How are you dealing with the Battery Life.

[whippingboy]

So my sister gave me back the phone and said blackberry was better, so dissapointed that i could not convert her, her main issue was Battery Life of the Vibrant soo i've managed to see it is and issue.

Yeah- when Blackberry is doing what Android does- you let me know what their battery life is like THEN.

Deactivate everything Blackberry CAN'T do- widgets, feeds, live wallpapers, multitasking. While I will say the BB OS is still less system demanding due to the almost graphics devoid UI- and their email push more efficient (due to them using their own servers I believe)

There are trade offs with every phone- if you want to use BB's sorry UI knock yourself out- but I'll gladly use a car and desk phone charger in lieu of using a BB.

 

[KB3MMX]

Yeah- when Blackberry is doing what Android does- you let me know what their battery life is like THEN.

Deactivate everything Blackberry CAN'T do- widgets, feeds, live wallpapers, multitasking. While I will say the BB OS is still less system demanding due to the almost graphics devoid UI- and their email push more efficient (due to them using their own servers I believe)

There are trade offs with every phone- if you want to use BB's sorry UI knock yourself out- but I'll gladly use a car and desk phone charger in lieu of using a BB.

Exactly what I thought, LOL

Blackberry is a antique anymore !!

 

[voghan]

I don't ready buy into the bad battery crap. Its all about what you are using. Turn on bluetooth, gps, wifi and fill your home screens with widgets and the battery will die fast. Pull facebook and twitter updates all day won't help either. If you want to do that then plug in during the day. Or maybe keep the phone in your pocket a few minutes a day.

 

[NEST600]

For the record I found that turning off email auto-updates w/ the TouchWiz email client basically solved all my battery problems even though I'd got eight/nine other programs and widgets pulling every 15m --> 2h.

I'm telling you.. that TouchWiz email client is the devil. *nod nod* -Pk

 

[voghan]

Just forward to gmail. Its the only email I use.

 

[Sassynessa#AC]

Love this phone, but my battery is horrible. I don't know if it's defective or this is normal, but I started reading this thread and it was at 34%. I went on to another thread to try and figure out my FB issues. I did somethings that were suggested and nothing happened so I thought I would turn it off and pull the battery. I was on Blackberries for the past 4 yrs and battery pulls were the fix...lol Anyway, when I turned my Vibrant back on, it was at 13%. It went from 34% to 13% in a matter of 20 mins.

I'm not a heavy user and I pretty much do the exact same things I did on my BB and that battery could last me 2 days. I always knew how to close out of programs to preserve my battery and on this phone I'm not quite sure. Should I be clicking on "force stop" on running apps?

Thanks in advance-

 

[voghan]

Force closing or killing apps is not advisable. Restarts tend to take juice so you will see a drop when doing that. Under prolonged use the vibrant battery will die fast. You'll never get two days on an android phone unless you never use data. My old hero, it now can go days without a charge but it also gets maybe 20 minutes of use in a day. Either lay off the web and facebook or but a wall charger.

Btw don't sync your facebook account on your phone. It will eat your battery up by lunch time. Same goes for twitter. Use the apps but don't setup the accounts in Accounts & Sync under Settings.

 

[Sassynessa#AC]

Force closing or killing apps is not advisable. Restarts tend to take juice so you will see a drop when doing that. Under prolonged use the vibrant battery will die fast. You'll never get two days on an android phone unless you never use data. My old hero, it now can go days without a charge but it also gets maybe 20 minutes of use in a day. Either lay off the web and facebook or but a wall charger.

Btw don't sync your facebook account on your phone. It will eat your battery up by lunch time. Same goes for twitter. Use the apps but don't setup the accounts in Accounts & Sync under Settings.

Thank you for the help. Like I said, I'm not a heavy user (10-15 texts a day, check email and FB) so that's why I was so shocked the battery would just drain so fast without me even using the phone. I have since removed FB until I get a better understanding of how Android works. My contacts and calendar were a hot mess.

 

[NEST600]

For the record I found that turning off email auto-updates w/ the TouchWiz email client basically solved all my battery problems even though I'd got eight/nine other programs and widgets pulling every 15m --> 2h.

I'm telling you.. that TouchWiz email client is the devil. *nod nod* -Pk

I've added to my list of potential Samsung bugs that the About --> Battery information is incorrect. It registers huge Display usage when the display has been off all night and then doesn't report certain apps that are polling quite often.

I can't wait until there are extended battery options regardless though. -Pk

 

[remixfa]

The battery life On the vibrant is great. No its never going to get battery life like a blackberry, but a blackberry doesn't have a large touch screen, true multitasking, or a huge processor. You can't expect to go from a civic to a ferrari and get the same gas mileage. When you compare it to other phones of its class....evo, hd2, droid x,ect.. It stomps them. More battery and more horsepower. Some if those phones only get like 4 hours a charge.i use my phone all day and put it on the charger normally am hour before bed, and I use the tar out if this thing. I rarely make a call though.

Great battery tips have already been given. Also getting advanced task killer and setting it to auto kill helps a bit as well.. The other thing is don't use the samsung widgets for facebook n such. Use the regular facebook app, it draws a lot less power.

 

[tdiplacito#IM]

I unplug it from the charger at 6am and it's back on the charger at 8pm. This is the best battery life I've had out of any of TMO's android phones. I use a Moto s9 hd headset and listen to music, podcast, or audible throughout the day. A few texts, some emails and maybe one or two calls. My second phone is a BlackBerry 9700 that I hardly use anymore and the 9700 wins hands down, but it doesn't do half the stuff my Vibrant does.

 

[TheJastrom]

Hey guys just joined the forum, I've been doing different things with the Vibrant to see how it changes battery life and the most dramatic thing I've done to extend the battery is going into the Wireless and Network settings > Mobile Networks > Use only 2G networks. I leave that on all the time unless I need to use the browser or something where I need faster speeds and switch back to 3G, but whenever the phone is in stand-by and in my pocket or on my desk it's on the 2G setting and I've noticed it makes a world of difference.

I'm using LauncherPro Plus, with Calendar and Bookmarks widget and using the Buzzbox app with a fullscreen widget (which rocks btw) and Live Wallpaper. Give it a try.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Hey guys just joined the forum, I've been doing different things with the Vibrant to see how it changes battery life and the most dramatic thing I've done to extend the battery is going into the Wireless and Network settings > Mobile Networks > Use only 2G networks. I leave that on all the time unless I need to use the browser or something where I need faster speeds and switch back to 3G, but whenever the phone is in stand-by and in my pocket or on my desk it's on the 2G setting and I've noticed it makes a world of difference.

I'm using LauncherPro Plus, with Calendar and Bookmarks widget and using the Buzzbox app with a fullscreen widget (which rocks btw) and Live Wallpaper. Give it a try.

There are 2g/3g toggle widgets in the market. Takes up the space of 1 icon and does the same thing.

 

[fatboy97]

Interesting read... first time post here... currently I have a Blackberry 9700 and I'm looking at the Vibrant to replace that later this year. Just trying to get a handle on how this device works and of course the battery life... but again, interesting read.

 

[TheJastrom]

There are 2g/3g toggle widgets in the market. Takes up the space of 1 icon and does the same thing.

Cool, thanks for the tip! I'll look some up and try them.

 

[Hospo]

I've had my 2nd Vibrant for about 2 weeks now. (The first was taken back due to freeze issues.)

I'm in love with my phone! My husband has some serious competition! LOL

Seriously though, I was going to return this phone, because at first I was lucky to get 6-8 hours out of the battery. Total dealbreaker for me. After I stopped putting my grubby little fingers all over most of the day because I couldn't stop playing with it, and made a few teaks, I was very surprised.

I keep Wifi and GPS off, Bluetooth on only when in the car, 3G off when in my house. No live wallpaper. No widgets. Emails check every 15 minutes.

Today I woke up to see that I'm on hour 25 and I'm still at 40% with an hour of talk time logged, about 20 texts, about 30 minutes of "playing" time and downloading roughly 5-6 things from the market.

I couldn't be happier!

 

[esdwa]

I keep chargers always handy and when I am traveling, I have this little gizmo that uses 4xAA batteries (regular or rechargeable). Works great. Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Power and Battery Charger
Amazon.com: Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Power and Battery Charger: Cell Phones &…

Besides all of that, I am not surprised how much unreliable battery powered smartphones are becoming. And this is not only Vibrant, I am talking about other models too. Everybody are trying to stuff these phones with power-hungry super screens, sensors, more complex RF circuits to handle higher speed demand. At the same time the marketing people for the same company tells this phone has to be slick and thin as possible because competitors already did it. Engineers probably smile and poke in the heads thinking this is not possible. Still, marketing wins and company agrees for limited solution which in real like brings us all down when battery dies unexpectedly. You can shove these battery ratings and manufacturer running time estimates listed in product spec right down the drain, they're worth nothing. They are crafted by marketing for the use where pretty much phone is doing nothing else but what is listed, meaning you do not have apps running at the background other than the one that is necessary to either make a call.

There is no perpetuum-mobile like battery or another miracle battery cell that wold allow to run this device running like old school cell phone from 10-15 years back. Of course, the batteries are getting smaller with the same power capacity or they keep the size with increased power output. But remember, every new phone with new features demands more and more energy. I know they introduce power efficient solutions and components almost every month, but with all these gizmos built in today's smartphones and all these apps running, there is just not enough juice from small thin battery cell to satisfy typical user demand, nor power hungry smarphone.

I bet if they make new Vibrant as thick as G1 stuffing it with battery pack that would take 3/4 of it's body volume, you would probably get much more talk or browse time on single charge. But now on thin and small cheddar battery pack. Forget it and do not expect more even if you do a replacement. It is physics, nothing else.

 

[ImTheDuke]

Like one of the other posters in this thread suggested, I got 2 spare batteries and a charger for them from ebay. Really cheap I don't think it was more than $20! I also got an additional wall phone charger so I can keep one at work and one at home. That was less than $10. Battery life is no longer a consideration as I always carry a spare battery with me. I realize this phone does a lot so I don't whine about the battery life. Just the way it is until a new batt tech comes around

 

[GlueFactoryBJJ]

Just a fyi, I saw on ebay yesterday that the Motorola extended life battery (1880 mah) is available for $50 incl shipping.

Looks like out should add about another ~20% battery life.

Scott

From my Droid X using the SlideIT keyboard and Tapatalk Pro