# Do people who get amazing battery life even use their phone?



## T.J. (Jan 11, 2012)

Seriously, I got an extended battery. I play words with friends all day, use facebook, use google voice, make phone calls and text. These are the most major activities I do on my phone while unplugged, when using GPS i usually have my phone plugged in.

I don't understand how these people are getting like 20 hours. I don't change any settings for over or underclocking or undervolting. SO maybe that is why. I am on CNA latest and I have francos latest. I only use the hotplug feature and don't really change anything else. Is there some things I can do to get my phone to operate longer. I do get pretty good life with my extended battery, probably 10-12 hours sometimes, but I have days when I can use my phone and get like 6-8 hours.

So do these people who have over 20 hours of battery life, are they actually using their phones, or do they just let them sit there all day doing nothing? It almost seems impossible to get so long if you use your phone all day, like truly use it.


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## UnfedBear67 (Jul 31, 2011)

Most of the time people getting that amazing 20+ hours of battery life tend to not use there phone as much or when they do its for lighter stuff as in Phone, and Messaging


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## T.J. (Jan 11, 2012)

UnfedBear67 said:


> Most of the time people getting that amazing 20+ hours of battery life tend to not use there phone as much or when they do its for lighter stuff as in Phone, and Messaging


Yes that may be true, but my battery dies just from sitting idle. Maybe because the walls are thick at work and it has to work harder and I never turn off 4G as well, maybe I will give it a try. If people are gonna brag about getting 20-30 hours life on their phone, I would rather them say what kind of activities they do with it.


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## swimminsurfer256 (Sep 23, 2011)

Get 4.0.4. The battery life is much better. I use my phone relatively frequently (I'm a college student) and easily get a full day of battery life (20 hours+ with 20-30% left) with extended battery. I am in an area with full 4G coverage though so that helps. WiFi also helps a lot from what I hear.

A good thing to check is the 'screen on' time. My average per day is probably a little less than 2 hours. So check yours. If it's like... 4 or 5 hours then that's your problem


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## asianrage (Aug 16, 2011)

For me, I work very long hour days, and often time I don't use my phone, and it's reassuring to know that the phone is sleeping well, waiting for me to use it. 10% drain in 10 hours is excellent no matter how you measure it. Peace of mind is why I root.

EDIT:

I think that if you're getting good battery life on 3G then it shouldn't count, because the concern really is about 4G LTE drain. There's no escaping it.


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## asianrage (Aug 16, 2011)

swimminsurfer256 said:


> Get 4.0.4. The battery life is much better. I use my phone relatively frequently (I'm a college student) and easily get a full day of battery life (20 hours+ with 20-30% left) with extended battery. I am in an area with full 4G coverage though so that helps. WiFi also helps a lot from what I hear.
> 
> A good thing to check is the 'screen on' time. My average per day is probably a little less than 2 hours. So check yours. If it's like... 4 or 5 hours then that's your problem


Your usage time is similar to how I use my Nexus on 4.0.3 ROM.


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## ERIFNOMI (Jun 30, 2011)

Yeah I'm calling BS on a lot if these claims. I have the standard battery and I'm lucky if I can squeeze out 16 hours. I'm on stock 4.0.2 though.


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## deaffob (Aug 16, 2011)

Well you should know that people who claims these ridiculous numbers mostly are trying to get the most battery life by

No sync
Lowest brightness
3G or wifi
Do some low impact activities like using tapatalk to navigate forums.

To be honest, I'm like you. I didn't buy this phone to use it like a paranoid person who's trying to get as much battery life as possible.

I choose convenience over the paranoidism. I use 4G constantly even when I'm at home or work, because it's just as fast as the wifi. I download 500mb of musics from Google Music regularly and I sync all my Google stuff all the times.

If it lasts from the time I leave my apartment in morning to the time I get back, I'm all happy. I usually get 12~20hrs with about 1:30~2:30 screen time.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## DHO (Nov 6, 2011)

IM going to write a big post on this later. I have check screen shots and logs of activity for the last 10 days to really put the battery life under the micrscope,..


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

Everyones battery experience will be different. I get excellent battery life compared to the OP, mostly because I am on cdma only. I'm not in an LTE area. I also use wifi at work. When I do turn on LTE, I can watch the battery drain. So yes, I get 18 to 22 hours on standard battery. But the most important battery stat, is that I get 2.5 to 3.5 hours of screen time at the same time. That's with calls, texts, browser, gvoice, tweetdeck, tapatalk, and usually flashing roms/kernels/mods every day. If I do barely use my phone I'm getting close to a day and a half.

My battery settings are in my signature.

Edit: Everyone should list screen time & whether they are in LTE or not, when giving battery stats. Those are the two biggest drains.

I'm also wondering what the OP has for screen time.

Swyped from my Galaxy Nexus


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## joemagistro (Dec 19, 2011)

I lose 5% in 10 minutes easily just by facebooking 10 mins straight... It's terrible... I don't buy into any of them claims unless they just don't use their phone

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## mistermojorizin (Jan 3, 2012)

i've seen a screenshot of someone get 6 hours of screen on time, franco 13.1 uc'ed to 920mhz, aokp 21 (i believe), extended battery, cdma gnex\

yes they used their phone and got amazing battery life.

those who use only 3 hours of scrreen or less are 1) not using their phone and/or 2 ) not getting amazing battery life regardless of how long the battery actually lasts

those who get 4 hours of screen time, are using their phone and getting good battery life, but not amazing

that's how i look at it anyways


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## miketoasty (Jun 10, 2011)

joemagistro said:


> I lose 5% in 10 minutes easily just by facebooking 10 mins straight... It's terrible... I don't buy into any of them claims unless they just don't use their phone
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


Sounds like you have a software/hardware problem. Never seen my battery drop that fast even when I was running around taking pictures last night for an hour with screen on the whole time.


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## busterbrown77 (Aug 31, 2011)

Honestly, Yes. I do.

Right now im at 10 hours up, 70% left. I use my phone ALOT. Constantly checking things on the web, texting, and music. Walking from classes i ALWAYS listen to music. I'm on 4.0.4 with franco's kernel and 4G off (barely a 4G area). I don't use autobrightness though, and this is on a standard battery. Oh yea and im undervolted to 1100mv on 1200Ghz.

I think it depends heavily on the kernel..... Personally coming from a Tbolt, and a Incredible, i think the battery is awesome.


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## Ianxcom (Jun 29, 2011)

They sit on 3g and Wi-Fi all day. Doesn't seem practical to me to get a 4g phone and use only 3g. Also to be on wifi full time isn't practical if you leave the house at all.

I can usually get around 14 hours on 4g and moderate use.

Also Joe I get the same when I Facebook for 10 min. 5% down. Thats just how the 4g is.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## miketoasty (Jun 10, 2011)

busterbrown77 said:


> Honestly, Yes. I do.
> 
> Right now im at 10 hours up, 70% left. I use my phone ALOT. Constantly checking things on the web, texting, and music. Walking from classes i ALWAYS listen to music. I'm on 4.0.4 with franco's kernel and 4G off (barely a 4G area). I don't use autobrightness though, and this is on a standard battery. Oh yea and im undervolted to 1100mv on 1200Ghz.
> 
> I think it depends heavily on the kernel..... Personally coming from a Tbolt, and a Incredible, i think the battery is awesome.


Read an article yesterday saying undervolting doesn't help battery life... Just stating what I read.


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## Ianxcom (Jun 29, 2011)

It helps a little just not as much as other phones people are used to undervolting.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## CC16177 (Dec 29, 2011)

The best i've been able to get is in the 14-16 hour range with roughly 2 hours of screen time. As far as i'm concerned that's perfect because it lasts from when I wake up to when I go to bed with what I consider normal use and no charging during the day.


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## busterbrown77 (Aug 31, 2011)

T.J. said:


> Yes that may be true, but my battery dies just from sitting idle. Maybe because the walls are thick at work and it has to work harder and I never turn off 4G as well, maybe I will give it a try. If people are gonna brag about getting 20-30 hours life on their phone, I would rather them say what kind of activities they do with it.


Wow. really? I've gotten 3 days before on the regular battery, and a week (!) with an extended when just sitting there.

I swap batteries before bed, so my battery is about 92% when i go to bed at 10pm, when I wake up at 8 and im at 86%. And im apparently not doing too good. Im seeing people who drop 1 or 2 percent overnight. Which is amazing to me. Try wifi. I have noticed that it is a huge improvement for me battery wise.


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## ERIFNOMI (Jun 30, 2011)

Ianxcom said:


> They sit on 3g and Wi-Fi all day. Doesn't seem practical to me to get a 4g phone and use only 3g. Also to be on wifi full time isn't practical if you leave the house at all.
> 
> I can usually get around 14 hours on 4g and moderate use.
> 
> ...


I'm on WiFi all the time, 3g if I leave the house (no LTE here) and I still don't get this magical battery life. My screen is probably on more than it's off though. But I hate it when people say it's a waste when someone gets an LTE phone and doesn't use LTE. Even if I had LTE I would still use WiFi at home.


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## -iD (Jun 28, 2011)

Try liquids rom. Amazing battery improvement. Uses imo kernel.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## busterbrown77 (Aug 31, 2011)

miketoasty said:


> Read an article yesterday saying undervolting doesn't help battery life... Just stating what I read.


WHA WHA WHAT!?!?!

I spent like 2 days testing to see how low i could go....









Got a link for that?


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## busterbrown77 (Aug 31, 2011)

Oh one more thing. Try using Y5 battery saver. It automatically enables wifi when your near a remembered hotspot (how it works i have no idea). But it will enable and disable wifi for you. Pretty convenient. It does help a little.


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## det1034 (Dec 22, 2011)

Words with friends will smoke a battery regardless of what your running. But I can get 6 hours of screen time on apex with Franco's kernel. And Facebook should not drop your bat 10% in 10 min. I drop 1 -2% every ten min of browsing...also enable hot plug. And don't run multiple kernel apps especially if your rom has one baked in....typically causes complications like battery drain

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## lxetuo (Oct 11, 2011)

busterbrown77 said:


> WHA WHA WHAT!?!?! I spent like 2 days testing to see how low i could go....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I searched for the article as well, miketoasty might be referring to this one: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/in-depth-nexus-s-battery-study-brings-about-surprising-conclusions/


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## nimerix (Jul 11, 2011)

Bah my phone gets weeks of battery life if I don't turn it on.


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

Ianxcom said:


> They sit on 3g and Wi-Fi all day. Doesn't seem practical to me to get a 4g phone and use only 3g. Also to be on wifi full time isn't practical if you leave the house at all.


You guys do realize that 4G is only in 165 cities right now, right? That means probly 80% of America does not have access to 4G. Should I not buy a new phone because I'm not in a 4G area? *sarcasm*


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## Smootee (Nov 23, 2011)

I use my phone constantly throughout the day and still get 20+ hours every time. There's no point in having a 4g phone if you don't use it. I don't have wifi on or location services, but I'm constantly on RootzWiki and Facebook, texting through the day and making and getting calls and just dicking around with speed tests and still get good life. I probably average about an hour and 20 minutes of screen time and I'm happy with it. I don't know if you or anyone else would label my usage as, and I don't give a shit. If you don't like the way people categorize the way they use their phone, who cares right? Deal with YOUR phone and battery issues and stop concerning what other people get.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## swimminsurfer256 (Sep 23, 2011)

brkshr said:


> You guys do realize that 4G is only in 165 cities right now, right? That means probly 80% of America does not have access to 4G. Should I not buy a new phone because I'm not in a 4G area?


It doesn't make the phone bad or useless or not worth it if you don't have 4G. Plus 4G covers supposedly over a third of the population and Verizon expects that to grow hugely by the end of the year. So I'd say it's worth it


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## jaydorsey1978 (Jun 7, 2011)

The only thing I care about with regard to battery life is that I don't have to plug it in during the hours I'm out of bed, since my handset is also my alarm clock and is plugged in at night. With an extended battery, I can go through a whole day before the battery icon turns red and I'm an average to above-average user. I don't care about percentages or what's consuming the most power (unless I have a sudden battery drain)... that's just a little too much micromanaging for me, and I'd rather be using my phone.


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## Art Vandelay (Jan 4, 2012)

Roms and kernels do not make any drastic difference in battery life. Sure they may negatively affect battery life, but the same setup with one rom and kernel isn't going to be very different from another rom and kernel. I actually find stock kernel to provide the best performance/battery ratio.

I don't think people realize how much signal affects battery life. At my work I get 2 bars of 3g and I am lucky if it lasts 8 hours with 2 hours of screen on time. At my apt I get full 4g and I have no problem getting the phone to last a full day with 2+ hours screen on time.

And when checking battery life keep in mind that most people who are getting 20+ hours, of those 8 hours are when the phone is idle and the battery is only dropping at most 10% over night. So its more like 12 hours to use 90% battery which isn't something hard to get.

If you are losing significant battery overnight, you have a problem. Use CPU spy to check deep sleep and badass battery stats to check what is waking your phone from deep sleep.

To bad someone can't write an app that you run for an hour or so and it tests your phones battery over that period. Something like in 1 hour keep screen on for 20 min, d/l a 5mb file, run various apps to simulate use. Than this could be used as a benchmark for when you make changes to your phone.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## miketoasty (Jun 10, 2011)

busterbrown77 said:


> WHA WHA WHAT!?!?!
> 
> I spent like 2 days testing to see how low i could go....
> 
> ...


Its for the Galaxy S but a lot of the same rules apply:

http://www.xda-developers.com/android/in-depth-nexus-s-battery-study-brings-about-surprising-conclusions/


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## Sveke (Jan 28, 2012)

Been on aokp and liquid, tried all kernels. Phone gets 8-12 hrs and 2-3 hrs screen on time till death. In LTE area. 4g on. These figures are consistent no matter what I do. I've accepted it.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## brkshr (Jun 16, 2011)

swimminsurfer256 said:


> It doesn't make the phone bad or useless or not worth it if you don't have 4G. Plus 4G covers supposedly over a third of the population and Verizon expects that to grow hugely by the end of the year. So I'd say it's worth it


Sorry, I should have put *sarcasm* in there before. I do have the GNex. It bugs me when people say 'there's no reason to buy a 4g phone if your not gonna use it'. I don't use 4g because I'm not in a 4g area. When I do get 4g in my area, I will be using it.


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## mandog202 (Jun 7, 2011)

I just got 4hrs 46 minutes of screen on time last night, 65% brightness, browsing through baconreader, twitter, a couple of sites with lots of images and scrolling, and a few videos, running 4.0.4 with Franco kernel 16.1, clocked at 1000max, 700min, LTE on, and in fringe LTE area, and wifi on (stock battery) so it is possible. This was the first discharge on 4.0.4, and I literally sat with the phone in my hand for over 5 hours actively using it.


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## duyna (Oct 4, 2011)

I am a moderate user on my phone and I can usually get 10 hours on a single charge, I think that even with all the kernels and set CPU I do, I am happy at least to get a whole work day on my phone. My old d2 get 26 hour on a single charge because I only use it at night for a couple hours

redemption rom 1.0.6 Franco kernel 16.1


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## Art Vandelay (Jan 4, 2012)

mandog202 said:


> I just got 4hrs 46 minutes of screen on time last night, 65% brightness, browsing through baconreader, twitter, a couple of sites with lots of images and scrolling, and a few videos, running 4.0.4 with Franco kernel 16.1, clocked at 1000max, 700min, LTE on, and in fringe LTE area, and wifi on (stock battery) so it is possible. This was the first discharge on 4.0.4, and I literally sat with the phone in my hand for over 5 hours actively using it.


If you are connected to wifi than it doesn't matter if 4g is on. Not sure why people don't understand this. Sure your 4g is causing some battery drain by being on, but its the wifi radio that is doing all the work.

Turn off wifi and just use 4g and tell us how long it lasts.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## holysnikey (Jan 8, 2012)

100% agree with signal being the main battery drainer. When I am home on Wi-Fi or in a city with great reception I get 10 hours of very heavy use but when I'm around my tiny town and at my college which has poor reception in the buildings. My battery is horrible then so reception is the main thing.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## Kusanagi Fire (Dec 3, 2011)

holysnikey said:


> 100% agree with signal being the main battery drainer. When I am home on Wi-Fi or in a city with great reception I get 10 hours of very heavy use but when I'm around my tiny town and at my college which has poor reception in the buildings. My battery is horrible then so reception is the main thing.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


Also going to agree that signal strength makes a huge difference. Just the other day I went to hang out with a friend where I have 0 bars and the battery drained without me even using the phone! This was on CDMA only as well. I can't imagine what it would've been like with LTE on.


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## ERIFNOMI (Jun 30, 2011)

busterbrown77 said:


> Oh one more thing. Try using Y5 battery saver. It automatically enables wifi when your near a remembered hotspot (how it works i have no idea). But it will enable and disable wifi for you. Pretty convenient. It does help a little.


I use tasker. WiFi turns on when I'm at home (when connected to one of three cell towers) and turns off when I leave. I also have profiles for turning GPS on for certain apps (maps, my tracks, torque).


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## ERIFNOMI (Jun 30, 2011)

Kusanagi Fire said:


> Also going to agree that signal strength makes a huge difference. Just the other day I went to hang out with a friend where I have 0 bars and the battery drained without me even using the phone! This was on CDMA only as well. I can't imagine what it would've been like with LTE on.


This is true too. I used to have a thunderbolt and I got pretty decent battery life at my house where I have great signal. My friend's thunderbolt would get 2-6 hours less on average just because the service at his house is close to nonexistent.


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## bearwithabeard (Aug 26, 2011)

I have standard battery 4g always running brightness maxed, Franco kernal on gazelle with a 700 min, I'm always streaming music, and I get 7-8 hours on a full charge. Works for me

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## mandog202 (Jun 7, 2011)

Art Vandelay said:


> If you are connected to wifi than it doesn't matter if 4g is on. Not sure why people don't understand this. Sure your 4g is causing some battery drain by being on, but its the wifi radio that is doing all the work.
> 
> Turn off wifi and just use 4g and tell us how long it lasts.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


i do understand it, i just had a dumb moment, then realized what i did 10 minutes later..... "nothing to do here"


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## sic0048 (Jun 16, 2011)

Use BetterBatteryStats to really find out what apps/processes are keeping your phone awake. If your phone is awake for a lot more time than the screen is turned on, then something is keeping the phone from sleeping.

First I found out that a process called AudioOut_1 was preventing the phone from sleeping. I quick search revealed that you really need to turn off the audio touch response and audio lock. This made a huge improvement by changing those two settings because now the phone will sleep normally.

Then I found that Google+ and Facebook where the next two of the biggest offenders because they wake the phone up a lot (even when sync is off) and removed those apps from my phone. Personally I can live with the chrome browser versions. I realize that not everyone can live without those apps, but you might also find that there are other apps or processes killing you phone.

So use BetterBatteryStats to really get to the bottom of what apps and processes are keeping your phone from sleeping when the screen is turned off. You will probably be surprised at what you find.


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## WhataSpaz (Feb 20, 2012)

I'm on WiFi most of the time when I'm at school/on campus or at home because 4G seems to drain it faster.

Typical day on mon/wed/fri:

*8:00 am *
Wake up and unplug 99% 
Music while getting ready 95%
*8:50 am * 
Music in the car to school 92%
*9:30 - 4:00 pm*
Texting/calls/standby while at school 75%
*5:00 pm*
By the time I get to the gym 65%
*6:30 pm*
By the time I leave the gym 50%
*8:40 pm*
Right now, I'm at 21% lol


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## dhaliwal925 (Jun 7, 2011)

I personally just keep a lot of chargers..charger by my bed side, charger in the bathroom, charger in the kitchen, charger by the computer, charger in the car...keeps by battery fresh!


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## Mikefrostlpn (Jun 7, 2011)

I completely agree with this topic. I see "oh I got 27 hours wit heavy usage on 4G nd automatic brightness and stock battery" Lies. On a good day? I can and have put this phone from 100% to 0% in 3 hours while using wifi and 0% brightness.... my definition of heavy usage

20-30min worth of phone calls
100-200 tweets with 1 min refresh
100-200 gtalk messages 
500-1000 text messages (im in a long distance relationship so no teenage girl remarks)
at least an our of browser/words with friends/reddit/ect

Thats the kind of usage I expect when I see "heavy usage" not oh I check and email at like 1030


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## Burncycle (Aug 6, 2011)

I get pretty piss poor wifi signal anywhere on my campus so most of the time I'm on 4g. I'm usually down to 20% around 1pm with an hour and a half screen on time if I unplug at 7am.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## basshead (Feb 29, 2012)

At 7am my battery is fully charged. I am home from work at 5 everyday and usually the battery is between 25-30%. I use it for music, talking while I drive which is a good 2 hours of my day and surf the internet on lunches breaks etc. I have updates on for FB messenger which I use all day(none of my friends text anymore we live in this app). I am using the extended battery and 4g is always on. This imo is not the best battery life but it does the job. I always plug it as soon as I get home.


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## CC16177 (Dec 29, 2011)

I get a solid 12-14 hours on a regular basis using the standard battery. That's generally running Franco 700min/1000max sometimes 1350max... i'm on wifi generally unless i'm out and about in which case I am using 4G so I don't have to wait for Pandora to buffer.

Generally when I get home I have about 50% (at 5pm) and if I work out then i'll drain it to about 30% (always use 4G for Pandora plus I have bluetooth headphones that seem to drain it a bit) and the 30% will hold til I go to bed around 10-11pm.

I definitely use my phone quite a bit but it's always texting or phone calls, I never play any games or anything.


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