Help How to extend the battery life?

[Baby Bear]

Hi, my first time posting here. I've been stalking the boards recently in anticipation of the official Froyo update. Thanks so much to all the regular posters for all your tips - the Captivate is my first Android phone (am a recovering BB addict!) and I was kinda nervous about doing the Froyo update, just concerned about bricking the phone, etc. Thanks to you guys, I went ahead and updated, it went really smoothly and am so happy I can now use apps like Skype that I couldn't use before. It made a great phone even better!

So, my question is re: battery life - about the only downside of this phone. I find that with a day's worth of moderate usage - some games, checking email, FB updates, etc., the battery is pretty much is done by the end of the day. Do you guys have any tips or tricks for extending the battery life (any apps that are battery hogs, anything I should kill after using) Or do you have any recommendations for a battery I could buy to extend usage? Thanks in advance!

 

[reidcc]

Battery Life-

Under Eclair- I was getting 5 days on a charge. My phone would be shut down around 9PM and then turned back on around 5AM. Using ATK Task Killer- I was getting 4 days, but after reading how Task Killers are actually bad- I stopped and battery life went to 5 days.

Thursday I flashed Froyo and I am already seeing my battery on half charge-I charged it Thurday night. At first glance-my battery life will be cut in half.

Chris

Hi, my first time posting here.
So, my question is re: battery life - about the only downside of this phone. I find that with a day's worth of moderate usage - some games, checking email, FB updates, etc., the battery is pretty much is done by the end of the day. Do you guys have any tips or tricks for extending the battery life (any apps that are battery hogs, anything I should kill after using) Or do you have any recommendations for a battery I could buy to extend usage? Thanks in advance!

 

[dtbratt]

Ive been looking for a better battery. I found this.

Amzer 1600 mah Lithium Ion Standard Battery For Samsung, Samsung Captivate i897 - Batteries - Fommy.com

Not sure if it would be any better but it is 100 maH difference?

Would also like to see if anything else out there has a better battery?

 

[Big Pope Daddy]

Battery Life-

Under Eclair- I was getting 5 days on a charge. My phone would be shut down around 9PM and then turned back on around 5AM. Using ATK Task Killer- I was getting 4 days, but after reading how Task Killers are actually bad- I stopped and battery life went to 5 days.

Thursday I flashed Froyo and I am already seeing my battery on half charge-I charged it Thurday night. At first glance-my battery life will be cut in half.

Chris

Wow. 5 days? Holy man. I would love to get more than half a day. I did not get this kind of life out of my captivate from day one. Have not seen many that have.

 

[Andrewdroid]

There is a way to calibrate your battery for better battery life but I can't find a link.

 

[gary1949]

Ive been looking for a better battery. I found this.

Amzer 1600 mah Lithium Ion Standard Battery For Samsung, Samsung Captivate i897 - Batteries - Fommy.com

Not sure if it would be any better but it is 100 maH difference?

Would also like to see if anything else out there has a better battery?

Has anybody purchased this battery? Seen any difference over the stock OEM Samsung battery?

 

[Buddha64]

I got off change yesterday morning at 5am Cst. I'm still above 30% at noon which has never happened before.

 

[fldude99]

Battery Life-

Under Eclair- I was getting 5 days on a charge. My phone would be shut down around 9PM and then turned back on around 5AM. Using ATK Task Killer- I was getting 4 days, but after reading how Task Killers are actually bad- I stopped and battery life went to 5 days.

Thursday I flashed Froyo and I am already seeing my battery on half charge-I charged it Thurday night. At first glance-my battery life will be cut in half.

Chris

Don't take this the wrong way, but if we were playing BS I would definitely call you on that one...If you say 5 days, o well, but I've never heard of such a thing on the Captivate, or any smartphone-even if it's just left alone

 

[Baby Bear]

I got off change yesterday morning at 5am Cst. I'm still above 30% at noon which has never happened before.

And this was using the battery recommended above?

 

[Buddha64]

Stock battery.

 

[chocophile]

First word of advice to extend battery life: turn off wifi and mobile data when you don't need it. I use Juice Defender's "Toggle mobile data" widget for the latter. It takes either wifi or mobile data less than a minute to reconnect, so it's not a big deal to turn them off and on as needed.

 

[chevys7096]

Updated to froyo now battery life is almost cut in half.Anyone else have this happen?

 

[reidcc]

Dude-

I don't care what you believe or not believe. My first couple of charges were lasting a couple of days, but after first week I was amazed- yes 4 days to a charge- I am not a heavy user- and I did power off for 8 hrs a day.

As I said- when I read that ATK was not a good thing- I stopped it and left Apps as they were. My battery life increased a day to 5 days.

That being said- since charging Thursday nite- it has been in the rad since this afternoon, so since the 2.2 upg I am down to 2 days from 5.

Chris

Don't take this the wrong way, but if we were playing BS I would definitely call you on that one...If you say 5 days, o well, but I've never heard of such a thing on the Captivate, or any smartphone-even if it's just left alone

 

[ulbonado]

Updated to froyo now battery life is almost cut in half.Anyone else have this happen?

Yup, same for me. I used to regularly go two days on a charge with light use, or one day on moderate use. On the new 2.2 it barely gets through a day on light use. On 2.1 it only lost about 1-2% overnight unused; last night, on 2.2, it lost about 8%.

The battery icon is more accurate though.

 

[timbuk2]

I get a full day with heavy use with 2.2, same as before. I think I'll be good for two days with normal use... very little anything except texting and talking a few minutes at a time. At the work I run My-Cast, but i can't access 3G, and if I can figure out how to turn it off so it will not continue to search for 3G or Wifi, I should be good.

 

[btswein]

100mA isn't going to make a huge difference, your better off buying 2 batteries with charger for $10 off eBay like everyone else, myself included.

I turn "auto brightness" off, turn off haptic feedback, GPS off, "location" off in the browser, 15 second backlight. I get about a day LOL.

 

[Snow_Fox]

For those of you who have battery life cut in half.

Did you charge your phone to full before performing the update?

 

[chevys7096]

I think it was at 80% when i updated.Sitting idle over night about 10 hours it loses 25%.

 

[ryl57]

Same as BTSWEIN...
I turn "auto brightness" off, turn off haptic feedback, GPS off, "location" off in the browser, 15 second backlight, use a WIFI/Network toggle switch.
Couple of other tips:
I don't know about other users but when I check my battery usage it says that about 80% of my usage is used for display. This screen is very bright so I don't use a bright background. Want to test? Use the default city scene as background, go into a dark room and turn on your Galaxy, it's now a flashlight... I use a dark background.
Turn off any unnecessary apps. Once you upgrade to Froyo the shortcut (that I placed on the main screen) to 'Active Applications' shows you right there how many apps are still running. I just close off anything once I'm done.
I also only use one screen, no scrolling through the 6 (or was it 7) default screens. It may not save much but I'm sure that moving through screens 100 times a day uses up a bit each time.
Turn off sounds too (obviouse).

Ryl57

 

[PhoneMatt]

I remember reading on here a few months ago that some people were getting better battery life by letting their batteries drain completely, then charging them overnight, or at least 4 hours. I've tried this a few times, and it seems to work. I generally get 1 to 1 1/2 days use out of a battery charge. When I have to charge more than once a day, I just let it die and recharge overnight.

 

[Nelimungous]

As a former BlackBerry sucker I was used to long battery life as well. But then again I had a boring BB! Now I actually USE my device! I get a full day normally and I use my phone; MailDroid Pro picks up all my work email all day; feeds come in; twitter is updated; play a little Words with friends; facebook a little; use texDro; mucho texting; and yes phone calls. Whew...I didn't switch to the Captivate to turn everything off. I did get one extra battery and the desktop charger for the battery...but I had that for my BlackBerry too. My device is rooted and the majority of the ATT garb is gone.

I have let my batteries drain REALLY low then recharge and that does really help.

I have 2.2 on mine as of the weekend and it's doing just fine. Now I want the next best Android phone...not sure which one that will be. It will most likely be an HTC device though.

 

[sharkhark]

Updated to froyo now battery life is almost cut in half.Anyone else have this happen?

yes. i have.
I was one of the supposedly lucky canadians who got the update quite awhile ago...and i tell you....the battery life issue is bad. I used to get a full days use at minimum...and used it pretty heavily and with all options turned on i.e. bluetooth gps etc.
I also had full screen briteness and i had a live wallpaper.
But since the update if i barely use the thing i am lucky if i leave home at 8am and can make it to 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
I need a charger at work, a charger in car and a charger at home and even then it dies.
I dont get it? Add to that the performance has become glitchy, it hangs so often its crazy, it didnt do that before. I hit a button and can feel haptic feedback that it is trying to open a app or change a page but nothing happens and then finally 10-20 seconds later it registers.

Not impressed by update. Other than google voice...which i absolutely love...the other additions are not worth a phone that dies half way thru the day.