Who Cares about Battery Life

[jmccarthy14]

I've been messing with settings and tweaking my stuff, and it seems like using the browser and SNES burns way more than if I am watching a movie or listening to music. The latter doesn't make sense to me because streaming from pandora would also presumably use the data connection too...

Anyway, I realized today: batteries are 30$. My phone lasts most of my HEAVY HEAVY use days, but I tend to tone it down at the end to conserve batteries, or be reluctant to fire up Link to the Past.

Batteries are 30$. I'm wondering why not just buy one, keep it in my bag, and play HD movies and browse the web 24/7, just swapping out my battery if it dies later in the day.

I feel like I forgot this was one of the reasons I bought a droid -- its not an iPhone, and battery life isn't absolute when its swappable for immediate continued use.

 

[vincentp]

Good point... I think I'm going to buy an extra battery just so I can listen to Pandora throughout my entire shift at work without having to worry about the battery dying on me.

 

[UncleMike]

You may want to add a standalone charger to your shopping list. Without it, your Droid will spend twice as long attached to a charger in order to keep both batteries charged. An alternative would be the Amzer (I think) desktop cradle - it has place for charging a naked battery.

With my last phone, I use the external charger to charge one battery while the other powered the phone. My phone was rarely ever connected to a charger.

 

[anuleif]

I didn't order a battery or charger with my phone because I was so impressed by the videos I saw. I wanted to give the Droid an honest try on it's own before I spent the extra money. I'm getting about 4 hours of battery life tops, and plan to ask for a new battery. I've let the phone die several times and it still doesn't seem to have helped. The claim of 7 1/2 hours of music play with screen always on is misleading, I think. When you figure in incoming emails, texts, and the 3G to 1x switching, it doesn't leave me much to work with.

My evening: I fully charged a dead droid and took it off the charger before I left to take my son to one of his after school activities. I placed 3 very short calls (all under 2 minutes), read some texts, let my son play a game for 2 or 3 minutes while we waited, used GPS/Maps to locate a dunkin donuts near a store I wanted to go to, and the phone died before I made it back home approx. 4 1/2 hours later.

I thought *maybe* it would do better if I could charge the battery with the phone off, but apparently that's not even possible. I'm going to give it one more day, since I received the update. Then I'll most certainly be asking for a new battery, and purchasing a spare.

It's no good to have a cell that keeps me "notified" of everything, only to have it die on me in the middle of an emergency or something. lol

 

[dmodert66]

Wow...I would ask for a new battery. I get 10-12 hours with moderate to heavy use...mild to moderate and I get even more...

 

[colnago]

If you're going to buy an extra battery, wait for Seidio to come out with their "extended" version.

 

[anuleif]

Wow...I would ask for a new battery. I get 10-12 hours with moderate to heavy use...mild to moderate and I get even more...

That's sweet! And mind you, I hadn't used bluetooth at all, and I did turn the GPS off when I was finished. The screen wasn't on high either. No music. No videos. No pictures etc. So, I'll see if the update does anything for my battery life before I call Verizon.

If you're going to buy an extra battery, wait for Seidio to come out with their "extended" version.

This isn't one of those batteries that would void my warranty if it explodes in my phone is it? lol I've always been afraid of buying those. But, I must admit, an extended battery does sound tempting.

 

[ICANSEEYOU7687]

when I got my phone I immediately put the power widget on one of the home screens. I always have wifi off, unless I need it, and I keep the screen brightness set to the lowest unless im outside and need it brighter...

my battery lasts all day with medium use. im impressed by it

 

[Kappy79]

Good point jmccarthy! I seldom worry about my battery, but I never would with a spare and a charger around.
@anuleif: yeah man something is really wrong with your battery. When I first got my droid the first few days I messed with it for 5-6 hrs give or take, strait, non-stop on a single charge. My normal moderate to kinda heavy gets about 8-12 hrs and if I basicaly make a few quick calls/txts and judt check email I get about 24 hrs out of it. I use the power strip widget to keep wifi bluetooth and gps off when not needed.

 

[anuleif]

Good point jmccarthy! I seldom worry about my battery, but I never would with a spare and a charger around.
@anuleif: yeah man something is really wrong with your battery. When I first got my droid the first few days I messed with it for 5-6 hrs give or take, strait, non-stop on a single charge. My normal moderate to kinda heavy gets about 8-12 hrs and if I basicaly make a few quick calls/txts and judt check email I get about 24 hrs out of it. I use the power strip widget to keep wifi bluetooth and gps off when not needed.

Yeah, I use the power strip thing also. The only other widgets I have are weather bug, mototorch, fantasy lock screen, and calender. As well, before I installed task killer I just manually closed apps in settings. I decided to get the task killer after all to see if it would actually make much of a difference. I have no fancy home screen changing apps, and removed the FB widget the first day because it seemed rather pointless.

 

[jmccarthy14]

You may want to add a standalone charger to your shopping list. Without it, your Droid will spend twice as long attached to a charger in order to keep both batteries charged. An alternative would be the Amzer (I think) desktop cradle - it has place for charging a naked battery.

With my last phone, I use the external charger to charge one battery while the other powered the phone. My phone was rarely ever connected to a charger.

I was thinking about this when I posted. I do think - at first - I wouldn't mind charging both, but we agree it'd get to be a hassle. I appreciate the suggestion ill look into that dock.

Because I think its worth it. Batteries are cheap and small, so carrying one with me will add the weight of a significant pen, yet make my droid have an essentially unlimited battery throughout my day. I'm excited.

 

[baddriver]

Wow...I would ask for a new battery. I get 10-12 hours with moderate to heavy use...mild to moderate and I get even more...

No, 4 hours of heavy use is about right. Heavy meaning HEAVIEST. GPS, running and full CPU. That's what really gets the back of the device warm. Games use more CPU than music or video, which is why they kill the battery faster. 10-12 is also possible with lighter use, moderate for sure. 7.5 Hours seems to be what you get with heavy browsing use, not playing CPU intensive games

 

[bigbill25]

You may want to add a standalone charger to your shopping list. Without it, your Droid will spend twice as long attached to a charger in order to keep both batteries charged. An alternative would be the Amzer (I think) desktop cradle - it has place for charging a naked battery.

With my last phone, I use the external charger to charge one battery while the other powered the phone. My phone was rarely ever connected to a charger.

Is there a charger out there that will charge a loose battery? I haven't seen one...

--Bill

 

[oceanlight]

i haven't had any problems getting through the day with one charge, but that's a good idea. i'm going to wait for the extended battery though.

as a side note, i recently realized that for most of the day (during the work week), i'm actually stationary - meaning sitting at my office computer, sitting at my home/laptop computer, sitting in my car, or sleeping. therefore i implemented this "maximized charging coverage" system:

1.) i have a plugin charger for night when i sleep.
2.) i have a usb cord for my office computer.
3.) i have a usb cord for my home computer.
4.) i have a usb cord for my laptop. never use it but good to have.
5.) i have a car charger. never use it but good to have.

so basically i'm plugged in a lot. why not, since i'm just sitting there anyway.

also, i keep wifi, gps, and bluetooth off until i need them. gps especially seems to suck power.

edit: oh and i turned screen brightness down.


.

 

[barry99705]

I haven't found a place locally that has the micro-usb cables, my Verizon store doesn't even have them. I just carry the cable that came with it in my cargo pocket. I almost never turn off the gps or wifi, my building kills my cell signal, so wifi keeps the mail apps working. GPS seems to be working okay after the update, it turns itself off when I'm not running a gps capable app, though I'm pretty sure it did before the update on my phone, got lucky I guess. I do have a car charger that I plug in when I'm driving, since I'm kinda addicted to Waze. Had that installed on my Tilt as well.

 

[anuleif]

No, 4 hours of heavy use is about right. Heavy meaning HEAVIEST. GPS, running and full CPU. That's what really gets the back of the device warm. Games use more CPU than music or video, which is why they kill the battery faster. 10-12 is also possible with lighter use, moderate for sure. 7.5 Hours seems to be what you get with heavy browsing use, not playing CPU intensive games

Yeah, lol, if it was heavy usage. In this case, it's not...

 

[rhyno]

If you're going to buy an extra battery, wait for Seidio to come out with their "extended" version.

Quick question about the Seidio batteries: Generally they offer two types of extended batteries, correct? One battery comes with a new battery door that is slightly larger and the other is an extended battery that fits with the normal door. What kind of battery improvement can be expected out of each? I would assume something close to either a 200%/150% or a 150%/125% split between battery types depending on battery strength. Also, how much size (and weight) does the larger extended batteries from Seidio tend to add to the phone's profile (on average; I know it may be different from phone to phone). I have had a Samsung i760 and the extended battery seems to make the phone almost twice as heavy.. The droid, already being critiqued for its heavieness (i think it's great, solid feeling), could really feel like a brick in your pocket with the extended battery (and that's before newbs attempt rooting )

Sorry, I guess it wasn't a quick question

 

[Les Common]

Is there a charger out there that will charge a loose battery? I haven't seen one...

--Bill

This is the one I got and use.

Enter your location <-- click here, link works, odd name tho...

Nice little battery holder that you use with your existing microUSB cable and charger/USBpowersource.

Also makes a good protective case for the battery while I carry it around in my pocket. Having keys or coins short the contacts would not be good for the battery or, perhaps, my leg.

Have only needed to swap batteries 2 or 3 times so far, but it is a great comfort to know that if I want to turn on all the radios and play games I can, and will still be able to get calls late in the afternoon.

Battery life does appear to be better after 2.0.1, but I'm still going to carry the charger/charged battery combo as a security blanket.

And real road warriors w/ a spare c-note might be interested in this cute device from Zagg...
ZAGG | ZAGGsparq | 4 full iPhone charges, mobile battery, device charger, cellphone charger, portable battery pack, 6000 mAh lithium polymer battery, USB x2 at 1000 mAh output, AC 100-240 v/50/60 Hz

Would make a nice combo w/ the battery chargercase.

-Les

 

[oceanlight]

I haven't found a place locally that has the micro-usb cables, my Verizon store doesn't even have them. I just carry the cable that came with it in my cargo pocket.

this is the one i got. works fine for both charging and data.



.

 

[MarvinAndroid]

I was concerned about battery life at first... but first of all I was using the phone NON STOP the first week or so I had it. So the battery was going quickly. EVen those days though I usually made it through the bulk of the day. Now that I've settled down a bit I find that I usually have at least 30% battery at the end of the day before charging. In the end... if you charge the phone every night... as long as it makes it through the day there shoudln't be a problem right?

Well now I have a car charger (just in case) and I'm about to pick up a dock for work (for charging and for general coolness). So battery life is pretty much a non-issue now. Would it be nice if the thing ran a whole week on a single charge?! Sure! But as long as it makes it through the day, I'm good.

(And yes.. SNESoid, NESoid and Gameboid will beat your battery down like a bad dog - not that I would beat a dog ever... just saying)

 

[jmccarthy14]

This is the one I got and use.

Enter your location <-- click here, link works, odd name tho...

Nice little battery holder that you use with your existing microUSB cable and charger/USBpowersource.

Also makes a good protective case for the battery while I carry it around in my pocket. Having keys or coins short the contacts would not be good for the battery or, perhaps, my leg.

Have only needed to swap batteries 2 or 3 times so far, but it is a great comfort to know that if I want to turn on all the radios and play games I can, and will still be able to get calls late in the afternoon.

Battery life does appear to be better after 2.0.1, but I'm still going to carry the charger/charged battery combo as a security blanket.

And real road warriors w/ a spare c-note might be interested in this cute device from Zagg...
ZAGG | ZAGGsparq | 4 full iPhone charges, mobile battery, device charger, cellphone charger, portable battery pack, 6000 mAh lithium polymer battery, USB x2 at 1000 mAh output, AC 100-240 v/50/60 Hz

Would make a nice combo w/ the battery chargercase.

-Les

I'm going to copy you.

 

[jmccarthy14]

I was concerned about battery life at first... but first of all I was using the phone NON STOP the first week or so I had it. So the battery was going quickly. EVen those days though I usually made it through the bulk of the day. Now that I've settled down a bit I find that I usually have at least 30% battery at the end of the day before charging. In the end... if you charge the phone every night... as long as it makes it through the day there shoudln't be a problem right?

Well now I have a car charger (just in case) and I'm about to pick up a dock for work (for charging and for general coolness). So battery life is pretty much a non-issue now. Would it be nice if the thing ran a whole week on a single charge?! Sure! But as long as it makes it through the day, I'm good.

(And yes.. SNESoid, NESoid and Gameboid will beat your battery down like a bad dog - not that I would beat a dog ever... just saying)

And yeah, I commute in to boston every day, so lots of time for that battery-killing SNES. Don't know about Gameboid or NESoid. Which, btw, with most good GBA games being remakes of SNES, and Super Mario Allstars, I haven't found a reason to purchase. Maybe I will eventually. SNESoid makes it a better gaming platform than any other phone though, something I wasn't expecting. I'd trade the mario series, link to the past, battletoads, final fantasies/chrono triggers, and NBA Jam for a million 3-hour-long gameloft titles. Granted those are nice to show off, but which will I get more time out of? And I have plenty of other things on my droid I can brag about ).