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battery usage while on idle

garnto

Android Enthusiast
Feb 23, 2011
279
61
Last night at 1 I took my phone off charge and maybe sent 1 text before going to sleep. Gf came over early this morn so I had no reason to need my phone until she left coincidentally at 1.

This gave me exactly 12 hours idle time for my phone, with nothing else using the battery.

I was on 94% battery which means this phone takes 1/2 percent an hour. I also had 3g on the entire time meaning data uses barely any power, while not in use that is.

anyone who believed all the fear mongering about data killing power can now rest easy. please note that I do have 4g turned off manually(not in a 4g area)
 
While I come to this thread from the alleged dark side of rooting my phone, I can tell you that once you get past the HTC bug with sucking power while the phone sits in your pocket, holster, or dock until you forcibly underclock with setcpu, you may not have yet seen the battery use stats that appear to be equal for 4g and 3g and the real culprit is really dumb juice suck during idle time.
 
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First, 3G mobile data doesn't kill battery per say. Depends on the individual, phone, and cell towers. 3G mobile data will drain battery if you are in a bad coverage area or you don't have a strong 3G signal where you live. CDMA cell phones constantly ping for the best cell phone tower signal. Turning off 3G will help your battery last longer for that reason because the phone is constantly searching for that signal. If you don't believe me take your phone into a subway without cutting 3G off and see what will happen to your battery. Go into a pretty well built building where you cannot always make calls and see what will happen to your battery leaving 3G on. It's a good habit to leave it off if you aren't using it for the reasons I listed. I flew around on a military plane with 3G on at it ate my battery for lunch.
 
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