Droid X Battery Discussion

[StormOpz]

Dear Droid Forums,

I'll get just get straight to the point: We all want to know how to conserve battery on this beautiful device. I believe we should have a sticky on the matter (unless there is one already that I don't know of) that should have a complete comprehensive list occasionally updated with new information on the initial post; this will be nice for people to get quick answers without having to post or search for ages about if a certain app is a battery killer or not.

I think we could start here for now and talk about the easiest ways to save your battery. Are there any things I could do to conserve besides the typical(screen brightness, wi-fi off, etc) ? I have researched tirelessly and have done a few things but they are only pretty basic... I'm looking more towards widget and applicaiton uses and how they affect battery change; which ones should we use and should not. Also I would like more technical and detailed input rather than a vague one-sentenced reply, if its entirely possible.

Also if someone will also like to throw in some input on task killers that would be much appreciated, but i am less concerned with that... Only because I've read and been told not to use them because of how the android os task managing works internally(which frowns upon force killing apps)... I still would like to hear some things still from this end.

If the mods decide to sticky this, I will update everything that I notice that works the best and place everything in the initial post right below all of this. Thanks in advance for your contributions

 

[aminaked]

U can leave wifi on. Just set it to NOT scan for open networks. I use auto brightness but turning it to its lowest setting of course helps. You can leave gps on but try to avoid apps that use it needlessly. In fact avoid any app that starts automatically on boot if you can help it. This includes task killers, anti virus, and even widgets. When done using an app uses its exit or quit button if it has one. Plug the phone in as often as you can.

Well that wasn't very technical but it wasnt 1 sentence either

 

[StormOpz]

Thank you for your input aminaked ... I didn't wanna stress the one sentence thing but i was just looking for some detailed responses. I do how ever have another question, how can i see and manage refresh rates for certain widgets like the social networking, or any kind for that matter... i heard that they as well could be the culprit of a battery killer; is this true? Would his apply to res feeds to? I do get feeds diretly to my phone, this is why i was wondering

 

[aminaked]

I don't know what res feed is but I think the answer is yes. Anything that uses cpu, the network, or gps will EAT your power. A perfect example is a weather widget. It runs gps to see where you are and contacts the network to get data and of course uses cpu. If you have enough widgets you'll quickly drain your battery. Many widgets don't have a way to configure how often they update. Try to do without them. If i want to know the weather i visit weather.com or just look outside

Everything you do on the phone uses power. If you're streaming tons of sport scores, stock prices, news, music... it might seem free but you have to pay for electricity.

Try to run lean. Your phone will run faster and longer. It's kind of sad because the phone can do so much at once but needs a nuclear reactor instead of a battery.

 

[Chief]

For the first week I was having severe battery problems and would have a dead battery before the day was done. Checking the phone it said most of the battery was going towards display.

This past Thursday I learned of the Battery Left widget. It is a great widget and shows Network Usage. I learned that most of my Network Usage was going to widgets - 2 sports widgets and Fox Business. So I got rid of those widgets.

On Thursday at 8pm I took off the charger and the phone lasted till 11:30am Friday (although I did sleep for about 6-8 hours).

Friday was good and the past 2 days did not have my battery completely die before I went to sleep (I'm assuming today as I have 20% left and the Battery Left widget shows the phone will die at 12:35am) I've noticed that if you don't use the phone often the time does get extended.

 

[hnolbtg]

I use my phone since 8 o clock this morning between checking mail, texting, checking facebook listening to pandoras radio for 6 hours and playing mario 3 for maybe 45 m, talking on the phone for 2 hours and around 8 o clock at night my phones battery is on 15 percent i still cant believe that some people said that this phone battety doesn't last much, for my 12 hours of usage is good enough!!

 

[stryguy]

I get well over 24 hours on my phone.

I leave WIFI on and searching for access points.
I leave GPS on
I do not leave Bluetooth on.
I do not use a task killer. I promise you they use more power then they save.
I do use ONLY push email. Never have it check for email
I do use JuiceDefender to manage the 3g and Wifi connection when the screen is off
I do use Auto Brightness
I don't have new feeds or social networks of any kind.
I do use weather bug with GPS feature turned off.

The last work week I routinely went from 7am (or so) until 2am and put the phone on the charger with about 50% remaining. Out of curiosity I left it off and it went 1 day 6 hours before I put it on a charger at 10%.

 

[Fizban22]

what does Juice Defender do?

 

[stryguy]

JuiceDefender basically turns on and off your 3g and wifi connections based on a schedule when your screen is is turned off (or even on depending on how you configure it).

It does not affect push email or txt messaging.

 

[bowlingotter]

This is a good thread! This is my first Android phone so at first I was very displeased with the battery life, but the more time I spend with it the more I'm appreciating its flexibility and serviceability. It's good to see a few handy tips and apps spelled out