Help Suggestions for Improving Battery Life

[NpaMattAlan]

Before buying the phone I knew it wasn't rated the highest in battery performance, however the rate I got on the first day was very bad. In 6 hours I had used 2 full charges, and a partial charge that came on the phone.

Since then I researched and have set the following up:
-Lower screen brightness
-Disable everything that I don't *need* running.
-Set the screen timeout to 15 seconds.
-Use my local WiFi instead of 3G

That improved it quite a bit with 1 full battery lasting about 14 hours, but just curious if it's anything else I can do?

 

[pipnmike]

Go to Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile networks -> turn off "Enable always-on mobile data". That setting seems to kill battery life whenever it's checked. Also, if you have auto-sync on and you have apps that refresh frequently, it'll kill battery life quickly.

 

[jbdan]

I think your doing good so far. Although sometimes I feel like people are sacrificing having fun with their smart phone just so they go a full day on a charge guess that's a "male" thing .

How long have you had it? If less then or about a week, it will get better with time. The biggest battery drainers imo are syncing apps. Go to menu>settings>accounts&sync. What all do you have in there? Do you need them all? What intervals are they set at to sync each day? hour?

Screen set to 30 seconds or a minute is fine. You have the SLCD? Screens are not a big drainer imo.

When you say "disable everything you don't need running" did you mean using a task manager? I advise not to if so. I would however advise to purchase an app system panel (or find a free similar app) that reports and monitors your phone over a specified period of time. That way you can find out exactly which are your biggest battery drainers.

Low signal with 3G on is killer....as in it kills battery's...how is your signal in your location?

Wifi over 3G ill definitely save some batt juice use it when you can and turn it off when your no longer in range.

You can also bump charge it...or turn it off to charge it. Good luck have fun don't worry about your battery too much

 

[Anthony1970]

+1 What pip said. You should get a full days of use of the phone with moderate use. Be forewarned though, with any smartphone, heavy usage will kill it within several hours no matter how strong the battery is or what you have the phone set at. I dont know of any smartphone that lasts more than a day with heavy usage.

I get anywhere from 40-48 hours on mine. But as soon as I surf the net for more than a few minutes a day the battery dies very qucikly.

I will be investing in an OEM 1500 battery soon. I was thinking of getting a bigger battery but dont really want the odd battery covers most of them come with.

 

[jbdan]

Go to Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile networks -> turn off "Enable always-on mobile data". That setting seems to kill battery life whenever it's checked. Also, if you have auto-sync on and you have apps that refresh frequently, it'll kill battery life quickly.

Before the OP does this make sure that he understands what it does. I leave this on as most people probably do as well. If you have anything in your >accounts and sync< syncing at your told intervals, you want this set to ON.

For example: You have ______ set to sync each hour....unless your phone is awake it will NOT sync at the specified times. (Put whatever app you want in the above blank)

If your using facebook syncs set at every 15 minutes (or twitter etc...) then you can imagine the drain...unless your on WIFI it's going to sync using your 3G.

There are many steps, but it's mostly trial and error. Just don't obsess over battery life like I do

 

[NpaMattAlan]

Go to Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile networks -> turn off "Enable always-on mobile data". That setting seems to kill battery life whenever it's checked. Also, if you have auto-sync on and you have apps that refresh frequently, it'll kill battery life quickly.

Disabled it. Don't really have much that refresh themselves though.

How long have you had it? If less then or about a week, it will get better with time. The biggest battery drainers imo are syncing apps. Go to menu>settings>accounts&sync. What all do you have in there? Do you need them all? What intervals are they set at to sync each day? hour?

This is day 3. I disabled syncing apps just now. We'll see what happens.
This is what I had selected though: Backup assistant, Google, News, Stocks(I dont even use this), twitter, weather.

Screen set to 30 seconds or a minute is fine. You have the SLCD? Screens are not a big drainer imo.

15 seconds doesn't really bother me, but I will change it to 30seconds. I prefer under a minute though.

When you say "disable everything you don't need running" did you mean using a task manager? I advise not to if so. I would however advise to purchase an app system panel (or find a free similar app) that reports and monitors your phone over a specified period of time. That way you can find out exactly which are your biggest battery drainers.

Yes a task manager. I will look into that.

Low signal with 3G on is killer....as in it kills battery's...how is your signal in your location?

Very low. Where it's at on my desk it's not uncommon to have drop outs/dropped called, but I'd say the "average" signal is 1 bar. 2 bars MAX.

Wifi over 3G ill definitely save some batt juice use it when you can and turn it off when your no longer in range.

I normally(unless driving, or in town) have access to WiFi. So I'll be using that over 3G. I heard that 3G drains the battery quicker, and started trying that about mid-day yesterday.

You can also bump charge it...or turn it off to charge it. Good luck have fun don't worry about your battery too much

I'm just trying to see what I can do before my 30 days is up. As it stands right now, with the usage I got yesterday I don't think I'll have a problem. But I am a new smartphone/android user and well...my old cell would go about a week without charging with moderate use. I expected lower battery life going in, but the first day was a HUGE surprise. But I'll admit that first 6 hours was VERY HEAVY usage. Playing with features, internet, camera, phone calls, etc.

Thanks for replies.

EDIT:

Before the OP does this make sure that he understands what it does. I leave this on as most people probably do as well. If you have anything in your >accounts and sync< syncing at your told intervals, you want this set to ON.

For example: You have ______ set to sync each hour....unless your phone is awake it will NOT sync at the specified times. (Put whatever app you want in the above blank)

If your using facebook syncs set at every 15 minutes (or twitter etc...) then you can imagine the drain...unless your on WIFI it's going to sync using your 3G.

There are many steps, but it's mostly trial and error. Just don't obsess over battery life like I do

I do have a twitter running, but I don't mind it being on manual. I don't use it much and probably wouldn't miss it if I removed it. It was just in the preinstalled list, so I entered my info.

Facebook is on manual.

 

[jbdan]

Disabled it. Don't really have much that refresh themselves though.




This is day 3. I disabled syncing apps just now. We'll see what happens.
This is what I had selected though: Backup assistant, Google, News, Stocks(I dont even use this), twitter, weather.


15 seconds doesn't really bother me, but I will change it to 30seconds. I prefer under a minute though.


Yes a task manager. I will look into that.


Very low. Where it's at on my desk it's not uncommon to have drop outs/dropped called, but I'd say the "average" signal is 1 bar. 2 bars MAX.


I normally(unless driving, or in town) have access to WiFi. So I'll be using that over 3G. I heard that 3G drains the battery quicker, and started trying that about mid-day yesterday.


I'm just trying to see what I can do before my 30 days is up. As it stands right now, with the usage I got yesterday I don't think I'll have a problem. But I am a new smartphone/android user and well...my old cell would go about a week without charging with moderate use. I expected lower battery life going in, but the first day was a HUGE surprise. But I'll admit that first 6 hours was VERY HEAVY usage. Playing with features, internet, camera, phone calls, etc.

Thanks for replies.

Just remember that when adding new contacts to your google account or adding calender appointments (among other things) that in order to have those backed up you will have to manually sync. With "mobile data on" it will sync automatically and this could save you one day from losing this data in case of a stolen phone, broken phone etc..

I would leave Google set to sync if you use gmail, calender, and contacts, but that is just me.

15 is fine, just a pain when your surfing the web. If you set it to 30 or even a minute remember you can hit "power" button when your done using it. I always do. I never just set my phone down and let it auto turn off.

Please research here I oppose task managers to millionth degree

Unfortunately the "bars" do not represent signal strength well at all. Go to "about phone" and look at your signal strength in dbm's. Again you'll be on wifi at home so your golden right!

Being new and playing with it a lot I understand a lot of people complained, and still do, about the battery life on this phone. It's a pocket computer of sorts so it's hard to expect too much.

You do have the option of another battery or a replacement battery. I bought a 1500mah OEM HTC battery made for the TP2 it was $14 on ebay. It really did a lot for me. Enjoy your 30 days!

 

[NpaMattAlan]

Unfortunately the "bars" do not represent signal strength well at all. Go to "about phone" and look at your signal strength in dbm's. Again you'll be on wifi at home so your golden right!

-103dBm is about what it averaged. I saw some -91s and some -109s.

You do have the option of another battery or a replacement battery. I bought a 1500mah OEM HTC battery made for the TP2 it was $14 on ebay. It really did a lot for me. Enjoy your 30 days!

I'll probably do that. How much more usage do you normally get from those? I know it'll be different for each person, but just an estimate?

 

[jbdan]

-103dBm is about what it averaged. I saw some -91s and some -109s.


I'll probably do that. How much more usage do you normally get from those? I know it'll be different for each person, but just an estimate?

Yea your signal is like mine or maybe even a touch worse. I'm on WIFI at home at ALL times. and I leave "mobile data always on" ENABLED

This is estimation: I get 24 to 36 hours with my phone with what I call moderate usage (1 hour on phone calls, 100 or so texts, 15-20 emails, surf web for 1 hour, google navigate for 20 minutes) and have weather, hotmail, syncing every hour and gmail, contacts and calender.

With the stock battery I was getting 18-24 hours.

The key to this good battery life I realized after a few months owning this phone was if the phone was sleeping properly. Hence my reply about the monitoring app to find any "keep phone awake culprits" and no task manager which was probably recommended to you by a veriz employee.

 

[NpaMattAlan]

That's pretty good battery life. I'd be pleased with ~15-18 hours. I will be looking into a new battery within a week or two.

When I went to buy the phone one of the things they said was to use a task manager to kill everything once you're done using it. I have reviewed and it seems most users suggest against them.

 

[dragonsamus]

That's pretty good battery life. I'd be pleased with ~15-18 hours. I will be looking into a new battery within a week or two.

When I went to buy the phone one of the things they said was to use a task manager to kill everything once you're done using it. I have reviewed and it seems most users suggest against them.

Yeah, when I went to buy my incredible the sales people were installing advanced task killer on every new incredible. I left the store without opening my phone because I was in a hurry to go to work.

 

[pipnmike]

I used to use a task killer (got pretty anal with it actually - killing every single app after i was done with it), but i uninstalled it eventually and started trusting the OS to manage the processes. I'll have to agree with the people that say that task killers are unnecessary.

As long as there isn't a rogue app that constantly runs in the background, it should be fine. If there was a rogue app like that, your UP vs AWAKE time will be very similar

 

[HoochieCoo]

I agree with jbdan... How much time, and killing features, I've spent trying to conserve battery is getting silly.

I am just going to get a bigger battery. Someone on another thread said they are using:

CHICHITEC HTC EVO 4G BATTERY 1800mAh high capacity OEM Verizon Incredible Droid TOUCH PRO2 HTC HERO

That's a 1800mah battery, that doesn't require a special back, and costs $20. I paid $14 for the 1500mah a few weeks ago, and it does much better than the stock. But I will give this 1800 a shot. The 1750 from Seido is an option too (that doesn't require a new back), but it's pricey.

 

[TokedUp]

Got me a new kernel. no battery problems anymore. But i will still look into the 1800 thanks for the heads up. I have a 2150 that I dont use cuz it makes my phone look super dumb and my case doesnt fit. Slingbox is my batt killer.