Guru82

Case Study: Brightness, Widgets and Live Wallpaper Battery Usage, for rooted and unrooted alike

Serious time taken. Please be real serious and leave a deadly serious reply in all seriousness... I need sleep

Mission: Test mA power draw of brightness, widgets and live wallpapers on panels.

How was it done?


Tests:
*Test #01A is our baseline test. Handy for comparison.
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WIFI
Test #01A (WiFi On): WiFi is On. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -160mA
1:00; -160mA
1:30; -152mA
2:00; -152mA
2:30; -150mA
3:00; -150mA
3:30; -154mA
4:00; -154mA
4:30; -154mA
5:00; -154mA
Result #01A: -154mA average
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Test #01B (WiFi Off): WiFi is Off. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -148mA
1:00; -150mA
1:30; -152mA
2:00; -154mA
2:30; -160mA
3:00; -162mA
3:30; -158mA
4:00; -156mA
4:30; -158mA
5:00; -166mA
Result #01B: -156.4mA average (strange result. I'm sitting 1m from wireless router though... and I noticed Google Drive and Root App Delete restarted after the completion)
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BRIGHTNESS
Test #02A (Brightness Minimum): Brightness is Minimum. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -128mA
1:00; -128mA
1:30; -120mA
2:00; -120mA
2:30; -126mA
3:00; -126mA
3:30; -140mA
4:00; -140mA
4:30; -128mA
5:00; -128mA
Result #02A: -128.4mA average
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Test #02B (Brightness Medium): Brightness is Medium. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -158mA
1:00; -158mA
1:30; -160mA
2:00; -154mA
2:30; -154mA
3:00; -152mA
3:30; -150mA
4:00; -158mA
4:30; -152mA
5:00; -162mA
Result #02B: -155.8mA average (this test matches WIFI Test #01A. There is only 1.8mA variance. -155mA can be a baseline to compare the other tests)
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Test #02C (Brightness Maximum): Brightness is Maximum. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Test is a go!
0:30; -214mA
1:00; -220mA
1:30; -228mA
2:00; -222mA
2:30; -232mA
3:00; -218mA
3:30; -216mA
4:00; -222mA
4:30; -222mA
5:00; -220mA
Result #02C: -221.4mA average ([221.4-155.8 = 65.6mA from Medium] that's a multiple of 2.4 compared to the difference between minimum and medium. That's huge!)
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PANELS added
Test #03A: All seven screen panels are added. All panels are clear of all widgets and app shorts. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
... Test aborted. There is no difference having multiple panels to only one. My first mA read told me that, and I had thought it would be the case beforehand.
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WIDGETS
Test #04A (HTC Weather Clock 4x1): Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts, except HTC Clock. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -158mA
1:00; -156mA
1:30; -160mA
2:00; -162mA
2:30; -150mA
3:00; -152mA
3:30; -148mA
4:00; -154mA
4:30; -152mA
5:00; -156mA
Result #04A: -154.8mA average (that's basically no battery hit)
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Test #04B (HTC Weather Clock 4x2): Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts, except HTC Clock. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -150mA
1:00; -152mA
1:30; -154mA
2:00; -158mA
2:30; -182mA
3:00; -170mA
3:30; -158mA
4:00; -162mA
4:30; -160mA
5:00; -162mA
Result #04B: -160.8mA average (the jump at 2:30? probably something else. Basically no battery hit)
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Test #04C (Stocks 4x1, HTC Weather Clock 4x1, Data Dashboard 4x1 and Power Dashboard 4x1): Home is full of widgets. All screen panels except home are removed. Wallpaper is static 'HTC wallpapers (1/15)'. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -400mA
1:00; -396mA
1:30; -390mA
2:00; -156mA
2:30; -154mA
3:00; -154mA
3:30; -160mA
4:00; -160mA
4:30; -168mA
5:00; -168mA
Result #04C: -230.6mA average (holy stocks batman!, yes that was stock widget chewing an extra 230 or so milliamps over 1min and 30secs)
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LIVE WALLPAPERS
Test #05A (Live Wallpaper HTC Sense): Wallpaper is live 'HTC Sense (1/12)'. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -286mA
1:00; -288mA
1:30; -286mA
2:00; -290mA
2:30; -292mA
3:00; -278mA
3:30; -282mA
4:00; -278mA
4:30; -280mA
5:00; -282mA
Result #05A: -284.2mA average (yep... very live)
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Test #05B (Live Wallpaper Ice Galaxy): Wallpaper is live 'Ice Galaxy [maxelus.net]'. All screen panels except home are removed. Home is clear of all widgets and app shorts. WiFi is On. Brightness is Medium. Test is a go!
0:30; -354mA
1:00; -340mA
1:30; -334mA
2:00; -326mA
2:30; -334mA
3:00; -334mA
3:30; -342mA
4:00; -324mA
4:30; -348mA
5:00; -340mA
Result #05B: -337.6mA average (beauty can be hungry!)
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Last edited by Guru82; September 13th, 2012 at 08:25 AM. Reason: Changed title from Power Usage to Battery Usage

Guru82

Study continued...
Wallpapers:
Test #05A (Live Wallpaper HTC Sense): Wallpaper is live 'HTC Sense (1/12)':
(mAh / mA = hr)
Static Wallpaper: 1450/155 = 9.36 hours
Live Wallpaper: 1450/284 = 5.11 hours
Static & Live difference (hrs): 9.36-5.11 = 4.25 hour
Static & Live difference (%): 45.4% more mA draw over static

Test #05B (Live Wallpaper Ice Galaxy): Wallpaper is live 'Ice Galaxy [maxelus.net]':
(mAh / mA = hr)
Static Wallpaper: 1450/155 = 9.36 hours
Live Wallpaper: 1450/338 = 4.29 hours
Static & Live difference (hrs): 9.36-4.29 = 5.07 hour
Static & Live difference (%): 54.2% more mA draw over static