Initial Galaxy S4 Battery Tests Look Promising; Perhaps 3 Days Without Charging

[dgstorm]

If these battery usage tests performed by GSMArena are accurate, then the Samsung Galaxy S4 will have some very promising battery efficiency. They got hold of the I9505 which is the Snapdragon 600 version of the device, and initial results suggest the phone could last almost three days through regular use before needing a charge. If true, that's a remarkable achievement with its 2,600mAh battery. Much of this will probably be energy efficiency enhancements in the Snapdragon 600 chip and Samsung's new display. So far, the SGS4 scores near the top of the charts although, of course, it is bested by the Droid RAZR MAXX series. Here's a quote with some of the details of their results,

The Galaxy S4 posted an impressive time in the web browsing test, the usual Achilles heel of AMOLED-based phones. It outlasted an Android 4.1.2-running Galaxy S III by just over two hours.The HTC One managed an hour more with a smaller battery (2,330mAh), but the slightly smaller LCD sure helped.

Video playback is typically a strong suit for AMOLED screens, but the Galaxy S4 doesn’t really improve much over the Galaxy S III. Still, for a 5” 1080p screen that offers brilliant colors and contrast, over 10 hours is a pretty impressive score.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a good performer in the individual categories and thanks to efficient standby, it scored a very respectable endurance rating of 63 hours.

Keep in mind this is using GSMArena's aggregate scoring method which supposes you will perform an average of one hour of calling, web browsing and video watching every day. Realistically, this means that even the heaviest users should be able to get through a full day on a charge. You can see more of the individual results at the source link below.

Thanks for the tip, wicked!

Source: GSMArena

 

[johnomaz]

I'm happy as long as I can unplug my phone at 6:30am and not have to plug it back in until 10:00pm. On my S3 using AOKP, I can do that just fine. I use it on reddit during the day at work so its not on my work computer, I stream pandora in the car, bluetooth and gps is always enabled. If I set my screen to max brightness, I'll usually have about 15% when I plug it in. If its on auto like yesterday, 40% was left over.

 

[kevsgroove]

Realistically, this means that even the heaviest users should be able to get through a full day on a charge.​

Source: GSMArena

That's all I need. Unplug in the morning, use all day, plug in at night........ repeat.

 

[tgyberg]

Let's see how it does after a bit of Real Racing 3. That game drinks battery like I drink beer. LOTS!

 

[hotice]

<rant>
The reason the One did better than the GS4 in the browser test was its LCD! The 3 tenths of an inch didn't make the difference. Please Samsung and Moto, stop using OLED displays in mobile devices! We want better brightness and we want better battery life!!!!

The video time didn't improve over the GS3 because OLED needs to light every pixel. On the GS3 it's lighting 921,600 pixels. On the GS4 it's lighting 2,073,600 pixels. If you're wondering where all that extra 500mAh went there's your answer!

I'm hoping the X-Phone has a Maxx battery and an LCD display! Yeah, I want a good LCD like Super LCD 2/3, NOVA, IPS, IPS+, PLS, etc. but the key is I want to see a move away from OLED.

We need to get the message across to OEMs that they're not doing anyone a favor by putting OLED tech in Phones and tablets. When OLED was first announced a few years back it was supposed to help battery life because it only needs to power lit pixels. The problem is with mobile devices that's often not the most efficient way to go. You can get an extremely bright back-light on an (LCD far brighter than any OLED) on an LCD display using the power that's going to the 2 million individual pixels on the GS4 or even 1 million on the GS3. They should be putting OLED displays in TVs but LCDs in mobile devices! Who's with me!?!??!?!

It's too bad that the chart lists the Razr Maxx and not the Razr Maxx HD. The Razr Maxx is using 45nm technology including much less efficient radio's compared to the 28nm technology in the Maxx HD. This gives the GS4 an unfair advantage in the chart compared to the Maxx. Sure the Maxx still won but the Maxx HD should have won by a larger margin.
</rant>