definitve answer on battery life?

[afhb21]

So I just got my droid charge (switched over from webOS). I picked it for many reasons, one of the most prominent being the accounts of outstanding battery life. Unfortunately I haven't shared that same experience.

Is this because of 4G? Is there an inconsistency? I know I've heard that certain phones had different classes of SD cards. Could there be something similar going on with the batteries?

One of the main reasons I switched over from my pre was the terrible battery life, and needless to say its pretty frustrating to see similar battery performance.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Anderain]

Heh, well I don't think most people have "outstanding" battery life.

The 4G and GPS is what sucks it down the most for me. Before I rooted, I just kept the data turned off (because you can still receive calls and texts) until I needed it, and would just flick it back on instantly when I needed it. It worked wonders. Since I rooted, I can keep the data on now, but the GPS always has to be off. If i leave GPS on my battery drains twice as fast as it did pre-root.

Adjust your screen brightness too (uncheck auto). I usually leave it dim indoors and turn it up when I am out in the sun. When the screen is on, hold your finger on the top right or left corner of the screen (on the notification bar) and will automatically adjust.

The battery isnt the best, but its better than the TB from what most people say. As long as you dont leave everything on and go crazy you should have no problems, its a pretty sweet phone!

 

[moondrius]

I never turn my gps off, leave 4g on all the time unless I am in a 3g area and use auto brightness. My battery life is good enough. It easily gets me through the day. Major battery drain happens when you are in a bad lte area where the phone is looking for a signal or trying to stay connected. Having a bad 3g signal drains more battery then having a great 4g signal. You can turn off gps but its only used on demand. Right now lte is kind of inconsistent just because it is still being rolled out. Once coverage is rolled out like 3g is battery drain will not be nearly as bad. I live in a great 4g area and my battery life is almost as good as my Atrix or Fascinate and my data speeds are 20 mb/s faster.

 

[deadpenguins]

Welcome to the android world!

First, google "battery saving tips" for android. Like anderain said, turning off bluetooth/gps/mobile data when not in use is the biggest battery saver, followed next by being smart with your display brightness. I use LTE Switch (just an app to get you in your settings where you can disable/enable 4g) so I can use 3g whenever I'm not streaming video/audio or downloading larger apps. That's the only time 4g really stands out to me and it's not worth the crazy battery drain otherwise. Always use wifi when you can since it uses significantly less battery. Another thing you can do is calibrate your battery (google is your friend).

Also, it would help to know what you are/aren't doing with your phone and the kind of numbers you're seeing in your battery life for someone to get a better idea how to help. If you get the app Battery Indicator you can easily see your battery % in your status bar and if you pull down your notifications and press on the details of the app you can get more useful information that will help track your battery usage better.

 

[afhb21]

Thanks everyone.

So I changed the radio settings to cdma only and that already made an enormous difference.

I also tried (and thus bought) juice defender ultimate. I spent at least an hr adjusting the ridiculous amount of settings and its not working. I configured it so the radios would turn on when certain apps are being used, but it isn't working properly. Ill do some more research on this.

regardless, I think I just need to put a little more effort into power management and ill be fine. Thanks again

 

[richardpandy]

From what I have heard, juice defender just ends up eating more battery then saving. I text/facebook/surf during the day and my phone lasts me all day, rooted. I unplug at 6:10am and usually won't REQUIRE a charge, in the 15% left, til around 8-10pm depending on how many calls I made during the day. I have been satisfied. I don't turn off 4G, I don't turn off bluetooth, I don't turn off GPS, I don't turn off auto brightness and it seems just fine.

 

[Cruiserdude]

Don't use Juice Defender, or any other apps like that that attempt to save battery life by using scripts that manage your data, they'll just mess it up. Do what others have said.

Calibrate your battery properly, makes a huge difference.

Turn off autobrightness and adjust the display by holding your finger for a sec on the notification bar where you want it to be, and sliding it back and forth if you want to adjust further.

Use the power management switches in the pull-down menu and keep things off that you're not using. Basically, turn them on as needed. I keep data turned on most of the time, but if I'm in a weak area or don't plan to be using it for awhile, I'll turn it off. That will really make a difference in idle battery consumption if you won't be using it for awhile.

If you're in a non-LTE or weak LTE area, put it in CDMA only. If you have a strong local wifi connection, try using that instead. But just remember that any weak signal will drain faster than a strong one, so use whatever is strongest.

Make sure your applications aren't constantly synching. You want most things to only sync manually or when you open them, or at least have long intervals. Check the settings in each app to change this. I keep most of mine on manual sync, then use widgetsoid to force a sync of everything when I want with a single button.

Don't use widgets that update frequently or are live (moving). And don't use live wallpapers. I understand that you may wish to use these, but just realize that they do impact your battery life.

Be aware of when you're streaming or not. If you have a huge music collection on your card, don't use Pandora all the time, for instance. And be aware that many games will try to log you in to an online service even when you're just playing single player on your phone. Disable those if that's the case, or when in doubt, just turn off your data.

There are other tricks, but those are the basics. Essentially, you just get used to using your phone in a certain way that can prolong battery life. You learn what causes it to drain faster, and do those things in moderation.

 

[rbess1965]

Apparently people knew about this issue long before it hit the smart phone market. Google Latitude: Will it Kill your Phone?s Battery? — Mobile Technology News

So turn off Google Location Services or at least make sure Latitude is not running. If you don?t want to do that, at minimum, remove any widgets that use location services like weather or ?Rate this place?.

Nexus S Battery Drain: Google Maps - Google Mobile Help

Google services drains battery at 38% on Nexus One? - Google Mobile Help

I?ve had my Droid Charge for about 2 months now and personally, I was averaging 11-12 hours of basic use which I thought was good. Yesterday I turned off my Google Location Services for the first time. Took the unit off the charger at 6:30pm yesterday and I?m now looking at 21% of battery left after 22hrs. Additionally, I never have VZW location on and only use GPS occasionally in the car. I also turned off Background Data in Sync but may switch those back on after this test to see what affect it really has. Running it dry tonight to see how far it will go.

I use ?My Profiles Lite? to have one touch controls for Home, Car, Work & Night modes. Works great. If you try other apps that do this automatically, catch22, they require location services to sense where you are.