Battery Life when on 3G and low signal

[yanks4life]

Hey guys is there anyone else out there who gets terrible battery life when on 3G and signal quality is low? It is killing me, for example I went to a restaurant on Sat night with 55% left and was on 3G and had about 1 bar of signal and within an hour I was down to 20% with not even using it and I had to turn it to airplane mode so my phone wouldn't die.

I am getting frustrated with that, I normally get great battery life when at home and on wifi or if i have a good signal area upwards to 17 plus hours that way, but why is it so bad and fast depleting at a low 3G signal area, how are you supposed to use the phone???

And I do have all things turned off except for Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter when using it in 3G places. I also have made it CDMA prl only default.

Any help or suggestions would be welcome because even with my pre if i didn't have good signal it wouldn't go down this fast!

 

[Brett636]

I noticed something similar to this as well. I live in Indianapolis, and I can go through a full day at work and leave with 50-60% of my battery remaining. This weekend I went to Kings island(mason, OH), and despite having the phone on the charger all the way there I was below 50% battery within 4 hours. The signal strength was rather poor there so maybe that had something to do with it?

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Yes, everybody. On every phone.

When the signal is low, the phone has to pump out more power to maintain the connection with the tower, which uses more battery. It's also more likely to hunt for another tower when the signal is very low. This affects all phones, not just the Evo.

 

[hk-usp45]

Hey guys is there anyone else out there who gets terrible battery life when on 3G and signal quality is low? It is killing me, for example I went to a restaurant on Sat night with 55% left and was on 3G and had about 1 bar of signal and within an hour I was down to 20% with not even using it and I had to turn it to airplane mode so my phone wouldn't die.

I am getting frustrated with that, I normally get great battery life when at home and on wifi or if i have a good signal area upwards to 17 plus hours that way, but why is it so bad and fast depleting at a low 3G signal area, how are you supposed to use the phone???

And I do have all things turned off except for Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter when using it in 3G places. I also have made it CDMA prl only default.

Any help or suggestions would be welcome because even with my pre if i didn't have good signal it wouldn't go down this fast!

Well, don't lie - with pre it is going down also, and depends what you have on your Pre could be as fast. Actually, right now I have both of them, and periodically charge one or another from Pre charger. (Pre on the touchstone and Evo just stick it in...) Pre is loosing charge 50% in 4 hr, Evo approx the same (may be 40-45%). All data before Evo update. Will see what it going to do tomorrow.

 

[Brett636]

Yes, everybody. On every phone.

When the signal is low, the phone has to pump out more power to maintain the connection with the tower, which uses more battery. It's also more likely to hunt for another tower when the signal is very low. This affects all phones, not just the Evo.

It's worse for the evo. I have been going to kings island every summer for as long as I can remember and that was the first time I ever had to charge my phone in the middle of the day while there.

 

[d3xn2o]

Turn off your Data Always on... Then you wont have this issue...

 

[steelers1]

This happens to me alot when I have low signal which is most of the time unless I am roaming, so I don't know what to do?

 

[d3xn2o]

Turn off your Data Always on... Then you wont have this issue...

 

[meyerweb#CB]

It's worse for the evo. I have been going to kings island every summer for as long as I can remember and that was the first time I ever had to charge my phone in the middle of the day while there.

Your Evo is probably doing a lot more with the radio that your previous phones, so it's only logical a weak signal is going to have more affect. The more the radio is used at high power, the more it's going to suck battery. Reduce the frequency of email checks, facebook updates, etc when you're at the beach.

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch (TANSTAAFL).