Droid battery life is really this short?

[Khiraji]

I have found that with my D2, screen brightness is the #1 battery killer. On my device the battery stats screen crashes 9 out of 10 times I try to access it, but on the off-chance I do, Display is leaps and bounds above anything else. Also, if you don't use it, turn off GPS. I use Power Widget Free to control Wifi, GPS, airplane mode, vibrate/silent and a bunch of other stuff. One-click, right on the homescreen.

Ultimately, it's the nature of the beast. Phones and mobile devices constantly get cooler with more energy-intensive features, but batteries are the same ol' same ol'. I've heard great things about the extended battery from VZW, but I charge my phone nightly and thus far haven't needed it. Currently my D2 is at 50% - I took it off charge around 07:00 this morning (16:18 currently). I've done a bunch of web browsing, took several pictures, made a few calls and sent/received a ton of text messages.

If it's really really killing you and you're around WiFi a lot, experiment with turning off mobile data (crazy, yes, but interesting for experimentation purposes). I recently took my phone on holiday where there was no 3G/1X but plenty of WiFi, and I got ridiculous battery life (10+ hours of angry birds, facebooking and web browsing on a single charge!).

 

[Stangs2]

Thanks ALL that provided this useful information. I've tried several of these suggestions with improved battery life. Another question: anyone recommed the INOCELL extented 3500 mhz battery??

 

[HerLast5Minutes]

Today my phone lasted 9 and a half hours. Quite the improvement. I think the improvement is mostly due to me going to manage applications and ending each app as I was finished using it.

Thanks everyone for all of the advice! I do however still have several questions.

1. How much of a difference would an extended battery make?
2. Are there any apps on the market that can improve the battery life of my phone?
3. What kinds of benefits would really come from rooting and/or roming my droid? Would it benefit my battery life any?

 

[Khiraji]

One thing I forgot to add was that in the very beginning, my D2 battery life was abysmal too. With minimal usage I was lucky to get half a day's worth. I tweaked a bunch of settings, but I also think my battery's performance increased after a dozen or so charge cycles. I don't recall the source, but I seem to remember reading some technical documents prior to buying my D2 all about how Li-Ion batteries work and that they can be subject to "break in". Maybe I'm imagining this (if so, someone correct me), but your battery might exhibit the same behavior the longer you own the phone.

As far as apps go, check out JuiceDefender. The free version shows you all the program can do, except that a lot of the fine-tuning is disabled (unlocked with the pay version, it's $5 or so). I used it for a while but ended up uninstalling it - I'm never too far from a charger, and my battery life is sufficient for my needs anyway.