Honest battery evaluation

[tony477g]

Have you tried juice defender? It will turn the data radios off when the screen is off which may be just what you need.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Ive been testing, When im in good serviced spots it really doesnt matter, today i tested with juice defender off, tomorrow ill turn it on and see what happens

 

[HalizDad]

I just got mine...did a full charge on it, and am currently trying to kill it. Surfing, downloading apps, streaming audio via Pandora and watching clips on NFL Mobile...5 hrs in and at 68%. I AM on Wifi though. I would have murdered it 3 times by now using the Nexus I ditched at 10am MST.

 

[tony477g]

I just got mine...did a full charge on it, and am currently trying to kill it. Surfing, downloading apps, streaming audio via Pandora and watching clips on NFL Mobile...5 hrs in and at 68%. I AM on Wifi though. I would have murdered it 3 times by now using the Nexus I ditched at 10am MST.

If you use wifi and have good service the battery will last you a long time. The other day I tried killing it and right when i stopped using it the phone lost little to no battery.

 

[HalizDad]

I'm seriously amazed...this is like my OG EVO4G with an extended battery...I've been off and on from wifi and 4G thanks to a downloaded toggle also...just wanted to throw that out there.

 

[frankles42]

i was in manhattan for three months this summer when i got my s3, and i have to say the battery is top notch. before i got the s3 i was using a droid charge and i would have to constantly toggle the data connection on and off whenever i got on a subway just to make sure i would get to 6pm for the train ride home, since going underground into a subway station would kill my signal and have the phone start scrambling for something to connect to. i usually had a lte signal when i was in manhattan, but on the 48th floor of my office in LIC i would usually get stuck to 3g and it was still fine.

with the s3 i was free to leave it alone and would consistently get back to my apartment at midnight and still have at least some juice left.

i did have problems with my battery when i started to sync exchange with the touchdown email client, where my battery would be close to dead by 5-6pm usually, but i uninstalled the app and it seems to have gone back to normal, and i easily get a working day out of it. i'm back in atlanta now and i usually have a lte signal unless im in the auditorium at school, where it drops to 3g most of the time.

i will say that both my wife and i (she also has a s3) have some odd dead spots for reception in our apartment (including dropped calls and everything), where as with the old phones (charge and fascinate) we had none at all. reception is top notch everywhere else though.

 

[Suntan]

FWIW, you have to let the battery cycle a few times before you get full capacity out of it. Go a couple of days of use, charging it at night, then do your batt life evaluation.

Also, as others have said, cell/wifi reception has a very big impact on batt life. Under my normal daily use (streaming music via BT at work and other normal stuff) with good wifi connection at work and home, the phone usually still has at least 60% at the end of the day. If it is in a low cell receiption area, it can go down a lot faster.

In the end, ymmv. That said, the GSIII does relatively good for battery use. The only other 4G phone out there right now that does better is probably the razor max.

-Suntan

 

[cjsmoove]

I am in the market for a GSIII, and I have a question about the battery. In the review AC gives it good marks, but I am interested in real world users.
I live in the NY metro area, and always have LTE. I consider myself a medium user, maybe 5-10 calls per day, 10-20 texts, 25 emails, 10-15 minutes of web surfing, no facebook. Anyone with a similar usage pattern care to share their battery condition?
**Almost forgot to ask--does Foxfi work with the GSIII?
Thanks.

I do about the same with around 2 hrs 45-50 minutes of screen time and I get about 15 hrs. If I go to a game or out somewhere were my charger wasn't easily accessible I put it on Power Saving and turn off Mobile Data at the %40 mark which adds a couple more hours.

 

[russ8128]

Battery life is not an issue for me. I came from the Rezound (which was not good - I had an extra battery with me at all times). I was going to get the MAXX but the S3 has been more than adequate. I should say i have exchange running all day (probably 100 emails a day there) and my personal POP3 and GMAIL adding 30 or 40 more. Brightness is set on pretty high. I easily make it all day unless i'm in a bad signal area (which is far too often with the Samsung radio - a different thread - but short story not at all near the other radios I had before (Rezound was 4G all the time at home/office (this drops to 1X or 3G is the exact same spots and then bounces to 4G on occassion) and the Droid X - totally believe the hype on Moto radios...soooo good).

As an aside with all the extra battery issues i had with the Rezound I picked up some Anker batteries from Amazon. Cheap and seem to last as long as the standard Samsung battery if anyone is interested ($4.99 right now Amazon.com: Anker? 2200mAh Li-ion Battery For Galaxy SIII GT-I9300, T-mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 Samsung T999, AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3 Samsung I747, Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 Samsung I535, U.S. Cellular Samsung Galaxy S3 R530,Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 Sa). Great service from Laptopmate too. Just a PSA...

 

[leroybrute]

Battery life is not an issue for me. I came from the Rezound (which was not good - I had an extra battery with me at all times). I was going to get the MAXX but the S3 has been more than adequate. I should say i have exchange running all day (probably 100 emails a day there) and my personal POP3 and GMAIL adding 30 or 40 more. Brightness is set on pretty high. I easily make it all day unless i'm in a bad signal area (which is far too often with the Samsung radio - a different thread - but short story not at all near the other radios I had before (Rezound was 4G all the time at home/office (this drops to 1X or 3G is the exact same spots and then bounces to 4G on occassion) and the Droid X - totally believe the hype on Moto radios...soooo good).


As an aside with all the extra battery issues i had with the Rezound I picked up some Anker batteries from Amazon. Cheap and seem to last as long as the standard Samsung battery if anyone is interested ($4.99 right now Amazon.com: Anker? 2200mAh Li-ion Battery For Galaxy SIII GT-I9300, T-mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 Samsung T999, AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3 Samsung I747, Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 Samsung I535, U.S. Cellular Samsung Galaxy S3 R530,Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 Sa). Great service from Laptopmate too. Just a PSA...

Are they NFC batteries?

 

[nickf126]

I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to post a reply to me. I got my G3 today, and played with it for about two hours tonight. I will be able to evaluate the battery tomorrow after a full charge, but I think it may be a bit unrealistic because I am sure to be playing around with it all day. I will post some battery usage screen shots. Once again, thanks everyone, you guys are awesome.

BTW--In case anyone is in the market for a new G3, it has dropped to $149 on amazon, with an upgrade.

 

[Bond32]

Those are likely not nfc. That's the trade off for the cheaper ones. Personally I don't need nfc so I ordered some.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[leroybrute]

Those are likely not nfc. That's the trade off for the cheaper ones. Personally I don't need nfc so I ordered some.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the info. I love nfc. Use S beam quite a bit.

 

[Wnrgway]

I'm using Juice Defender and my phone typically burns through 2% when idle in my pocket. It's maybe 3% when I'm at home where the signal is poor.

I've come across a couple apps out there that will drain the battery very quickly. That goes for all android phones though. I'm not a heavy user and I can get through a whole day without any problems. That's from 5:30 am to about 9pm when I plug in for an overnight charge. Depending on my usage I have between 35% to 55% of my battery left. If you can top off occassionally you'll be fine no matter what your usage is. A 2nd battery would be needed only for extreme cases.

FYI...battery life on the first day will be horrendous. There's a break-in period of a couple days before you really get a sense of how the battery will do. I find that the battery drops faster when I install new apps and settles down again the next day.

Truthfully, if there is a weak point to this phone, it's the reception. It's good most everywhere, but I get dropped calls at my house all the time whereas my iPhone4 rarely dropped a call.

 

[oldAGE]

I have had my S3 for two months. I leave both WiFi and GPS on all the time as I have gone from an unlimited plan to a 2GB plan and leverage Wifi whereever possible. My GPS stays on all the time because that's what it should do. I hate dinking around with switches on devices that should have native apps doing the things they should do. Finally, I sit in the core of a building, on a lower floor that has a taller parking structure next to it. This means my tower access is shadowed by a great deal of steal and concrete. In my office, I receive 1X service if I am lucky. This means my radio is working extra hard. Finally, I am connected to my internal WiFi for data and making/receiving calls is problematic. Long story short, my battery starts around 6am every work day and it's juiced up starting around 9-10pm every evening. I often have better than 25% battery left. No, I don't live on my phone like others but I do use it enough. It's funny, when I don't leave my wifi radio on, it seems that I will quickly lose 50% of my battery as the LTE radio fights for signal when I am at work. That's my saving grace I guess.

 

[russ8128]

No they are not. I have never used the NFC in my phone. If I do, I still have the samsung battery if I needed that capability

 

[Hovik818]

I don't get it at all. Everyone is getting great results but I don't see any of those. I have a battery monitoring app as well. I can't tell why my battery life is so horrible.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[Bond32]

Thanks for the info. I love nfc. Use S beam quite a bit.

Haven't found anything around where I am at to use it with. Being in engineering I spend my time studying anyway. I could see how it would be cool though.

I have those 2 anker batteries coming in, can post a mini review if anyone is interested. Pretty hard to beat for the price.

The price difference with nfc and non nfc batteries is quite a bit.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[HalizDad]

Real world results: I used my phone a little harder than what I say is normal yesterday, as I was off and it is new. I unplugged at 0630, and went to bed at 2300. Still had 36%.

I listened to music via headphones and bluetooth for about 5 hours
Checked email 20-30 times
Checked the weather a few times
Texted a lot
Downloaded some apps
Used some apps
Ran Speed Test in wifi, 4G, and 3G modes
Set up Netflix and Dropbox
Watched clips from the Bronco's/Falcon game on NFL Mobile (I cancelled cable months ago...sick of "reality" tv)
Drove all over the place so my reception kept changing.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I don't get it at all. Everyone is getting great results but I don't see any of those. I have a battery monitoring app as well. I can't tell why my battery life is so horrible.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

While it could be the battery itself, most of the time it's either a bad signal area or a bad app that's sucking the juice from your phone.

For example, a few weeks ago I installed Light Flow to setup custom LED notifications. App worked great, but my battery suddenly started draining about 3x the normal rate. May want to go through your apps and see if any are know power hogs.

 

[frankles42]

also, not sure if anyone answered your other question regarding foxfi already, but it does work with the gs3 and it works well. i used it multiple times while i was in nyc and everybody loved me for it.