• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Iphone 3gs vs Incredible (Battery Test)

Stockmoose16

Member
Apr 29, 2010
84
12
This morning I took an Iphone 3gs and wanted to test it against my HTC Incredible, which is having major battery problems. My inc has been cycled at least 10 times, and the battery is still terrible. I have "always-on mobile network" unchecked. Here are the results:

Within 10 minutes of taking the phones off the cradle and the only usage looking at 2 emails on each phone:

Result: Iphone: 100% battery
Incredible: 93% battery (WTF?)

40 minutes of listening to Rhapsody using 3g network

Result: Iphone: 96% battery
Incredible: 73% battery

Both phones had the exact same 2 minute screen timeout.

While the Incredible may be a more powerful phone, there is no way the battery should be draining this much faster than an iphone. I don't care what the fanboys say.
 
That's probably true, but look at the difference in battery life listening to Rhapsody for the same amount of time.
Im certain this is a battery gauge issue. The battery gauge drops like a rock between 100% and 92% then stabilizes after 70% The guage is not symmetric just like some car gas gauges.

If you want to do a test. Run both phones until the battery is dead and make sure you dont have the Android phone bloated with apps in the background.
 
Upvote 0
Thats because the battery is tiny. No one can say otherwise, its only a 1300. If you have the brightness up all the way, different location settings and widgets like the weather or live background you phone will die that fast. Its annoying to have to turn everything off just to keep the phone up for 12 hours. I think thats why the INC is subpar to the iPhone, theres many little bugs in it which sure may be fixed, but you cant fix a cheap back cover with a tiny battery.
 
Upvote 0
Thats because the battery is tiny. No one can say otherwise, its only a 1300. If you have the brightness up all the way, different location settings and widgets like the weather or live background you phone will die that fast. Its annoying to have to turn everything off just to keep the phone up for 12 hours. I think thats why the INC is subpar to the iPhone, theres many little bugs in it which sure may be fixed, but you cant fix a cheap back cover with a tiny battery.

I have all of that stuff turned off and the brightness turned down and mine does the exact same thing. If I listen to Pandora for 20 minutes in the morning, my battery is no greater than ~80% by the time I leave...it's a little ridiculous. I had to charge my phone by 5 o'clock yesterday. I have had 5-6 charges (at least) through it and it's still not getting any better...
 
Upvote 0
Im certain this is a battery gauge issue. The battery gauge drops like a rock between 100% and 92% then stabilizes after 70% The guage is not symmetric just like some car gas gauges.
OK, so I'm not the only one that's noticed this. 10 minutes off the charger and it's down to 93%. I don't get too excited about this, because over the next 16 hours it only drops down to 60%. Best battery life I've ever had on a smartphone... I can live with that. :D

What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that a battery gauge is not like looking at the side of a gas can and seeing the level at 60%. It's basically a "guess" by the phone software taking into account how much current it's drawing over a period of time. Unless the phone's actually shutting down because the battery is going dead, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Upvote 0
OP, I'd like to see you run this test to each completes

run local video non stop, see how long each last
run streamed video non stop, see how long each last
surf over wifi non stop, see how long each last
surf over 3g non stop, see how long each last

try to keep other settings equal (brightness, gp3, pushing data, etc)

the last 2 are harder but the first 2 pretty easy to do
 
Upvote 0
People get so defensive for no reason. The Incredibles battery is a freaking joke. For a 600 phone we shouldnt have battery lifes that are less then 12 hours. So far the incredible just seems like a "Cheap" version of the iPhone, except its more expensive


I get 20+ hours with heavy use. Sucks for you.

Could you return it today? My brother is waiting for back orders. Thanks.
 
Upvote 0
Could you return it today? My brother is waiting for back orders. Thanks.

Tell him to go to any retail store. There are dozens available every place I've checked (Verizon stores, BestBuy, etc.). The phone isn't that popular. Your poor brother shouldn't have to wait just because Verizon is terrible at on-line fullfillment.

No need to thank me. Happy to have helped.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bandityo
Upvote 0
meh, no need for the rancor.

it does appear that the Iphone 3Gs battery is a lot, lot better.

offical spec sheets for each company show standby time for the iphone is 2x that of the Incredible. 146 vs 300 hours.

anecdotal evidence begins to suggest that that is true for lots of tasks - Iphone battery is 2x as good. tonight I will try to run video on it until it dies, starting at 100%. my guess is that it will die in 3 hours or so, which is worse than half of the iphone I had
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones