[MikeLip]

I have done this test with every smartphone I have. I get the phone, use it normally for a month, and collect rundown stats every day for that month on workdays. I use workdays because, well, I don't have time to play with the phone and I use it to generally send a few texts, use the calculator, set reminders - all pretty predictable. No games, no reading, just work related and it averages out nicely over four weeks. Here is what I've found;

HTC Droid DNA - rundown, 2.9%/hour
HTC One - 2.7%/hour
Motorola Razr HD - 3.2%/hr
Samsung S4 - 3.1%/hour
Samsung S3 - 2.9%/hr

Now;
Droid Mini - 1.9%/hr
Droid Ultra - 1.5%/hr

The only phone I've played with that approach that kind of idle time battery management are Windows phones. My Lumia 928 can get to 1%/hour. And the Droid Maxx phones do well of course, but that's a brute force approach. There's nothing wrong that approach and under heavy load it's the superior way to go (nothing beats mAhrs), but still, Motorola deserves credit for a nice job.

What does this mean? Well, Motorola has added some neat features, but has put the majority of the phone to sleep. As a point of information, I leave the phone "breath", and don't touch it when I'm not using it since it lights the notifier when the phone moves. Note that this puts the mini at a disadvantage since it's LCD. But even so, they have done some clever things to make it last that well. I have also not noted a great difference when using the phones heavily, which makes sense. You need those radios on and transmitting when talking or swapping data, and you need the display on. But while as usual battery claims are overblown, Motorola did a nice job of keeping battery use to a minimum at idle.

Incidentally, both the Mini and Ultra screens are awesome. The Ultra displays the high saturation of an LED screen, but honestly it's a betetr choice for a tool like a phone in my opinion. It's job is not to display art with all it's subtle textures and hues, but to get information across. Higher saturation and popped colors tend to do that. I love the screen on the One - who wouldn't? - but for day to day use, the Ultra is, in my opinion, the better phone. Sound, screen, controls, size, and Motorolas attention to battery management and of course their radios, plus the new features make this a great working phone. I'm a happy guy.

[Westiemom]

Beautifully said! :-)

Posted via Android Central App

[Westiemom]

So I've had my Ultra 2 weeks today, and true to form with a new phone, battery life has gotten better. It wasn't bad to begin with, but the past several days I can't kill it! I want to plug my phone in at night and I hate to charge it when it still has over 50% battery, so I try to run it down in the evening. I unplugged it at 5:00 am and at 7:30 PM it was still at 65%. And I've used the heck out of it! I'm watching videos, reading news feeds, editing photos, texting and I've got it down to 53%. The first week to 10 days it would have been around 35% at this time, so it has gotten broken in and is doing great! Best battery life I've had on a smart phone!

I know, the Maxx is much better, but still!

Posted via Android Central App

[MikeLip]

OK, my phone has been off charge since 4:45AM. It is now 8AM. Charge state? 98% 2/3%/hour. And no, it has not be entirely idle - a few texts and an app update. It's amazing how well it manages battery. At this point it's better than my Lumia 928. That's saying a lot!

[Ry]

OK, my phone has been off charge since 4:45AM. It is now 8AM. Charge state? 98% 2/3%/hour. And no, it has not be entirely idle - a few texts and an app update. It's amazing how well it manages battery. At this point it's better than my Lumia 928. That's saying a lot!

Awesome.