Battery Saving Tips

[LukeH]

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Introduction: In this tutorial, I will give you several tips that will increase the length of your battery life. Before I learned the settings, I couldn't make it an entire day on my Droid Bionic standard battery. Now, I can survive an entire day with at least 20%-30% battery life left. Let's get started.

Widgets: A widget is a running application on your homescreen that allows you to have quick access to information. The more widgets you have on your homescreen, the faster your battery will be drained. The widgets that constantly push data are the ones that will use the majority of your battery. For example, the Google toolbar widget will use less battery than a weather widget that is constantly pushing in data to update the status of the weather. A helpful tip would be to set the weather update to every 15-30 minutes. This will have a great impact on your battery. This applies for your other widgets as well.

Account Sync/Data Manager: This can be accessed by going to Settings > Accounts. This is a list of every account you have set-up on your Bionic. This includes your email, Google account, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Delete any that you do not need or use. Now, go to Settings > Battery & Data Manager > Data Delivery. Under Application Data Delivery, you will have two tabs labeled Email and Corporate Sync and Social Applications. Click on Email and Corporate Sync first. Then click Email Delivery. Turn off Data Push and click the Fetch Schedule button. Have it push emails to you every 15 minutes, or however long you think you can go without receiving an important email. Now go back to Application Data Delivery. Choose Social Applications, then Data Delivery Frequency. Have it sync the data every 15-30 minutes. This will drastically improve your battery life because your phone isn't constantly searching for information.

Data Delivery: Go to Settings > Battery & Data Manager > Data Delivery. Enable Background Data, but disable Data Roaming and Data Enabled.

WiFi: This can be accessed under Settings > Wireless & Networks. Using WiFi uses less battery than a 3g or 4g connection. When using data in a WiFi area, it is recommended to turn it on, and turn your 3g or 4g connection off.

Display: The Droid Bionic features what is called a Pentile display. Basically, it is already set-up to save battery life. It may not look as good as an iPhone retina display, but it's considerably close. The average user probably can't even tell the difference. When it comes to display, set it to the lowest brightness settings or around 1/4 of max brightness. Anything more than that is unnecessary.

Games: Obviously games like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Words with Friends, etc. are heavy on your battery. Use them sparingly, as they can zap your battery in no time.

GO Switch Widget: I recommend downloading this widget from the app store. It is free and extremely useful. It allows you to control WiFi, Airplane Mode, Mobile Network, Battery, Brightness, Screen Timeout, Bluetooth, and several others directly from your homescreen.

Conclusion: Hopefully you find these battery saving tips useful on your Droid Bionic. After using my Bionic a few days after purchase, I thought I needed the extended battery. But, after using these settings for 3-4 weeks, I have found that I do not need the extra battery life, even though I am on my phone constantly.

Source

 

[Shadez]

Nice information!

 

[bluezdawg]

Great info Luke! Well done and thanks for sharing! Curious to see what you think about some of the battery conservation apps. I have had some good results with Juice Defender. Gonna go cruise some settings now :biggrin:

 

[bluezdawg]

Btw, Shadez, on my other post... You're brutal

 

[LukeH]

Nice information!

Thank you! This is my first thread besides my introduction thread, so hopefully it's not too bad.

 

[LukeH]

Great info Luke! Well done and thanks for sharing! Curious to see what you think about some of the battery conservation apps. I have had some good results with Juice Defender. Gonna go cruise some settings now :biggrin:

Ya know, I haven't had much luck with any battery conservation apps. But then again, I haven't really tried many other than Juice Defender. I uninstalled it as I thought it was ineffective, but I may go try some others!

 

[aaf709]

It's a good list, and I'm trying some of the suggestions, but I want to comment about Go Switch Widget. You have to install Go Launcher EX to make it work and while I really like Go Launcher, it won't work with the Favorite Contacts widget. Of course, if you have Go Launcher, then by all means use Go Switch Widget.

That being said, there are other widgets that'll do most of that. The stock Power Switch can do some, and I use SwitchPro (but that costs 99 cents).

 

[LukeH]

It's a good list, and I'm trying some of the suggestions, but I want to comment about Go Switch Widget. You have to install Go Launcher EX to make it work and while I really like Go Launcher, it won't work with the Favorite Contacts widget. Of course, if you have Go Launcher, then by all means use Go Switch Widget.

That being said, there are other widgets that'll do most of that. The stock Power Switch can do some, and I use SwitchPro (but that costs 99 cents).

Ahh I see. I forgot to take that into consideration. But you are correct. There are several other widgets that do the same thing.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[steamster]

Not pertaining to this, but this is urgent, can you go read my latest thread. THANKS ALOT GUYS

 

[LegalAmerican]

What does "Data Enabled" do?

 

[ripper2860]

Some apps folks may find helpful in adding some additional battey savings over and above the provided tips...

Widgetsoid is a GREAT app allowing one to create their own switcher widget w/ the desired items -- and it is FREE on Android Market!!! I use it and love it!!
* Can be a little intimidating, but there is a good Youtube tutorial if you search for Widgetsoid in Youtube.

Another great free app is AutomateIT -- let's you create actions based on phone state or events. You can auto-adjust screen brightness when docked, on charger or off charger, enable and disable Bluetooth based on certain criteria (I have mine turn on BT and GPS, set brightness to AUTO when docked in car dock and turn off BT and GPS and set brightness to 30% when undocked, for example). All sorts of stuff based on phone state and actions such as application launch, dock state, power state, battery level, etc. Too much to list. Kinda works like a Razr SmartActions and some actions can equate to battery savings.

Also the Verizon Wifi Auto-on is another good widget and available for free on Android Market. Allows you to identify locations where you want 3G/4G turned off and WiFi turned on. Uses Verizon Location or Google Location services to identify if you are at a user defined location and automatically turn WiFi on and connects. I have it auto turn on when I arrive to work and when I arrive home -- when I leave either and am en-route between, it turns WiFi off and enabled 3G/4G. Added the address to my local Starbucks and it connects when I pull into the parking lot. Pretty cool. Since Wifi is less of a battery drain than 3G/4G data, it's a great way to auto-switch and save battery w/o having to remember to do it manually.

 

[LukeH]

What does "Data Enabled" do?

Data Enabled is how you enable/disable your 3g or 4g radio.

 

[LegalAmerican]

Data Enabled is how you enable/disable your 3g or 4g radio.

So how does that affect the phone then? Does that mean your data connection is turned off? (sorry, this is my first smartphone)

 

[ronster]

"Data Enabled" should be checked "ON" in order to acquire 3G/4G signal. Try it... turn it off, and you won't get data via 3g or 4g. The OP is partially incorrect in saying that data enabled should be checked "off"... (yes you'll save battery... but you won't receive any data signal via 3g or 4g; unless you're on WIFI).

 

[LukeH]

So how does that affect the phone then? Does that mean your data connection is turned off? (sorry, this is my first smartphone)

This one is a little hard to explain. It's like it is able to overwrite your WiFi connection when it is turned on. Something like that. It's just best to turn the option off, then switch between which you prefer.