Root Virtuous2.7 battery life not cutting it. Whats next?

[rsarno]

using siedo 1750 (tho i never noticed much improvement over stock)

Virtuous 2.7 + custom kernal offered from rom manager

setCPU with the usual/common profiles i see posted all over (screen off, battery<50%, temp)

Display down to 50%

WiFi on at home and work

8hrs unplugged
8hrs Uptime
3hrs awake time
40% remaining
Time without a signal: 4% (i have wifi connected most of the day, and JD manages my mobile data for 1/15)
Mostly phone calls and emails. Only 5 txts, no GPS, no camera, no apps. My Usage chart shows the highest item is "Voice Calls" at 32% which was only about 20 calls, longest one was 25min.

Thats actually not that bad, but not much better than i was getting from Stock.

Since the major reason i rooted was for the battery saving capabilities, im obviously here asking you guys what my next step is. Are there other ROM/Kernal combos that are known for having insane battery life? Do i put a different kernal with this ROM?

I feel like im barely using the phone! I feel like if i did play some games, surf the net, maybe use tether, etc. That id be dead before noon.

PS, i understand 12-16 hrs with heavy use is actually great. Im posting this because with my current root combo, its not terribly better than my stock setup, so i want to see what else i can do. This isnt a "omgz the battery sucks!" thread.

PPS, i would have the 3500 in a heartbeat! If they just made a decent case for it!! I have the Siedo Active, and love it to death!!

PPPS, yes i plan to try some ROM/Kernals, im just wondering if there is any known winning combo specifically for power users who need extended battery and who are willing to sacrifice some performance for it.

 

[jbdan]

As you said your battery life is actually very good. What kind of battery life are you expecting from a pocket computer? Only thing I can think of is to underclock with setcpu. Make the maximum cpu frequency 614mHz or something around that while still keeping your screen off profile. I bet you barely notice

You could also try one of kings kernels and underclock it. It might make better use of battery saving as I believe it undervolts just a tad.

Your rom/kernel combo is the best I have ever tried. I'm now on SR vanilla and it's pretty close not quite as good but I'm not using setcpu just letting it do it's own thing

 

[rsarno]

As you said your battery life is actually very good. What kind of battery life are you expecting from a pocket computer?

Yes i know its not bad, but again its not much different than stock. The reason i was excited to root was seeing peoples screen-caps showing 50+ hrs uptime, 20hrs awake, etc.

Also realize, im really not pushing the phone. It just sits there, i pop in to check emails, or make/take a call now and then. 12hrs should be a breeze with that usage, IMO

Only thing I can think of is to underclock with setcpu. Make the maximum cpu frequency 614mHz or something around that while still keeping your screen off profile. I bet you barely notice

Good idea, thank you i will try.

You could also try one of kings kernels and underclock it. It might make better use of battery saving as I believe it undervolts just a tad.

Does it work with the ROM im using? I just add the new kernal on top?

 

[icrazy2u]

I have Virtuous + Custom Kernel that you have and INCredible Revolution. Its a lot of black in that theme so that helps. I got 17 hours of battery life before I went to sleep. Would have got more but didn't want to stay up. CPU is unchanged and I use my phone a lot.

 

[rayporsche]

'rsarno'.......got the solution for ya !!!!

 

[howarmat]

i think your expectations are too high...i told you yesterday you are going to double your battery life or anything. squeeze a few extra hours out maybe but that would be it.

Also, you have barely been running the new setup a day, you need to give it more time to really see its performance

 

[Hand76]

I would stay away from Kings Kernals for now your phone slows down after 24+ hours of use.

I am trying Hydras undervolt kernal which is probably the best you will find to help you with battery life.

Nothing I have done to this point has been great but you just got to keep making small strides.

 

[rsarno]

'rsarno'.......got the solution for ya !!!!

Dude thats the funniest thing i have seen all day, and yep ... thats what i need ahahahaaa

 

[billybob275]

I ran Virtuous 2.7 with the custom kernal all weekend at a festival that offered an online map and schedule of events (so I used my phone for what seemed like quite a bit). I had it set to 768/245-Conservative when awake (rarely had lag) & 384/245 when asleep, 100% brightness, 3g on the entire time. 30 minutes of it was phone calls, and the rest was mostly only text messages (Handcent), Gmail, and Dolphin Browser. After 12.5 hours of uptime, 4.5 hours wake time, I still had 64% battery remaining.

Like mentioned above, I am running a dark wallpaper, which seems to help (I don't know, placebo maybe? but it works for me), and I did bump charge it beforehand.

The first day I flashed it, the battery life wasn't too impressive, probably because I was messing with the settings all day, but it seemed to work much better on the 2nd thru 4th days. I recommend giving it another day or so.

I haven't been able to really stress test it today, but I'm hoping the battery life this weekend wasn't just a fluke.

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention I'm using a Seidio 1750 battery.

 

[rsarno]

I ran Virtuous 2.7 with the custom kernal all weekend at a festival that offered an online map and schedule of events (so I used my phone for what seemed like quite a bit). I had it set to 768/245-Conservative when awake (rarely had lag) & 384/245 when asleep, 100% brightness, 3g on the entire time. 30 minutes of it was phone calls, and the rest was mostly only text messages (Handcent), Gmail, and Dolphin Browser. After 12.5 hours of uptime, 4.5 hours wake time, I still had 64% battery remaining.

THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!! With those numbers, you can assume maybe 24-30hrs with heavy data usage. That right there is impressive. In my case, i have nearly no data usage (didnt even open browser at all, or gps) and i might hit 16hrs or so.

The first day I flashed it, the battery life wasn't too impressive, probably because I was messing with the settings all day, but it seemed to work much better on the 2nd thru 4th days. I recommend giving it another day or so.

Well it was only my first full work day, so that might be it!! If not, i will be looking into that damn dark theme of yours haha!

Thanks for the info, it was encouraging

 

[dscribe]

@rsarno

Or you could just get one of these except for an incredible instead of the iphone:

 

[tbeas]

How long have you actually been running this? Give it at least a week and then decide.

 

[crazydog]

Those people with the 50 hour standby time don't use this phone they way it's meant to be used. That means no background data, no gps, and in some cases, no mobile network. Yes, that will give you amazing battery life, but if you're not going to use all that, why the hell did you buy this phone?

I'm running Virtuous 2.7, and I can squeeze out 8 hours of battery life on a good day. I have a bunch of crap syncing in the background every our, and a couple doing it less (such as weather). I always have background data and mobile network on, and I listen to music for maybe an an hour and a half when I don't work, and up to 5 hours when I do work, and I still get around 8 hours.

Again, if you want amazing battery life....turn off the phone.

PS: Underclocking the CPU to 460 MHz when the screen is off = ~0% battery usage according to JucePlotter. Check this out. This is the phone sitting on my desk at work with just the screen off, and everything else I mentioned above on (no music though). Granted I'm not USING the phone, but this gets the phone some great standby time.

(This is all on a Seido 1750mAh battery)

Also check this out:

It hasn't been unplugged for NEARLY that long (6.5 hours), I just haven't turned it off in 38 hours. Remember that when you're looking at other people's battery stats.

 

[jbdan]

Does it work with the ROM im using? I just add the new kernal on top?

Yes flash it like you would a ROM minus the wipe. MINUS THE WIPE!

BFS#2 is perfectly safe and stable with virtuous if you want to give it a whirl. I ran it for over a week with great battery life. Kings ker's are slighty undervolted (at least this one is) so who knows until you try it right.

Like some other posters have mentioned give your setup a few days though... you just might be surprised how battery life seems to get better

 

[Terabethia]

Those people with the 50 hour standby time don't use this phone they way it's meant to be used. That means no background data, no gps, and in some cases, no mobile network. Yes, that will give you amazing battery life, but if you're not going to use all that, why the hell did you buy this phone?

Some people sure, but not everyone.

Right now I have 43% battery. My Up Time is 55:13 and my Awake Time is 8:58. My phone has not been charged at all in those 55 hours. I have made made about an hours worth of phone calls, sent about 2 dozen texts, messed around online, played Penguin, checked out facebook. Used Locale several times, too.

I never turn off GPS or mobile network. I DO use WiFi when available though (which is most of the time). My GMail is set to sync every hour, as is my weather widget. I do not however sync facebook since I have no need for it to sync.

I am rooted but still using stock everything. No custom ROM's or kernels or radio's.

Using the 1500 battery from Bidallies on EBay.

I have removed all bloatware from the phone, which is when I noticed the biggest improvement. I also removed a bunch of HTC crap like their 4 different live wallpaper programs (don't like my wallpaper moving).

I have setCPU with only 2 profiles, Screen Off 460/384 and Battery <30% 499/384.

That's about it. I manage to get pretty decent battery life with very little effort.

 

[DizkoDan]

Those people with the 50 hour standby time don't use this phone they way it's meant to be used. That means no background data, no gps, and in some cases, no mobile network. Yes, that will give you amazing battery life, but if you're not going to use all that, why the hell did you buy this phone?

This isn't a fact. Yes, some people do these things to get those type of results, but not everyone. I don't do anything special other than having a screen off profile, not turning on wifi/gps unless I actually need to use them, and using a custom kernel. I regularly see 35-40 hrs of "normal" use with my seidio 1750. That is, with exchange & 3 google accts syncing all the time, facebook & twitter every hour (or manually when I actually look at them), sms, pics, light browsing and the occasional phone call.

The point is, YMMV. Everyone has different usage, so everyone will have different results. To state that people who get good battery life "don't use this phone they way it's meant to be use" just isn't a fair statement.

 

[Terabethia]

The point is, YMMV. Everyone has different usage, so everyone will have different results. To state that people who get good battery life "don't use this phone they way it's meant to be use" just isn't a fair statement.

Exactly my point, thank you

Like I said, I have 55:13 Up Time and 8:58 Awake Time. That's basically 4.5 hours of "use" a day. For two days strait. And still have over 40% battery.

Clearly I am not a "power user". I don't listen to music on my phone, I have a 160 gig iPod for that. I don't watch movies on my phone, I have a 50 inch plasma for that (or at least my 24 inch monitor). But I do just about everything else that it can do.

I damn sure don't "dumb down" my phone either. I use it as a phone with some nice perks. I make phone calls, I send texts. I check email and facebook occassionally. I play games when I have time to kill. I use lists while I am shopping. I use Locale to find out where the hell my fiance is at (if he's running late at work the only way I would know is to see if his phone is still AT work, he can't call me). I check out my news apps.

And regardless of any of that, I don't see the problem with people turning off syncing or GPS or whatever else they want to turn off in order to get the battery power needed to do what THEY want to do with their phone. If they want to sacrifice mobile network so they can listen to Pandora all day, that's their choice. It's one that all of us have to make. What you need vs what you want.

 

[makewayhomer]

I'm pretty sure the major battery differences people report has to do with internet surfing. my battery with virtous + custom kernal is in general great, however I can still literally watch the battery life go down as I surf web pages

 

[bjanow]

Exactly my point, thank you

Like I said, I have 55:13 Up Time and 8:58 Awake Time. That's basically 4.5 hours of "use" a day. For two days strait. And still have over 40% battery.

....

What do you do at night, just leave it screen off? That is great battery life. I couldn't go that long because at night it's my clock, on all night long.

 

[DizkoDan]

What do you do at night, just leave it screen off? That is great battery life. I couldn't go that long because at night it's my clock, on all night long.

I always leave my screen off when I'm not actively using my phone. That's easily one of the top battery killers.

And there is definitely something to makewayhomer's statement. Depending on the content, I have wathced my battery drop like 10-15% in a matter of minutes when browsing on 3g. Can't say whether the same happened on wifi, cuz generally if I have wifi access, I have my computer next to me and it's much more enjoyable to "surf" on.

 

[Adamx]

Not sure if it's been suggested, but try flashing a different radio? I am on 2.05 and the battery life is awesome even when using a lot of 3g.

 

[billybob275]

THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!! With those numbers, you can assume maybe 24-30hrs with heavy data usage. That right there is impressive. In my case, i have nearly no data usage (didnt even open browser at all, or gps) and i might hit 16hrs or so.

Well it was only my first full work day, so that might be it!! If not, i will be looking into that damn dark theme of yours haha!

Thanks for the info, it was encouraging

I forgot to mention earlier that I'm also using a Seidio 1750 battery. So far its doing pretty well, but GPS and streaming music seems to put a hurting on the battery. I left 3g & sync running and brightness at 100% when left on, but GPS, Bluetooth, and Wifi were off the entire time.

Also, here's a screenshot of my home screen. The screenshot is from this morning, not Saturday when I reported the battery usage:

 

[makewayhomer]

THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!! With those numbers, you can assume maybe 24-30hrs with heavy data usage.

I highly doubt it, as mentioned above data usage over 3g is the biggest battery killer I think. my battery is much better than it used to be, and in general is fine now, but I could probably kill the battery in 3 ish hours of constant web surfing over 3g. maybe less

 

[ACD168]

hydra stock undervolt

 

[billybob275]

hydra stock undervolt

Giving this one a try for a couple days. I'll update on how it goes.