Battery problem?

[im_on_a_boat]

Hey guys!
I just got my new LG Optimus recently. And I've noticed that my battery drains out RIDICULOUSLY quickly. Like I'd leave it over night, and it will drop from 100% to 75%. Is this normal?
And if it isn't, what do yall think could be some probable or common causes? I checked my battery usage and it says that "cell standby" has used up 67% of the battery consumption. Does that mean anything?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[nikc4]

I'm not really sure what "normal" battery stats are, since ive rooted and flashed tons of stuff, but you should know that those percentages aren't very weird. Keep in mind that that percentage isn't what it has used, but the portion of what has been used. if you have lost 25% battery, and 67% its caused by cell standby, that's 67% of25%, which is roughly 17% of your battery. that's not much. And if you've left it alone, there really isn't anything else to use up the battery besides standby. Also, if you just got the phone, you need to break in the battery. Give it a few days before you worry too much about it. That being said, I've never had my phone off the charger overnight, so I can't vouch for the average battery loss over night.

 

[sonicbluemustang]

Turn off your gps and bluetooth is your best battery bet.

 

[im_on_a_boat]

@nikc4: Thanks for all that info! Greatly appreciated!
@sonicbluemustang: Yeah I already have those turned off, but it's still sucking the life out of my battery...

 

[ens04]

download JuiceDefender from the Android Market

 

[im_on_a_boat]

@ens04: Do you happen to know what's in Ultimate Juice that makes it worth buying? I have downloaded Juice Defender, and was just trying to see it Ultimate Juice is something I should look into...

 

[gk1984]

Not sure what you're coming from, but Android phones do typically have kind of a crappy battery life, well I think most smart phones do in general compared to your typical cell phone. Not sure if that's normal over night either since I keep mine on the charger... You would want to check what apps you have installed that are updating and how often they are. Such as facebook or email, etc. If x amount of apps are pulling info every hour, that's that much more battery that's being used up too. It can add up.

I've noticed gps takes a big tole on the battery too, but i'm pretty sure it stays off unless it's called for and isn't necessary to turn it off on the settings. I could be wrong there, but say google (on the browser) has permission to use your location for searches, it will call the gps right away.

Also be aware that sometimes those battery saving apps can work against you. I read a very well detailed article some months ago explaining this and I wish I could dig it up for you - can't remember where I found it. It basically explained that the battery saving apps can shut down services to conserve battery but say an app is trying to update and said service is unavailable, that app will keep trying to update until that service is restored. Not that this is the case across the board, but its a generalization and this is a very summarized explanation. Those apps may have been updated to counter that effect since I've read it too.

I don't use a battery saving app - don't feel I need it anyway. So I can't really say whether they work or not, just felt I should share that little bit. and if I can pull up that article, I'll share it with you.

 

[Ez Duzit]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this. Go into settings > Accounts & Sync, and disable Auto-Sync, then disable Background data. Now Use the back button to get back to the main settings screen.

Next choose Wireless & networks and tap Wi-Fi Settings, and make sure that Network notification is not checked.

Both of these in addition to the other suggestions will help conserve battery life, but no matter what you do, smart phones will always drain the battery faster then a regular cell phone. They simply consume more power even when doing nothing.

Personally I've found the best way to get the most out my smart phone is simply to charge it every night and keep a charger in my car.

 

[im_on_a_boat]

Now that you've mentioned it, what exactly does disabling Auto-Sync disable? Like does it stop certain programs from checking for updates? Or the contacts from syncing continuously? I'm really lost with this lol.
And if I disable, how will I be able to manually sync things?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[sonicbluemustang]

I used to have a problem with Maps and lattitude running when I had GPS tracker installed. Had to remove it.

 

[saoyandide]

Believe it or not after about a week my battery life has improved a good bit, the only thing I really did was turn down the screen brightness and I do run a task killer just for apps and games that do not correctly shut off that I don't need to have running all the time.

 

[Texano78704]

I recently switched from a Blackberry Curve to an LG Optimus S and was shocked by how fast the battery drains down too. So, I'm kind of a noobie, but... here's what I have done so far to conserve my battery.

I put the power widget on my main screen (not sure if that's the right term). I leave WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth off except when needed.

I use the auto-synch to synch data from my Gmail account (contacts, calendar), so I leave that on. If you don't, you can turn it off as well.

I turn my phone off before I go to bed and put it on the charger. When I turn it on, I go to Settings>Applications>Manage Applications>Running, then turn off some running apps that I know I do not use (or rarely use), like Maps, the Sprint Tutorial Widgets, etc. If I don't know what it is, I don't turn it off.

This helps the battery life quite a bit.

 

[scifan]

I've gotten somewhat trained by smart phones to expect my battery life to last about a day...

 

[pcubed]

If I think I'm going to be out for a while and my phone might die on me, I bring my charger with me. I like that the charging cable can be separated from the charger. That makes things easier since I can just bring the cable and plug it into a car charger head if I'm driving or a wall charger if I'll be near an outlet.

 

[scifan]

The reality is that as long as I'm in a reasonable service area, my phone doesn't discharge very rapidly... (eg if I'm home... or somewhere OTHER than work) I can expect to go most of the day with light to medium use and still have > 50% of my battery left... (my day usually starts ~ 4:30 am and today I have ~ 45% battery left and I was at work most of the day... where I'm in a basement with really crummy service... seem to have reset my time without signal...)

if I've been home with the same light to medium usage, I can expect to have 60-70% battery left at the end of the day...

My wife's had her phone (another Optimus S) where she hasn't charged it 2 days and still had a little battery left... not much, but some...