Tips to Help Improve Battery Life on ThunderBolt

[x02ssmarox]

So I just received my TB today and coming from a Droid 2 I'm not liking it so far, I'm getting 2 hours of battery life with custom settings no widgets my resolution is at 11% IDK y but its too much to deal with, I use to squeeze 6 hours out of my D2 with an extended battery and lowest settings

You absolutely have to be doing something to drain the battery that fast both on the bolt and D2 w/ext battery. 6hrs on that is absurd. 2hrs is ridiculous also. Mine will last longer than that clocked at 1.42 and streaming netflix over 4g constantly until the battery died. My best guess is that I could last 2 movies (4hrs) straight like that.

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[iRenegade]

So I just received my TB today and coming from a Droid 2 I'm not liking it so far, I'm getting 2 hours of battery life with custom settings no widgets my resolution is at 11% IDK y but its too much to deal with, I use to squeeze 6 hours out of my D2 with an extended battery and lowest settings

You absolutely have to be doing something to drain the battery that fast both on the bolt and D2 w/ext battery. 6hrs on that is absurd. 2hrs is ridiculous also. Mine will last longer than that clocked at 1.42 and streaming netflix over 4g constantly until the battery died. My best guess is that I could last 2 movies (4hrs) straight like that.

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

Don't forget, that's on your first partial charge. Battery life will improve after the battery is conditioned. Also besides some of the customizations, check your reception. Low bars or searching for 3-4g/wifi signal can eat away at the battery too.
I get about 7 hours with moderate use now(not rooted). I plug in at work as much as possible. Yesterday it completely drained at about 9 hours. I keep an extra battery and battery charger pack handy when I am out.

 

[johnd09]

I don't know if anybody has tried or suggested this, but what if in a strong LTE area, you turn the phone to LTE only. May not make a difference, but I just thought turning off the 3g radio might save a little battery. I would try it myself, but I don't live in a 4G area. I was in one the other day and I know how bad battery drain was. Went from 10-12 hours on a nonrebooting day to 8 hours, of course, I was on the phone playing with my new found speed a little more than normal, couldn't resist.

Sent from my Thunderbolt!!

 

[nonnasmyladie]

Busted: 5 Myths About Increasing and Decreasing Android's Battery Life

Most of those thing will save you less than 1% battery.

The ones that would save significant amounts of battery (like turning off 4g) make no sense. Why buy a 4g phone and turn it off?

 

[BennyJr]

Busted: 5 Myths About Increasing and Decreasing Android's Battery Life

Most of those thing will save you less than 1% battery.

The ones that would save significant amounts of battery (like turning off 4g) make no sense. Why buy a 4g phone and turn it off?

Doesnt LTE drain the battery? Thats why u turn it off the 3g radio uses much less juice

 

[EmmVeePee]

[FONT=&quot]20. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Task killer – do not use them, uninstall if you currently have one, can harm phone and consume battery, just use back arrow key to exit apps instead of home key, simply monitor rogue apps instead and uninstall/replace[/FONT]. These are especially bad on pre-installed apps and services (many things rely on each other), so never "auto-kill" or "kill all." If you must use one, only use it on apps that you have installed that are misbehaving, otherwise let Android do it on its own.

Great advice overall... but this one is just flat out wrong. I get a few hours of battery life without a task killer... I get well over 1 day with one.

I know Google told everybody to stop using them... but if you use them responsibly, they work great. The problem is that people don't use exceptions and kill system processes that have to be restarted, using processing power. If you set your exceptions correctly, you'll see a drastic increase in battery performance.

Unfortunately Google disabled Task Killers in Gingerbread and FroYo... although I have a hunch they'll bring them back. There are some rooted options however, so you'll have to search the market.

But yeah, theoretically task killers shouldn't do anything. In real life applications, when used properly, they are indispensable.

The main problem with Android is that apps start up for no reason. I do not need Maps (using 15MB of RAM) to be running unless I'm using it. It starts up for a variety of events (such as starting up the market, or listening to music). Android will kill a task when it needs memory. The problem is that sometimes it doesn't know when it needs memory. Plus, this delay causes noticable lag.

Without a task killer, I get a very delayed response.

 

[DroidStang]

On 4 g all day since 6am with extended battery, that's 15 hrs 50& left, not bad, rumor is
4G eats up batteries

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[katatonic]

Well you have an extended battery, first of all. Lol. And also I don't think its the 4G that kills the battery, I think its the phone searching for 4G nonstop that eats it. If you were on it all day, it had no need to search.

sent from my thunderbolt.

 

[DroidStang]

Could be, but just seems though when using 4G just takes longer to charge, switch to WiFi at home, charges right up, oh well

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[katatonic]

Yea I don't know. I don't even pay attention to my battery any more since I bought an extended battery. All I'm focused on now is a gingerbread update.

sent from my thunderbolt.

 

[DroidStang]

Me too, hoping once GB gets here, the Skype mobile will start working again

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[DroidStang]

Just noticed this recently, I went from 19 hours battery life to double in last month, only thing I change was I now use a solid green image as wallpaper instead of live wallpaper, i test and it has 94% left after making a couple short calls, playing music for an hour, since 12 noon when took off charger and now 820, so live wallpaper make that much or was an update pushed oxide not realize resolved bad battery life, and I am on 4 g all the time.

Update: left on all night, no charge, at 24 hours on battery, still 53% left, so guess something changed to improve the extended battery.

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums