The saga of the GS2 and the iPhone 4 - Galaxy S II General

I bought a SG2 some time ago and loved it except for the idle battery drain. For the life of me, I couldn't seem to get it to stop chewing battery when it wasn't being used. I even tested it by charging it to full and leaving it overnight. It lost about 20%.
Remembering that the iPhone 4 had excellent idle battery life, I decided to give it another go just for the hell of it. I hate iOS as a daily driver, but I figured at least I wouldn't have to worry about battery life.
These are my observations:
1) Idle time on iPhone 4 is indeed better. When it's not being used, it uses no battery. However, when being used heavily, the SG2 actually seems to get BETTER battery life than iPhone 4 when it is being used heavily. Not sure why.
2) I severely miss being able to send/upload high quality videos and pictures. I hate the restrictions that Apple places on file size. I don't always have wifi readily available and at least with Android, you can upload large videos to Youtube over the cell connection.
3) I miss the integration in the photo album with social services. It's annoying having to launch an app every time I want to upload a picture/video.
4) The camera on the SG2 is definitely better. You get more fine detail on objects that are further away, no doubt due to the higher megapixel count.
5) I think most apps on iOS look better and are more functional, but the problem is, you have to launch an app to do anything in iOS.
I really wish Samsung (and maybe Google in general) could solve the idle battery drain. Losing 20% over 8 hours without even using the phone seems rather high when you factor in that you'll be losing that battery life whether you use the phone or not. Theoretically, this should mean that the iPhone would get better battery life with the same use, but I'm not finding that to be the case so far. I will probably be going back to my SG2 very soon.
Sorry for the long-winded post. Just wanted to collect my thoughts and present my personal findings.

U r right about battery consumption .
But i m sure Android is going to be so much improved and vast in features that we cant compare to any os in the world in future.
Biggest plus of Android is community like this and the freedom to change things inside it.

agree on most of the things u said there
but
when it comes to battery life i have no idea why its soo random with some people
i lose about 1% an hour on KE2
(stock was on the phone when i bought it no root )
but since i installed KF3
i lose about 2% an hour
rooted flashed from odin

I must have responded to 10+ questions on this forum in the last 24 hours as regards battery drain, i get 25+ hours on my GS2, if you search on here you will find many tips that will substantially increase your battery life.

check the new kernel ninephetamine. Have used the modified 1.4v (with deep sleep enabled).....promising results with undervolting.
Currently OC 1400, and undervolted.

Simple Answer
Iphone does not loose batter on idle cause it puts all apps to sleep state if not used for a while
Android phones in general are always using data for like your emails, facebook, etc if you have set the apps to connect say every hour or so
IF you leave WIFI on it takes up battery as well
I am quiet happy with my SGS2 ( 12 -15 hours ) heavy usage and I am used to daily charging. and its just the day time hours unlike people who may be posting their night time hours as well which add anything form 8-16 more

jonny68 said:
I must have responded to 10+ questions on this forum in the last 24 hours as regards battery drain, i get 25+ hours on my GS2, if you search on here you will find many tips that will substantially increase your battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not interested in disabling everything that makes Android what it is. If I have to modify it to the point that it's an iPhone, I might as well use an iPhone. I'm well aware of battery saving tips for Android. They almost always involve shutting down all automated services and anything that retrieves data. This is not a solution. I have some e-mail accounts on periodic pull and the most important ones on push. On the iPhone, I have all e-mail accounts on Push.
I also don't particularly want to use a custom ROM. I prefer to stay stock.
I'm not getting horrible battery life on my SG2. In fact, I get around 15 hours with the same kind of use as that on the iPhone 4. I would just like to be able to set the phone down for several hours and not lose a quarter of the battery.

i have tried every single battery optimisation and calibration tricks on my Android phones. My first Android phone was a htc hero, second SE X10 and Now Galaxy S2.
All the optimisation and stuff works if you sacrifice something on your phone. i like my display to be sharp and easy to see. I want my email notification to be prompt and so many other things.
I used to be Windows mobile user my last handset was Toshiba TG01. i never ever had any battery issue.
It is to do with Android system, it needs to improve. it has all the pace now and so many chances.
if this roumor is true then IOS will shrink sooner than 2015:
http://www.mobilechoiceuk.com/News/iPhone+5+delayed+until+2012?/5990

Why my Lamborghini needs more fuel than my Fiat Panda? I can't understand. Crappy Lamborghini, back on Panda.

Well if riding the Panda can get me through the jungle instead of half of it, why not?
Also, the Panda can get me more food via the App Store.
Granted though the Lamborghini has alot more fancy features and doesnt have mindless sheep following it
Anyway, coming from an SGS1, then an iPhone4, I heartily agree with the OP. Android is awesome but it's still rough around the edges. Sometimes the ease and boring simplicity of IOS is something that I miss, along with the Apps and definitely the games which Android is sorely lacking.
But then again I'd be reminded of steve and his itunes bloatware. ugh

Yes, but when Lamborghini is parked it should use the same as the Panda! (I.e. zero.)
Google really should minimise the stuff going on when the phone is idle. Google also needs to do something about all these rouge apps that always start up services that always run in the background. They should provide some way of limiting/stopping the CPU usage of apps running in the background.
Even the official XDA forum app still servers up adverts in the background eating up your battery (and bandwidth) if you press home instead of backup to exit.

wifi sharing is a bit of a bug that drains battery like crazy. If your not rooted thats definitely the screen off battery drain for sure. If there was a reason to root, just root to freeze that one rogue app.

codeworkx said:
Why my Lamborghini needs more fuel than my Fiat Panda? I can't understand. Crappy Lamborghini, back on Panda.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL I like ur metaphor.. but at least give something better than Panda hahaha

Nope, the wifi sharing bug has now been fixed by Samsung in the stock KF3 release available via Kies.

greyhulk said:
I'm not interested in disabling everything that makes Android what it is. If I have to modify it to the point that it's an iPhone, I might as well use an iPhone. I'm well aware of battery saving tips for Android. They almost always involve shutting down all automated services and anything that retrieves data. This is not a solution. I have some e-mail accounts on periodic pull and the most important ones on push. On the iPhone, I have all e-mail accounts on Push.
I also don't particularly want to use a custom ROM. I prefer to stay stock.
I'm not getting horrible battery life on my SG2. In fact, I get around 15 hours with the same kind of use as that on the iPhone 4. I would just like to be able to set the phone down for several hours and not lose a quarter of the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But most of the stuff is pretty useless anyway all this Samsung bloatware is guaranteed to drain your battery, i don't see it as sacrifcying anything, ive got email on push and i still get over 25+ hours battery,i used an iPhone 4 for a few weeks and id be lucky to get 16 hours with medium to heavy usage.
My data is always enabled too, you can save a lot of battery if you use apps like Juice defender plus and system panel will also tell you which apps,etc are using up more than others.
At the end of the day smartphones are always going to use up much more battery than normal phones and this isn't going to change anytime soon until such time a revoultionary new battery is designed that lasts for days on end.
Until then people have to deal with it,follow the tips and you'll get good battery life, if you want absolutely everything "on at the same time" your simply not going to get it, not on the iPhone 4 or any phone.

blunted09 said:
wifi sharing is a bit of a bug that drains battery like crazy. If your not rooted thats definitely the screen off battery drain for sure. If there was a reason to root, just root to freeze that one rogue app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
indeed this is very true.

LouisJB said:
Yes, but when Lamborghini is parked it should use the same as the Panda! (I.e. zero.)
Google really should minimise the stuff going on when the phone is idle. Google also needs to do something about all these rouge apps that always start up services that always run in the background. They should provide some way of limiting/stopping the CPU usage of apps running in the background.
Even the official XDA forum app still servers up adverts in the background eating up your battery (and bandwidth) if you press home instead of backup to exit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not parked.
Your Engine is still running on idling mixture.
That's a difference. ;-)

LouisJB said:
Nope, the wifi sharing bug has now been fixed by Samsung in the stock KF3 release available via Kies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has not been properly addressed. Thats why its not even included in 90% of the custom roms.

Related

Nexus One Battery Life vs iPhone 3gS/4G

Earlier this year, I was a huge Android fan. I had a rooted G1 with a different firmware every week. My Dream ended when I realized that the battery was lasting me not more than 5-6 hours, even with very light use. This was after swapping out batteries/phones. Also, for working out, I needed a good music player. Android's default one needed a LOT of improvements.
So, when my friend brought over his iPhone, I decided to give it a try. I bought an iPhone 3GS from craigslist. Jailbroke and Unlocked it. The battery was lasting me more than a day, even after watching more than an hour of TED.com talks, and listening to an hour of music. The ipod functionality was amazing with the volume/music controls in the earphones.
Then, I accidentally updated my phone to the latest firmware... which cannot be unlocked. So I'm back to using my G1.
So, the question still stands.. Is Froyo on Nexus One better in battery performance and iPod functionality of iPhone 3GS. Especially with the upcoming iPhone 4G, we can be sure that Apple will increase the battery life of iPhone (as they've done with all previous updates)?
I get a lot better battery life with Froyo then on my 3GS to be honest. Also, as far as the music functionality goes, why do you think its so bad? If you dislike the interface, then you can download a alternate option from the Market. But for me, as long as it plays the songs, view/edit playlists and browse the music I am good to go.
i got slightly less battery life from my Nexus with 3G turned off compared to my jailbroken 3GS.
normally ended up with about 10% less battery at the end of the day compared to my IPhone and similar usage.
the Nexus was stone stock.
Thanks for the replies...
To answer the question about music interface... I think the ipod interface is much smoother than anything i've seen in Android (please suggest something in case I might've missed it). As I mentioned before, I use the earphone controls A LOT.. and am not sure if Nexus One will offer the same functionality.
Battery life is a huge issue for me. As I said, my usage on iPhone was pretty heavy. Let me lay it out here -- this is with Edge.. Push On.. and Location On.
- 1.5 hrs music
- 1 hr video (Ted talks podcast)
- 1.5 hr phone calls
- 2 hr games
- 3 hr Wifi on
With this kinda usage, my iPhone would have 15-20% battery left by end of the day (midnight usually)...
Does your Nexus One match that or is better?
( I'd love to switch to Nexus, if battery is a non-issue... love the Google integration!)
Battery life is across the board on the N1 for some reason. People will have the same set up and get very different kinds of battery life. I know I've never been happy with the battery life of the phone.
A good music player is ³. Cubed. I like it. I recommend the Nexus One if you get the 2 batteries and external battery charger for 20 bucks deal off of eBay. Maybe life will increase but until then having an arsenal of batteries solves my problem.
Ok, I guess I'm back to 8th grade, basic math. Let's calculate. And because you could have just looked in the specs and done the math yourself, I'm not going to look there, and if I bring the wrong numbers - so be it.
1.5 hr of music is almost nothing. Music is optimized for very low battery usage - 20 hr of listening or so. Let's say, 5% off battery.
Wifi on is nothing. You can keep it on for as long as you like, you actually save battery - it turns off 3G/HSDPA and uses WiFi data.
1.5 hr phone calls out of ~6 hours spec ~= 25% battery off.
1 hr video out of 5 hr spec ~= 20% off.
2 hr games are quite destructive. Both CPU activity and display. Let's say, another 25-30% off.
You're left with approx. 15-20%. Surprised?
Oh wait... It figures, no? Do you think one of those systems is going to be significantly inferior in terms of battery life? You don't think Samsung and Qualcomm know their stuff well enough?
Ah, and the difference is going to show if you use Android power and load it with zillion auto-updating and auto-syncing widgets, that'll chew on your CPU idle time and use up your network power.
[edit] That's exactly the reason for varying battery life between users, as the poster above noted. People use their phone differently, and unlike iPhone, it can perform a lot of things simultaneously, without you even noticing (it's enough that you installed auto-syncing widget and made it sync once in 5 min with a good amount of data, for example) - and it'll cost you battery life. Control what you're running, and you'll get more out of the battery.
I came from an iPhone 3G to the Nexus One and the battery life does seem worse. it's always hard to compare because I do more with my Nexus One. My gut feeling though is even if my usage is similar to what I would have done with my iPhone, the Nexus One just uses more power. Part of that may be the higher res screen. Battery usage almost always shows the display as the biggest user of my battery.
I recently have been having worse than normal battery life. I'm not sure if it's due to upgrading to Froyo or if it is because I turned Latitude on. If it's Latitude, then it's really frustrating that the Battery Usage area doesn't list Latitude as using my battery. Kind of makes that a pointless feature if things just get hidden under names like "Android System".
I also agree with you on the Android music player. I use it, and it's not terrible, but the iPod app on the iPhone is just much easier to quickly get to the music you want to play. Also the Genius features are really well done. Someone suggested Cubed. I found it gives a really good first impression but once you use it you realize it's actually just flashy and it functions awful. As far as I can tell there's no way to quickly find and play a single song with it.
Battery life for 3gs is better than nexus..
For my usage the battery life on Froyo is about twice as good as the battery on 3GS. Granted, I listen to slacker radio while browse websites for about 2 hours a day and the multitasking on android is much more natural than the jailbreak alternative.
tantrix said:
Thanks for the replies...
To answer the question about music interface... I think the ipod interface is much smoother than anything i've seen in Android (please suggest something in case I might've missed it). As I mentioned before, I use the earphone controls A LOT.. and am not sure if Nexus One will offer the same functionality.
Battery life is a huge issue for me. As I said, my usage on iPhone was pretty heavy. Let me lay it out here -- this is with Edge.. Push On.. and Location On.
- 1.5 hrs music
- 1 hr video (Ted talks podcast)
- 1.5 hr phone calls
- 2 hr games
- 3 hr Wifi on
With this kinda usage, my iPhone would have 15-20% battery left by end of the day (midnight usually)...
Does your Nexus One match that or is better?
( I'd love to switch to Nexus, if battery is a non-issue... love the Google integration!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not altogether sure you aren't just trolling. There isn't any way to give a definitive answer to this question, but I'll give you my experience.
No new N1 user is going to say he gets good battery life. You won't want to shut the screen off for the first week.
Now, I can get a day and a half out of my battery on a stock rom if I don't sync absolutely everything frequently, I use wifi when it's available, keeping radios I am not using off and basically, being mindful of power use. I use it frequently, but not constantly. And if I am away from a charger, I have an inexpensive spare battery that I can change all by myself without any special tools all the while sending SJ a FU via ESP.
attn1 said:
I am not altogether sure you aren't just trolling. There isn't any way to give a definitive answer to this question, but I'll give you my experience.
No new N1 user is going to say he gets good battery life. You won't want to shut the screen off for the first week.
Now, I can get a day and a half out of my battery on a stock rom if I don't sync absolutely everything frequently, I use wifi when it's available, keeping radios I am not using off and basically, being mindful of power use. I use it frequently, but not constantly. And if I am away from a charger, I have an inexpensive spare battery that I can change all by myself without any special tools all the while sending SJ a FU via ESP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the inputs...
Lemme get first thing straight.. I have NO intentions of trolling No harm intended. When I bought the iPhone, EVERYONE I know was immensely surprised. I was (and still am) a spokesperson for Android. I love the apps. Maybe thats a reason that we all install so many widgets/apps which use data.... So many are available for free!! and awesome ones too.. for example.. I'd kill for the News and Weather app to be in iPhone.. but its not...
As I said in the original post.. a big chunk of my criteria is battery life.. second big chunk is music... I guess I'm sad that no Android phone yet can beat the battery life that an average iPhone user gets... I was hoping by releasing Froyo, google would change that (hence this thread)...
Trust me guys.. I live by my gmail.. would rather have everything centered around it... than having apple control my life... just dont wanna carry around extra batteries.. like i had to for my g1...
Intersectraven kernels with any nexus one Rom gives me the best battery. Rite now I'm on froyo and have lasted more than 20 hours with the kernel.
-------------------------------------
Sent from my Nexus One
Now that I'm using my nexus normally, I'm getting good battery life. 12 hours of solid usage.
myplague said:
Intersectraven kernels with any nexus one Rom gives me the best battery. Rite now I'm on froyo and have lasted more than 20 hours with the kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which of Raven's kernel are you using?
I have a iPhone 2G and it beats my N1 on battery but not considerably.. I read that the 2G is teh king while 3G is the worse of the three iPhones. 3GS is slight better than 3G.
. 34 925mV
-------------------------------------
Sent from my Nexus One
Something that people keep mentioning but seems to keep getting overlooked when people compare any device running Android to the Almighty iPhone...
Multitasking. Takes. More. Power.
Being able to run 5 or so apps in the background (along with all the automated syncing that's happening on the network-data side of things) is going to drain the battery more than doing one thing at a time on Apple's product.
When your iPhone is able to effectively multitask, come back and then you can compare the battery life.
Quite simply, Android lets you do more than you could ever possibly do on the iPhone platform. It gives you the option (free will - unheard of on the Apple side of things!) to run a handful of apps simultaneously. This, naturally, uses more power as the processor is doing more. This is not rocket science, people. You choose to do more, so accept the power penalty. Or, you can be mindful of your battery usage and manage things appropriately to get a significant battery life improvement. It's your choice!
And if you still don't get enough battery life out of this more powerful, more capable device, as attn1 pointed out, there is absolutely nothing to stop you from getting an inexpensive spare battery that can be swapped into the phone in under a minute (INCLUDING the time it takes to shut down and power back up).
Trying to compare any recent Android device to Apple's iPhone is like comparing my gaming notebook to my old TI-84 graphing calculator - which did get much better battery life than my current Asus G72 notebook.
xzr3b0rnzx said:
Battery life for 3gs is better than nexus..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me it's nexus that wins 3gs easily. my iphone with small use 1 day nexus with hevy use 1 day.
Some backstory.
Paul's Froyo.
Tweaked Kernel.
Home++
Sync off
Widgets: Facebook (no notification), ³ medium, Google Search, Power Control, News and Weather (12 hour refresh)
Screen set to auto brightness
Went to bed with 98% charge at 11:30pm.
Alarm goes off at 5am. 93%
Check Facebook. Turn on sync. Browse xda on default browser. 89%
Get on the metro.
Browse the internet.
Read a few news articles in the news widget.
Listen to music with Bluetooth headphones for 20 minutes or so.
Browse xda some more.
Download the latest 925 cfs kernel from ir's thread.
By 7:14 I'm at 64% charge.
In 2 hours doing what I noted here I lose close to half my battery?! That's laughabad.
It's amazing how all over the place the returns are.
I have owned the following phones in the last three years :
iPhone 2G
iPhone 3G
BlackBerry Bold
iPhone 3GS* (borrowed for 2 weeks to see if I wanted to go back...)
Milestone
Nexus One
I, personally, got the best battery life out of the iPhone 2G - I got three days out of it, consistently. BUT, I did not have an unlimited data plan, I did not use it for mail, I always got apps from the store over WiFi, I never streamed music, video or anything else. I had no RSS reader. I listened to some music, played the OCCASIONAL game, sent some texts and made a few calls.
Next would be the Bold. I POUNDED that thing and ALWAYS got at least 2 days out of it. I would send dozens of SMS, read and reply to at least 40 emails/day, use GTalk with my wife for at least 50 messages a day. I'd read RSS feeds with Viigo.
After that, every single phone on the list requires charging every single day.
On the iPhone 3G, I would do a little surfing, maybe a little video, some emails and some text. Music on the metro coming and going to/from work. Charging every day was mandatory.
On the 3GS, with how App Store had better and better stuff, I killed it (as in forced shut down) 5 out of 15 days - all that with no widgets and no multitasking. I would read Le Monde, do some browsing, read tweets, read emails, make a couple of calls and texts. I started stocking the charge cable at work and in my backpack during my weeks with a 3GS, because it wouldn't make it through a day. Most friends and colleagues who have them do the same.
I received the Milestone in December. I loved it, and really started pounding a phone - 100 GTalks a day, some SMS, all email, NewsRob for RSS, Le Monde, News & Weather widget one we hacked that on there (following the Jan 5 release of the N1), twitter and facebook, browsing. App downloads, widgets left and right, plus CONSTANT dev work, image building, flashing, testing, etc. I would get a day if I took my foot off the gas, but if I pushed it too hard, I would kill it. There were a couple of battery killers that were avoidable but which I didn't avoid from time to time - leaving Qik, the browser on the google homepage (with autolocation on) the Camera or Maps open, then letting the phone go "idle" with the screen asleep keeps the GPS on and would eat the battery in an hour or two. This left me high and dry a couple of times, until I paid a bit more attention. The Milestone got better 3G than any iPhone and worse / less-consistent WiFi.
I picked up a Nexus at the beginning of March. It gets somewhat-to-significantly better battery life than the Milestone. I still have to charge it daily, but there seem to be fewer battery-death bonehead choices that drink the go-go juice and leave you without your electronic BFF. Most of that is probably Android 2.1 and the UV kernels - I noticed that the Milestone was better with 2.1 as well. It also gets 10dbm worse radio reception with the same SIM on the same desk on the same network in the same office. But it gets MUCH better and more reliable WiFi, and that is better still since FroYo. I use it a ton - RSS, chat, SMS, calls, LOTS of browsing, Le Monde, NYTimes in Newspapers Full, lots of games in spare time, Google Listen for Podcasts, Music, Movies, taking pictures and videos and posting them online with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Buzz, etc.
The Nexus has one MASSIVE problem, as far as bettery goes - charging it on any computer USB port, and many thrid-party USB charge plugs (AC or DC) is atrocious - hours and hours to get just a few percent. I don't know why - Apple can use 1A from anything, RIM / BlackBerry can come close to 2A. My Milestone would take at least 1A from anything. But the stupid HTC kit won't take more than about 400mA from a computer or a non-shorted USB charger. SOME 3rd party stuff will be exploited up until 1A, as will the charger that the N1 comes with, but if not, you're going to see slooooooow charging.
As far as the music player: I want 2 things - good sound and the ability to pause and skip with the mic button. Every iPhone does this, and so does the N1. The N1 DOES support headset buttons (it's own set comes with them), but I use my Shures with a simple mic adaptor. I almost never see the interface - I put on a playlist and shuffle it. DoubleTwist makes sure that I have the same lists on my iPod touch and my Nexus, so I really don't notice the difference.
If you use the interface a lot, well, then the player on an iPhone is the best there is. I just don't use the interface often enough to make that a selling point.
As far as sound - the Milestone got SIGNIFICANTLY more volume and better sound then any iPhone and a ridiculous amount more than an N1.
Froyo just rocks. I miss a couple of CM features, but there are sooooo many good things baked into Froyo - tethering, copy/paste in received GMail messages, SD card app storage, cloud-stored settings, Flash, incredible performance.
Your Mileage May Vary.
big_adventure said:
The N1 DOES support headset buttons (it's own set comes with them),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the VERY detailed post... And also for clarifying the controls thing... thats awesome that N1 uses the mic button for controls... I use it a lot while running to skip songs...
I'm on the brink with my G1 though... Flashed the latest 2.1 ROM from Cygo.. at first I thought it was fast.. but now its driving me crazy.. its not really the ROM but the phone itself.. will post a video of the experience soon..
So to summarize above posts...
- N1 can give same or better battery life than iPhone... provided.. that we use it well... no crazy widgets/apps which keep using data...
- The earphones button CAN be used in N1 to skip songs.. which is awesome for me...
I think I might order my N1 today itself.. as it's still being sold on google (surprisingly enough).. Who knows once only T-Mobile sells it, if they'll stop offering the unlocked option....
Thanks for all the input guys

no battery life with the 2.2 update

My battery made it to 1:00 o'clock today with the new 2.2 update that i did last night. It normally lasts till 11 - 12 at night. Whats up with that?
FYI - All the same apps,widgets, and settings
**UPDATE**
Doing a factory reset fixed the problem for me!!
opie2l said:
My battery made it to 1:00 o'clock today with the new 2.2 update that i did last night. It normally lasts till 11 - 12 at night. Whats up with that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, I'm sitting at 75% after 5 hours off the charger and using it for moderate text usage (probably less than 80 messages today). Usually around this time it's sitting closer to 60%.
i have the .3 update and went from about 24 hours to about 8-10 hours. Battery life cut in half. My friend who has .3 is having same issue too. So much for increasing battery life.
formulabird said:
i have the .3 update and went from about 24 hours to about 8-10 hours. Battery life cut in half. My friend who has .3 is having same issue too. So much for increasing battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Have you searched the forum to see if anyone else has the same issue? If not I hope it's not an isolated incident. Then again if it's isolated maybe you can get support on it better...? Good luck finding a solution.
You gave us zero information to help you. So thus, you will not get any help.
There are about a billion threads on here about battery life and how to tweak it. When you flashed 2.2 you will need to do those steps again.
yeah some people are reporting bad battery life after update. most people i know are on .3. don't know if .6 fixes this hopefully we get update soon
I did a test last night. Dropped 13% between 1130 and 3:30am With wifi on (got up cause of baby), then only 10% between 330 and 8am with wifi off. So a drop of only 23% overnight.
That's with one exchange account, one gmail account (both syncing as items arrive), htc news set to not sync, but newsdesk and feedr both syncing. Facebook for htc set to sync contacts only.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
I had the same issue on all 2.2 ROMs I tried.. i am now going through the apps one at a time to see which one is the issue.
right now I am 7 hours in and sitting at 75% very light use ( read about 7 emails, 5 new articles and little to no Web surfing). installed 10s so far other than the standard with Fresh latest ROM that is.
I've actually had very good battery life, I'm running the .3 release. Battery life for me has been very comparable to running Baked Snack 9.6, with its underclocking/undervolting power save features. Moderate use of the phone for 8 hours (wifi, browsing websites here and there, one navigation route, texting, bunch of short phone calls, playing some games), my battery was around 65 or so, same as I had before for similar usage.
I did do a full wipe though, and haven't calibrated my battery since updating.
Aridon said:
You gave us zero information to help you. So thus, you will not get any help.
There are about a billion threads on here about battery life and how to tweak it. When you flashed 2.2 you will need to do those steps again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am just stating a observation on my part. And i know all the little tricks of how to get better battery life. But like i said, before the update i was getting a full day of battery and now after the update i am getting half. With the same settings and the usage on my part.
opie2l said:
I am just stating a observation on my part. And i know all the little tricks of how to get better battery life. But like i said, before the update i was getting a full day of battery and now after the update i am getting half. With the same settings and the usage on my part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe because some of the htc sync stuff that you might have disabled before re-enabled.
Check that.
-mark
diomark said:
maybe because some of the htc sync stuff that you might have disabled before re-enabled.
Check that.
-mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i already went through all the settings last night.
Aridon said:
You gave us zero information to help you. So thus, you will not get any help.
There are about a billion threads on here about battery life and how to tweak it. When you flashed 2.2 you will need to do those steps again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not directed at you personally, but at the words you chose to use:
I am sick and tired of "tweaks and settings and cutting things off." I used them and got over 30 hours on both DamageControl and Fresh.
I paid Sprint/HTC good money for this awesome phone (and am committed to pay them a whole lot more over the course of the next 22 months).
While I can understand the 4G thing, why should I have to cut off Data-WiFi-Bluetooth, power down the CPU, not use it a lot in order to get... in short, drive it like a Toyota Prius when then phone is billed as a Maserati? Why should I have to try out this app and that app(Overclock widget, SetCPU, System Manager, Task Killer, Autostarts etc which all use battery too) in order to get the phone to do what it should have done on June 4, 2010?
Most of the battery draining apps and widgets come pre-loaded with sense (i.e. the Favorite widget, Friendstream etc). Why should I have to resort to rooting my phone or not using it in order to get the thing to last all day?
I'm keeping my EVO cause I love the device, but maybe Sprint/HTC need a little of the medicine that Jobs/Apple is getting in the form of lawsuits due to over-promising/under-delivering.
/off_my_soap_box
You should send that rant to HTC and Sprint... I think we all stand behind you on that one.
there are lots of reasons a battery might not last. there are way to many tweaks out there which is why you have to do it yourself.
First set the phone up like you normally have it and test the battery life. if you can live with it your good. if not start looking at the settings. Read the tweaks but don't just take them as golden as everyone is different and uses their phone different. Ask yourself if you real need that setting. (I like my screen time out at 2 min. do I need it NO 1 min is fine). When done with the settings move to the apps. load the flat ROM no apps and run for a hour and track your battery life. then add the apps 1 at a time or in small groups and let run an hour and track. there are was if find what apps are using the CPU or Battery but many do this normally and yet don't effect the battery much. Only way i have found is old school add them one at a time. When you find a bad one decide if you need it or can find a replacement.
I am done with Sense as Launcher Pro Plus is awesome and now with the only Widget I was missing (Calendar). Once I done going through my app list I will create a new thread in General to list the bad application I found unless someone else has or does before I done that is.
From what I have gathered from using .3 that apps auto sync/update on their own now with "always on mobile data" turned off. if you use advanced task killer, do a kill of all apps then turn the screen off. If you wait for a few minutes and turn the screen back on you will notice that apps like news, messages, Twitter, Facebook clock, weather and others will be active. From what I gather the decrease in battery life is from apps like those will send/receive data on 2.2 while on 2.1 apps would not update/sync until you manually refreshed or opened the app, as long as you didn't have "always on mobile data" enabled.
Edit: this reason is why I uninstalled fring. Just too bad I cannot uninstalled qik.
trojandnc said:
This is not directed at you personally, but at the words you chose to use:
I am sick and tired of "tweaks and settings and cutting things off." I used them and got over 30 hours on both DamageControl and Fresh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a mini-computer. You don't use it like a "phone" anymore. You shouldn't expect more than 15-20 hours on it. Do you get angry when your laptop runs out of life after 5-6 hours? If you don't want to do tweaks, then don't. Keep a micro-USB at your desk at work and charge it there. I, myself, enjoy rooting so I don't mind tweaking it. I also get 30 hours of life on it due to this. If you don't like to do that, you get what you put into it.
trojandnc said:
I paid Sprint/HTC good money for this awesome phone (and am committed to pay them a whole lot more over the course of the next 22 months).
While I can understand the 4G thing, why should I have to cut off Data-WiFi-Bluetooth, power down the CPU, not use it a lot in order to get... in short, drive it like a Toyota Prius when then phone is billed as a Maserati? Why should I have to try out this app and that app(Overclock widget, SetCPU, System Manager, Task Killer, Autostarts etc which all use battery too) in order to get the phone to do what it should have done on June 4, 2010?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, you have unrealistic expectations for a smart phone it seems. All I have is Set CPU running on my phone with Fresh 3.0.1 and works just fine. I still use my phone like a "Maserati", it just lowers the CPU when the screen is powered off. That is like saying you want your car to idle when you get home at night until the next morning. It doesn't change how you drive it, just how you store it in the garage.
trojandnc said:
Most of the battery draining apps and widgets come pre-loaded with sense (i.e. the Favorite widget, Friendstream etc). Why should I have to resort to rooting my phone or not using it in order to get the thing to last all day?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to use them though. You can remove friendstream and go with either the twitter or FB update app or go without either and just check facebook like anyone else. As far as favorites go, you don't have to use that either. You can just make shortcuts to each person's phone number on that same screen if you think that is sucking all your battery life. There are always other options or fixes, but again you expect the phone to come out of the box perfect without any customization. You are getting away from what Android really is. Something tells me the Iphone would have been more your liking since it is built around lack of true customization. This isn't a rip, but just saying if you want cookie cutter phone reliability, it is hard to beat Apple. If you want the ability to tinker with the phone, the power to change things, and the power to make your phone yours, then that is more Android.
trojandnc said:
I'm keeping my EVO cause I love the device, but maybe Sprint/HTC need a little of the medicine that Jobs/Apple is getting in the form of lawsuits due to over-promising/under-delivering.
/off_my_soap_box
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can understand your frustration, but nothing was ever promised to us on purchase. I don't remember anywhere seeing something saying the battery would last 30+ hours out of the box. Apple had an actual structural issue with their phone, that is why they had the lawsuits and PR nightmare. This is just the phone doing what most would probably expect(at least anyone who had a G1 or Hero or any of the earlier Android phones). You love the device enough to keep it even with your frustration, something tells me it works quite well for you. But I have yet to see any over-promising/under-delivering on the Evo myself.
And no, I don't work for Sprint or HTC. And no offense meant to you as a person, just I didn't understand your motives on your frustration. Guess we will have different opinions on the Evo so far.
diomark said:
maybe because some of the htc sync stuff that you might have disabled before re-enabled.
Check that.
-mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same battery problem after updating to 2.2. After 3 hours my battery was at 50%. Normally it'd be at 50% after 9 to 10 hours of usage.
I did find that some settings had been reset. Once I turned off all the crap syncing, gtalk logging in, Sprint Zone, etc my battery usage has seemed to flatten out.
I made it an hour and only dropped 2% which is much more like it. This is all with very little usage going on.
Buy a new battery! Best solution!
No joda!
Sent from my EVO!
very funny just pluged my phone in using flipz newest after 19 hours
make sure you are signed out of googletalk !!

JI6 update: a *serious* let-down, in my opinion

So, this post is 1/2 "rant" and 1/2 "any ideas", but the JI6 Update has been (in my opinion) a very serious letdown.
First of all, I can't be alone in thinking that the late-September update from Samsung would be a full-blown upgrade to Froyo. Obviously it's not. I guess we'll wait awhile before that's released
Secondly, I'm one of those sorry saps that had the update soft-brick my phone. It took me a few days to get around to the ODIN fix (bumping me back to "stock"), but it was still a royal pain.
Thirdly, I've already seen some issues that I didn't have before. For instance, the phone "froze" on me while sitting at home: no screen response. I had to pull the battery and power up again. Nice!
Finally, the battery life is utterly horrible for me -- and I'm not sure why. Currently at 26% battery life (now 8h 4m since unplugged). 34% of the usage is "display", which has been on for 28m total. 22% is cell standby. 15% is phone idle. 10% is voice calls (2m 10s of that). 8% is the Android System. So on and so forth. Basically, I've *hardly* used my phone today, yet the battery isn't going to last thru to the afternoon. I have 6 active applications, with none of them hitting the CPU at all currently. Best of all? The battery icon looks like I'm about 1/2 full, so evidently Samsung couldn't be bothered to make that icon accurate. I know about the battery icon mods out there (I've used 'em), but I figured Samsung would take care of that.
Sorry for the venting, folks. Is anyone else seeing similar stuff? Any ideas on the lame battery life??
Thanks,
Yip
For me Android 2.1 which samsung released in Galaxy S is exactly like Windows Vista ! No matter how many updates you release for it still will make your phone **** !
The only option is to release a full new OS which is Windows 7 = Froyo !
Better than Windows NT = 1.6
Getting your phone bricked isnt the updates fault, there are hundreds of threads out there and reading just one couldve given you signs of warning.
As for your battery life, I am willing to bet your phone screen is full of widgets. Try limiting those, as well as automated syncing. I get excellent battery life that can EASILY last me the whole day (I actually find myself running avatar/pandora at the end of the night just to drain it so I can recharge the battery).
However, I do agree that the inaccurate battery reading should have been fixed a long time ago (or at least in this update) and that froyo should have been included with the release of this phone.
Your cell standy is too high which means you have things constantly using the cell signal to pull data, thus draining your battery. Right now I'm at 72% with 67% display, 14% voice calls, and 9% cell standby. Been unplugged for 3 and a half hours.
Not great but I'm purposely trying to let it die because I'm reconditioning.
The_wolf88 said:
For me Android 2.1 which samsung released in Galaxy S is exactly like Windows Vista ! No matter how many updates you release for it still will make your phone **** !
The only option is to release a full new OS which is Windows 7 = Froyo !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha! You may just be right on that. Eclair seems like a fairly lame version of Android, if you ask me. Not horrible, but not great.
anthonys2r said:
Getting your phone bricked isnt the updates fault, there are hundreds of threads out there and reading just one couldve given you signs of warning.
As for your battery life, I am willing to bet your phone screen is full of widgets. Try limiting those, as well as automated syncing. I get excellent battery life that can EASILY last me the whole day (I actually find myself running avatar/pandora at the end of the night just to drain it so I can recharge the battery).
However, I do agree that the inaccurate battery reading should have been fixed a long time ago (or at least in this update) and that froyo should have been included with the release of this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Signs of warning" means nothing, my friend. There are folks who didn't even *root* that got soft-bricked with this update. It was (somehow) poorly handled.
As for your widgets comment, well... you would've lost the bet. I use a single screen, no widgets, no weather stuff, bluetooth off, wifi on (but currently turned off), and nothing extraneous. I run Android about as light & frothy as you can get! I prefer speed over just about everything.
Any other thoughts, though? Perhaps I should re-load Autostarts to see if there's anything strange launching at boot time...
kangxi said:
Your cell standy is too high which means you have things constantly using the cell signal to pull data, thus draining your battery. Right now I'm at 72% with 67% display, 14% voice calls, and 9% cell standby. Been unplugged for 3 and a half hours.
Not great but I'm purposely trying to let it die because I'm reconditioning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Any ideas what would be pinging the cell standby so much? I'm in a high-bandwidth area (full bars), so it's not like the phone is struggling to get signal. I use Gmail and Exchange, but my Exchange sync is set to "hourly", rather than push.
Doesn't seem like I'd need to disable my 3G connectivity. I certainly have never had to before.
You should probably reflash the update. JI6 was great on my phone, no hiccups, no lag, perfect GPS.
Also, you should recalibrate your battery after the update and give it a few days to settle down. I always get horrible battery life after flashing a rom, but after a few cycles I'm back up to 24h+.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Honestly, I wouldn't know unless I knew your full setup. What I will say is that I do have a lot of widgets and apps running that pull from the internet but yet my cell standby isn't as high as yours. I haven't reduced any of my sync intervals either. The 3G radio can really drain battery fast, faster than even the screen so that is a problem.
Also, in JI6, they increased the strength of the radio so it drains even more battery. I am running the JI6 modem however.
You should use something like WatchDog to see what is constantly running and using CPU. That could give you an indicator of problem apps.
Well, I'm disabling some startup items: Visual Voicemail, Telenav, and Daily Briefing -- none of which I use. Maybe that'll help. I don't know...
I was really trying to run "stock" this time around -- not so much fooling and tinkering with things, but it doesn't appear to be paying off for me. Frustrating.
yipcanjo said:
Well, I'm disabling some startup items: Visual Voicemail, Telenav, and Daily Briefing -- none of which I use. Maybe that'll help. I don't know...
I was really trying to run "stock" this time around -- not so much fooling and tinkering with things, but it doesn't appear to be paying off for me. Frustrating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow, yea definitely you need to disable all of those. That's the first thing I do. I actually uninstall Visual Voicemail, Telenav, Amazon MP3 etc. ALL of those things constantly run for some reason even without you opening them once.
You're not alone. My battery life is terrible as well after the update. I'm losing 4% an hour on standby.
That said, my phone is smooth and working great when I do use it.
Yellow C6 said:
You're not alone. My battery life is terrible as well after the update. I'm losing 4% an hour on standby.
That said, my phone is smooth and working great when I do use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen to that. Except that the GPS is still unreliable.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I'm having terrible battery life as well.
i'm 24 hours unplugged, sitting at 27%
all stock JI6
Again, if you didn't do so after the update, wipe battery stats and then do a few full drain/charge cycles. My battery life always sucks after flashing a new ROM, but it always goes back to normal given time.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
after the update for me, my gps is much better, but i actually have more lag then i had stock before....
so I need to either flash a kernel, lag fix, or a rom with at least one of those.... its kind of frustrating to have lag just from opening or closing a simple app, messages, or call... I honestly cant believe a phone with these hardware specs can have lag just from somthing as simple going into the dialer and exiting out...
Battery life seems to have decreased a little but still getting a good 20+ hours. GPS is a little better with use wireless networks. Lag is an issue now though. Didn't have much before a the update. Hopefully its solved in another update or froyo.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
So I applied the update on Tuesday through Mini Kies. First experience with this update, it's been great. My phone seems to faster, really I hardly experience any kind of lag or slowdown (and this is in comparison with my stock vibrant running OCLF). Battery life even seems to be better, but that is probably to do with conditioning. So everything has been good except for the fact that my phone has froze on me TWICE today. I'm thinking it's something to do with the apps though. I was in Layar and it was working for a bit when suddenly, it froze, I didn't have to pull the battery I just held the power button down for a good 5-10 seconds and it restarted. The other time was in a game, which kind of concerns me. I suppose I can reinstall both and see how that goes. I'm thinking it has more to do with the apps possibly being corrupted. The first thing I did was install the 2.2 market on my phone and I ran the update all function on like 15 apps that needed updating. Not a good idea imo, the market went crazy and forced closed a couple of times. I'm not entirely sure what is going but it seems like my phone is only freezing in certain apps. I hope it's not just some random freeze that can happen at anytime, that wouldn't be no good.
You guys complaining about battery life... i would Love to have your times. I got 3 hours and 8 minutes today on a fully charged battery.

Music app drains batterylike crazy

No matter what app I use it kills the battery. I think android need to work on it. Can't really listen to music on android phones without witnessing massive battery drain. How about you guys? Same issue? Any solution?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Um well it uses battery yes but I wouldn't say its horrible.
Sent from my Sublime MoDaCo Nexus S running Netarcy's amazing kernel!
kenvan19 said:
Um well it uses battery yes but I wouldn't say its horrible.
Sent from my Sublime MoDaCo Nexus S running Netarcy's amazing kernel!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
loosing 20 percent per hour is not horrible? with nothing but music playing
In general, battery technology needs to get better, and cheaper.
It's a little absurd to have all these apparently advantageous features like widgets, live wallpapers, syncs, bluetooth, or in your case, an app like music, but not be able to fully use them without suffering major battery loss. If you want to use them, they have to be monitored or hedged in some way. You even have people needing to don black wallpapers to conserve battery.
I'm aware that that's just the technology of full screen smart phones, but it's about time battery technology made some gains as well. I love all these features, but I'm tired of not being able to use them fully or having to carry extra batteries or having to live by the charger.
2012iawait said:
loosing 20 percent per hour is not horrible? with nothing but music playing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was speaking to my case which does not have those kinds of losses. Dollars to donuts, you have something else causing the massive battery drain.
onthecouchagain said:
In general, battery technology needs to get better, and cheaper.
It's a little absurd to have all these apparently advantageous features like widgets, live wallpapers, syncs, bluetooth, or in your case, an app like music, but not be able to fully use them without suffering major battery loss. If you want to use them, they have to be monitored or hedged in some way. You even have people needing to don black wallpapers to conserve battery.
I'm aware that that's just the technology of full screen smart phones, but it's about time battery technology made some gains as well. I love all these features, but I'm tired of not being able to use them fully or having to carry extra batteries or having to live by the charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, its not the batteries that are to blame. One of the reasons a good friend of mine who loves java based development hasn't made the jump to Android is the battery life. Because it is open-source, there are no checks made against apps to make sure they are not going to cause massive battery drain, data usage, or any other negative side effects. If we lived in the walled Apple garden, things would be different.
Basically, what I'm getting at is that you seem to have a lot of issues with the Android platform as a whole. Don't take this as harsh but perhaps you should look at other options because you seem to be very (vocally) unhappy with your phone and the Android system as a whole. You should be happy with your phone, not at odds with it.
You didn't say how fast a drain you're seeing.
I see about 5-8% per hour battery drain with music on multiple android devices with multiple apps. That's 12-20 hours playback depending on the device. About half what Apple claims to get out of the iPhone 4. I don't think the iPhone would last anywhere near 40 hours Apple says it would, but I haven't used mine much.
One of the advantages of a 'droid over an iPhone is that you can swap out the batteries. If you're a heavy user, you're just going to have to get used to the idea of plugging in while in the car or at the desk at work or carrying a spare battery and swapping.
I think the Nexus S has amazing battery life compared to any phone I've owned, including the iPhone 2/3g/3gs/4. None of those would make it through a full day any better than my Nexus S.
distortedloop said:
You didn't say how fast a drain you're seeing.
I see about 5-8% per hour battery drain with music on multiple android devices with multiple apps. That's 12-20 hours playback depending on the device. About half what Apple claims to get out of the iPhone 4. I don't think the iPhone would last anywhere near 40 hours Apple says it would, but I haven't used mine much.
One of the advantages of a 'droid over an iPhone is that you can swap out the batteries. If you're a heavy user, you're just going to have to get used to the idea of plugging in while in the car or at the desk at work or carrying a spare battery and swapping.
I think the Nexus S has amazing battery life compared to any phone I've owned, including the iPhone 2/3g/3gs/4. None of those would make it through a full day any better than my Nexus S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said he was getting 20% drain per hour. I find it strange however you got such horrible battery life on a 3GS. The developer friend I mentioned has a 3GS which she always gets at least two days use out of with very heavy use. I can't say if she listens to music on it (she isn't that big of a music person, to be honest) but she is always browsing the web, sending texts, emails and getting calls.
kenvan19 said:
Basically, what I'm getting at is that you seem to have a lot of issues with the Android platform as a whole. Don't take this as harsh but perhaps you should look at other options because you seem to be very (vocally) unhappy with your phone and the Android system as a whole. You should be happy with your phone, not at odds with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@onthecouchagain, I drafted almost the exact same thing to you the other day in a different thread but hit cancel because I thought it wouldn't be well received, but I have to agree with kenvan19 here...
No one around here seems more unhappy with the Nexus S than you do. Multiple issues, multiple dissatisfactions, multiple frustrated-sounding threads. Why do you keep the thing? In the end it's just a phone; it's not worth all the frustration you seem to have with it. Go back to the iPhone; it's a great device with fewer quirks, albeit fewer freedoms.
Are we just getting the wrong impression of how you feel about the phone overall?
kenvan19 said:
He said he was getting 20% drain per hour. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No he didn't. The original poster (flameinthefire) didn't say how much drain he was experieincing. Someone else said 20% per hour (2012iawait) in a later post.
@flameinthefire - how much drain do you get per hour? Have you tested that? Have you looked in the battery usage stats to see if there's a hint there?
@2012iawait - what music app are you using that drains your phone 20% per hour? If it's a stand-alone app playing local MP3 files, there's something wrong for sure. If you're using Pandora, or Stitcher, or something like that, don't forget that you're streaming off the net, which means a full time data connection has to be maintained and that will definitely drain your battery at that kind of rate.
distortedloop said:
No he didn't. The original poster (flameinthefire) didn't say how much drain he was experieincing. Someone else said 20% per hour (2012iawait) in a later post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct. I did not notice that, I apologize.
2012iawait said:
loosing 20 percent per hour is not horrible? with nothing but music playing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is something wrong with the battery, apps, or how you're using it. 20% loss over an hour with only music playing doesn't make any sense.
Don't know what the op means by "crazy" battery drain. With the screen off and just playing music I only really see it drop about 5-6% an hour. When my phone is idle sitting on the table just hooked onto data, it's usually around 3-4% an hour so an extra 2-3% extra isn't too bad. With airplane mode on I'm sure I would see about 5% or under an hour for music playback. (Headphones, obviously. Playing over the speaker would use more battery)
kenvan19 said:
Basically, what I'm getting at is that you seem to have a lot of issues with the Android platform as a whole. Don't take this as harsh but perhaps you should look at other options because you seem to be very (vocally) unhappy with your phone and the Android system as a whole. You should be happy with your phone, not at odds with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@onthecouchagain, I drafted almost the exact same thing to you the other day in a different thread but hit cancel because I thought it wouldn't be well received, but I have to agree with kenvan19 here...
No one around here seems more unhappy with the Nexus S than you do. Multiple issues, multiple dissatisfactions, multiple frustrated-sounding threads. Why do you keep the thing? In the end it's just a phone; it's not worth all the frustration you seem to have with it. Go back to the iPhone; it's a great device with fewer quirks, albeit fewer freedoms.
Are we just getting the wrong impression of how you feel about the phone overall?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both perfectly fair questions. I don't want to hi-jack this thread so I'll answer as briefly as possible. This is more or less what I've said in other threads...
I'm just disappointed by the promises of "stock Android" experience. Part of that is my fault for believing it, but part of that is also the misconception people continue to perpetuate. One of the biggest features that Nexus-lovers tout is not only that they get the latest updates, but they get the cleanest updates -- free of OEM skins that hamper the phone. Stock Android certainly has its advantages, and I would never defend OEM skins, but as it turns out, stock Android hampers the phone more than just fine by itself. The promise was that the lack of OEM skins would finally let the Android OS thrive to its fullest potential, but it's a farce, and GB is chock full of its own glitches and issues. (There are also oddities which perplex me. I recently discovered there is no way to organize bookmarks in the stock browser. I understand the most visited sites show up first, but why not offer the feature to organize the way I want it to as well? What happened to freedom of choice? Also, isn't that what the "Most Visited" tab is for?)
I realize no platform is perfect and I am generally a huge proponent of virtually all things Google (Gmail, Chrome), but I'm becoming more and more disenchanted by Android.
Having said that, I love and enjoy many things about Android, and my complaints are primarily voiced in the hopes to see Android continue to grow and improve (someone mentioned Googlers read, sometimes even post, at these forums). I am doing my part in submitting reports and feature-requests to Google and often link them to garner more support/stars. (my latest request: custom auto-corrections for the keyboard: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=14420. Please star, I think it'll be a great asset to the keyboard). I am not sitting idly and complaining; I am criticizing, and there is a difference. About the iPhone suggestion, there were many things I disliked about iOS (I was just as critical! Heh). But I do mention the iPhone, especially when talking about keyboards, because clearly there are some things it does better -- and we should be able to admit that without being accused of fanboyism (not that such a thing doesn't exist). I am not quite ready to divorce myself from the Nexus line yet, despite becoming disenchanted by the OS, and will still keep an eye on the next Nexus whenever/whatever that may be. If the Nexus S and GB weren't so chock full of issues, I'd be singing a different tune. My hope is that as updates come, the issues will be resolved and the overall OS will be improved upon. Until then, what issues it has warrants discussion.
Lastly, many people here have helped me figure solutions to many of my problems, which I greatly appreciate.
Sorry. The post ended up longer than I intended. Back to batteries...
I have found that Winamp and Doubletwist seem to really kick my battery's butt. Cubed and PowerAmp do better. I don't use the stock Music player because when I get out of the car and unplug the phone it starts playing music every time and I can't stand it.

PSA for T-Mobile Priv users

Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying your new Priv! I got mine on release day, so I've been tinkering with it since I got it. A few things bothered me about the device: the battery would take forever to charge, even using a Qualcomm certified quick charger, and the battery would drain abnormally fast. Even with no apps running, Antutu would only score 40,000 to 50,000 and 800/2500 in Geekbench.
I found out that the T-Mobile MyAccount app was always running in the background and took up 6% of my phone's battery, just above android OS. After I disabled that app, I found that a full charge would only take about an hour, versus the 2 hours it took before. Battery life also skyrocketed from about 8 hours to 14+. Antutu scores went up to 60,000 to 67,000 (I tested several times) and Geekbench now consistently scores 1200/3500 for me. The phone also doesn't get NEARLY as hot as it used to.
One other thing I did was to change all my accounts in the hub to sync every 15 minutes instead of push, which also seemed to help with the battery life. Hope this info helps you turn your Priv into the best phone it can be!
Zer0.exe said:
Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying your new Priv! I got mine on release day, so I've been tinkering with it since I got it. A few things bothered me about the device: the battery would take forever to charge, even using a Qualcomm certified quick charger, and the battery would drain abnormally fast. Even with no apps running, Antutu would only score 40,000 to 50,000 and 800/2500 in Geekbench.
I found out that the T-Mobile MyAccount app was always running in the background and took up 6% of my phone's battery, just above android OS. After I disabled that app, I found that a full charge would only take about an hour, versus the 2 hours it took before. Battery life also skyrocketed from about 8 hours to 14+. Antutu scores went up to 60,000 to 67,000 (I tested several times) and Geekbench now consistently scores 1200/3500 for me. The phone also doesn't get NEARLY as hot as it used to.
One other thing I did was to change all my accounts in the hub to sync every 15 minutes instead of push, which also seemed to help with the battery life. Hope this info helps you turn your Priv into the best phone it can be!
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I heard that some people on Blackberry forums were reporting that T-Mobile My Account app could/is causing battery drainage. I didn't like my account app showing me notifications and went to options in that app and remove all the check marks from the there. I had no issues with battery, but as a precaution I always disable apps that I never use.
Thanks for the heads-up. Finally picked one up today and felt that it did indeed heat up quicker than it should and definitely wasn't charging as fast as I thought it should be. Hopefully this helps!
My Priv's battery has been an utter nightmare - gonna give this a shot. Have you noticed any adverse effects from disabling the app? My main concern is if BingeOn will still work. I'm okay with not being able to disable it (not a big video guy) but free music streaming is super important to me - streaming music at work constantly during an 8hr shift, in the car during my commute... yeah, I need that.
And, before anyone says anything, it's not the music streaming doing it. In fact, the battery seems almost better when I'm doing that since I've just got the phone sitting in my pocket. Wakelocks are an absolute nuisance though - "awake" time is well over 10x SoT.
Trevorq243 said:
My Priv's battery has been an utter nightmare - gonna give this a shot. Have you noticed any adverse effects from disabling the app? My main concern is if BingeOn will still work. I'm okay with not being able to disable it (not a big video guy) but free music streaming is super important to me - streaming music at work constantly during an 8hr shift, in the car during my commute... yeah, I need that.
And, before anyone says anything, it's not the music streaming doing it. In fact, the battery seems almost better when I'm doing that since I've just got the phone sitting in my pocket. Wakelocks are an absolute nuisance though - "awake" time is well over 10x SoT.
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BingeOn doesn't require any T-Mobile bloat to run. It's handled on the network side, not on the device itself. Also, unless they recently changed something, you don't need BingeOn enabled to get free music streaming. Music streaming is free regardless.
Thanks for that. So far the Priv is doing a fine job keeping itself alive now that app is gone. Nice to know I won't be blowing past my data allowance. I'm new to T-Mobile and so far, so good. Well, other than their app destroying my phone of course.
Trevorq243 said:
Thanks for that. So far the Priv is doing a fine job keeping itself alive now that app is gone. Nice to know I won't be blowing past my data allowance. I'm new to T-Mobile and so far, so good. Well, other than their app destroying my phone of course.
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You'll get all that bloat with any carrier
I do want to point out that the Priv does an awesome job of standby. It makes sense that a 2K screen could drain the battery quickly, but I've gone 9 hours with only 40% drain when I barely use it, so it stays alive well when you aren't actively using it. I was also streaming music the whole time, but since the screen itself was off it saved my battery.
Zer0.exe said:
You'll get all that bloat with any carrier
I do want to point out that the Priv does an awesome job of standby. It makes sense that a 2K screen could drain the battery quickly, but I've gone 9 hours with only 40% drain when I barely use it, so it stays alive well when you aren't actively using it. I was also streaming music the whole time, but since the screen itself was off it saved my battery.
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Yep, that's been my experience. On for ~16 hours with 3hrs SoT. Not bad, really. I wouldn't mind a little more longevity but hey, that's what power banks are for.
Here's my own battery experience. I only removed the t-mobile apps and using Facebook on chrome and not the app. I'm a moderate user 2.5 hrs of on screen time!
cronojay said:
Here's my own battery experience. I only removed the t-mobile apps and using Facebook on chrome and not the app. I'm a moderate user 2.5 hrs of on screen time!
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The screen is a killer on this device, but it shouldn't be quite that bad. Are all your BlackBerry apps up to date? Some people have to manually check for updates for some reason.
Also, I disabled every T-Mobile app except visual voicemail. No idea if that'll help or not but it's worth a shot.
Finally, how long have you had the device? Phones always seem screwy battery-life wise during the first few days, regardless of system health.
I disabled all bloatware, this phone dies WAYYYYY to fast compare to my prior note 5.
I really dont, but i'll need to trade back in this phone if I don't get this solved. A man needs a phone with a battery!
Trevorq243 said:
The screen is a killer on this device, but it shouldn't be quite that bad. Are all your BlackBerry apps up to date? Some people have to manually check for updates for some reason.
Also, I disabled every T-Mobile app except visual voicemail. No idea if that'll help or not but it's worth a shot.
Finally, how long have you had the device? Phones always seem screwy battery-life wise during the first few days, regardless of system health.
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How about this one for a little bit over 2 weeks and so far it's been phenomenal for me 1 degrees in love with a good battery life is I disabled Facebook and I just use the web to look at Facebook so that save my battery by at least 20%.
techprint said:
I disabled all bloatware, this phone dies WAYYYYY to fast compare to my prior note 5.
I really dont, but i'll need to trade back in this phone if I don't get this solved. A man needs a phone with a battery!
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Other than battery life, how are you liking the switch? I like but don't love my note 5. I hadn't had a note since the original version, but I'm finding again that I just don't use the spen. I'm thinking about jumping back into a blackberry with keyboard.
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk
crawldit said:
Other than battery life, how are you liking the switch? I like but don't love my note 5. I hadn't had a note since the original version, but I'm finding again that I just don't use the spen. I'm thinking about jumping back into a blackberry with keyboard.
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk
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I'll take back what I previously wrote, as of yesterday I managed to get 24 hours on phone battery. at standby this phone doesn't use any sort of battery, I killed 20 percent in 40 mins on youtube though..
Going to give it a solid week, if not i'll return it and hopefully pick up the new s7 if release by then. I was on the same boat as you, got tired of the note and just wanted a switch. I'll keep checking back leaving my reviews here
techprint said:
I'll take back what I previously wrote, as of yesterday I managed to get 24 hours on phone battery. at standby this phone doesn't use any sort of battery, I killed 20 percent in 40 mins on youtube though..
Going to give it a solid week, if not i'll return it and hopefully pick up the new s7 if release by then. I was on the same boat as you, got tired of the note and just wanted a switch. I'll keep checking back leaving my reviews here
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I'll second this - screen off, next to zero battery used. Screen on, battery tanks like crazy. I think I'm gonna stick with it though I'm tempted to give the V10 a shot - I need a tough phone and this most certainly is not.

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