# Thinking of coming back to the Nexus..but...



## Dvigue (Nov 19, 2011)

i have not had a nexus for about 2 months maybe. i got rid of it, because every single rom/kernal/tweak would not give me any better battery life what so ever. this is all straight 3g, no 4g in my area, and i have no access to wifi here at work. now, my signal is not the best at work, but even when i have good signal, i could never get more then maybe 2 hours of screen on time with Ext battery. i dont sync allot nor have any widgets..

my question is, has any of the roms and or kernals gotten any better as far as bettery life/screen on time? if so let me know your findings, what has worked better for you?

i really miss the phone, but not the battery life.

thanks gang..


----------



## gardobus (Jun 6, 2011)

If battery life is that important to you and you weren't happy with the extended battery and custom kernel/rom then it honestly won't be much different now. I'm sure the kernels have become a little more efficient but not by much.

For reference, this is what I got yesterday (I'm running AOKP B35 w/ the included faux kernel and default kernel settings, no OC/UV/etc):

- Phone off charger from 5:30am til 11:04pm (17h 32m 49s) and has 9% left.
- 2-2.5h of music playing.
- 2h 46m screen time (mostly 100% brightness). 
- 5-10m of calls.
- Tapatalk, Twitter, Instagram, took a few pictures, uploaded some to instagram, installed a couple apps, updated a few apps, downloaded an mp3, plenty of texts and some pic msgs.
- Mostly wifi at home/work, 3G when out of wifi range. I don't use 4G very often (not at all today).
- Using the extended battery and I never plugged it in while in the car or anything.

This kind of performance makes me happy and on normal days when I'm not keeping track of battery life, I plug it in while in the car and sometimes at work. Not because I NEED to but why not?

If battery life is that important to you, you may want to think about a Razr Maxx. Although you'll be stuck with the locked bootloader and limited dev support when compared to the GNex.


----------



## scott62185 (Jan 6, 2012)

Dvigue said:


> i have not had a nexus for about 2 months maybe. i got rid of it, because every single rom/kernal/tweak would not give me any better battery life what so ever. this is all straight 3g, no 4g in my area, and i have no access to wifi here at work. now, my signal is not the best at work, but even when i have good signal, i could never get more then maybe 2 hours of screen on time with Ext battery. i dont sync allot nor have any widgets..
> 
> my question is, has any of the roms and or kernals gotten any better as far as bettery life/screen on time? if so let me know your findings, what has worked better for you?
> 
> ...


I would have to say no, unfortunately.









What have you been using sine getting rid of your GNex? Is it much better on battery life?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## blaineevans (Jul 11, 2011)

A kernel/rom/whatever isn't going to improve your battery life by hours.

That being said, my phone lasts most (if not all) of the day on 4G and with about 2-3 hours of screen on time.


----------



## Art Vandelay (Jan 4, 2012)

Dvigue said:


> i have not had a nexus for about 2 months maybe. i got rid of it, because every single rom/kernal/tweak would not give me any better battery life what so ever. this is all straight 3g, no 4g in my area, and i have no access to wifi here at work. now, my signal is not the best at work, but even when i have good signal, i could never get more then maybe 2 hours of screen on time with Ext battery. i dont sync allot nor have any widgets..
> 
> my question is, has any of the roms and or kernals gotten any better as far as bettery life/screen on time? if so let me know your findings, what has worked better for you?
> 
> ...


Simple answer is no. No vast improvements have been made over the last 2 months that increased battery life. Realistically, we will never gain significant battery life with the changing of kernels and roms.

The slimICS rom is pretty good on battery life, but you pretty much have to use it as is without changing it around. Again, maybe you gain 30 minutes on screen on time, but that's probably a stretch.

If your signal is weak, than not much you can do. Maybe a different phone will provide you a stronger signal. I believe this is why the maxx, in addition to its larger battery, lasts so long. It pulls a stronger signal.

Other option is if your work has wifi, connect to wifi whenever possible. I'm sure you know all this.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


----------



## Cloud Nine (May 19, 2012)

All day = 12-16 hours...how can you be away from a charger for longer than that? Mine usually lasts 14 or so before I have to plug it in for 30mins and get it back up to use for the weekend.


----------



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

For me... I have seen a significant improvement in battery life in the past month. I get 3+ hours screen on time with 14+ hours on battery easily. I can get at least 4+ hours of screen time if it's straight through, or 30+ hours of battery time with 1 hour of screen time or less. Anyways, I don't worry about my battery anymore.

The things I believe got me there:
The latest 4.0.4 Roms, kernels & radios
Liquid Rom & Imoseyon kernel work best for me
CM Auto-Brightness settings (with my tuning that I'll post if you want)

Other things I have done for battery life:
Logout of GTalk
CDMA Only (no 4g in my area)
Black wallpaper
wifi scan interval set to 270
Manual refreshing for various apps (or auto refreshing set as high as is acceptable to me)


----------



## CC16177 (Dec 29, 2011)

brkshr said:


> For me... I have seen a significant improvement in battery life in the past month. I get 3+ hours screen on time with 14+ hours on battery easily. I can get at least 4+ hours of screen time if it's straight through, or 30+ hours of battery time with 1 hour of screen time or less. Anyways, I don't worry about my battery anymore.
> 
> The things I believe got me there:
> The latest 4.0.4 Roms, kernels & radios
> ...


Could you post your brightness settings again? I used them from a different thread but recently flashed a new ROM and lost them. They were working great for me.

Thanks dude


----------



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

CC16177 said:


> Could you post your brightness settings again? I used them from a different thread but recently flashed a new ROM and lost them. They were working great for me.
> 
> Thanks dude


my old values: 
window length - 5 sec
sample interval - 5 sec
Screen dim level - 1
Allow light decrease - 50%























my new values: (edit: I didn't change the lower/upper values this time)
window length - 10 sec
sample interval - 10 sec
Screen dim level - 1
Allow light decrease - 50%























Swyped from my GNex


----------



## FSRBIKER (Jun 9, 2011)

I think in the case of Verizon Android phones battery life is very dependent on your signal and how many times your phone is hunting for a better signal. With the newest radios I no longer see the fluctuation in my signal as in the past, almost like its locking onto the tower now. So in that regard there has been improvement in battery life. Choosing the right kernel for your phone seems to take a bit of time as you need to give each kernel a few days use to accurately judge each one. I have purchased a New Trent charger with the intention of taking this with me on business and personal trips, I used it last week and have to say it was a great purchase(found it for about $50) http://www.newtrent.com/store/iphone-external-battery/icruiser.html

As far as the Nexus in general, I couldn't be happier and this is the best phone I have ever owned. Knowing that developers will continue to support this device for years is a HUGE PLUS, as everyone knows devs seem to flock to the next new phone released but most devs always still keep their Nexus devices to continue development.


----------



## gardobus (Jun 6, 2011)

Also, I don't NEED to do this to get a full day out of my GNex, but it helps. Just try to plug your phone in whenever you can. You don't have to be obsessive about it, just put chargers in the places that you tend to sit for longer periods of time... When I get in the car, I plug it in no matter where I'm going. When I sit at my desk at work, I plug it in if I'm going to be there for a while. I have a charger at home near my desk that I'll use sometimes too.

Again, I personally don't have my phone die on me so I don't NEED to plug it in all the time, but it's become a habit now and it makes it even less likely to die on me.


----------



## Mustang302LX (Jun 28, 2011)

Cloud Nine said:


> All day = 12-16 hours...how can you be away from a charger for longer than that? Mine usually lasts 14 or so before I have to plug it in for 30mins and get it back up to use for the weekend.


^this. That's what car chargers and spare chargers for work and stuff are for. My battery life sucks kinda but I can always charge if needed.


----------



## Axium (Jan 21, 2012)

If you have an extended you should still have the stock. Carry that bad boy around and pop it in when needed. Only need to carry the battery. The extended door works fine with the stock battery. Its nice and small also 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## gardobus (Jun 6, 2011)

^^ that's a good point, I never carry mine but maybe I should leave it in my desk at work or something.


----------



## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

AOKP b36 + LeanKernel experimental 1 + min clock 180 mhz + interactiveX gov = too much battery life.
That's my setup... about 30hrs on a regular day, about 2hrs screen usage.


----------



## sublimaze (Nov 17, 2011)

Axium said:


> If you have an extended you should still have the stock. Carry that bad boy around and pop it in when needed. Only need to carry the battery. The extended door works fine with the stock battery. Its nice and small also


This is the easiest solution for battery woes. If you have a spare battery, you shouldn't have to worry about battery life unless you are constantly streaming music or video. The tiny pocket inside your shorts/pants pocket is perfect for holding a spare battery.


----------



## CC16177 (Dec 29, 2011)

Yeah I just have a spare battery and then keep a charger under my desk at work. Around noon I'll plug it in for an hour and I'm always fine...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## skruid (Nov 1, 2011)

Art Vandelay said:


> Simple answer is no. No vast improvements have been made over the last 2 months that increased battery life. Realistically, we will never gain significant battery life with the changing of kernels and roms.
> 
> The slimICS rom is pretty good on battery life, but you pretty much have to use it as is without changing it around. Again, maybe you gain 30 minutes on screen on time, but that's probably a stretch.
> 
> ...


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


----------



## vcapezio (Dec 23, 2011)

jellybellys said:


> AOKP b36 + LeanKernel experimental 1 + min clock 180 mhz + interactiveX gov = too much battery life.
> That's my setup... about 30hrs on a regular day, about 2hrs screen usage.


Eh. I don't consider 2 hours of screen usage too much battery life. 30 hours is good...yes..but that's two hours of usage.

I went to a concert with my best friend, and we got there pretty early to assure that we had an adequate view. He has an iPhone 4S. We were both reading a Facebook argument, reading some news, checking twitter, etc. In about 45 minutes of screen time, I was at 60%. This is with almost all 3G, except for when something was taking forever to load I switched really quickly. He was at 90% after the same amount of usage. I even turned my brightness all the way down.

I'm hesitant to believe some of the numbers I'm seeing posted here, especially the second post in the thread. Almost 3 hours of screen time, with 100% brightness? Even on wifi/3G that's hard to believe.


----------



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

vcapezio said:


> Eh. I don't consider 2 hours of screen usage too much battery life. 30 hours is good...yes..but that's two hours of usage.
> 
> I went to a concert with my best friend, and we got there pretty early to assure that we had an adequate view. He has an iPhone 4S. We were both reading a Facebook argument, reading some news, checking twitter, etc. In about 45 minutes of screen time, I was at 60%. This is with almost all 3G, except for when something was taking forever to load I switched really quickly. He was at 90% after the same amount of usage. I even turned my brightness all the way down.
> 
> I'm hesitant to believe some of the numbers I'm seeing posted here, especially the second post in the thread. Almost 3 hours of screen time, with 100% brightness? Even on wifi/3G that's hard to believe.


Here's what I'm at right now

Edit: 45 minutes of screen time will only take me down to 92% when I unplug my phone & check my twitter, rootzwiki, jeep forum & news, every morning.

Edit Edit: I get 3+ hours on screen* & *14+ hours battery every day for the past 2 - 3 weeks.

Your doing it wrong

























Swyped from my GNex


----------



## BennyJr (Jun 26, 2011)

If u get good screen time its usually on wifi.


----------



## MikereDD (Jun 6, 2011)

I get about 3hrs+ screen on time with the standard battery.
At home while on wifi I can go thru the weekend with 1 battery.
Damn I always break my damn post.
I use juice defender to kill data at screen off and turn on after lock screen.


----------



## vcapezio (Dec 23, 2011)

I don't really see the point in having a smartphone if you kill data at screen off...


----------



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

vcapezio said:


> I don't really see the point in having a smartphone if you kill data at screen off...


Edit: NVM, just saw the edited post. I would agree, but if someone doesn't need the push emails or push notifications, like most of us like, than that's good for them.

Edit: I don't turn off my data at all. I'm also on a standard battery BTW


----------



## MikereDD (Jun 6, 2011)

vcapezio said:


> I don't really see the point in having a smartphone if you kill data at screen off...


You still get calls and text.
I only need data when I need it.

Same here standard battery. I use charger and drain battery completely before swapping out to charge.

I gotta stop adding heart to post so it doesn't delete everything past it. XD
*slaps self*
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## vcapezio (Dec 23, 2011)

MikereDD said:


> I don't think anyone on this thread had stated that they kill data at screen off. I know I don't.
> 
> Edit: I'm also on a standard battery BTW


I was quoting the guy above me. Not you.

I'm sure I can probably get 3 hours on wifi too. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm around wifi during my normal routine (as a college student in classes, etc.) but if I go anywhere else (like the concert I described), my battery life makes me sad.

Regardless, I still love this phone. I bought a 3800 mAh battery for $20 on Amazon. It adds some bulk, but it still fits in my skinny jeans so it could work out. If the battery life isn't sufficient enough to warrant the increased bulk I'll probably order an external charger and carry around an extra battery or something.


----------



## MikereDD (Jun 6, 2011)

vcapezio said:


> If that works for you then that's cool. I like to get my email, twitter, and facebook notifications. Especially e-mail.
> 
> I was quoting the guy above me. Not you.
> 
> ...


Pushmail goes thru.
Juice defender also has custom setup can run checks sync every so often 5m 30m 1h 2hr etc.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## MikereDD (Jun 6, 2011)

I data kill at work. If I'm at work idc about shit but work.
Juice defender also has ability to learn from how you use your device with what it allows.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

vcapezio said:


> I was quoting the guy above me. Not you.
> 
> Regardless, I still love this phone. I bought a 3800 mAh battery for $20 on Amazon. It adds some bulk, but it still fits in my _*skinny jeans*_ so it could work out. If the battery life isn't sufficient enough to warrant the increased bulk I'll probably order an external charger and carry around an extra battery or something.


There's your problem right there. I didn't see the edited post before, so I edited my post to reflect that.


----------



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

MikereDD said:


> I data kill at work. *If I'm at work idc about shit but work*.
> Juice defender also has ability to learn from how you use your device with what it allows.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


You are a rare breed now sir!

Edit: I just so happen to be at work right now







But that's the perks of owning your own business


----------



## vcapezio (Dec 23, 2011)

brkshr said:


> There's your problem right there. I didn't see the edited post, so I edited my post to reflect that.


I'm a 6'1 145 lb guy. What would you like me to wear?


----------



## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

vcapezio said:


> I'm a 6'1 145 lb guy. What would you like me to wear?


I'm just messin with you now man







I haven't seen 145 lbs since 7th grade


----------



## MikereDD (Jun 6, 2011)

This is similar to what I picked up when I got the phone.

http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=59976
What I got has y-usb cable to charge with charger and phone at same time. It also came with a standard battery.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## MikereDD (Jun 6, 2011)

brkshr said:


> I'm just messin with you now man
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hahahah
Man I'm in my mid 30's and can't gain weight over 160lb. They say it'll catch-up one day. Still waiting. :s

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## ddemlong (Aug 24, 2011)

MikereDD said:


> Hahahah
> Man I'm in my mid 30's and can't gain weight over 160lb. They say it'll catch-up one day. Still waiting. :s
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


Shoot, try being 5'7 and having tree stump legs with calves almost too big around to touch fingers. I haven't been 160 since I was running 4 miles a day several times a week. Being short and stocky sucks. I wouldn't mind being more of a runners build. Then again I wouldn't be able to leg press 500lbs.


----------



## WhataSpaz (Feb 20, 2012)

MikereDD said:


> Hahahah
> Man I'm in my mid 30's and can't gain weight over 160lb. They say it'll catch-up one day. Still waiting. :s
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


Wanna trade metabolisms!?


----------



## troyzero (Dec 14, 2011)

I have never been able to relate to battery life complaints. $12 and I got 3 spare batteries and an external charger that charges the phone too. I hit eBay up every time I get a new phone. I have one in the car, one in my pocket and another for wherever I may need it. I always have extra juice

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## wizayne (Aug 22, 2011)

galaxy s2 batteries work as well with a little paper wedged on bottom for an extra 1800mah. galaxy s batteries will also work for 1500mah in a pinch.


----------



## wizayne (Aug 22, 2011)

troyzero said:


> I have never been able to relate to battery life complaints. $12 and I got 3 spare batteries and an external charger that charges the phone too. I hit eBay up every time I get a new phone. I have one in the car, one in my pocket and another for wherever I may need it. I always have extra juice
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


same here.. where there is a will surely there be a way. It seems like folks forget an extra battery will fit in their wallet or purse and even with an otter box defender only takes 30 seconds to install. I carry approx. 10hrs screen on time with me between the two sgs2 batteries in my wallet (along with a small paper wedge to keep battery in contact with phones terminals) and i still have and the gnex OEM battery obviously. if I were to need nfc I would purchase an extra OEM but I find it to be a mere novelty though the idea is cool.

from one battery I get mobile cdma data all day along with Bluetooth to my two motorola elite sliver headsets that I alternate so I can always play my podcasts during my 12hr shift. normally I leave work with 10-20% but if I play a video in the background (only care about the audio of a news program) I may swap batteries.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## WhataSpaz (Feb 20, 2012)

wizayne said:


> galaxy s2 batteries work as well with a little paper wedged on bottom for an extra 1800mah. galaxy s batteries will also work for 1500mah in a pinch.


Aren't the Galaxy S batteries slightly wider and less tall? I know the SII batteries will fit though


----------



## hazard209 (Aug 1, 2011)

My solution to battery life was buying an extra battery and external charger. The battery doesn't add a lot of bulk to your pockets and it doubles whatever battery life you're getting with the standard. I haven't really concerned myself with battery life since. (using auto-brightness, keeping data on all the time, ect.)


----------

