My battery experience - 4g vs. no 4g

skinien · Sep 12, 2011

Sandroidfan said:
So it seems like Bionic is not whole lot better than Tbolt in battery drain under 4G. I wonder if Yoda's claim of 15+ hours in 4G was fake? Maybe he just left Bionic on standby with minimal use?

Or he/she was just in a really strong 4G area for a majority of that time.

tjreishus · Sep 12, 2011

Certainly not a fix, but it would make things a little easier if someone were to create a 3g/4g widget. Sure wish I knew how.

Vehtemas · Sep 12, 2011

hopemonger said:
Which app are you guys using to toggle only lte off?

Use Anycut to make a Network Settings shortcut, from there it is 2 button presses to go from 3G to 4G.

rushmore said:
No worries folks (kind of). Just leave your device on 3g and activate 4g if you need it.

For a lot of connectivity function, 4g is overkill anyway, considering the battery life trade off with 4g.

That is my positive spin.

I actually do follow this and do this as well.

Jbart15 said:
Man you guys must be unlikely because with my Bionic and extended battery with 4G on I'd wake up at 7 A.M. go through the entire day texting, browsing the web, some game playing and talking on the phone. When I would go to bed around 1 my battery would be at 7 40%.

I prefer to be able to play video games whenever I want, I usually do normal stuff with 3G and 2-3 hours of gaming.

I don't think that 4G is that awe inspiring, with this kickass 3G antenna it runs Netflix, Youtube, Pandora etc super fast

jimdibb · Sep 12, 2011

Jbart15 said:
Man you guys must be unlikely because with my Bionic and extended battery with 4G on I'd wake up at 7 A.M. go through the entire day texting, browsing the web, some game playing and talking on the phone. When I would go to bed around 1 my battery would be at 7 40%.

Is the 4g in your area very strong?

I believe the weaker the signal, the more it drains the battery because the transmitted and received signals must be amplified more to reach the tower successfully.

Travisimo · Sep 12, 2011

thatguy188 said:
Actually, if you have LTE on in the settings, the 4G Radio is on, constantly searching for signal, killing your battery even more than if you actually had 4G Signal (since it wouldn't constantly search for it).

Switch it to CDMA only and watch your battery life almost double

I switched it to CDMA-only and will report back. I just figured if I was in a 3G-only area, it would not be using the 4G radio. But what you said makes sense if it is constantly *searching* for a 4G signal. I sure hope that is what's going on because I'm only getting 8-10 hours WITH the extended battery. But cell standby is definitely the highest number if battery usage, so you're probably right!

justanotherjoe · Sep 12, 2011

What to do....I just got a thunderbolt and im still in the return period. Am I going to be disappointed if I pay the restocking fee and get the bionic if battery life is what caught my interest

Lars · Sep 12, 2011

You guys need to give it a few recharge cycles before you decide the battery power is inadequate. The phone is still learning the battery profile.

LTE Switch is what I tried but I leave it on LTE all the time.

landolakes · Sep 12, 2011

I ran it till it shut off last night, removed from charger at 8 am and have to put it back on now as its about to shut down again. I was getting 5 to 6 hours the first couple of days with medium usage in a good 4g area but got twelve today , all this with the extended battery so I guess it does do better with a few cycles even though I read they don't need it. I also ran it heavier today then the other days so we'll see tomorrow with closer to my regular usage.

rushmore · Sep 12, 2011

Travisimo said:
I switched it to CDMA-only and will report back. I just figured if I was in a 3G-only area, it would not be using the 4G radio. But what you said makes sense if it is constantly *searching* for a 4G signal. I sure hope that is what's going on because I'm only getting 8-10 hours WITH the extended battery. But cell standby is definitely the highest number if battery usage, so you're probably right!

Even if battery life was same, the Bionic specs are a lot better. I posted the main advantages in another Tbolt thread here, driven by some respectfully delusional Tbolters.

jbdan · Sep 12, 2011

My battery life since launch day ia drastically improving. Much better than my inc upon it's launch. Guys/gals give it a few cycles it gets better! Am now getting 8-10 hours on stock battery on 4g and using it like its meant to be used!

Travisimo · Sep 13, 2011

Travisimo said:
I switched it to CDMA-only and will report back. I just figured if I was in a 3G-only area, it would not be using the 4G radio. But what you said makes sense if it is constantly *searching* for a 4G signal. I sure hope that is what's going on because I'm only getting 8-10 hours WITH the extended battery. But cell standby is definitely the highest number if battery usage, so you're probably right!

Well, I got about 1 more hour of battery life with the setting at CDMA-only than when I had on it on both CDMA and LTE. I guess that's a good thing. However, I discovered this morning (when switching back to LTE) that LTE is now up and running in my area (2 days early, I might add). So now I'll really see how long this thing lasts....

Lars · Sep 13, 2011

I run on max battery saver. I don't need it doing things in background. Push notifications seem to still work. I turn off all status notifications for email. I get hundreds per day so it just drives me nuts. I know I have new mail. I always do. FB, virtually disabled.

I use Y5 Battery saver and it switches on Wifi where I have it. Saves a ton more battery. It could go for days seems...

Travisimo · Sep 13, 2011

Lars said:
I run on max battery saver. I don't need it doing things in background. Push notifications seem to still work. I turn off all status notifications for email. I get hundreds per day so it just drives me nuts. I know I have new mail. I always do. FB, virtually disabled.

I use Y5 Battery saver and it switches on Wifi where I have it. Saves a ton more battery. It could go for days seems...

Regarding the Battery Saver mode, what activities will still function after it decides to shut down syncing? For example, obviously you'll still get phone calls and text messages. But what do you mean by "push notifications still work"? I don't care so much if my widgets update, but I do still want to get notifications from Facebook, etc. Does push e-mail still work in Battery Saver mode? I have one account that I definitely want to be notified when I get an e-mail... does Battery Saver mode disable that?

Thanks.

Reverence · Sep 13, 2011

With a custom battery saver mode chosen that doesn't turn off syncing until 11:30pm to 5am and turning my phone off to charger at night, after a few cycles I have been getting about 10-12 hours a day, which is great! I have the 4G radio on, 4 e-mails running to the phone, about an hour of talk time each day, listened to podcasts, browsed news, browsed websites, been texting and kiking. The kind of use that would have killed my Incredible in 4-6 hours.

Can't wait to see what I will get if I turn 4G off.

Travisimo · Sep 13, 2011

Travisimo said:
I switched it to CDMA-only and will report back. I just figured if I was in a 3G-only area, it would not be using the 4G radio. But what you said makes sense if it is constantly *searching* for a 4G signal. I sure hope that is what's going on because I'm only getting 8-10 hours WITH the extended battery. But cell standby is definitely the highest number if battery usage, so you're probably right!

Reverence said:
With a custom battery saver mode chosen that doesn't turn off syncing until 11:30pm to 5am and turning my phone off to charger at night, after a few cycles I have been getting about 10-12 hours a day, which is great! I have the 4G radio on, 4 e-mails running to the phone, about an hour of talk time each day, listened to podcasts, browsed news, browsed websites, been texting and kiking. The kind of use that would have killed my Incredible in 4-6 hours.

Can't wait to see what I will get if I turn 4G off.

I work weird hours, so that wouldn't work for me. I wouldn't mind using the maximum battery saver mode if I can still get push e-mail and app notifications? If it just stops the widgets and background syncing, then that would be okay. But if it turns off all data, then I probably couldn't use it.

Lars · Sep 13, 2011

I have no way of knowing your configuration. Be brave. Change it to max battery saver and see.

My battery experience - 4g vs. no 4g

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