Battery life if using a smartphone as a dumb phone?

[SoftwareEng]

So, hi! It's a special question about battery life.

I'll buy a smartphone to use as phone and PDA (to-do's, calendar, shopping lists, and notes). I will NOT be surfing the web, reading E-mails, or syncing anything wirelessly. I won't even have a data plan! I do need a nice large screen (3.2"+). What do you think battery life will be if I turn off all those "extras"? I hear battery life sucks on modern smartphones (WinMo and Droid), lasting 1 day or so?. Can I double or triple it by using the phone this way?

E.g. HTC HD2 or Touch 2 Pro or Motorola Droid or even Google G1.

Huge thanks!

 

[Deeko]

It does get better. My girlfriend has a G1 that she just uses for dumbphone tasks, email + an occasional simple 2D game of sorts. She gets 2-3 days (whereas I got about 12 hours with a G1). With the data radios completely turned off, you'll get decent battery life.

Why though? Why not just get a dumbphone?

 

[MJinZ]

Droid will last you a couple of a days if you don't use data stuff.

 

[metalmania]

I do simple web browsing too and have 5 days.

 

[Binky]

You may not be able to get one of those phones without a data plan. In my area, Verizon requires a data plan on any "smart phone" with no exceptions that I know of. I don't know how other providers deal with it. Also, smart phones are designed to be web-integrated, so a plan w/o data could end up costing you a lot of money when your phone "accidentally" grabs some data.

A normal phone would give you substantially better battery life and it would work better as just a phone. They also feel more like a phone, and less like you're holding a small book against your ear.

 

[hanoverphist]

my winmo phone will last 2 days if i dont constantly play solitaire, check fb and browse the web. the OS doesnt really matter for battery life nearly as much as the hardware itself and what apps you have running constantly on the phone. i only have 2 email accounts checked every 30 min and a weather app that updates like every hour, so if i dont make any calls there is minimal use on it at all.

 

[Bateluer]

You may not be able to get one of those phones without a data plan. In my area, Verizon requires a data plan on any "smart phone" with no exceptions that I know of. I don't know how other providers deal with it. Also, smart phones are designed to be web-integrated, so a plan w/o data could end up costing you a lot of money when your phone "accidentally" grabs some data.

A normal phone would give you substantially better battery life and it would work better as just a phone. They also feel more like a phone, and less like you're holding a small book against your ear.

Agreed. It boggles my mind that people want to get a 600 dollar phone and use it like the 20 dollar dumb phones. Since most carriers require the data plan for a smart phone class device, you're wasting a lot of money and not using the phone to its potential. A lot like buying an i7 980X CPU and using it to play Solitaire. Just got the cheaper feature phone.

 

[SoftwareEng]

Thanks for your comments, please keep them coming. 3 days sounds pretty good, for those who get that much without surfing or playing games.

For the dollar-conscious posters: I'm going to buy a used smartphone off Ebay/Craigslist (~$150-$300), so no data plan necessary. Considering how much time it will save me in activity planning and scheduling, $300 is nothing. Organizing your life, FTW

 

[AstroManLuca]

Are you planning on going through Page Plus or something? Because Verizon, AT&T, and every other carrier will force you to purchase a data plan even if you bring your own phone. They can tell what phone you have and they'll just add it onto your bill.

I do think you can get a Droid activated on Page Plus though.

 

[zerocool84]

Are you planning on going through Page Plus or something? Because Verizon, AT&T, and every other carrier will force you to purchase a data plan even if you bring your own phone. They can tell what phone you have and they'll just add it onto your bill.

I do think you can get a Droid activated on Page Plus though.

The only carrier that doesn't care is T-mobile as they don't do sweeps like AT&T.

 

[SoftwareEng]

I'm on T-mobile so I can use whatever phone I want by simply swapping the GSM sim card.

 

[I Saw OJ]

I get 2 days pretty easily on my moto Droid with light surfing/calls and heavy texting. I don't get many calls on it, but when I do thats what really kills the battery, well that and GPS but its rarely used.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I can get three days out of my Bberry 8900 with little to no browsing and just making calls

 

[hanoverphist]

I get 2 days pretty easily on my moto Droid with light surfing/calls and heavy texting. I don't get many calls on it, but when I do thats what really kills the battery, well that and GPS but its rarely used.

thats the truth. i dont even use the gps unless i have it plugged in. it also seems to get kind of hot when i use it, which is weird.

 

[magomago]

i just got a bb9k to use as a dumbphone (well...i really want a planner that is well done with a full keyboard) so we'll see. turned off the WIFI and 3G stuff, so i'll report how long it lasts.