What are "Cell standby" and "Phone idle"?

[3ricG]

My battery is at about 40% after not using it at all today. This is strange (for me); my phone usually will usually be at 80% after not using it all day. When I looked at what used the most battery it was "Cell standby" [34%] and "Phone idle" [27%]. What are these, and why did they take up so much battery? They seem like processes that shouldn't take much battery at all (standby and idle).

Thanks.

 

[MikeMBau]

Phone Idle is the power your phone needs to stay switched on and all the electronics powered up - the memory going, the CPU running at a minimal speed, background processes, etc.

Cell Standby is the power your phone's radio is using to keep in contact with your nearest (usually) cell tower. It will need to check in with the tower every so often, and listen to it in case a call or an SMS comes in.