Android newb wants better battery life. (edited 1/15: Google Maps sucks. Fixes?)

[phucheneh]

edited on 1/15 to add:

Didn't know if this deserved its own thread, but I've realized why my battery life is so terrible. It can indeed be way better than than it is...

Google Maps keeps starting itself. All the time. At first I thought the process just wasn't shutting down right, since I use Nav a lot. But I've now realized that I can clear cache, restart the phone, and never use Maps or Nav...and the process keeps coming back. It just eats more battery if I've been using the stuff. But even without that, it's literally consuming 90% of my battery just by starting itself and sitting in the background. When force stopped, it goes away as long as I've bothered to keep checking it...but then I look later on, and it's back, with a >90% battery number.

I can find no solution. People on phone forums are complaining about this, and the only solutions that are said to work are: a) turn GPS off or b) turn Latitudes off. I've been doing the first one (doesn't work), and never turned Latitudes on. I did start it (per suggestion), accept their agreement, then turn it off through the settings. Doesn't help.

This is lame. You suck, Google.

Is there any third-party nav software that works even remotely as well as Google Navigation? I mean, as far as routing, maps, instructions, et al...obviously it doesn't work in the 'not being a phone-killing piece of crap' category.


[/edit]

Okay, so, for being such a 'techie' all my life, I've always railed against adoption of phones that do things other than make phone calls. I like my separate, more-functional devices, dammit.

I was finally forced into adopting texting at some point. Sometime after, I finally swore off Verizon and the like (2009 or 2010) and went to one of the VM 'Beyond Talk' plans with an LG Rumor (hooray! a keyboard! technological marvel!). Well, I dealt with that turd for quite a while before finally needing to upgrade plans, anyway, so I figured it was a good time to go ahead and try an Android phone.

It didn't hurt that I could get a Kyocera Rise without a contract for $50. Yeah, I know, it's nothing special, but I get to keep the cutting-edge feature I couldn't live without...individual positive feedback user input tactile response units...

...you may have heard of them under the 'buttons' trademark.:awe:

Anyhow, cliffs on that: I am a freaking old man, apparently. I'm very impressed with this $50 phone.

But DAMN the battery life sucks. I'm not used to having to plug a phone in every day. I try to limit use of battery-sucking applications (hot damn you eat battery, google nav), and am sure to close anything I'm not using. But I still seem to have to charge constantly. If the phone just sits there with nothing running, there is no problem. Could get days if not a week out of it.

Any tips from Android users? Or anyone else with this phone? It's Android 4.somethingorother ('ice cream sandwich').

Or maybe I just need to be linked to some kind of 'smartphones for dummies' page.

 

[pm]

For a start, I'd say that once a day is pretty typical for all smartphone users. It's pretty much the way these things go.

But if you really want to maximize the battery:
turn off LTE (if you have it)
turn off syncing
make sure you don't run apps that require background access (sounds like you do this already)
lower the screen brightness to the lowest setting
turn off WiFi, GPS and bluetooth when you don't need them
and if you can deal with it, then turn off all data transfer altogether and then just turn it on when you need it.

If you can do the last two, you should be able to go ~3 days between chargings... at a guess. Maybe more, except that I'm not familiar with that phone.

Alternatively you could get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-Extend.../dp/B000LRPKD4

But, for what it's worth, my advice is to just get in the habit of charging it like clockwork every night. It's possibly the dumbest suggestion in this list, but it's my best bit of advice: every night when you check the doors before bed, check to make sure the phone is charging. After you do this for a month or so, it'll start to become a habit.

 

[Eug]

Buy a used RAZR MAXX? It's last year's model so it should be pretty inexpensive, and it comes with a 3300 mAh (!) battery. It's also been recently updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, so it has almost the latest and greatest in terms of the Android experience.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5533/motorola-droid-razr-maxx-review-18x-the-battery/2

There's a newer model, but it'd be considerably more expensive.

---

Hmmm... Apparently the 4.1 JB update for this phone has been pulled. Strange.

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/12/27/droid-razr-razr-maxx-jelly-bean-update-pulled/

 

[gorcorps]

I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear... but if you ONLY have to charge it once a day you're doing better than many of us.

 

[phucheneh]

Heh...realize two things...and I don't mean these in a prudish, angry kinda way, just stating fact: I'm a cheapass. So

1) the battery thing isn't enough for me to to pursue another phone and

2) I just won't do anything other than prepaid.

While Virgin Mobile (probably shouldn't have abbreviated that in OP) does have a decent selection of phones, you unfortunately cannot just go out and grab a new phone of a compatible type and swap over. Gotta be a VM-branded SIM-less phone.

This Kyocera has a 1500mAH battery. I'm guessing that's kinda on the small side. Really, though, I've been extremely pleased with it. The only things I can knock it for (low screen res, mediocre processing power, ect) are really just not a factor in a phone this cheap. Remember, I'm coming from an LG Rumor that was glitchy as hell and would barely run Google maps and Opera mini (and nothing else of use)...its keyboard was a little better though. Small potatoes.

As stated, I try and keep extra stuff from running in the background. However, I have not thought to turn WiFi or GPS off. Those actually make a sizeable difference?

Bluetooth is off, screen is dimmed. I wish I had a LITTLE more control over applications in general...it's kind of like, yeah, this is ALMOST windows, linux, or any other desktop OS that I'm accumstomed to being a 'power user' of. But there are still too many things that I can't seem to control within Android.

I'll definitely try and get in the habit of plugging in every night.

 

[phucheneh]

I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear... but if you ONLY have to charge it once a day you're doing better than many of us.

Yeah, I guess I'm just trying to have my cake and eat it, too. I just miss the days of 'oh, my battery's below the halfway mark...I'm gonna have to charge that in a couple days...':'(

 

[gorcorps]

Well 1500 is definitely a small battery, but since it probably has a low end screen and such it wouldn't be too bad. Android is simply not very efficient, and for phones on the cheap end the companies just don't have much of a reason to optimize the OS. Other than the things pm mentioned you will definitely have to charge the phone every day, and for me I'm finding I even have to charge it mid-day at times if I've been using it a lot.

 

[Eug]

Funny you should mention that. Even though my phone has as a 2500+ mAh battery, I too miss the old days of charging my phone maybe 3-4 times a week. In the meantime for trips I have ordered a backup battery charger pack. Monoprice sells one with a 5000 mAh battery. I hope it doesn't suck.

But yes, keeping WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC (if there is NFC) off can make a difference though. It's a pain to have WiFi and GPS off though, so I keep mine on. Also there is a page on the phone that tells you what is using how much battery. Got to Settings --> Battery. Also, you can set your screen to turn off quickly. Go to Settings--> Display. I have mine set to sleep after 2 minutes, but you can turn it down to say 15 seconds. For me that'd be very annoying, but it'd certainly save power. Also turn off live wallpapers.

P.S. I gave up on SIM-less phones over a decade ago. Too restrictive.

 

[ericlp]

Hmmm, my phone I charge maybe once a week. it's pay as you go net10.

It's NOT a smart phone. You may want to consider this option.

I have a Nexus 7 and a regular phone for talking. I use google voice for texting and web surfing you know the normal bullshit you'd use a smart phone for. And yeah, it's only wifi, but there are just too many hot spots around to justify paying for cell data. Plus I get the benefit of a great touch screen and battery life on both. But of course if you just want to carry around one device ...

 

[styrafoam]

Funny, the phone I had before i bought my first android was a LG Tumor too. I missed charging my phone twice a week for quite a while.

 

[WelshBloke]

You could look into the apps "juice defender" or "deep sleep battery saver" they might help.

Juice defender has a bit more of a learning curve but does a bit more. Don't run both at once.

 

[PowerYoga]

smart phones are a lot more battery intensive than old dumbphones because they're essentially little computers. The only thing that have > 2 d lifespans now a days are blackberries, though I can push about 30 hours on my galaxy s3.

 

[corkyg]

As another "freaking old man," here is what I do - only need a charge every week or two. I keep the damn phone OFF unless I want to use it. <vbg>

 

[gorcorps]

... though I can push about 30 hours on my galaxy s3.

How? I even have battery saving kernals that in theory should be downclocking the processor when idle to save battery, as well as not having all the stock battery hogging stuff installed. I get maybe 18 or so with pretty limited use.

 

[Eug]

smart phones are a lot more battery intensive than old dumbphones because they're essentially little computers. The only thing that have > 2 d lifespans now a days are blackberries, though I can push about 30 hours on my galaxy s3.

If you can get 30 hours on an S III, then you should be able to get to over two days on a RAZR MAXX HD. It has a battery that is 57% bigger than the S III's, with the same CPU.

 

[WelshBloke]

How? I even have battery saving kernals that in theory should be downclocking the processor when idle to save battery, as well as not having all the stock battery hogging stuff installed. I get maybe 18 or so with pretty limited use.

I can just get 30 hours on mine if I use it mainly just for email/text/etc.

My 'normal' use will give me 20ish hours. That's with an undervolted core and juice defender though.

 

[WelshBloke]

If you can get 30 hours on an S III, then you should be able to get to over two days on a RAZR MAXX HD. It has a battery that is 57% bigger than the S III's, with the same CPU.

RAZR MAXX is a total outlier though.

It's changed my attitude to non removable batteries and I wish all new smartphones used the same idea. Although it might encourage manufacturers to "brute force" their battery life rather than use more elegant solutions.

 

[Eug]

RAZR MAXX is a total outlier though.

It's changed my attitude to non removable batteries and I wish all new smartphones used the same idea. Although it might encourage manufacturers to "brute force" their battery life rather than use more elegant solutions.

I agree the Razr Maxx and Razr Maxx HD are outliers, but as you suggest, they shouldn't be. Either other phone manufacturers need to improve the performance characteristics of the phones (through lower power hardware, or more optimized software), or else provide bigger batteries.

One of the few companies besides Motorola that actually understands this and makes it happen is Apple.

BTW, GSM Arena has some interesting battery life tests for the Nexus 4, against the competition:

http://blog.gsmarena.com/google-nex...test-see-if-its-better-than-the-galaxy-nexus/

Web browsing
Nexus 4: 4.5 hours
iPhone 5: 10 hours
Galaxy Nexus: 3 hours

Talk time
Nexus 4: 14 hours 17 minutes
RAZR MAXX: 21 hours 18 minutes

Video playback
Nexus 4: 5 hours
RAZR MAXX: 16.5 hours (!)

 

[gorcorps]

I can just get 30 hours on mine if I use it mainly just for email/text/etc.

My 'normal' use will give me 20ish hours. That's with an undervolted core and juice defender though.

Then maybe I'm not that far off then. I just hear some reports of SGS3 battery life of being pretty good but really with LTE and the larger screen it's no better than my SGS2 was.

RAZR MAXX is a total outlier though.

It's changed my attitude to non removable batteries and I wish all new smartphones used the same idea. Although it might encourage manufacturers to "brute force" their battery life rather than use more elegant solutions.

Absolutely. If a non-removeable battery means they can fit a huge battery in a relatively compact package I'm all for it. HTC took a different route and used a GS3 sized battery and made it non removeable. What is it with that company and ALWAYS undercutting the battery size?

 

[Eug]

What is it with that company and ALWAYS undercutting the battery size?

It's cheaper.

 

[gorcorps]

I agree the Razr Maxx and Razr Maxx HD are outliers, but as you suggest, they shouldn't be. Either other phone manufacturers need to improve the performance characteristics of the phones (through lower power hardware, or more optimized software), or else provide bigger batteries.

One of the few companies besides Motorola that actually understands this and makes it happen is Apple.

BTW, GSM Arena has some interesting battery life tests for the Nexus 4, against the competition:

http://blog.gsmarena.com/google-nex...test-see-if-its-better-than-the-galaxy-nexus/

Web browsing
Nexus 4: 4.5 hours
iPhone 5: 10 hours
Galaxy Nexus: 3 hours

Talk time
Nexus 4: 14 hours 17 minutes
RAZR MAXX: 21 hours 18 minutes

Video playback
Nexus 4: 5 hours
RAZR MAXX: 16.5 hours (!)

Apple has the luxury of tailoring the OS to the hardware, which makes it efficient. Android is just too open to go that route, and I was really hoping that with the Nexus devices Google would start getting more involved with the manufacturers and optimize Android in a similar way at least for those phones. We're on the Nexus 4 now and that still hasn't happened, so I've lost hope. The only other option is what Motorola realized and that's to just make the battery huge in the first place. IMO phones are too thin anyway without a case for my liking so I'd welcome a couple extra mm's for another day of battery life.

 

[Eug]

The RAZR MAXX HD is 9.3 mm thick. Its total volume is 83291 mm3 (131.9 x 67.9 x 9.3 mm).

It's just a hair thicker (literally) than the Galaxy S III (8.6 mm), and it's actually the same thickness as the iPhone 4S (which I think is already thin enough). The Galaxy S III is significantly taller and wider though, at 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, to house that 0.1" bigger screen.

 

[WelshBloke]

...One of the few companies besides Motorola that actually understands this and makes it happen is Apple.
...

You can't really compare iOS and Android devices like that though. AFAIK they let apps run in the background and access network connections in totally different ways.

 

[Eug]

You can't really compare iOS and Android devices like that though. AFAIK they let apps run in the background and access network connections in totally different ways.

Right. Apple does this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is managing battery life.

Motorola understands it can't really do the same thing, but nonetheless similarly feels that battery life is very important, and has done what it can do, which is to provide a bigger battery, but did it in a relatively thin design.

---

GSM Arena in that link I provided above assigns a 32 hr endurance rating for the Nexus 4, with light usage. However, with that same light usage, they have the RAZR MAXX lasting 87 hours.

http://blog.gsmarena.com/motorola-razr-maxx-battery-life-is-complete-makes-chargers-feel-lonely/

87 hours is over three-and-a-half days.

The iPhone 5 is rated at 51 hours, which is 60% longer than the Nexus 4.

 

[WelshBloke]

Right. Apple does this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is managing battery life.

Motorola understands it can't really do the same thing, but nonetheless similarly feels that battery life is very important, and has done what it can do, which is to provide a bigger battery, but did it in a relatively thin design.

---

GSM Arena in that link I provided above assigns a 32 hr endurance rating for the Nexus 4, with light usage. However, with that same light usage, they have the RAZR MAXX lasting 87 hours.

http://blog.gsmarena.com/motorola-razr-maxx-battery-life-is-complete-makes-chargers-feel-lonely/

87 hours is over three-and-a-half days.

The iPhone 5 is rated at 51 hours, which is 60% longer than the Nexus 4.

When I said that I thought you might stop with the ios/android battery life comparison (especially as you agreed with me).

It will be interesting to see how many android manufacturers follow motos example. There's no reason not to (as long as they make the batteries not impossible to replace) and every advantage from a marketing POV.