Poor Battery Life - HELP!

[Dankees]

So, over the last week, I have noticed such poor battery life. My battery is not performing as it once did.

I recently downloaded Power Shade, so I decided to disable it (not uninstall it). It's not listed in the Play Store at this time.

I have noticed that Android System uses a lot of my battery, while my battery life drops like a rock while I have my screen on. I never have my screen brightness passed 25% (and it is usually less).

Please take a look at these screenshots. What is going wrong?

 

[B. Diddy]

The 6% Phone Idle and 4% Cell Standby would make me wonder about poor cell signal, which can really eat up battery. Install GSam Battery Monitor to get a better idea of what your cell signal strength is like throughout the day. If it's mostly moderate-to-poor, then that's probably the main culprit.

 

[Dankees]

Would BetterBatteryStats tell me this information?

 

[B. Diddy]

It might -- I don't have any direct experience with that app.

 

[Dankees]

Anyone else?

 

[anon(7901790)]

Since the last update from Verizon, I've noticed a reduced daily battery life too. Before the update, I would have about 50ish% battery remaining after being off the charger for 6 or 7 hours. Now, it is down to about 60% after being off the charger for only 4 hours.

 

[Dankees]

Battery Drains While Screen Is On? Please Help.

OK, I have attached stats for my phone from today.

Please take a look.

When not using my phone, my battery only dropped about 2% per hour, which is great. But when my screen was on, I seemed to have lost a lot of power. I can't even get 4 hours of screen on time.

What would cause tis to happen? I barely have my screen brightness at 20%.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hi, I merged your threads. I still think poor cell signal is part of your problem, considering that the cell signal indicator in that screenshot shows only 1-2 bars, and you still have fairly high Phone Idle and Cell Standby numbers. Is there any way you can test out the battery performance for a whole battery charge when you're in an area with good cell signal?

 

[Morty2264]

I remember being at a former workplace and the signal had been so bad (due to the interior construction) that my phone battery almost died and I had to scramble to make a phone call to my mom. I wouldn't discount the cell signal issue. Keep us posted!

 

[Dankees]

Hi, I merged your threads. I still think poor cell signal is part of your problem, considering that the cell signal indicator in that screenshot shows only 1-2 bars, and you still have fairly high Phone Idle and Cell Standby numbers. Is there any way you can test out the battery performance for a whole battery charge when you're in an area with good cell signal?

Thank you for your help.

I am usually at home (especially when it is cold outside) so it is hard to test that. Is there possibly a way I can improve the signal?

I have a couple of apps (no longer in the Play Store) which are supposed to improve it.

I am finding, however, my TuneMaster Pro is helping (better than the free version).

Would BetteryBatteryStats do anything for me?

 

[j_hansen]

Would BetterBatteryStats tell me this information?

Probably not, that app is a battery hog itself, get rid of it

 

[Dankees]

Probably not, that app is a battery hog itself, get rid of it

It is? Not even to just run it for a week?

 

[B. Diddy]

Who's your carrier? They might have a signal booster you can free for your home. I have one from T-Mobile.

 

[Dankees]

Who's your carrier? They might have a signal booster you can free for your home. I have one from T-Mobile.

VZW.

They offer them? Is it free?

 

[B. Diddy]

I don't think they're free on Verizon. (It's one of the nice perks of being on T-Mobile.) Check out some of the sites that advertise signal boosters for Verizon, like this one: https://www.ubersignal.com/verizon-cell-phone-signal-boosters-repeaters. It's also worth contacting Verizon and speaking to the agent about signal boosters. If you talk to the right person, maybe they'll offer to give you one for free (especially if you casually mention that you might have to look into switching to another carrier with better signal in your area).

 

[Morty2264]

Keep us posted on your communications with Verizon, OP!

 

[Dankees]

Are there any good signal refresher apps?

I have two (that are Pro versions) buy they are no longer in the Play Store.

 

[Rukbat]

There are no apps that can increase a weak signal. If there's enough signal outside your house (if that's where the signal is weak), a booster can help. But if there's no signal outside the house, not even a booster can. (If you increase a noisy signal, you increase the noise as well. Signal strength is "ratio of signal over noise", so if there's 1 µv signal and 5 µv of noise, that's a signal that's 20% of the noise. If you boost that to 20 µv, you increase the noise to 100µv - it's still 20% of the noise. If you have aluminum siding on the house and a reflective coating on the insulation in the attic, a properly mounted booster (input antenna outside, output antenna inside the house) you'll get a much better signal.

The reason the "signal refresher" apps were removed from Play is most likely because, aside from not doing anything, they probably sent all your information to their home server. So all your email addresses get sold, all your phone numbers get sold, etc. Google doesn't put up with that (usually).

 

[Dankees]

I do have a better signal outside my home, but I thought that my Wi-Fi would replace the cell signal while I am at home. No?

Also, how much should a booster be? I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars for this.

There are no apps that can increase a weak signal. If there's enough signal outside your house (if that's where the signal is weak), a booster can help. But if there's no signal outside the house, not even a booster can. (If you increase a noisy signal, you increase the noise as well. Signal strength is "ratio of signal over noise", so if there's 1 µv signal and 5 µv of noise, that's a signal that's 20% of the noise. If you boost that to 20 µv, you increase the noise to 100µv - it's still 20% of the noise. If you have aluminum siding on the house and a reflective coating on the insulation in the attic, a properly mounted booster (input antenna outside, output antenna inside the house) you'll get a much better signal.

The reason the "signal refresher" apps were removed from Play is most likely because, aside from not doing anything, they probably sent all your information to their home server. So all your email addresses get sold, all your phone numbers get sold, etc. Google doesn't put up with that (usually).

 

[B. Diddy]

Even if you're using wi-fi, the cell radio can cause battery drain from poor cell signal. This happens to me at work, where cell signal is terrible. If I turn on Airplane Mode, and then turn on wi-fi, my battery life is better, but even with wi-fi calling, I can miss calls (since the wi-fi network is also fairly mediocre), so I have to keep the cell radio on as well.

I wish I could give you better guidance about pricing for cell signal boosters, but I've never had to shop around (since T-Mobile gives them for free) -- you could consider switching carriers, but of course T-Mobile isn't always great outside of urban areas.