Tips to Help Improve Battery Life on ThunderBolt

[WorldOfJohnboy]

Decided to try out the HUGE extended battery today. The phone has been off it's charger for 5.5 hours and it is at 66% That means that my phone will last approximately 16.5 hours before needing a charge (and on Mondays, my phone is most active and uses the most battery). I just wish it didn't make the phone so honkin' thick. I think I am going to go back to a rotation of two standard batteries with a wall charger for the battery that is not in use.

 

[Z06_Mir]

I'm at 2 hours 10 min since unplugged. I'm at 50% with 30 minutes of display use, no phone calls and five texts. Also only 3 minutes of a game. I just cut all ny sync in half and am gonna suffer through not instant stuff, axed friend stream and only have 1 widget. Verizon is getting a visit from me tomorrow.

Update. 3.5 hours of use, 1 hour 10 minutes of display use. I was using it moderately on here, some other forums and games. I recently installed that juice program too.

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums App

Have you disabled haptic feedback? What screen brightness are you running on? How about data updates/sync, have you manually set the timings?

I have been using my TB heavily evey day (video, sms, internet, gaming, talking, etc..) and while the battery isn't huge, it hasn't been a problem for me either. Mobile Data off & WiFi is great, but even with Wifi off while using LTE away from the house, I get through the day just fine.

haptic feedback is disabled, I'm running on brightness 0 (all the way to the left on the manual brightness bar), i have stopped everything except for email from syncing on its own and stopped friendstream. the only widget i have is the weather/clock one (even ditched battery one) and i have a still photo has a background.

heading to class now, we will see how it holds up for the next hour or so. then i have a break and can come home to charge before my last two classes. maybe i should just start carrying a charger everywhere i go..... :icon_evil:

also, this is not my first smart phone, i've had one since the blackberry pearl came out god knows when. pearl, curve, tour, storm then i went d1 and now tb. i expected battery life of my d1 or a little worse, not 1/3 of it.

 

[geoff5093]

You'd make millions if you could figure out a patentable way to do that.

For starters they could tweak the automatic brightness, it's way too bright. I've said it before, I would love if there was a way that you could tweak the automatic brightness, making it a given percentage higher or lower then default for those that want it a bit brighter, or a bit dimmer.

 

[slinky]

You'd make millions if you could figure out a patentable way to do that.

For starters they could tweak the automatic brightness, it's way too bright. I've said it before, I would love if there was a way that you could tweak the automatic brightness, making it a given percentage higher or lower then default for those that want it a bit brighter, or a bit dimmer.

I've found that the latest is actually better than it was on the incredible. If I set the brightness where I used to set it, the difference with auto brightness isn't dramatic and without that being on, going outside means not seeing the screen at all in daylight/sunlight.

 

[slinky]

also, this is not my first smart phone, i've had one since the blackberry pearl came out god knows when. pearl, curve, tour, storm then i went d1 and now tb. i expected battery life of my d1 or a little worse, not 1/3 of it.

You're not the only one, my friend. I'm leaving to the VZW store right now to ask about similar problems. I lose 15% battery an hour doing nothing. 45% Android OS, 20% cell standby and 20% phone idle. It's remarkable - burn is far worse than the Incredible and I'm using the exact same apps I had before, no widgets except for one that shows the calendar agenda.

 

[funkyb]

also, this is not my first smart phone, i've had one since the blackberry pearl came out god knows when. pearl, curve, tour, storm then i went d1 and now tb. i expected battery life of my d1 or a little worse, not 1/3 of it.

You're not the only one, my friend. I'm leaving to the VZW store right now to ask about similar problems. I lose 15% battery an hour doing nothing. 45% Android OS, 20% cell standby and 20% phone idle. It's remarkable - burn is far worse than the Incredible and I'm using the exact same apps I had before, no widgets except for one that shows the calendar agenda.

45% android OS? that sounds way, way too high. Mine has been up since 6AM this morning, and Android System is listed as 4%.

Disclaimer: I am not a smartphone expert, this is my first one

 

[want a droid]

In 2 hours my phone was down to 39%. This is with screen on for 30 minutes so I was using it quite a bit. Still disappointing though. 4G does seem to be the culprit. I'm in a strong area (my phone is never switching between 4G/3G), and when I use WiFi my battery does much better.

 

[BigMcGuire]

45% android OS? that sounds way, way too high. Mine has been up since 6AM this morning, and Android System is listed as 4%.

Disclaimer: I am not a smartphone expert, this is my first one

Exactly, Android OS is always at or around 6% for me.

 

[atlrus]

+1
Every time I check, Android is at 4%. Did you try reseting to factory?

Also, my cell standby is at 2% (3g).

45% android OS? that sounds way, way too high. Mine has been up since 6AM this morning, and Android System is listed as 4%.

Disclaimer: I am not a smartphone expert, this is my first one

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums App

 

[Blackhawk55]

You'd make millions if you could figure out a patentable way to do that.

For starters they could tweak the automatic brightness, it's way too bright. I've said it before, I would love if there was a way that you could tweak the automatic brightness, making it a given percentage higher or lower then default for those that want it a bit brighter, or a bit dimmer.

I always wonder if it is similar to the way TV makers crank their settings WAY up so the color and brightness pops in store lighting more than the TV sitting next to it to grab the consumer. If you are hip, you know you really need to calibrate somewhat when you get home in order to get life-like images and lengthen the life of your TV.

 

[geoff5093]

You'd make millions if you could figure out a patentable way to do that.

For starters they could tweak the automatic brightness, it's way too bright. I've said it before, I would love if there was a way that you could tweak the automatic brightness, making it a given percentage higher or lower then default for those that want it a bit brighter, or a bit dimmer.

I always wonder if it is similar to the way TV makers crank their settings WAY up so the color and brightness pops in store lighting more than the TV sitting next to it to grab the consumer. If you are hip, you know you really need to calibrate somewhat when you get home in order to get life-like images and lengthen the life of your TV.

That's probably the case. A consumer goes to look at phones and see a dim Droid, versus a bright Thunderbolt they will be more enticed to look more closely and purchase the Thunderbolt.

I've tried using manual brightness, which is fine in most locations but toggling between the two when outdoors is a pain.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I've tried using manual brightness, which is fine in most locations but toggling between the two when outdoors is a pain.

I just put a Personalize --> Widget --> Power Control (Android) on the home screen. The brightness button allows me to toggle from 0% 30% and 100%. I use 0% at home, 30% in the office with fluorescent lighting, and 100% outside if I need to. Perfect for easy WiFi toggling too.

 

[geoff5093]

I've tried using manual brightness, which is fine in most locations but toggling between the two when outdoors is a pain.

I just put a Personalize --> Widget --> Power Control (Android) on the home screen. The brightness button allows me to toggle from 0% 30% and 100%. I use 0% at home, 30% in the office with fluorescent lighting, and 100% outside if I need to. Perfect for easy WiFi toggling too.

Where did you get that widget? The HTC Sense brightness widget I tried only lets me set 33% as the low option, then 66% and 100%.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Where did you get that widget? The HTC Sense brightness widget I tried only lets me set 33% as the low option, then 66% and 100%.

It was on my phone when I got it (stock). I just go to Personalize ---> Widget ---> Scroll down half way till you see - Photo Frame - it's right under that -- Power Control (Android).

Unless the widgets from my Droid 1 came over somehow, not sure. I had that on my OG Droid too (came with the phone).

 

[tu3218]

I wish there was a widget to pull up the brightness slider found in settings, that way it could be more customizable. Or a possible widget to set specific settings and each setting is set using the brightness slider.