Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on 3G

[PaulQ]

My Rezound is stock and I have left it in 4G mode since I got it about 2 months ago. Every day, I would come home with about 25-30% battery left. Acceptable, but if I happened to make a few long calls during the day, I came home with much less or had to charge in the middle of the day.

Yesterday, I decided to switch to 3G only. I felt sort of "dirty' doing it - like, isn't this phone supposed to live the dream of LTE?

Anyway, running 3G, I have come home with over 60% battery left. Plenty of padding for phone calls or some extra use during the day.

Is the reality that these phones should really be running in 3G mode to maintain anything resembling "normal" battery life? Moreover, what do we really NEED 4G for anyway? All I can think of is video calling. Streaming video seems to work fine at 3G.

I hope my Rezound doesn't hate me.

 

[foamerdave]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

Have only had my phone for a 6 days now. I live in a spot that dose not have 4g. On 3g and wi-fi I can make all the calls I want check and update face book do all the e-mail i have to and look up stuff on the web. I can make all day if not 2. I will admit that i am not a heavy user but 3g so far has done me well and my bat. last me long enough that I don't feel tethered to a charger.

 

[NoYankees44]

I use 4g all the time unless I need lots of battery or jrun low on data. I have not used 3g in a long time so I don't know how much difference it makes anymore. I will have to try it for a bit and see.

 

[humpagardengnome]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

My Rezound is stock and I have left it in 4G mode since I got it about 2 months ago. Every day, I would come home with about 25-30% battery left. Acceptable, but if I happened to make a few long calls during the day, I came home with much less or had to charge in the middle of the day.

Yesterday, I decided to switch to 3G only. I felt sort of "dirty' doing it - like, isn't this phone supposed to live the dream of LTE?

Anyway, running 3G, I have come home with over 60% battery left. Plenty of padding for phone calls or some extra use during the day.

Is the reality that these phones should really be running in 3G mode to maintain anything resembling "normal" battery life? Moreover, what do we really NEED 4G for anyway? All I can think of is video calling. Streaming video seems to work fine at 3G.

I hope my Rezound doesn't hate me.

It's reality if your on the standard battery, 3g is more suited for juice longevity in that regard. Although, I've not seen substancial proof of it on my Rezound but LTE radios have always been claimed to drain quicker than others. I usually surf w/ 3g and stream music, vids, uploads etc.,. w/ 4g. Ideally, for streaming vids b/c 3g can often be laggy in the buffering dept. Nothing dictates 4g need be used, it's just a luxury.

 

[li2327]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

I've gotten spoiled by the speed of 4g. I have gone back to 3g here and there but the speed doesn't compare.

 

[experiment 626]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

A lot depends on what you're using your Rezound for. If you're doing any kind of streaming LTE allows it run almost buffer-free. It also speeds up downloads and updates.

 

[kulkaholic]

because my signal sucks to work and I'm not streaming videos I turn on 3 g only . if I go to stream music right no I'm gonna be doing a lot of internet surfing I just turn on 4 g .

 

[teckels]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

I go 4G most days because that's why I traded for this phone. I do not mind plugging it in for an hour during work to keep it going. However, I am teetering on busting out one of the CleanRoms because I hear the bat life is great even on 4G. (Hesitent bc of all the different RUU's out there right now and without S-Off not comfortable with extra kernal flashing). Anyway, I'm only switching to 3G on days when I know I won't be able to charge or know I am going to be using my phone more.

 

[MrSmith317]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

I've gotten spoiled by the speed of 4g. I have gone back to 3g here and there but the speed doesn't compare.

That's because Philly rocks 4G.

To the OP, I have an unlimited plan, constant access to a charger(if needed), and a penchant for "sticking it to the man", so my phone lives on 4G and when I travel outside 4G zones, I get mad. My Google music doesn't stream song to song as fast, and my tethering isn't up to it's usual snuff so my daughter can't make sure her restaurant is flourishing. And that...is just a crime against humanity

 

[jimbl]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

Time is money. And it takes far less time to do just about anything (anything that requires internet data) on 4G compared to 3G. I'm talking 5 to 10 times quicker. I have the extended battery and usually access to a charger, so there is no point in me using 3G.

 

[Cares]

I leave it on 4G all the time. Don't even use my wifi at home. Faster than my Verizon FiOS.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dovahkiin]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

With 4G, I don't have to rely on crappy mobile versions of websites, and downloading pictures doesn't become a 5 minute affair. When they get the balancing act working between 4G and battery life, my smartphone lifestyle will be fulfilled.

 

[Thegreatone3]

I think it depends on what you do with your phone. Streaming video & music is definitely better with 4G. For text based things like Twitter or news, I hardly notice a difference. So based on my usage, I use it as an on-demand service.

 

[SavageChipmunk]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

I have ready access to a charger at all times, so I stick to 4G at all times. My work is like a Faraday cage though, so I'm lucky to get 3 bars of 3G, never get 4G.

 

[dietsoda]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

4g is a huge difference in speed, incomparable in web page loads to 3g. I will never go back. It's the whole point of the phone.

If you want good battery life, then consider going to 2g only.

In fact, swap out for a regular dumb-phone and get true 2 week standy with it.

 

[majorpayne]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

I usually stay on 4g but I'm used to having a device with a poor battery. So My main Desk has a cable then when i have to travel to a clients I have a cable in my car for the 40 min drive. Once at my clients I usualy go without charging as I have been on and off a charger all day. Then on my drive home again it sits on a charger. Once Home I have access to 4 chargers (I have 2 TP's and my wife has a phone also) plus the one hooked up to my dekstop.. That is also not excluding when I go into my server farm.. I just shut the phone off in there as reception is horrible and can't hear myself even think.

 

[Lactose The Intolerant]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

I don't live in a 4G area... yes, the battery life is a beast on 3G only -- all day moderate to heavy usage.

Looking forward to Hell freezing over... I get 4G two months after that happens!

 

[TomBarrister]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

I am teetering on busting out one of the CleanRoms because I hear the bat life is great even on 4G.

It's better, but not that much better. The non-Sense-based ROMs do a little better than the Sense-based ROMs, but still not a huge difference.

Battery Savers (i.e. Juice Defender, Green Power) don't help much, either. Task Killers are a myth for saving battery life, at least on a phone using Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich.

The fact is that if you drive a Rolls Royce at 70 mph with the air conditioning maxed, you're going to use more fuel than if you drive a Scion at 30 mph with the air-conditioning off. People want dual-core processor speeds, a big colorful screen, and super-fast connectivity. All of those use more electricity than their lesser counterparts do. It doesn't help that a lot of applications (including system apps) are poorly programmed and consume a lot more electricity than they would if they were better-written. People also have asked for slimmer, sleeker phones. A slimmer phone means a slimmer battery, and a slimmer battery generally means less battery reserve. Also, the hardware and software for these phones are developing rapidly, and the developers generally aren't concentrating on battery optimization.

To get more time from your phone between charges, you have to give something up. If you want to use the stock battery, you can improveits life by switching to 3G when you don't need speed, by turning down your screen brightness and having a short timeout (i.e. 30 seconds), and by avoiding apps that overuse the processor (you can generally tell this is happening if the battery gets really warm when they're in use; a lot of games do this).

An easier way is to go buy the extended battery. Verizon currently has the 2750 mAh version on sale for $30, and third-party manufacturers have as big as 4000 mAh versions available. The downside is that it does bulk up the phone. Another option is to buy a second stock battery. The downside of that is that changing the battery during the day and charging both at night can be a nuisance.

The ideal solution would be for the battery manufacturers to come up with a new type of battery that can be both slim and powerful. More than a few are in progress, the most promising probably being the development at Northwestern University of a new version of Lithium-Ion that may last 10 times as long as the current technology (imagine going up to a week between charges).

 

[babytazz18]

Re: Is there an everyday point to 4G? My battery life is HUGE on

That's because Philly rocks 4G.

To the OP, I have an unlimited plan, constant access to a charger(if needed), and a penchant for "sticking it to the man", so my phone lives on 4G and when I travel outside 4G zones, I get mad. My Google music doesn't stream song to song as fast, and my tethering isn't up to it's usual snuff so my daughter can't make sure her restaurant is flourishing. And that...is just a crime against humanity

I've gotten spoiled by the speed of 4g. I have gone back to 3g here and there but the speed doesn't compare.

Yes it truly does. I went to Philly earlier this summer and although I have consistent fast 4G in virginia beach where I live, the speed was ridiculously fast in Philly.