# Battery life issues



## Elbuort (Jun 7, 2011)

Yeah, I know, another battery life thread; I've read many of them myself, across several different boards for several different phones. I am a newer Charge owner, and after about a week of monitoring and trying different things, I wanted to come and get some feedback and advice. Since I first turned the phone on I have been seeing battery drain that I consider excessive. Having heard horror stories about TBolt battery life, I was at first not surprised, and was chalking it up to 4G usage.

As an aside, I actually place little value on 4G overall, I don't web browse so much and Twitter updates (which I have set to manual refresh) and Facebook updates (which I also have set to manual) work just fine on 3G rather that 4g. What I mean really, is if I could get a big, fast phone without 4G, I probably would, 4G is not a priority to me. But that's the way the technology is developing, so there it is.

My phone is currently running the GB leak EP1W by P3Droid, with the newest GB kernal by Imoseyon, and GummyCharged GB latest release.

My main culprit, according to the Battery Use section in About Phone, is always display...nothing unusual there, every phone I have had has that as #1. My first gripe is the RATE at which I lose juice...I have timed it, while holding the phone, screen on, brightness all the way down to minimum at 1% loss per 3 minutes, while not doing anything but keeping the screen on! Just touching the homescreen every 30 seconds to keep the screen alive.

After a few days of this, I installed Juice Defender (JD), a program I have tried before on other phones, and frankly its one I just don't like so much, I never really bought into the whole concept of enabling/disabling data connections, always felt that JD is adding another running process to drain the battery, that the act of continually enabling/disabling connections might be more of a drain than a savings, etc etc. MY opinion of course, but at this point I was willing to try anything. Once again, no appreciable savings in battery. And new things happening:

What really prompted this post was what I woke up to this morning. Last night I fell asleep about 1AM, with a 73% charge, JD was still running. I lost about 40% charge between 1AM and 9:15AM and found this battery graph:

View attachment 2675


I also had what looked like a system toast message on screen notifying me that there was no data connection and "certain" applications may not be functional or update correctly. Unfortunately I couldn't screenshot that, its something I have never seen before. The screenshot shows some mysterious drop off of battery soon after the screen was last on...NO IDEA what that is, also, the displayed battery time is wrong, the phone was in sleep from about 1AM to 9:15ish, over 8 hours, yet only 6 hours and change is shown. The system claims the screen was on for 1 hour and 55 minutes during the "6 hours" in question:

View attachment 2677


Again, false info.

As a result of all of this weirdness, I immediately uninstalled Juice Defender again, and probably will never mess with it again.

But my battery issues remain, the above referenced 1% drain every 3 minutes or so of screen-on idle is still happening. And I have never seen a phone drain so drastically while in deep sleep overnight. My Droid X used to lose maybe 5 or 10% in a similar situation, overnight.

My first impressions are that it is a two fold problem....DEFINITELY screen related number one, sure the screen is superb IMO, looks bright and sharp, but its KILLING my battery constantly. Secondly, what's up with the battery loss when the screen is off though? IS that 4G? Something else? That one I can't put my finger on.

I hate to even consider turning off features like 4G just to save battery...why should I disable features of the device to try and get it to live up to advertised standby times?

All this detail is here in hopes of trading ideas from users here in the community who have had their phones much longer than I, and might have picked up some tips along the way, at this point I am open to any suggestions guys.

Thanks


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## Rythmyc (Jul 23, 2011)

My fix that had worked for many people. Back-up your SD, and wipe clean. Flash back to stock un-rooted, then try again. If I remember correctly, this is your first flash to Gingerbread. This issue isn't uncommon. Try my steps, then when you go to re-flash back to Gingerbread. Flash directly to the EP1W leak, then flash CWM, then into the custom rom of choice. Recalibrate your battery with the first charge. You should be good to go after that. Remember to wipe data between roms, and I recommend booting fully into them and letting the phone sit for 20 minutes or so. This will also ensure there are zero issues.


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## Elbuort (Jun 7, 2011)

Thanks. I do have plans to reflash from scratch again tonight. Something's got to improve. Question about the SD wipe, you had mentioned it before, why is that necessary? With all the flashing and such I've done on other phones that was never an issue. It's not a problem really, the phone is still new and I probably have 30 gigs free, so I will do it, but I'm curious on this one

And thanks again

Sent from my GummyCharged Charge


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## Rythmyc (Jul 23, 2011)

You know, it's very likely it won't do anything at all. It was just one of the steps I took when fixing mine.


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## Elbuort (Jun 7, 2011)

Fair enough!

Sent from my GummyCharged Charge


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## kvswim (Aug 20, 2011)

CALIBRATE YOUR BATTERY. Also, if you aren't going to use 4G just set your phone to 3G only. Airplane mode will work wonders too! I'm not positive if it works on GB, but Spare Parts has a much more accurate battery counter than the one in Settings. Something is probably keeping your phone in wakelock. SP will also tell you this. Just my two cents...


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## yutzybrian (Jun 24, 2011)

kvswim said:


> CALIBRATE YOUR BATTERY. Also, if you aren't going to use 4G just set your phone to 3G only. Airplane mode will work wonders too! I'm not positive if it works on GB, but Spare Parts has a much more accurate battery counter than the one in Settings. Something is probably keeping your phone in wakelock. SP will also tell you this. Just my two cents...


Pretty sure that the GB version of GC has FC issues with battery history


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## Elbuort (Jun 7, 2011)

OK final update I think. I started all the way back from stock, reflashed everything, EP1W, CWM, and Gummy GB. Calibrated last night. Didn't go as far as IMoseyOn's latest kernel, the one cooked into Gummy is fine for now. Saw an instant difference, overnight the battery lost only 6% charge. Since then, have been using it all day, past 14 hours now and at 44%. More than acceptable to me
Thanks to all who took the time to read thru my OP and leave some advice. Hopefully I can return the favor to this community as time goes by.

Sent from my Gummy Charged GBE 2.0 using Tapatalk


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## mdietz (Aug 11, 2011)

60%-70% battery drain with 2 hours of screen on time isn't all that terrible honestly. Also, do you use auto-brightness, or have brightness set statically? Auto-brightness will drain the battery faster as it usually has the screen brighter than it needs to be. Also, battery history is a known issue with Gingerbread in Spare Parts. I guess they removed the stuff that Spare Parts pulls that data from, hence the FC.


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## Elbuort (Jun 7, 2011)

Yeah I have brightness dialed down to a hair above the minimum, unless I am outside. Auto always off. I noticed, at least in the ambient light at home, the Auto setting has a tendency to constantly readjust itself, sometimes several times a minute, so I just leave it off altogether. 
My real issue originally was the precipitous drain on battery when I'm sleeping, and assuming the phone should be doing the same lol . Thankfully that issue resolved once I reflashed as described above.
Now I lose single digit percentages overnight, not 20-40%

Sent from my GummyCharged Charge


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## Cruiserdude (Jun 23, 2011)

Glad it's getting better, Rythm's steps are the same things I did, saw nice gains as well. Remember to keep auto-brightness off and use the slider trick, and don't use JD, it has known issues with this and many other new devices. It's best to set your apps/widgets to manually update and uncheck auto-sync if you can.

But yeah, the biggest factor is still the screen. Remember, this is a 4.3" device, with a high actual pixel density, it's a miracle that it doesn't get any worse life than older devices.


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## babyjake (Sep 10, 2011)

Question how do you calibrate your battery I see people talking about it just curious how that is done


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## dwitherell (Jul 23, 2011)

babyjake said:


> Question how do you calibrate your battery I see people talking about it just curious how that is done


Check out the beginning of *this post* for a couple approaches to it, along with the links to the threads that the information came from. There is also an app that I have yet to try that makes the process a bit simpler from what I hear - that is also linked in that post.


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## siphyn (Jun 26, 2011)

Honestly, I've ran a few of the ep1w based custom roms and kernels. I recommend trying p3droids original stock ep1w rooted bloated with the stock kernel. To this day I haven't found a kernel or rom that gets me as good of battery life as the stock rom and kernel. Also I'm using the stock rfs and the phone is amazingly snappy.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk


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## Quantim0 (Sep 24, 2011)

Well here are my battery issues from the last 2 night. Starting around 12 after I go to sleep, my battery tanks and is dead by the morning. I normally lose about 1-2% an hour in idle, but the last 2 nights I've been losing 20% an hour in idle.

I'm running Gummy 2.0 I can't find any apps that could be doing it in task manager and have zero idea what is going on. I have wifi on as I normally do at home and have never seen this issue before.

Here's my juice plotter log:


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## Rythmyc (Jul 23, 2011)

Quantim0 said:


> Well here are my battery issues from the last 2 night. Starting around 12 after I go to sleep, my battery tanks and is dead by the morning. I normally lose about 1-2% an hour in idle, but the last 2 nights I've been losing 20% an hour in idle.
> 
> I'm running Gummy 2.0 I can't find any apps that could be doing it in task manager and have zero idea what is going on. I have wifi on as I normally do at home and have never seen this issue before.
> 
> Here's my juice plotter log:


Go back to the first page, follow my steps on getting better battery life. It's a proven method that works when having the issue you are having.


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## skatastic (Aug 30, 2011)

For what its worth the knock off batteries that you can get for cheap on Amazon are good. I have 4 total and occasionally find myself getting into the third battery on a long day of moderate/heavy usage. The way I see it...I want to use my phone not worry about having the battery last all day. The wall charger is a must for keeping up though. The cycle goes like this kill 3 batteries in a day. Then charge 1 in the phone and another in the wall charger overnight. That leaves the 4th battery still fully charged plus the two that got charged overnight. I charge the other dead battery during the day and I can carry two spares. you just have to decide if you prefer using your device's battery or using it up...like me.


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## pyroelite (Sep 8, 2011)

I had the charge for about 2 mo. before I traded it in for the bionic. You can try all the battery tactics you want (humble rom, data off, calibrate, screen filter work the best) but bottom line is that the screen drainage sucks balls & you really won't be able to change it all that much. Get an extra battery...

As you were saying, it's really hard to fathom how the screen can use such a high percentage even when it's been off most the time. My bionic's screen only uses 5-10% even when it's been on for much longer & brighter. The charge's screen will always be it's Achilles heel. I love 4g, but not enough to put up with that crap.

p.s. I sure as hell hope the Prime isn't going to have this prob...


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## kvswim (Aug 20, 2011)

"pyroelite said:


> I had the charge for about 2 mo. before I traded it in for the bionic. You can try all the battery tactics you want (humble rom, data off, calibrate, screen filter work the best) but bottom line is that the screen drainage sucks balls & you really won't be able to change it all that much. Get an extra battery...
> 
> As you were saying, it's really hard to fathom how the screen can use such a high percentage even when it's been off most the time. My bionic's screen only uses 5-10% even when it's been on for much longer & brighter. The charge's screen will always be it's Achilles heel. I love 4g, but not enough to put up with that crap.
> 
> p.s. I sure as hell hope the Prime isn't going to have this prob...


My battery life is actually acceptable. I'll get a full day's use out of it. My display has been on for half an hour and I've only dropped 2 percent. Your signal quality has a lot to do with your battery life. If you're somewhere where the signal is $h1t (like my school) then it's better to keep it on airplane mode until you're outside or you need to use your phone.

Sent from my Droid Charge running Infinity Beta


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## Rythmyc (Jul 23, 2011)

"pyroelite said:


> I had the charge for about 2 mo. before I traded it in for the bionic. You can try all the battery tactics you want (humble rom, data off, calibrate, screen filter work the best) but bottom line is that the screen drainage sucks balls & you really won't be able to change it all that much. Get an extra battery...
> 
> As you were saying, it's really hard to fathom how the screen can use such a high percentage even when it's been off most the time. My bionic's screen only uses 5-10% even when it's been on for much longer & brighter. The charge's screen will always be it's Achilles heel. I love 4g, but not enough to put up with that crap.
> 
> p.s. I sure as hell hope the Prime isn't going to have this prob...


Just because you couldn't get your phone working properly doesn't mean you need to bash the Charge. The battery life on this is excellent compared to most smart phones. If it's not, your doing something wrong. Period. As far as screen draining vs the Bionic, did you really compare the two? Honestly? That's like wanting a Honda to run like a Ferrari at the price of a Honda. You can't even put the two in the same league. As far as hoping the problem isn't on the Prime, I hope the exact opposite. I would gladly give an hour or two for the display difference.


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## martyr2k6 (Sep 5, 2011)

Just wanted to chime in my two cents here. I have been through three droid charges and own two STD cap batteries and one extended battery, all Sammy brand..

I have tried every rom and configuration imaginable for this device, including calibrations. I have done extensive research on the battery phenomenon with this phone and ultimately had to draw my own conclusion which supports previous findings both on the positive and negative side of things.

All that said, because this phone has a superior screen and first generation 4g hardware, actual battery lifebfor a standard android user is around 8 hours on a single charge. I have had less life and more dependent upon what my habits are, which also vary day to day. I have even found and confirmed that using the extended battery discharges in roughly the same amount of time as the standard.

My findings have shown, and proven that the very best way for a 4g phone to have freakishly amazing battery life (roughly around 15-20 hours or more) is to leave wifi on when you aren't out and about... when wifi is off, regardless of being in a 4g area or 3g (and/or fluctuating between all signals) your battery life is going to be guzzled.

I have achieved up to 26 hours on a standard battery on constant wifi (as I am unemployed and stuck at home while wife makes the money) while pounding forums, flinging perturbed avian creatures, texting, calling, facebooking, remote connecting to my desktop, music, camera... etc...

Its also important to mention that I have adjusted to the muti-battery lifestyle,and while I still don't prefer it, I am not truly hating on it.

Until phone manufacturers find a better battery solution for all the horsepower that phones use today and tomorrow, this is just how things are going to be...


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## pyroelite (Sep 8, 2011)

"Rythmyc said:


> Just because you couldn't get your phone working properly doesn't mean you need to bash the Charge. The battery life on this is excellent compared to most smart phones. If it's not, your doing something wrong. Period. As far as screen draining vs the Bionic, did you really compare the two? Honestly? That's like wanting a Honda to run like a Ferrari at the price of a Honda. You can't even put the two in the same league. As far as hoping the problem isn't on the Prime, I hope the exact opposite. I would gladly give an hour or two for the display difference.


My bad for "flaming" apparently - I thought I was just setting another user & the record straight...  So Blah blah to your post, you obviously didn't read mine correctly... If anyone wants useful info, well the mod removed it...


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## mjt111 (Oct 3, 2011)

I have to say that i leave 4g on 24/7 and was getting about 14-18hrs. I bought a 3200 mAh battery. ..non Samsung and now i get 30hrs+ with moderate to heavy use. Running humble 6.1 and flashed the new Ep1w radio and added the v6 surcharger script. Love this phone! I think in response to the earlier post you might want to check and see if you have apps that are killing your battery. As for the screen ill sacrifice a little battery power.


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