I finally have incredible battery life!

[solorca]

I've tried all kinds of things to improve my battery life since getting this phone, but as of today, I think I've finally hit on the thing that helps me the most.

Over the weekend, I downloaded a program called IsItOn. It's just a simple program that it similar to the power control widget...except it gives a few more options about battery draining things. It's not a widget, but it's a program that takes you to the area you need to change. I am hoping another company comes up with a similar widget, but for now, this will do.

The one thing that I changed that seems to be affecting my battery more than anything is the background data. I don't really need immediately updated email, so it isn't really something that bothers me. The only time I have to turn background data on is when I go to the market.

After making this change and turning wifi location off, my battery life in amazing.

It is currently 5:10 in the afternoon, and my phone has been off the charger since 9:00 in the morning. I have listened to 4 complete albums (about 3 1/2 hours) worth of music from the SD card. I've listened to about 30 minutes of Pandora. I sent about 10 texts and I played Homerun 3D Battle for about 20 minutes this morning.

Right now, I am showing 90% full on my battery level. A week ago, this same usage would have me at well below 50%.

 

[LastBoyScout]

..........

 

[knotbeerdan]

That useage should have you below 50% are you sure your phone isnt just lying to you now? The display on the phone is what kills it. If you had your screen on for playing games and such then it should take more than that. are you turning your brightness way down?

 

[Hugh Jass]

That useage should have you below 50% are you sure your phone isnt just lying to you now? The display on the phone is what kills it. If you had your screen on for playing games and such then it should take more than that. are you turning your brightness way down?

Yes, unless the screen was off for all of that (beside texting) I call BS. The display is the greatest destroyer of battery life by a huge margin.

EDIT: So much so, I'm at 14% standby 20% idle and 53% display on the usage scale.

 

[hookbill]

Yeah, that kind of sounds a little too good to be true. I'm not calling the OP a liar, I'm just suspicious that his phones battery meter isn't fibbing to him.

 

[SSHGuru]

My bet is that in turning off background data you also turned off your battery monitor.

Try doing a battery pull and see what it says you have then. I bet it's way lower.

I've tried all kinds of things to improve my battery life since getting this phone, but as of today, I think I've finally hit on the thing that helps me the most.

Over the weekend, I downloaded a program called IsItOn. It's just a simple program that it similar to the power control widget...except it gives a few more options about battery draining things. It's not a widget, but it's a program that takes you to the area you need to change. I am hoping another company comes up with a similar widget, but for now, this will do.

The one thing that I changed that seems to be affecting my battery more than anything is the background data. I don't really need immediately updated email, so it isn't really something that bothers me. The only time I have to turn background data on is when I go to the market.

After making this change and turning wifi location off, my battery life in amazing.

It is currently 5:10 in the afternoon, and my phone has been off the charger since 9:00 in the morning. I have listened to 4 complete albums (about 3 1/2 hours) worth of music from the SD card. I've listened to about 30 minutes of Pandora. I sent about 10 texts and I played Homerun 3D Battle for about 20 minutes this morning.

Right now, I am showing 90% full on my battery level. A week ago, this same usage would have me at well below 50%.

 

[Hugh Jass]

My bet is that in turning off background data you also turned off your battery monitor.

Classic. lol.

 

[DessoThumbs]

I've set my screen brightness to as low as it will go and have gotten used to the way it looks. Not bad at all indoors but hard to see out in the sun (so I bump it up then). I also turned my email etc. updates to a longer interval and I always put the phone in sleep mode whenever I'm done with it. My battery life has improved tremendously.

 

[solorca]

I did a battery pull and everything is reading the same way. I'm down to 80% now after surfing the internet and playing a few minutes of a game on my lunch break.

I'm not asking you guys to believe me, but I don't really have any incentive to lie about anything. I found the information about background data on the motorola forum and quite a few people said it helped their battery life, so I thought I would give it a shot. It has worked for me.

In terms of my display, I had very little usage in that area today other than the little bit of games and having it on long enough to select the music I was going to play. As soon as I finish using whatever I need, I always immediate lock the phone...which is also a big help, rather than just waiting for the display to turn off on it's own. I don't keep the display on while music is playing.

Brightness is on automatic. For most of the day today, Display was #2 on my battery use list. Mediaserver was the top.

 

[SSHGuru]

It's not that we're calling you a liar it's just not possible.

I suppose if you're turning off all data coming in that would save alot of power but data is the entire basis on which the Droid runs - we all want email and information.

But we also all know that playing HomeRun 3d will decimate your battery in 20 minutes so I don't see it...

 

[solorca]

It's not that we're calling you a liar it's just not possible.

I don't know what to tell you, but it's definitely possible on my phone with my battery. When was the last time that you turned off auto-sync, wi-fi, and background data for a full day? What were your results? Since you're saying it's not possible, I'm positive that you've done this and have alternate results that you're willing to provide, correct?

Yes, I've turned off the data that comes in because I honestly just don't need it. I'll turn it on if I am expecting an important email, but on a day to day basis it's not something that I really need. I only The Droid does offer that ability for people who need it, for me, I love having all of the apps, games, and open source toggling ability that the Droid provides. Even with background data on, I get updates on news, sports, etc. as long as I set them to update at an interval..which is really what I need, personally.

 

[choklitcow]

They aren't doubting you are saving battery life shutting off said functions. They are merely stating that the screen alone does more battery drain than was previously mentioned in that time alloted.

 

[solorca]

They aren't doubting you are saving battery life shutting off said functions. They are merely stating that the screen alone does more battery drain than was previously mentioned in that time alloted.

My screen was only on for maybe a total of 25-30 minutes in a bright room with automatic settings.

 

[Tillers_Rule]

I've noticed a nice increase in battery life since I've been killing "task killer" on a regular basis, rather than letting it run in the background.

 

[kevin1016]

My question is what's the point of having extra battery charge at the end of the day? What's the difference in having 20% charge or 80% at days end? Aren't you still going to plug it in or cradle it when you sleep? It's not like saving money or minutes or something that's actually worth saving.