tips for maximizing battery performance?

[peacemover]

I absolutely LOVE my new Moto DROID from Verizon. The one slightly frustrating factor is the battery life is shorter than I was getting with my Moto Q. The battery life monitor on my DROID shows the following power usage:

48% display
16% browser
11% Wi-Fi
10% Cell standby
6% Android system
5% Phone idle
3% voice calls
2% Android OS

Any suggestions for conserving battery life? I have been using Wi-Fi when available, because it seems to dramatically increase page load speeds, and help somewhat with battery life. Any other tips or suggestions??

Thanks much!

 

[gatewayad]

Lower the brightness on your screen, keep GPS off untill you need it, get use to turning the screen off and not waiting for it to time out. Get advanced task killer, Verizon recommends it but most of the people here say you dont need it including myself .... but some like it.
If you use it alot like I do have an extra charger in the car and a usb cable at work.
There is alot going on and it does use battery. I guess option 2 would be get the Sedio extended battery.

 

[ShowTime]

Yes, using wifi increases page load speed but keeping wifi turned on all the time will also eat up your battery. I'd add the native power widget so you can turn wifi and other connections on when you need them and off the rest of the time, easier. Turn your screen brightness down. But if you're doing a lot of web browsing your battery is going to get drained pretty quickly regardless of what settings you use. What kind of lifespan are you getting out of it anyway?

 

[Matth3w]

The best way to optimize your battery is to immediately lock your phone via the power button as soon as you are done using it. Send a text, lock the phone. Look up something on IMDB, lock the phone.

My timeout is set to 1 minute so if I am actually doing something it won't shut off while I am doing it...any other time I automatically shut it off.

The next best things to save battery are to turn off WiFi when not using it, as well as Bluetooth.

Doing just these simple things, I never have less than 30 or so battery life left after moderate usage throughout the day from about 630am to 1030pm.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

My battery lasts all day and into the night. I generally take it off charger by 6:30 am - 7:00 am and by 11pm it is down to 40% or so. It has never needed charging during the day.

One of the biggest hits to battery life is cell signal strength. If you are in an area with weak signal, you are going to suffer shortened battery life.

I have my phone rooted and run Bugless Beast rom at 950 mhz. I leave wifi on while in the office or house and turn it off when I leave. I leave GPS on all the time. I leave bluetooth on all the time. Those services do not use power if they are not being used by a program.

I deleted Advanced Task Killer. The android operating system will shutdown anything it needs to in order to perform it's job. By killing an app, you are simply forcing the operating system to reload it when you need it. It does not draw power by simply being loaded in ram. And it is not active when dark.

Put your phone to sleep when you are not using it.

Get Screebl and use it in conjunction with an aggressive sleep mode of about 15 seconds. Screebl will keep your screen on while you are using it (it knows by the phone's orientation) and the quick sleep time will not allow it to sit unattended and running.

There is an app called Juice Defender that will let you turn off services, even connection services, when you don't need them. I have mine set to turn off data while the phone is asleep because I don't have to have my emails immediately. So, the phone is set to turn on data and collect my emails every 30 minutes then turn data off again unless I'm using the phone.

That's all I can think of now - my brain hurts from all the thinking (I'm not used to it). I may need to rest and let my cpu cool down!! BTW, all opinions expressed above are mine and as such should be considered suspect. YMMV IMHO

Enjoy.

 

[Matth3w]

I might have to check out that Juice Defender...how much battery life does it take up?

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

I might have to check out that Juice Defender...how much battery life does it take up?

I just checked my battery use and it was not even listed. I think that means it's less than 2%.

 

[Matth3w]

Interesting, I might try it out..thanks for the advice.

 

[Benton]

Hmmm, didn't know bluetooth doesn't use power if it isn't connected to a device. I use bluetooth quite a bit and have been toggling it whenever going from use (in car or office) to non-use (phone in pocket walking, shopping, etc.). This will be a big task saver for me.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

Hmmm, didn't know bluetooth doesn't use power if it isn't connected to a device. I use bluetooth quite a bit and have been toggling it whenever going from use (in car or office) to non-use (phone in pocket walking, shopping, etc.). This will be a big task saver for me.

All I know is that I leave it on all the time and I've actually used it for about an hour today while listening to an audio book while driving and then later for 3-4 fairly short calls and it shows as 4% of my battery use.

 

[Benton]

This may not seem like much to most but to me it is great to know...dumb habits hard to get rid of I guess. I'll keep an eye on things for a week or so and report back if I get anything that seems different than expected results. Many thanks!

 

[dumluk2002]

battery life stinks

I must have so much running in the background (widgets, etc) that sucks up battery fast. I cant get thru half the day without losing most %.

I have brightness level app and its set ON ZERO...still no improvement. I think by getting rid of a widget or two and seeing if that affects is my next move. Have purchased 2 extra batteries.

I love this phone but battery management AND internal memory are issues that hopefully partly will be solved with new froyo im still waiting for!

 

[myriad46]

I leave Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, always. I've had no detriment to my battery life. Bluetooth uses practically nothing, unless it's broadcasting (connected), and even then, it's not bad. Wi-fi disconnects when the phone is sleeping, and even when you have it on, it's the transmission of data that will get you, which brings you back to surfing.

I second the low signal comment. Also, if you are in an area that only gets 1x data and not 3G, your battery will take a definite hit.

 

[takeshi]

I leave WiFi, BT and GPS all on. One day is no problem.