Froyo Question

[Axlfro]

Tried looking for answers but could not find anywhere. Will Froyo improve battery life, and signal strength? I am still within my 30 days with VZW and debating whether or not to switch to the X. I'M LOVING the Inc but the battery life and lack of 3G coverage is killing me.

thanks!

 

[eckster]

I agree. My 30 days is up on August 6. I'm going to the store this evening to pick-up another battery to try. If that doesn't work I'm going to the droid x. This is my first android device and while I don't expect to get the same battery life as a blackberry, I do expect to make it through the day on a charge. As of now, I barely use my phone during the day, have no widgets running, have two push email accounts and I have 50% power (if I'm lucky) by about 6 pm. Not to mention, not one Verizon tech has acknowledged that there is a problem charging this phone. I start the day with 88-90% of battery life if I leave it charge overnight.

 

[sonar_chris]

Where do you live that you have poor 3G coverage on Verizon?

 

[Argent]

today is my first full day with FroYo on my Incredible....

its' been 9h 31m since I unplugged this morning and my battery is at 47%

 

[theaustins513]

Tried looking for answers but could not find anywhere. Will Froyo improve battery life, and signal strength? I am still within my 30 days with VZW and debating whether or not to switch to the X. I'M LOVING the Inc but the battery life and lack of 3G coverage is killing me.

thanks!

I've been running the Froyo leak for about 24 hours now and I have not noticed much difference (if any) in the battery life. The signal issue you're experiencing might just be software related. From the home screen go to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Network. Look at the signal strength and anything -100+dBm is bad. What I think you will notice that if you have a signal strength of -90dBm and you were holding the phone next to a Moto Droid, you would see that the signal bars of the Moto Droid were higher but the dBm signal strength would be about the same as the Incredible. This has been discussed in the forums but it seems that the signal bars issue has gotten better with Froyo (for me anyway), but still doesn't compare to the Moto Droid.

 

[sonar_chris]

I agree. My 30 days is up on August 6. I'm going to the store this evening to pick-up another battery to try. If that doesn't work I'm going to the droid x. This is my first android device and while I don't expect to get the same battery life as a blackberry, I do expect to make it through the day on a charge. As of now, I barely use my phone during the day, have no widgets running, have two push email accounts and I have 50% power (if I'm lucky) by about 6 pm. Not to mention, not one Verizon tech has acknowledged that there is a problem charging this phone. I start the day with 88-90% of battery life if I leave it charge overnight.

50% battery at 6pm on the stock battery is really good IMO. I wasn't making it to lunch with heavy use on the stock battery. I have since gone with the Seidio 3500mAh battery and now go from 0500 - 2200 and have about 30% left over with out charging. That may be something you should consider but the larger battery and battery door may not be something you want. I seriously doubt that the Droid X will get much better battery life.

 

[rew001]

Where do you live that you have poor 3G coverage on Verizon?

This is the first question I had also.

 

[Axlfro]

Where do you live that you have poor 3G coverage on Verizon?

It seems that everywhere I go I either have 1 bar of 3g of about 4 of 1X.I live in New Jersey and work in NYC, so 3G coverage should be full. At least it was when I had my Storm 2.

 

[douger]

Unplugged since 7:04 AM EDT...battery at 87%...three bars in a building where I'd be lucky to get one before Froyo.

I haven't used the phone much today, I have the MOAB, and I never trusted the bars in the first place.

 

[rew001]

It seems that everywhere I go I either have 1 bar of 3g of about 4 of 1X.

Yes, but how is your actual signal? Are you actually getting slow (non 3G) internet? Are you getting dropped calls?

We all know that there's something wonky with the signal bar indicator on the Dinc. I think VZW has actually even acknowledged it and said it will be fixed in a future update.

 

[Axlfro]

I've been running the Froyo leak for about 24 hours now and I have not noticed much difference (if any) in the battery life. The signal issue you're experiencing might just be software related. From the home screen go to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Network. Look at the signal strength and anything -100+dBm is bad. What I think you will notice that if you have a signal strength of -90dBm and you were holding the phone next to a Moto Droid, you would see that the signal bars of the Moto Droid were higher but the dBm signal strength would be about the same as the Incredible. This has been discussed in the forums but it seems that the signal bars issue has gotten better with Froyo (for me anyway), but still doesn't compare to the Moto Droid.

So, the lower the number is in the negatives, the better?

 

[theaustins513]

So, the lower the number is in the negatives, the better?

Yes. -85 is better than -90 and -75 is better than -80.

 

[sonar_chris]

It seems that everywhere I go I either have 1 bar of 3g of about 4 of 1X.I live in New Jersey and work in NYC, so 3G coverage should be full. At least it was when I had my Storm 2.

With CDMA (Verizon) you cant equate call quality or data conductivity to the bars displayed on the phone. CDMA has a lot more consistant quality signal, its more like a situation where you have signal or dont, the strength isn't as much of a concern. With GSM (ATT and Tmo) the signal strenght is a directly related to call quality and data speeds. Having 1 bar on CDMA vs 3 bars is nothing to be worried about IMO.

 

[_JKK_]

Yes. -85 is better than -90 and -75 is better than -80.

And -60 is damn near perfect. I get ~-95 at home, and I've noticed a fairly substantial battery boost.

 

[Axlfro]

do you think low signal strength has anything to do with the weak battery?

 

[_JKK_]

do you think low signal strength has anything to do with the weak battery?

Yeah. Especially for CDMA. That's why it can be good to turn off always on data in the settings.

 

[fillossofer]

First day on Froyo - unplugged 8h 39m ago, battery at 60%. I've had WiFi on all day and made a few calls. Also have downloaded some stuff from the market. Not the most use-intense day I've had but I'd say I can see a slight improvement in battery life.

One thing is for sure, you will not get better life on the X. A friend of mine got one and can't make it eight hours without charging.

If you turn off the "always-on data connection" setting under wireless ad networks it makes a huge difference in battery life. Since I did that I've had no problem making it through the day without charging.

 

[fillossofer]

sorry, duplicate post.

 

[iamtone]

today is my first full day with FroYo on my Incredible....

its' been 9h 31m since I unplugged this morning and my battery is at 47%

yep battery life hass been niiiiice

 

[douger]

Unplugged for almost 12 hours...down to 75%. I suspect it will get a bit better as the phone learns the battery again.