Why is my mA usage so high on 4G?

[tcapote]

I just don't get it. On 4G, my mA usage averages 150-350mA, when on 3G it's 30-130mA.

I am using Battery Widget Pro. My usage at this moment was 383mA on 4G, used LTE OnOff and switched to 3G only, mA usage dropped to 138mA. 4G is just nailing my battery. My bolt has the OTA. I have no reboot issues.

I can't get more than 7-9 hours on 4G (if I am lucky), but can easily get over 14hours on 3g.

Also notice same thing on Wifi, battery usage lasts similar to 3g times, great battery life on 3G or Wifi.

Is this correct? Anyone else see this?

 

[OC Nut]

I don't know what the problem is, but I can say that when on standby, it should not be that high.

I'm not sure how accurate the Battery Widget amperage indicator is, since I have seen it show 110mA for awhile (in airplane mode, no less) but my battery gauge does not go down, and I have seen it show 40mA for 4G, while the battery is depleting. However, assuming my battery does have something like a 1400mAh capacity, then a 4% depletion in battery in an hour (which is fairly typical on mine, tested for long periods over the last 10 days, standby in 4G) is an average of 56mA. On Wifi, it is about 1-2% (so assuming 1.5%/hr, it is 21mA). I have not been running on exclusive 3G for a long time (basically since the outage, so I don't know what it "should" get post-OTA). The 4G impact on battery is actually low enough now that I no longer need to use wi-fi at work, whch I was doing pre-OTA.

Note also that you can't look at the current reading on Battery Widget and get a "reliable" number, because when you are looking at it, the phone is being used, may be running something, and has the screen on. To the extent the numbers are usable at all, you should leave the screen off and in standby, and then look at the log after the fact.

It also sounds like the current usage profile is similar to what mine was pre-OTA, which is weird, because the OTA definitely did improve 4G burn rate significantly for me (and it sounds like many others). Is it possible that you are in an area that doesn't have a strong 4G signal?

 

[tcapote]

Yea, the interesting thing is, no matter is the reading itself is, accurate or not, the overall battery run time is the question and seems to follow the indices given by the Battery Widget. The point being, same software same phone, 4G uses about 10% battery per hour, and Wifi and 3G use 2-4% per hour (Using LTE OnOff to switch).

This seems like a high price to pay? Anyone else see this? Pre OTA or Post OTA?

 

[Forgetful]

If you have weak 4g signal this is normal.

 

[rcpa]

When idle with the screen off, I typically get 38-42 mAh, with occasional spikes, regardless of whether I'm on 3G or 4G. However, if I leave my WiFi on, and it's hunting for a signal while I'm at work, then I see the high numbers you listed and my battery drains about 15-20% an hour.

 

[tcapote]

I live in in So. Cal., strong 4g coverage. At home now, 3-4 bars of 4g. Same issue.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[FrankXS]

I live in in So. Cal., strong 4g coverage. At home now, 3-4 bars of 4g. Same issue.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

Actually I don't believe you can tell anything about the strength of the 4G signal from bars (nor 3G). Because, it seems the phone always displays the voice signal strength. You can have a weak 3G/4G signal, or no data at all, but you may still have 4 bars of voice signal shown on the phone. I have never had any issue whatsoever making/receiving voice calls. This phone would be doing great in the RF department "of old" when they used to discuss the ability to make and receive calls.

Point is, you can't have "4 bars of 4G" or "4 bars of 3G" because 3G and 4G "bars" are never shown.

So... oftentimes, I believe we have a very weak 3G/4G signal even when showing "4 bars" with the 3G or 4G symbol.

Also, I believe a weak 4G signal will be cause of increased battery useage.

-Frank

 

[tcapote]

Well, when I say 4G .vs 3G, it is what is indicated (on the phones display) at the time of the test. My tests do seem to bear out a difference and match, based on the service the phone is indicating. WIFI & 3G good, 4G bad battery life.

 

[anon(220176)]

What I found out is that when you have poor signal, whether it's 3G or 4G, the TB radio seems to go into boost mode and increase the signal strength that depletes the battery much much faster.

I am now traveling and working in Colorado and the area where I am at have poor Verizon coverage, so I will get 1-2 bars most of the time. I already switch to 3G only (using DAS BAMF Toolkit) and battery monitor widget will show usage as high as 1116mA !! On average, it uses 400-700mA.

When I am back in Southern CA, I have excellent 3G and 4G coverage with full bars most of the time. Battery Monitor widget shows I am using about 40-140mA.

I tested this for the last 2 weeks.

 

[bman123]

I don't think you can go off of bars for data signal, it doesn't add up where I'm at. I had 3 bars and got 6mbps at home, at work I had 2 bars and got 21mbps lol

 

[boythatkills]

The "bars" displayed only indicate voice signal. They have nothing to do with your data signal strength. I'm surprised this isn't common knowledge yet.

 

[bman123]

I've got two bars and just hit 19mbps, the bars mean nothing

 

[anon(220176)]

I am not talking about speed, but battery usage.

 

[Bwangster12]

Just a helpful addition to this thread, I hope...

Here is another widget/app that we can use to track mah usage: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget

I'm logging it starting this morning, to see what my usage is. I'm in 4g all day at work, then use wifi at home.

 

[Bwangster12]

So here is my opinion, which is absolutely not new news to anyone who understands whats going on...

It appears on my phone that the difference between 4g and 3g power consumption is minor. Both are at about 80-120 mah when the phone is idle. When being used, 4g is about 300-450 mah, while 3g is very similar, maybe 50 mah less if at all.

What I did notice and I believe it has been documented and being addressed by HTC is that the handoff from 3g to 4g or vice versa, there is a MAJOR spike. I was seeing spikes of upwards of 900 mah used. One can only assume that if you are driving on a highway in and out of 3g and 4g areas, or in a building that the coverage isn't the best, you are going to get killed.