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My Juice Defender with Epic

badankles

Android Expert
Jul 19, 2010
972
90
USA
well, i've had this baby since launch day. fully updated to DI18. i have yet to put this device through all that it can do, such as playing a full movie (HD or otherwise), DNLA, video calling, etc. i have made voice calls, conference calls via speaker and headsets, i have SMS and MMS, used different browsers (stock, Dolphin HD, Skyfire, xScope), tapatalk to other forums, news reader, live wallpaper, took a few photos, videos, gmail (included within 3 other accounts), stock email (2 accounts, 1 checking hourly, other never), friends and feeds for twitter, facebook widget, 3D games and regular games, streamed Pandora and Rhapsody, clock and weather widgets, etc.

i listed all that to show i have not babied the battery, but i also do not have the device on for extended amount of time, maybe on average 30 minutes continuously, between varied idle periods. i do have the display setting at it's lowest level, change only when necessary such as out in direct sun light.

i don't have a lot of services running in the background. these are the usual suspects: juice defender, quick battery, live wallpaper, stock email, gmail count, news reader count, and the stock services sans DRM and Hotspot. of course, i'm conscious of killing services i manually start and no longer need, like dropbox and recently vlingo.

anyway, i use Juice Defender (and Ultimate Juice) to automate a few things. i'm now averaging about 10-12 hours or so before needing a charge, which i'm pretty happy with. nothing like others posting of 48 hours or 29 hours, etc. (i still look through the posts for anything new that might improve it even further, without of course, giving up functionality.)

here are my J/D settings, with today's usage (still 20% left, 11+ hours unplugged):

JDSettings.png

HomeScreen.png

BatteryUsage.png
 
Ive been running the free versions of Juice Defender and Juice Plotter (to graph % battery with time) for the last 3 days and it has been a big improvement on my battery. The biggest battery drain for me is when I am in low signal areas, which JD will limit 3G connection time (a couple minutes every 15 minutes, adjustable) when the phone is in standby with the screen off. I have been happy with it so far. I do like how the Juice Plotter will give the estimated battery life remaining (while on battery), and the estimated time to charge (while on charger) when pressing "help" button.

When I first got the phone, the battery was dropping like a prom dress, even on standby! I also do the Airplane mode On, then Off every once in a while to make sure the radios are reset. I also make sure to update the PRL (Preferred Roaming List).

Also for charging... I have accumulated a few 5 Volt USB chargers. I bought a few adapting pigtails from Mini USB to Micro USB (so I can use old chargers). Make note too of the mA ratings. My computer USB is 500 mA, and the other chargers I have are 500s and 700s (700 came with the Epic). This will make a difference in charge time required. I think a 1 Amp is available, however I do not know how much is too much charge rate???
 
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@ badankles and dave4g- are you guys rooted?
No, Im not rooted. These are free apps.

It would do the same thing as a 3G radio toggle, but I don't have to manually toggle it. The beauty about it going automatic is that it will turn the radio on for a minute or 2 (or whatever you set it to, at the frequency you want it to). This will enable email and whatever else you have to synch become synched. :)
 
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Umm, no that's ******ed especially if you work in a building where the cell phone signal sucks. It's best to just turn 3G off. You will see a HUGE difference when you turn it off especially when you are not using it at work for example. Why have a program that periodically cuts it on/off when you know you aren't using the phone. The app is just sucking up juice by trying to acquire a CDMA signal that probably is super weak especially if you are in a building with thick walls.
 
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An app cannot save you battery. When you are not using 3g, why not just use the toggle switch to turn it off? CDMA networks drain battery plain and simple. Not using 3G, treat it like a light switch and turn it off.
You are right too about the very low signal areas. It still drains the phone rather quickly, but with the 3G toggled off, it is an improvement. I still want to receive calls, so turning Airplane mode On is not what I want to do.

The best proof that I have is the juice graph at night when I sleep (8 hours, drain 7%). My signal strength where I sleep is usually -86dBm or worse. I used to drain closer to 15 % without the JD running.

The JD notifier also claims a battery multiplier (eg Battery Life x1.79 is what is says right now). I think it is believable.
 
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Umm, no that's ******ed especially if you work in a building where the cell phone signal sucks. It's best to just turn 3G off. You will see a HUGE difference when you turn it off especially when you are not using it at work for example. Why have a program that periodically cuts it on/off when you know you aren't using the phone. The app is just sucking up juice by trying to acquire a CDMA signal that probably is super weak especially if you are in a building with thick walls.
I dont want it completely off because I want all my stuff to synch periodically. But yes, it still draws fast. I can plug in, so it doesnt bother me that much while in the building. I may try turning it off too and see what happens. Ive only had the phone a week, so I'm still learning!
 
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@ badankles and dave4g- are you guys rooted?

not rooted. J/D has a widget that i can use to manually turn off data, but with J/D (free) and Ultimate Juice (paid add-on) I can configure it to do the toggles for me periodically and during certain period of the day or use.

just like what dave4g said, i want some of my stuff to synch in the background when the screen is off during certain part of the day. note my settings. plus, i don't have to worry if i'm within range of my wifi or not.

when i wake up the device, i want to see if i got emails, latest news feed and my live wallpaper (feed my fish). i'll manually update twitter and facebook. i'll manually turn GPS and bluetooth on/off. the rest, i'll let J/D do the work.

i'm not saying this will work for everybody, just saying it's been good for me. i don't have to harshly rein in the Epic, and with J/D and U/J, i get hands off seamless battery control.

BTW, i have no affiliation with the developers, just thought i'd share how it works for me. it sadden me every time i read a post of someone not able to get at least a good 10 hours of use out of the Epic. (obviously, some of those are due to bad battery, but i'm sure not all.)
 
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I'm sorry, I thought the EPIC had a toggle switch or settings where you can turn on/off GPS, 4G, 3G (Mobile Network), Bluetooth, etc.
Unfortunately there is no toggle for 3G. There is for WiFi, 4G, Bluetooth, and GPS. I was originally looking to find an app to toggle the 3G, and found one, but it didn't work :( I then found the Juice Defender, but only got the free version. If there is none, maybe I need to spring for the paid version. :cool:

Edit: JD does give a widget to turn off the data radios! I just didn't see it.
 
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Unfortunately there is no toggle for 3G. There is for WiFi, 4G, Bluetooth, and GPS. I was originally looking to find an app to toggle the 3G, and found one, but it didn't work :( I then found the Juice Defender, but only got the free version. If there is none, maybe I need to spring for the paid version. :cool:

SwitchPro ($0.99) will turn it off...one of the toggles you can select when putting the widget on your screen is "data connection". This allows you to manually turn off the 3G radio.

snap20101010_230913-2.png
 
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It sucks that the paid version doesn't have more time to evaluate it. I feel like I won't be able to fully learn if this is working for me or not. Right now it says it has increased my battery life by 1.59.

@badankles- My settings are nearly identical to yours. I really wanted UltimateJuice just for the function of it automatically toggling wi-fi when the screen is off.
 
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