S3 Questions/Concerns

[FDLuke]

I finally took the plunge and purchased an S3 3-4 days ago. This is my first phone without a physical keyboard. I was worried that I was not going to like it but I am getting used to it quickly. All in all, the device is pretty awesome. I have been doing a boat load of reading about this phone and have a few questions/concerns:
- I've been reading a ton about the battery life. At what point should I become concerned and chalk up a rapid battery drain to a bad battery, sim card or device? I understand it may take a few cycles for the battery to "warm up" but I also understand there is no memory on Li-on batteries. I don't want to be anal about it just want to make sure I am covered should there be an issue with the device. I've been going through a full charge in about 5-8 hours. My mileage varies. I am by no means a heavy user, using WiFi most of the time and syncing 3 gmail accounts and 1 exchange account. I am sure there are many answers to this but I'm a bit perplexed that a smartphone in today's era cannot be used without turning off "services." I am wondering if a poor signal is to blame for this rapid decent of my battery. I have been unsuccessful in finding a way to disable 4G since I don't get a signal at home. Hopefully a poor signal is to blame. I'll be happy with user error
- During my lengthy searches, I've also discovered what seems like a fair amount of dissatisfaction with the OTA update for JB. Should I wait until I can determine if there is an issue with my battery, device, etc. or should I just update? I understand that many people are saying a Factory Reset is required after the update. I guess I'm trying to make sure there are no issues with the device or at least want to put a finger on any possible issues before I update.
- Can anyone verify what the colors mean under Battery > Mobile Network Signal? So far, I have found this but trying to confirm:
black - radio off
red - phone trying to find signal
yellow - minimal signal strength
darker yellow - signal strength is poor
dark yellow - signal strength is poor-fair
yellowish/gray - signal strength is fair
green - maximum signal strength

I'm curious if the colors have anything to do with the type of signal the phone is receiving, 1x, 3G, 4G, etc. Any clarification would be great. I don't live in a 4G coverage area and have yet to have a green show up while I'm at home.
- Is Google Talk considered Android's native Video chat client along the lines of Face Time? If not, will there ever be a native video chat client like Face Time?
- I use Backup Assistant for my contacts as well as utilize an Exchange Server which has many of my contacts. With this new phone, I finally realized that my Backup Assistant doesn't back up my Exchange Contacts and vice-versa. Is there a way to add contacts from the respective service to each other so I ensure I have all of my contacts?

That is all for now. Sorry for the long-winded message. I am loving this phone and want to use it to it's fullest ability. I'm trying to put my finger on a few issues and understand the phone better.

 

[Mastaking]

Different running programs can cause power drain. Go to settings and then battery and find out what the main culprit is. I am assuming that since you just got the phone you are probably spending a lot of time setting things up and playing with the phone resulting in having the screen on a lot.

This phone has a big beautiful screen and when it is on often the battery dies quickly. More than likely you will start using the phone regularly and not checking it all the time and it will last much longer. You can never judge the battery within a week of getting a new phone.

Just my .02

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[MrDoh]

I've been reading a ton about the battery life. At what point should I become concerned and chalk up a rapid battery drain to a bad battery, sim card or device? I understand it may take a few cycles for the battery to "warm up" but I also understand there is no memory on Li-on batteries. I don't want to be anal about it just want to make sure I am covered should there be an issue with the device. I've been going through a full charge in about 5-8 hours. My mileage varies. I am by no means a heavy user, using WiFi most of the time and syncing 3 gmail accounts and 1 exchange account. I am sure there are many answers to this but I'm a bit perplexed that a smartphone in today's era cannot be used without turning off "services." I am wondering if a poor signal is to blame for this rapid decent of my battery. I have been unsuccessful in finding a way to disable 4G since I don't get a signal at home. Hopefully a poor signal is to blame. I'll be happy with user error
- During my lengthy searches, I've also discovered what seems like a fair amount of dissatisfaction with the OTA update for JB. Should I wait until I can determine if there is an issue with my battery, device, etc. or should I just update? I understand that many people are saying a Factory Reset is required after the update. I guess I'm trying to make sure there are no issues with the device or at least want to put a finger on any possible issues before I update.
.

Couple of things on battery usage. First off, you can get an app called "Phone Info" that will allow you to set your phone to CDMA mode only, and turn off LTE.

Second thing, there's lots of stuff that you can turn off and never miss, if you go through all the settings carefully. Check out the power saving option, too, under settings and use the settings there to save power. Personally, I set my WiFi to only connect when the phone is asleep if it's plugged in, and only turn on cellular data (manually) when I'm mobile and turn off WiFi at that point. Just a habit that I picked up from using the iPhone, and being in a marginal signal area. If I use cellular data when I'm at home without the Verizon Network Extender my phone battery goes down really fast. Actually, my phone battery goes down fast if I don't have the Verizon Network Extender on anyways, since I also have marginal cell phone strength here. Verizon says that I'm in a "best signal" area, but that's not quite true *smile*.

Lastly, there's an app called "BetterBattery Stats" that will let you find out how much your phone is in "deep sleep" state, and help you to maximize that time. You can find out what's got wakelocks (keeping your phone awake even when you're not doing anything with it) and get to the bottom of battery usage problems.

On the Jelly Bean update, not everyone has done a factory reset after the update, I didn't do one for several days. I did go through all the settings and set them back the way that I wanted them (the Jelly Bean update reverted a lot of my settings to default, which is not what I use). I finally did a factory reset to iron out one or two specific problems, which it did. After which I had to go through my settings again, so I should have done the factory reset just after doing the JB update. I'm fine with Jelly Bean now, though *smile*.