Need advice about juice defender

scosch

Well-known member
Jun 18, 2011
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I used juice defender on my DINC and it seemed to really help my battery life. The auto disable mobile data/wifi when the screen was locked while still turning on to sync at a schedule I determined appeared to dramatically improve my battery life. However, I'm wondering if juice defender is hurting my bolt battery life.

I read somewhere that juice defender doesn't work on the bolt. Well, it seems to technically be 'working', just not very well. Many times it takes forever for either the mobile data (usually 4G) or wifi to turn on, a problem I never had with my DINC.

I'm starting to wonder if juice defender is actually hurting my battery life, possibly because it is constantly running and working hard when I have those delays where mobile data or wifi doesn't kick on right away.

I have the latest OTA gingerbread update and am not rooted. I keep reading on these forums that people are getting 12 or more hours of battery life with 'moderate' use with the latest OTA update. I would consider my use to be moderate: I'm a teacher, so the phone is in airplane mode from about 7:00 to 2:30. I use it almost exclusively to browse the web (rarely any video), send text messages, and read emails, and probably not for more than a total of 1.5-2 hours. By the time I plug it in around 9:00, many times it's already down to less than 50%.

Should I ditch juice defender? It just seems like auto turn-off of mobile data and wifi when the phone is locked should save battery because then the 4G, 3G, or wifi is not constantly running. Is that wrong? Should I just use widgets to manually turn these off myself?

I do have GPS on all the time and use bluetooth when in the car, which is typically for no more than 1.5 hours per day. I leave GPS on all the time because I read on these forums that it doesn't actually use any juice until a program needs it. My screen brightness is at around 20% all the time.
 
I ditched it and went to Verizon and got a extended Battery and the have a cover/case just like the original one they where selling but for ext. Battery. I got 18 hours with heavy usage. I didn't buy this thing to but stuff off. I have 3 push email, various news and weather updates, and surf 4g a lot. This Ext Battery just made this phone AWESOME!!!
 
Juice Defender depleted my battery faster when I used it. I know other people experienced the opposite, but battery life improved significantly on my phone after I ditched it.

Also, I agree with CMYMUD. I was getting 12 hours with the standard battery with moderate use, but the extended battery allows me to do whatever I want and not have to worry about running out of juice.
 
I've never got more then 8 hours out of the Thunderbolt using the stock battery. I would recommend not using juice defender because it probably is causing more battery drain by running in the background. I now have the extended and battery life is good. I would suggest turning off mobile data using a widget yourself.
 
I purchased the extended battery this past week, and I was worried about bulk, mind you, it does make it larger, but it will fit in my coat now that winter is coming, but I am impressed.
It is not as bulky as I had imaged, and I got the battery Friday, and installed and charged it yesterday.
I have been using my phone for downloading, music, podcasts, gps for buses (just moved to a new city), and the battery is now about 40%. and I charged it about 20 hrs. ago.
Quite impressed, and I have no regrets buying it.
 
If your running in airplane mode all day, juice defender isn't doing you any good. It might be causing more problems trying to shut off what is already off
 
Just ditch Juice Defender. You'll be surprised at what the right ROM can do for your battery life. Just do some research. That may be a better solution/route to go.
 
I've been using 2xbattery on my Eris for about two weeks (the free one) and it works great. I don't see how some people (the majority) get good results from these battery saver apps, and some people say they use more battery than before. :confused: I'm using 2xbattery on my Tbolt when I get them, and I will report my findings. the worst part about using 2xbattery is waiting for it to recconnect to 3g or 4g. usually takes about 15 seconds. but if I can save battery life almost triple...I will put up with a 15 second wait.
 
I personally have been using Juice since about a month after I bought my Thunderbolt... On my work days, I unplug the phone at about 07:30 am and plug it in to charge at 11:00 pm with 40% left on my standard battery.

The reason I get such good results with it is because during work my phone is sitting idle doing nothing. I could achieve similar results by manually turning off Mobile Data, but I also have it set up to manage all radios (Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.).