Simple Steps to Help Improve Battery Life [Updated: 5-1-11]

[FearTheGhost13]

INDEX:
Post #1: Simple Steps to Help Improve Battery Life
Post #2: Super Amoled screen in regards to battery life
Post #3: Further factors regarding battery life


After seeing the many concerns about battery life after updating to Froyo ED01 and the mass amount of information scattered amongst these forums, I'd like to offer some assistance of my own. This thread in no way is directed to take credit away from anyone else that has previously posted information like this or along the same lines as this. A major credit goes to Gunnermike53 and the informational thread he posted some time ago. A link to his thread can be accessed here: http://forum.androidcentral.com/ver...8399-how-discussion-improve-battery-life.html


Note: This method is directed towards folks that are currently running on stock ED01 Froyo! (Although this may help on any build or custom rom, I do reccommend Gunnermike53's thread for folks that are rooted/running a custom rom.)


Seems the best method (in my personal opinion, and mine alone) for enhancing battery life while completely stock (ED01 Froyo or earlier releases) is to do a factory reset and then following some of these steps:

-Keep gps off when not needed.
-Keep wifi off when there are no wifi networks available as searching for networks will use excess battery.
-Keep your brightness settings at auto (at least) if not a lower setting.
-Avoid using Live Wallpaper's as these burn battery much faster! (Use darker backgrounds as these require less use of the screen.)
-Avoid apps that tend to require using a lot of data connection (or keep them off when not needed.)
-Reduce the sync intervals on your accounts (i.e. Google, Facebook etc.)
-Monitor the android task manager to close apps that may not of closed (Browser is one that tends to remain there even after pressing the back button to close out of it.)
-Fully charge battery to 100% (check settings>about phone>status and check the Battery Level to see the actual %.) Once fully charged, turn phone off while still plugged in and allow it to fully charge. Then turn the phone back on and allow to fully charge again. This will put you at a 100% charge.
-AVOID USING TASK KILLER'S!! The Android OS has a built in task manager that opens/closes apps on it's own. Using a third party task killer from the market or another source tends to actually drain your battery more and can cause unwanted reactions on your phone!

Following these basic steps has allowed me phenominal battery life on ED01, previous builds and Custom Roms. Please keep in mind that battery life will vary from phone to phone. We also refer to this as "Your mileage will vary."

Note: Factory Reset will require you to set up your accounts and download your apps again. Perform a backup of your choosing if you prefer. Factory Reset is not mandotory, just reccommended as these steps should be able to help either way!

I hope this will help those that are not as comfortable with rooting their phones, but want to try some ways to improve their battery life. Good luck all!

 

[FearTheGhost13]

Super Amoled screen in regards to battery life

Some things to know about the super amoled screen of your Fascinate and how this pertains to battery life:

-The picture is displayed using tiny individual led lights within the screen.
-The brighter the image on the screen the more power these lights use to display that image.
-The darker the image results in less power usage as not as many of these led lights are being used.

This is just a small explaination of how the screen of the Fascinate impacts battery life. The super amoled screen produces a bit of a crisper, brighter image than some of the other android phones on the market. This fact alone impacts the effect the screen has on the battery in regards to the Fascinate.

Someone that uses darker themes compared to someone using brighter themes will more than likely have better battery life, although it may only be minor and as always "mileage may vary!"

 

[FearTheGhost13]

Further factors regarding battery life.

Although this information may be second nature to some, there may be people out there that don't take this into consideration in regards to their battery life.

The battery is like most things in life, it has a lifespan. This means that as time goes by the battery will become weaker until the point it decides to hardly work or not work at all. Let's face it, it's like the batteries in a remote, eventually they must be replaced.

There are certain factors that can affect the battery or, in otherwords, damage the battery in some way shape or form.

-Power surges while charging.
-Dropping the phone and the battery pops out. (The battery may take damage from impact.)
-Water damage
-Over heating

But the most common factor is simply that the battery is just growing weak from use over a prolonged period of time.

These small factors are something to keep in mind if no methods of improving the battery life on your phone are working. It may simply be time for a new battery.

To learn a little more information about the Li-ion battery that the Samsung Fascinate uses please refer to Gunnermike53's thread that I linked in the first post of this thread. He has some in-depth knowledge about the battery itself within his thread.

 

[starbiker99]

This is nice but I disagree with having to have to jump though hoops to get decent battery life. These are full featured phones and most people out there do not know how to do much but turn them on and use them for what they were intended. Kinda of like having a car but getting 4 MPG instead of 20 and being told to not use any of the options (radio, A/C, heated seats, etc) to increase the MPG to it to where should have been to begin with. That being said I have a SF not on stock ED01 that gets decent battery life and my wife has one that is and her battery life is horrible but she won't let me touch it and probably for good reason lmao. I hope your post might help others out but I just don't think it should be necessary it wasn't on hers before Froyo. Sorry for my rant!

Shawn

 

[Kevin Gossett]

This is nice but I disagree with having to have to jump though hoops to get decent battery life. These are full featured phones and most people out there do not know how to do much but turn them on and use them for what they were intended. Kinda of like having a car but getting 4 MPG instead of 20 and being told to not use any of the options (radio, A/C, heated seats, etc) to increase the MPG to it to where should have been to begin with. That being said I have a SF not on stock ED01 that gets decent battery life and my wife has one that is and her battery life is horrible but she won't let me touch it and probably for good reason lmao. I hope your post might help others out but I just don't think it should be necessary it wasn't on hers before Froyo. Sorry for my rant!

Shawn

I tend do disagree with you... None of the steps listed here are very technical at all, and can easily be undone. So even if the user is a novice, I would think they could at least navigate through the menus to change a few options.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Great post!

Although one thing on there that I have never noticed to improve battery life with any Android phone I've owned is shutting off WiFi when it's not in use. I've gone days with doing both shutting it off and leaving it on, and I've never seen any positive results from turning it off when it's not in use. Although, that doesn't mean it can't help.

One thing I will say is definitely use WiFi when it is available. WiFi uses far less power than 3G.

 

[FearTheGhost13]

Great post!

Although one thing on there that I have never noticed to improve battery life with any Android phone I've owned is shutting off WiFi when it's not in use. I've gone days with doing both shutting it off and leaving it on, and I've never seen any positive results from turning it off when it's not in use. Although, that doesn't mean it can't help.

One thing I will say is definitely use WiFi when it is available. WiFi uses far less power than 3G.

Hey, thanks chris! Yeah I agree with you there, as long as you have a wifi connection available I could actually see it being less draining. I'll edit to mention when wifi is unavailable to have it turned off as if it keeps searching for wifi networks that would eat away at battery.

 

[starbiker99]

I tend do disagree with you... None of the steps listed here are very technical at all, and can easily be undone. So even if the user is a novice, I would think they could at least navigate through the menus to change a few options.

I'm not saying it's hard by any means I'm just saying that it shouldn't be necessary. My wife's Fascinate on Eclair would go over 30 hours on a charge and now on Froyo it won't make it 14 with no other changes just the update.

 

[FearTheGhost13]

I'm not saying it's hard by any means I'm just saying that it shouldn't be necessary. My wife's Fascinate on Eclair would go over 30 hours on a charge and now on Froyo it won't make it 14 with no other changes just the update.

I'm still getting great battery life with the update, well over 24 hours on a single charge. It's like I noted in the OP, "Mileage may vary." Some reasons for this are unknown, but nonetheless this is just a SIMPLE way to try and help people attain better battery life. I'll make updates and edits as time goes on and whenever I hear of or learn of other methods. It's a work in progress

 

[Peleg]

Tips to improve battery life are all well and good. But I'd like to know the root cause for the decreased battery life in Froyo. I used to go 2 days between charges, and since upgrading to Froyo I go empty in under a day if I have wifi on (if I turn it off, it lasts the same as it used to pre-Froyo). It seems to me that they broke something with wifi power usage.

Can I recovery my battery life by leaving wifi off all day? Sure. But I shouldn't have it. It worked before. I think they broke something in the Froyo update.

 

[FearTheGhost13]

Tips to improve battery life are all well and good. But I'd like to know the root cause for the decreased battery life in Froyo. I used to go 2 days between charges, and since upgrading to Froyo I go empty in under a day if I have wifi on (if I turn it off, it lasts the same as it used to pre-Froyo). It seems to me that they broke something with wifi power usage.

Can I recovery my battery life by leaving wifi off all day? Sure. But I shouldn't have it. It worked before. I think they broke something in the Froyo update.

This and many other speculations are very well possible. It wouldn't suprise me to see some sort of maintaince update in the near future to hopefully fix something like this and some of the other bugs being reported since the release of ED01.

 

[MaxBuck2]

I haven't observed any significant change in battery life after the Froyo update.

 

[galpd320#AC]

I'm not saying it's hard by any means I'm just saying that it shouldn't be necessary. My wife's Fascinate on Eclair would go over 30 hours on a charge and now on Froyo it won't make it 14 with no other changes just the update.

I agree with this 110%. My Fascinate on Eclair lasted for at least a day and a half under moderate use. Now on Froyo, in about 6-7 hours (with the same settings and the same average usage) the battery will be down to half. Then - here's the good part - once it's down to HALF, It will be dead in an hour or less! How much sense does this make? There is something wrong here.

 

[FearTheGhost13]

I agree with this 110%. My Fascinate on Eclair lasted for at least a day and a half under moderate use. Now on Froyo, in about 6-7 hours (with the same settings and the same average usage) the battery will be down to half. Then - here's the good part - once it's down to HALF, It will be dead in an hour or less! How much sense does this make? There is something wrong here.

That sounds a bit like there's something wrong with the battery itself. Doesn't seem likely that it is primarily caused by the update in that aspect. I still haven't deciphered a root cause to what is going on with the battery issues being reported, but I agree that there's something not entirely right as so many people are all of a sudden having terrible battery problems since updating. It really makes no sense huh? Makes me wonder if the battery itself took 'damage' in some way after updating, which makes me think they supplied the phone with a less than par battery. These are just theories tho, but as of right now that's mostly what we have to go on is theories

 

[FearTheGhost13]

I have updated this thread slightly and added some new information located in post #3.

 

[gunnermike53]

whats up with this thread? i already have a thread on batter life. if you had suggestions i would willing to update the thread. this thread just seems a bit unnessicary. myself, sheepy, landshark and a few others worked hard on it.

 

[FearTheGhost13]

whats up with this thread? i already have a thread on batter life. if you had suggestions i would willing to update the thread. this thread just seems a bit unnessicary. myself, sheepy, landshark and a few others worked hard on it.

Sorry Gunner, I wasn't trying to steal your thunder or anyone else's as I stated at the beginning of the thread. I also am trying to point people to your thread as it is a wonderful piece of work! I aimed this thread more towards the unrooted users and just some basic knowledge stuff. I honestly wasn't aware that I could of approached you on the matter and suggested things for your thread. If this is a problem I'd be happy to have this thread removed and calaborate with you. I just wanted to make things a little simpler for people newer to the forums and such. My sincere apologies if I have offended you or anyone else for this action!

 

[gunnermike53]

Sorry Gunner, I wasn't trying to steal your thunder or anyone else's as I stated at the beginning of the thread. I also am trying to point people to your thread as it is a wonderful piece of work! I aimed this thread more towards the unrooted users and just some basic knowledge stuff. I honestly wasn't aware that I could of approached you on the matter and suggested things for your thread. If this is a problem I'd be happy to have this thread removed and calaborate with you. I just wanted to make things a little simpler for people newer to the forums and such. My sincere apologies if I have offended you or anyone else for this action!

if you had approached me about it i would have looked at updating my thread or if i thought what you ahd to say was better or easier than what i had posted i would have gladly asked the mods to close my thread. its not a compitition to see who can post the most popular thread (adyrnalyne would win) but community effort to help and inform. that being said, some curtosy (i cant spell) goes a long way. if you want to take the reins on the battery issue, get with me via pm and we can put something together and go from there.

 

[FearTheGhost13]

if you had approached me about it i would have looked at updating my thread or if i thought what you ahd to say was better or easier than what i had posted i would have gladly asked the mods to close my thread. its not a compitition to see who can post the most popular thread (adyrnalyne would win) but community effort to help and inform. that being said, some curtosy (i cant spell) goes a long way. if you want to take the reins on the battery issue, get with me via pm and we can put something together and go from there.

I PMed you so we can talk that way instead. I do want you to know that I have the upmost respect for you and the other members of these forums. So with that said I'm fully willing to work with you and anyone else on giving the community the best we can!