Battery life: How is your idle drain rate? Ways to improve battery life on N1?

[snovvman]

The N1 seems to drain the battery at about 10-15% over night (good coverage conditions) and 20-30% per 24 hour period with no use. I don't have many applications installed, and I have disabled auto-sync. Also, I am not using the weather/news widget, WiFi is off, BT is off.

How is your idle battery drain?

For a GSM phone, this is a lot. My CDMA phones don't even drain this much at idle.

I have read that killing well-behaved tasks really don't do much, given the Linux operating kernel.

Any idea on how to reduce the idle drain rate and improve battery life?

Thanks.

 

[sooper_droid12]

In the settings menu, turn off auto-sync and turn off background data which allows programs to sync, send and receive data any time they want. Have it on if you want to receive updates, but usually if I'm in front of a computer, I have it off since I can easily check my Facebook or Twitter from the computer. If I'm out and about, I'll turn the data back on. I leave auto-sync off because usually that's for gmail and stuff and I can do that manually. Other than that, make sure you're putting you phone where it has good signal, because I know if my phone is switching from 1x to 3G, it'll drain. Screen brightness on my phone is at ZERO, the least bright it can be (below the auto-dimmer). Using this, I can go from 7AM (off charger) well... now, it's almost 1AM, and I have about 40% with my WiFi antennae on and auto-sync.

 

[snovvman]

In the settings menu, turn off auto-sync and turn off background data which allows programs to sync, send and receive data any time they want. Have it on if you want to receive updates, but usually if I'm in front of a computer, I have it off since I can easily check my Facebook or Twitter from the computer. If I'm out and about, I'll turn the data back on. I leave auto-sync off because usually that's for gmail and stuff and I can do that manually. Other than that, make sure you're putting you phone where it has good signal, because I know if my phone is switching from 1x to 3G, it'll drain. Screen brightness on my phone is at ZERO, the least bright it can be (below the auto-dimmer). Using this, I can go from 7AM (off charger) well... now, it's almost 1AM, and I have about 40% with my WiFi antennae on and auto-sync.

Thanks. I already have auto-sync and background disabled and I am in a stable UTMS coverage area (see above). Since this is idle drain and screen is off, I don't think brightness settings will help.

Any idea why it is draining at 20-30% per day on its own?

 

[sooper_droid12]

Hmm, that is weird. Honestly, if I left background data and autosyncing off, I've had my phone drop only 10% of it's charge in a 20 hour period (90% remaining). The only thing I can think of is the battery necessary to keep the CPU humming along, even if it's not involved in any processes other than maintaining the OS. Also, whether those background and sync data is off, there are still running services. You could task kill 'em all. Unfortunately, there really isn't a "sleep" mode for these phones (which I wish there were).

 

[iSEq]

Hmm, that is weird. Honestly, if I left background data and autosyncing off, I've had my phone drop only 10% of it's charge in a 20 hour period (90% remaining). The only thing I can think of is the battery necessary to keep the CPU humming along, even if it's not involved in any processes other than maintaining the OS. Also, whether those background and sync data is off, there are still running services. You could task kill 'em all. Unfortunately, there really isn't a "sleep" mode for these phones (which I wish there were).

I've noticed mine drains more than my iPhone (3GS) does but certainly not enough to be a deal breaker. Like you my thought is centered along the CPU requirements.

 

[fryarch]

noob question but, im guessing its possible to set it so that you only connect to 3g/wifi when you want to for internet / maps etc and that it doesnt have to be always connected draining the bat? --thou obviously any widgets etc wouldnt update then...?

 

[informale]

Check out this guide:
http://androidforums.com/samsung-i7500/14041-improving-troubleshooting-battery-life.html

Galaxy users have been through this... )

 

[Re4son]

if you guys root your phone you can install setcpu. with it you can set the frequency at which the processor is at during charging, sleep mode, and regular usage. you can set your phone to be underclocked during sleep mode so it consumes less battery.

 

[oniongirl]

How to prolong lithium-based batteries has some interesting info on lithium-ion batteries, specifically:

"The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often..."

"Some lithium-ion batteries fail due to excessive low discharge. To prevent failure, never store the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use...."

edit: Just noticed there is a "Simple Guidelines" section at the bottom of the page. Has nice bullet points. Also explains why my laptop battery is rubbish

 

[osubrad04]

Just my two cents... The Nexus 1 hasn't disappointed me. I have turned off the GPS and that seems to make a serious difference in the battery life. I noticed GPS was running when I was using the browser. Major battery killer there... after that I ended the day with 80% battery life and over night my battery drained 3%. The GPS edit is the only thing I have done and I dont use a task killer. I made a few calls yesterday totaling about 30 minutes, email on push with about 40ish received and sent texts all day.

GPS being used by browser the culprit?