs
 

SPL15

Member
Apr 14, 2010
21
0
0
Visit site
The thing with Lithium Ion Batteries... You Can't fast charge em

The thing about "Smartphones" is that they really are pretty dumb still in how they display battery charge levels.

The fast ramp up to 4.2 volts from the stock 1 amp charger really is misleading when the phone says fully charged. Lithium Ion Batteries (& Every other Rechargeable Battery I've built charging circuits for) need a duration of "Bulk" charge at the specified fully Charged Voltage. Lead Acid Batteries will be undercharged if you fast charge em to 14.4 volts with a lot of current & disconnect the charger. The same is true for Lithium Ion & even more so due to the higher internal resistance of Lithium Ion. When you try to fast charge a Lithium Ion, a lot of the Extra power you are pushing to the battery is wasted as heat from the internal resistance, Lead acid batteries (Especially AGM) have a lower internal resistance which allows more of the power you are forcing into the battery to be used for actual recharging which is why you can fast charge them to around 95% without a bulk charge at full charging voltage & high amperage. When you fast charge to 4.2 volts required by 3.6V lithium Ion batt packs, you are only charging to around 70% of maximum capacity & they need an even LONGER bulk charge at 4.2 volts to reach 100% charge. This makes the FULL 100% charging times between high amperage chargers & low Amperage chargers on Lithium Ion about the same because the low amp charger will take longer to reach 4.2 volts but needs a shorter bulk charge, while a high amp charger will reach 4.2 volts quickly, but need a longer bulk charge to reach 100%. If I remember right for Lithium Ion ONLY, reaching 4.2 volts on a slow low amp charger will yield about 85% full capacity while a fast high amp charge will reach 4.2 volts at around 70% of max charge (Google it & let me know if I'm wrong)

I've never used the included wall charger, but it seams to me that the Evo Does in fact trickle charge the Bulk charge when left on a USB connection overnight. It will say 100% charged fairly quick, but it still continues to trickle charge the battery at 4.2 volts even after it says full charge WHICH IT SHOULD DO. My first two days of using the EVO had me really worried about battery life, but everynight I connect it to my constant on USB connection on my computer & after a moderate day of work usage (10 to 12 hours of constant push corporate email @ 3 per hour, Gmail @ 5 per hour, Facebook 1 per hour, Web Browsing 2 per hour, Weather checking 3 per shift, phonecalls 4 per shift, video 2 per shift, & pics @ 20 to 30 per shift) I still sit at around 75 to 80% charge at the end of the day going home most times.

The biggest thing to give me more battery life I've noticed is disabling Google Talk auto signin, Stopping the HTC weather, news, & stock autoupdates. When I wanna check these, I update manually.

Seams data usage on the phone is the biggest sucker of power. My Cell Standby is always around 43% due to being in a shielded pole barn with tons of EMI & RFI emitting devices (Laboratory) inside of a warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

Also I do notice a longer battery life throughout the day when i keep the phone attached to the USB connection overnight. If it is fully charged & I unhook it that night, I wake up to around 85 to 90% charge after 8 or 9 hours of sleep.

Maybe if I have time I'll hook up some real equipment & data log the current consumption for the Evo while charging over a few hours and see what it is really doing. I know HTC would have to design the charging circuit around 500mA of current from a USB connection, But I'm wondering if it is smart where it boosts the current capability when it senses that a wall charger is connected & not a USB. Also what happens when it is charging & there is a full heacvy load on the phone? Does it disconnect the charger if the current draw reaches a certain draw in order to stay within UL specs?
 
Last edited:

aspen_matthews

Active member
Jun 15, 2010
28
0
0
Visit site
After the last software update, I'm seeing a 30% - 50% increase in battery life. I don't even plug it in to charge at work anymore. Still half full when I head out 9 hours after it charged in the morning. Prior to that, it would never make it through the whole day without a little extra juice.

I noticed the exact same thing. Yesterday I was able to use my phone (light use, some texting, checked gmail a few times, maybe 5 min online) and didn't plug my phone in to charge until I went to bed about 16 hours after I unplugged it, and it was still in the green (prior I had been having to charge it halfway through the day and it would be almost done by night again). I also noticed my 3G arrows aren't lit up all day long anymore like they used to be, and I haven't changed any settings since before the update.

In reference to the recommendation to use ATK - I use ATK and kill everything except gmail, clock, facebook, and weather.
 

MDteX

Well-known member
May 14, 2010
325
14
0
Visit site
After the last software update, I'm seeing a 30% - 50% increase in battery life. I don't even plug it in to charge at work anymore. Still half full when I head out 9 hours after it charged in the morning. Prior to that, it would never make it through the whole day without a little extra juice.

I'm seeing just the opposite. My battery life has decreased with the 6/28 update. Not by much but it has decreased.
 

DizWhiz

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2010
210
10
0
Visit site
1. Average
2. HTC OEM

This is my first 'day' with the phone, rev3 and with the OTA update currently at 9hr 52min and 27% battery. I have everything set to 'once a day' for syncing except GMAIL and only have WIFI enabled.

I made one 45min call, listened to 30min of music, been using Meebo heavily, texting, about 33% of my time using Dolphin HD browser and/or manually updating Friendstream with only 3hrs of that time 'idle'.

So far way better than the reported 4-5hrs before recharging claims but nowhere near the 16-20hrs as some users report. I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong!
 

Complex Pants

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2009
636
26
0
Visit site
1. Average
2. HTC OEM

This is my first 'day' with the phone, rev3 and with the OTA update currently at 9hr 52min and 27% battery. I have everything set to 'once a day' for syncing except GMAIL and only have WIFI enabled.

I made one 45min call, listened to 30min of music, been using Meebo heavily, texting, about 33% of my time using Dolphin HD browser and/or manually updating Friendstream with only 3hrs of that time 'idle'.

So far way better than the reported 4-5hrs before recharging claims but nowhere near the 16-20hrs as some users report. I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong!

Make sure you go into sync settings and turn off news and stocks updates if you aren't using them. They are on by default and drain your battery. Also, having your mail client check on push has less battery drain than checking regularly.

Sent from my Evo