Does leaving the GPS/Bluetooth on drain the battery?

[Nupe1911]

I have a question if i leave my bluetooth and or gps on but lets say the GPS is not in use and the Bluetooth isnt connected to anything, will it drain my battery noticably faster?

 

[DanDroids]

Yes and yes.

 

[taypotts]

I would imagine that they would. More so your BT then GPS. I left my WiFi on once by accident and Droid wasn't happy about that.

 

[Nupe1911]

i figured so. thanks for the quick replies

 

[angryunibrow]

I leave my GPS on all the time, does not drain my battery.

Only time the GPS activates is when an app needs it (ex Google Maps)

*shrugs* have left it on for weeks, and my battery life is incredible.

 

[Nupe1911]

I leave my GPS on all the time, does not drain my battery.

Only time the GPS activates is when an app needs it (ex Google Maps)

*shrugs* have left it on for weeks, and my battery life is incredible.

would the same go for the WIFI i have my wifi on now and i dont see the icon at the top unless i actually connect to a network...

 

[angryunibrow]

I leave my GPS on all the time, does not drain my battery.

Only time the GPS activates is when an app needs it (ex Google Maps)

*shrugs* have left it on for weeks, and my battery life is incredible.

would the same go for the WIFI i have my wifi on now and i dont see the icon at the top unless i actually connect to a network...

I do not leave the WIFI on, so I can not comment on that.
I just leave the GPS on, but WIFI I believe would begin to "search" for a signal when you are out of range...this could drain the battery a lot.

This is also the case with bluetooth.
I believe it searches for devices when you are out of range of your own devices.

 

[dezymond]

lol yes.

it's like leaving an extra feature on, it will use more battery.

 

[lemodular]

according to this guy who tested his phone with GPS on and off here: How to properly test active GPS power consumption - Android Community Forums
He concluded that leaving GPS on will not drain your battery (as much?).

This FAQ from Mobile Defense also defended (pun) leaving the GPS on: Battery and Performance (Page 1) - Frequently Asked Questions - Mobile Defense

I keep mine off, btw.

 

[dezymond]

lol honestly tests weren't necessary, just a bit of common sense....

you're asking the phone to use another feature. sure gps doesn't use battery when it's not in use, but when it does it's heavy on the battery. Same with wifi, even if you're not using it, you have the capability on and as soon as you wake up the screen, it's gonna search for a signal.

it's like playing music or watching a video. do they use more of the battery? you bet ya, running those two needs more use from the memory/cpu which means the battery is draining.

just a bit of common sense people

 

[Martin030908]

i don't want big brother pin pointing me at all times... :icon_eek: hehe

 

[barryp3403]

I leave bluetooth on all the time because I don't want to forget to put it on when I get into my car. In NY state using your cell phone while driving without a hands free device is illegal. It really uses fairly minimal power.
Screen time is the major drain on my phone. I have the media doc and recharge my phone at night every night since it is now my alarm clock and sleep radio and the phone has never been below about 40 to 50% power. Maybe I am just a light user.

 

[hookbill]

Maybe I don't know what I'm doing but I've never found a way to turn GPS on or off. What I mean is when I use the car I press navigation and I see the GPS icon come on but once I navigate away from it the GPS icon disappears. I also don't see any battery use at all for GPS.

What am I missing people? Still got lots to learn it's only been two weeks.

 

[timlitw]

On my phone leaving having blue-tooth on is the difference between 2 -3 days before needing to charge or needing to charge after 6 - 8 hours.
I also use Screebl to keep the screen on when using and have the screen timeout set to 15 seconds when I screebl notices that it is not in use.

 

[justicw]

wifi WILL drain your batt. It will constantly look for a wifi connection if it is left on (even if you don't see the wifi symble at the top). With wifi on my droid only lasts about 8 hrs. with it off it will last for 2 days. I leave my GPS on and BT off at all times. I have wifi on off app and turn it off when I don't want to use wifi.