Yet another possible draining battery cause

[NoUse4aNick]

Hi guys!

Battery life issues for me are over. In the beggining I would be happy if the battery lasted for 2 days. Now I can have my phone always on for 7 days straight, that is 168 hrs (when using very limited wireless data connectivity of course), thanks to Galaxhero and some other tweaks.

But anyway, lately I've been doing some tests regarding Google Latitude. I suspected that Latitude was messing (not just) a little bit with the battery life.
So, yesterday at 9AM I unplugged the fully charged phone that had the Latitude feature on. Result: at 5PM the battery was at 90%.
Today, I decided to turn off Latitude (leaving the rest of the configurations intact) and unplugged the fully charged phone again at 9AM. Result: it's 5PM and the battery status is at 100%.

FYI:
- In both scenarios the use of wireless networks to detect position option is off
- The running time and screen on time in both scenarios are very similar (around 2.5% and 1.5% respectively)
- The usage of Google Maps in the partial wake usage info was present only in the 1st scenario (as expected)


So, this may be nothing, but to be sure it would be nice that other users with Latitude could perform this simple test and then share the results.

Turning off Latitude: Google Maps -> Latitude -> Settings -> Privacy -> Turn off Latitude

Regards!

 

[cpwood]

I've recently gone from two days battery time to just over four without even trying. For me, simply changing my mobile provider did it! Sounds odd, I know!

I was with T-Mobile UK and the reception where I live is pretty patchy, so I suspect my phone was trying to find and connect to T-Mobile signals a lot of the time, consuming lots of battery power in doing so.

The Orange UK signal is really strong here and my battery life has really improved. Very odd, but very welcome!!

I'm a "light" user - maybe half an hour's use at the most with wifi on per day. I've got my APNs permanently "disabled" too since I have no real requirement for data on the move.

Chris

 

[TimK]

Hey Chris,

That's not odd at all. A GSM phone (and, I suspect, other mobile phones too) uses a lot more power trying to maintain connection with a network when coverage is iffy than when coverage is strong where you are.

I wish I could get my Galaxy's battery to last longer -- hell, I'd be happy if I only had to charge it every other night, instead of every night! -- but I'm not willing to do without the functionality that you are doing without.

Best,
Tim

 

[kofuukali]

Hey guys,
just thought I would add myself that I have been able to confirm lately somebody else's earlier suspicions on the alarm eating up a lot of battery.
Being in a foreign country right now for a prolonged period has allowed me to see much more precisely what eats up battery, as my APN is constantly disabled (due to roaming charges).
I also sleep in airplane mode.
Well it took me a bit of time to understand what was the difference between the days were my phone would unexpectedly drop very slowly, and others were the speed was closer to something I was expecting.
The days in questions were the weekends.
And the weekends, my alarm is off, that is the only difference.
At night on airplane mode my phone goes down 1-2% on weekends, and 10-20% or more sometimes, when I have an alarm in the morning.
And I have absolutely no other programs running.

so anyways... that was a bit long winded...but just thought I would throw that out there...
It really sucks though, because this power sucking has often caused my phone to be dead in those mornings I needed it the most.
And my phones have been my alarm clocks since the dawn of time (or something close to that)... I hate the feeling that I am downgrading in technology here...

Given the reported autonomies of galaxos and other custom roms, am I to suppose that this problem might have been fixed, or do you people just not use the alarm?

 

[tisti]

Hey Chris,

That's not odd at all. A GSM phone (and, I suspect, other mobile phones too) uses a lot more power trying to maintain connection with a network when coverage is iffy than when coverage is strong where you are.

I wish I could get my Galaxy's battery to last longer -- hell, I'd be happy if I only had to charge it every other night, instead of every night! -- but I'm not willing to do without the functionality that you are doing without.

Best,
Tim

You want longer battery life and you still want to use the device to the max? Those two things do not go hand in hand A few compromises are usually necessary if you want the phone to last more than a day.

 

[pegasus21]

My friends who use HTC Dream and Hero both have battery life that lasts about 1 odd maybe 2 days. Apparently the battery life isn't limited to Samsung alone and I'm guessing it's the google apps that drain battery.

 

[kam187]

My phone lasts 1.5 days pretty easily with alot of calls, 3g on, background data on, newsbuzz widget, weather clock widget and email.

Its a really hard thing to measure with loads of different setups, but i think the key is to make sure all uneeded processes are killed (use root and kill nps processes for example)