2 Main Issues with the Atrix

[lshuman]

First off, the atrix comes with its own task killer. Just look in you apps and you will se the task killer app.

 

[winsettr]

Picture and video compression is a feature of the messaging app, whether it is dictated by the carrier of not (I would imagine it is). The Inspire with the new Sense has a maximum MMS size of 600kb, so every picture is getting resized. When I used CyanogenMod, I never thought to look at the file sizes but quality never seemed to be significantly less (if at all) than the actual photo. I'm not sure what the max MMS size is with Motoblur (never used a Motorola Android but I'm assuming the messaging app is part of it). One option would be to try Handcent SMS: from what I've read, it allows larger MMS (although it still resizes).

 

[uforgot1]

While I can't say I am going 12 hours with only a 30 point drain
, I 2nd Juice Defender as a worthwhile app. I have seen a noticeable improvement in my battery since installing.

 

[Jetster220]

If you want to send any size MMS or picture you want, download Handcent SMS, you can send picture files up to 1.2megs.

 

[winsettr]

If you want to send any size MMS or picture you want, download Handcent SMS, you can send picture files up to 1.2megs.

Haha, any size you want, as long as it's 1.2Mb, right?

And I second this (or rather, you do).

 

[corydunbar]

just to be clear about the battery complaints compared to apples I*hone. How many widgets and battery draining options do you have on android that are always keeping up to date and in use. Whereas iOS is simply a fancy book of apps unless you are actually using them. limited to no secondary use. Yes there are background apps but those get killed of by the system eventually. So if you're looking to out last iOS on the same battery volume, you'll likely be disappointed.

 

[bish0p34]

I believe you can choose what size you want the photos to be.. I'd check out the options in messaging. Another thing I'm disappointed with on a related note is the quality of the camera.. Unless the lighting is absolutely perfect the photos simply are not very good. Where as my iPhone 4 takes great pictures, even in low light. I got the Atrix with hope that Android cameras had bridged this gap, but they still have not.

As far as battery life.. I'm in the same boat as you - it doesn't even begin to compare to how much usage and standby I get on my iPhone 4.

Both of these reasons is why I can't completely give up my i4. But I don't mind having 2 devices.. its like the best of both worlds

I'm in sort of the same boat. I carry my iPhone 4 still for the video camera (the audio is great when I record my band), and as a backup if my Captivate dies out on a busy day. The battery life on it is awesome. Too bad I love the Android OS so much more, and never liked typing on the iPhone 4.

 

[anon(40252)]

Also. The live wallpapers can eat battery.

I've found that each Android I've owned has poor battery life at first. Also ... Most people have increased usage when they get a new device.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[prissysox]

the resizing is because the phone shoots pictures and video in a higher quality and have to be changed to be sent out via regular mms. the iphone doesnt capture pictures and video at the higher resolution

 

[prissysox]

you don't have to turn off google sync or lessen update time for weather. turn on the auto for screen brightness in your device settings. also, turnoff gps and bluetooth, wifi if left on. wifi saves battery when you can connect to a network. however, if not it will constantly search for a signal. as for gps any app that requires it will prompt you to turn it on.
don't expect the same battery life out of android as you did apple. if you go a full 12-16 hours without charging then you have hit optimum range for android. hope you keep the atrix and enjoy it

 

[CharlieTX]

My battery life was very poor too. Turned off the WiFi and that made a big difference, and then started using task killer to shut down a number of tasks I don't use and that helped more. Still not up to where it should be, but it is much better than it was.

 

[ECghostie]

Also. The live wallpapers can eat battery.

I've found that each Android I've owned has poor battery life at first. Also ... Most people have increased usage when they get a new device.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Words could not have come out better from the Queen herself. Although probably not 100% of the case, I completely agree one of the main reasons you get better battery life is because the novelty of the phone wares out over time and becomes nothing more then just a phone so as to say, it is used less. However, the true potential of this phone has yet to show itself and battery life may be a problem when more processor intensive goodies come out in the near future.

 

[Ricky Babalu]

A few considerations for better battery life:

? Use Wifi setting at home instead of your 3G/4G
? If you installed a 3rd party launcher such as Launcher Pro or ADW, make sure that you deleted all the widgets on all screens ( they are still active if left on screen).
? Screen brightness ( set as low as you can tolerate).
? Screen timeout ( set to 30 sec. Or 1 min.)
? If you have a live wallpaper, ditch it.
? 3rd party Task Killers – do more harm than good
? Titanium Backup to “freeze” bloatware.
? Recharge your battery when it approaches 30%

 

[foxpacific]

you don't have to turn off google sync or lessen update time for weather. turn on the auto for screen brightness in your device settings. also, turnoff gps and bluetooth, wifi if left on. wifi saves battery when you can connect to a network. however, if not it will constantly search for a signal. as for gps any app that requires it will prompt you to turn it on.
don't expect the same battery life out of android as you did apple. if you go a full 12-16 hours without charging then you have hit optimum range for android. hope you keep the atrix and enjoy it

I also want to add that on the Atrix you can put buttons (widgets) to turn the GPS and WiFi on/off from one of your home screens, which makes this practical on an Android. The iPhone made you dig into the settings menu to do either of them making it a pain.

 

[winsettr]

Auto brightness is generally *worse* for your battery: constant adjustment up to high settings is not nearly as efficient as setting brightness to the minimum bearable. As for reading in sunlight, I use a brightness toggle between 100% for sun when necessary, and 30% all other times.

 

[foxpacific]

The first couple of days the battery life left me wanting for more, but honestly, and I don't know why, but it's actually getting better. The only real difference I see between the Atrix and the iPhone battery any more is the time it takes to charge. The Atrix takes a really long time to charge as compared to the iPhone 4, but I'm gonna pick up a batter charger (like $20 somewhere) and a second battery and I'll be set.

 

[foxpacific]

Words could not have come out better from the Queen herself. Although probably not 100% of the case, I completely agree one of the main reasons you get better battery life is because the novelty of the phone wares out over time and becomes nothing more then just a phone so as to say, it is used less. However, the true potential of this phone has yet to show itself and battery life may be a problem when more processor intensive goodies come out in the near future.

Not sure I entirely agree, the battery life on my phone has gotten better since I first got it, and I'm constantly on it, downloading files from torrents and what not. The battery life has still gotten better.

I had juice defender on there then read some place that it wasn't needed so I took it off to see how things go. If everything remains, and so far it has, then maybe the battery just needed a couple cycles to reach full potential. I run it down till like 6% of the battery before I put it on the charger.

 

[iLikeShade]

First off I would like to say this is the best phone I've ever had. I've had two iphones and an htc hero. I use it mainly for work and coming from iOS android is amazing for productivity. Needless to say I am on the phone a fair amount of the day responding to emails and generally playing around Battery life is decent. Let's see when HSDPA+ gets switched on.

I am finding some odd behavior when plug my phone in with a USB connected to the computer for trickle charge. It won't charge beyond 40%. Has anyone else experienced this? It is only when the phone is connected to a computer.

The other issue I am having is that when I undock the phone from the HD dock the fingerprint scanner wigs out and doesn't work anymore. I have have to unlock the phone with a code then reboot the phone for the finger print scanner to work again.

Any experience this at all? Hope I don't have a bum unit...

 

[Impulses]

It does take a couple of cycles for the battery to be read properly by your device, anyone that has rooted and wiped battery stats in the past knows this for a fact. Battery capacity isn't actually changing at all thru those cycles, what improves is your phone's ability to read said capacity accurately.

Personally I leave Bluetooth on all the time because it would just be a pain to turn it on/off every time I get in the car (where I use it for music playback) or every time I grab my BT headset. I always did the same w/my dumbphones and I don't think it made much of a difference to battery life, BT is pretty efficient. If you don't use it much then turn it off tho, every little bit helps.

I leave WiFi off because constant background scanning does kill your battery life, and it can even make the phone sluggish at times... That being said, I do turn it on religiously when I get home, or to work, or other places with free WiFi. Being connected to WiFi is more efficient than 3G since it's a point A to B connection, whereas your 3G data connection is constantly being adjusted as the phone scans for other nearby towers, tower capacity, signal strength, etc.

To remind myself to turn off WiFi when I leave home or any other place where I've been using it I use a very simple app that just places a notification on your notification pane when WiFi is turned on but not connected. It's called ToggleWifi by Andrew, you can even turn it off by pressing the notification.

As far as MMS size limits... As others noted, this varies from carrier to carrier and phone to phone. My HTC EVO's stock limit is actually 2MB, but I can raise it up to 5MB w/a ROM tweak (thanks Calkulin!). At 5MB it doesn't compress pictures at all, at 2MB sometimes it overcompresses them way below 2MB, dunno why, guess it's just not very smart about it. Try Handcent or Chomp if you're unhappy w/the stock messaging app limitations or settings.

Honestly, one of the things I like most about Android is the fact that you can actually DO SOMETHING if you're unhappy w/stock behavior across a wide swath of features... With an iPhone it's usually Apple's way or the highway (case in point: notifications).

 

[Impulses]

I am finding some odd behavior when plug my phone in with a USB connected to the computer for trickle charge. It won't charge beyond 40%. Has anyone else experienced this? It is only when the phone is connected to a computer.

The other issue I am having is that when I undock the phone from the HD dock the fingerprint scanner wigs out and doesn't work anymore. I have have to unlock the phone with a code then reboot the phone for the finger print scanner to work again.

I think the fingerprint scanner issue is a bug in Moto's software, didn't Engadget's review mention the very same quirk? As for USB charging, it's slower than using a USB/AC adapter anyway so I rarely charge mine off a computer's USB port. Look in the settings, when it's charging off the wall it'll say AC and when it's charging off a computer's port it'll say USB.

Many 3rd party USB/AC adapters are recognized like a PC's USB port as well and are equally slow... Most of the ones I had at home were that way. Rather than bothering w/trial and error to find some that charged it at full speed I just bought a couple HTC ones off Ebay for like $5, they're amongst the smallest I've seen anyway (and most solid).

Plug doesn't fold away but eh, probably lasts longer anyway.