Confused about wifi vs Lte battery life

[honex97]

I was 99% positive WiFi was better on battery than LTE and I know my phone last longer on WiFi, we'll while looking over the specs of the nexus 6 I noticed it said the battery last 9.5 hours on WiFi and 10 hours on LTE. Is this a typo or does the nexus 6 somehow last longer on LTE?

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[gabbott]

It really all depends on the LTE network you are connected to and signal strength.

 

[Robbie317]

It really all depends on the LTE network you are connected to and signal strength.

This..... and even when on WiFi your phone still has to play around with a cellular signal....

 

[honex97]

This..... and even when on WiFi your phone still has to play around with a cellular signal....

Yea but isn't LTE only data? So isn't that the same case whether your on WiFi or LTE?

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[88 FLUX]

Yea but isn't LTE only data? So isn't that the same case whether your on WiFi or LTE?

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No. It's much more complex than that. A low cellular signal can cause excessive battery drain even if connected to WiFi. Maybe not as much but it'll still happen. Your LTE connectivity is used for more than just user initiated internet access.

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[Robbie317]

Yea but isn't LTE only data? So isn't that the same case whether your on WiFi or LTE?

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a weak signal even on WiFi is going to drain your battery.... Like if you were in a basement with no cellular connection but they had WiFi your battery is going to die looking for the cell signal.... As has been said it's very complex... CDMA usually drains a little more battery (Verizon and Sprint) than GSM networks (AT&T and T-Mobile) I've never owned a phone that had battery life decrease faster or was worse than on WiFi... I've had my Nexus 6 two + weeks now and my battery life at home on WiFi is way better than when it's not on WiFi...

 

[honex97]

I've never owned a phone that had battery life decrease faster or was worse than on WiFi... I've had my Nexus 6 two + weeks now and my battery life at home on WiFi is way better than when it's not on WiFi...

Same here that's why I was confused.

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[Robbie317]

Same here that's why I was confused.

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No clue what they did to test and measure to give off those numbers..... As always it depends on what you do and how you use your phone... Me? Internet, Email, Texting, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ is pretty much it.... With Chromecast I stream to one of my TV's at home but have found myself watching a few things on Hulu from my phone because my kids had the TV taken up and man this screen is sweet....

In my vague testing in the 2+ weeks on my Nexus 6 my battery life at home is better on WiFi vs leaving it on LTE only and WiFi off...

 

[coolqf]

I was 99% positive WiFi was better on battery than LTE and I know my phone last longer on WiFi, we'll while looking over the specs of the nexus 6 I noticed it said the battery last 9.5 hours on WiFi and 10 hours on LTE. Is this a typo or does the nexus 6 somehow last longer on LTE?

Posted via the Android Central App

Probably not real world scenarios, which is fair since there's no clear definition to what a real world scenario looks like. My guess, they used the fastest WiFi connection available and had it download at the maximum speed until it ran out and then ran a similar test over LTE. However, because WiFi is more powerful, I would also more data was actually transferred and it actually taxedd other parts of the phone more as a result.

In the real world, we're never right next to a tower, so a phone will us more energy to try and improve reception for data (LTE). Add the variable of moving and switching between towers means more energy is consumed.

If you're in a poor WiFi area, then it's probably better to turn it off. Otherwise, best to keep it on.

 

[mysterioustko]

I was 99% positive WiFi was better on battery than LTE and I know my phone last longer on WiFi, we'll while looking over the specs of the nexus 6 I noticed it said the battery last 9.5 hours on WiFi and 10 hours on LTE. Is this a typo or does the nexus 6 somehow last longer on LTE?

Posted via the Android Central App

From my experience with the Nexus, my battery life is much better if I am NOT connected to wifi, and instead use LTE. The funny thing is, I live in a fringe LTE area, and even with the weak signal, I still get better battery life on LTE. I've had days where the stats showed 61% time without signal, and yet still the battery life was better than days I stayed on wifi.