Develop Bugs

RTT mode for more battery life?

Obviously we don't need 4G or 3G running when we're just walking about town waiting for phone calls, emails, or texts. Is there any way to reduce battery drain by turning off the 3G EVDO radio and falling back to 1xRTT, in a similar way to how we currently turn off 3G UMTS/HSDPA on an iPhone and fall back to EDGE to preserve battery life?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

TKardinal said:
Obviously we don't need 4G or 3G running when we're just walking about town waiting for phone calls, emails, or texts. Is there any way to reduce battery drain by turning off the 3G EVDO radio and falling back to 1xRTT, in a similar way to how we currently turn off 3G UMTS/HSDPA on an iPhone and fall back to EDGE to preserve battery life?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been thinking about this and would like to know as well.

Just because 3G GSM is not as efficient with battery life as 2G does not necessarily mean the same problem exists for cdma technology, however I do not know for certain and its a good question

drewX2 said:
Just because 3G GSM is not as efficient with battery life as 2G does not necessarily mean the same problem exists for cdma technology, however I do not know for certain and its a good question
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Click to collapse
Indeed. I don't know. And that's why I'm asking!

A few things might improve battery life:
-Turn off constant GPS; it chews up battery when not needed. It's on by default with the EVO and queried every 3 hours (default) by Sense UI for weather information. You can get the same information based on Cell Tower triangulation without firing up GPS needlessly.
-Sense UI (according to rumor) uses more power in and of itself than the stock Android GUI.
-Froyo (by virtue of JIT) should be more efficient and therefore consume less battery life as well.
One topic I'm not sure on is whether Android can scale CPU clocks automatically based on need, like mobile CPUs for laptops/netbooks do? If not, it should absolutely be implemented, and that would be my next project..

Coming from a samsung moment to the evo i can say that jumping back and fourth between evdo and 1xrtt cancause battery drain. Really theres no great method to combat this other than using common sense. If your not in need of gps- turn it off. Turn off queing for cell towers as well, while it doesnt consume as much power as the gps it does take some resource to triangulate your location. The only other thing i would say is using setcpu and establishing profiles that suit your needs. I.e. screen off can be the lowest cpu setting while battery at 50% you could set your profiles clock speed to sit at 600-700. But thats all providing an app like setcpu will play nice with the evo.
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It does not seem like the phone has 1x radio in it. I have never seen it ...not even once fall back to 1x even with zero bars.
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clubtech said:
It does not seem like the phone has 1x radio in it. I have never seen it ...not even once fall back to 1x even with zero bars.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assure you it does.

I manually set my wife's pixi to 1xrtt and her battery life has increased significantly, had to do some hidden code, so perhaps same for evo

It's ##EVDO# in WebOS. Not sure what the code is in Android.

[TIP] Greatest Battery saving tip you'll ever find

Hi all.
I tried this originally on my desire, then in my wifes wildfire S to great success.
Go in to the phone app
type in *#*#4636#*#*
Select 'Phone information'
scroll down to the bottom
in the 'set preferred network type' select 'GSM auto (PRL)'
then press back to return to your home page.
The wife doesn't use her phone much, ie a phone call or two a day, after a DAY of being unplugged from the mains the battery was still registering at 100% !
This doesn't affect the phone's functionality at all, it still allows for you to connect to a 3G network, what it does is connects to 2G when the 3G signal is weaker for calls and texts.
You may get varying results but every phone I've tried it on has boosted the battery by hours when idle.
Enjoy!

Updated with proof
Hi guys, just to show you how much better this setting is, my wife's wildfire S normally needed charger every 2 days.
As you can see it's passed 2 days and it is still registering over 80% remaining battery.
I'll update when it finally dies, which should be in about 8 days

tried this on my wildfire s and afterwards it just kept turning my network on and off.. Switched back to wcdma preferred

I haven't seen that before, you might be in a weak 2g signal area thats why it's constantly trying to resolve the radio.
I assume this will work for some ( I live in an area that is very well covered by orange) and not for others depending on your network coverage.
Does it still do it when you switch to GSM only? It will kill your internet speed, but just to test if it's the 2G mast or not, then switch back to WCDMA preferred if it works best on your phone.
If GSM only is okay, you can use widgetoid 2.x and make a short cut to the normal settings options to switch between gsm only and WCDMA which will help, but I find it a bit of a pain in the perverbial behind.
As with most tips its not a one size fits all, however I've done it on 5 phones ( all HTC) which has improved the battery.

Hi,
as for me, I have really a lot of problem regarding the battery life.
Today it was 100% and after 8 hours just 55% left.
Without using any wireless conection, and just 2 text.
Any way, maybe you can tell us, how is the wildfire S form your configured, homescreen widget?
which battery tool do you use?
I just made again a reset, and I will try to set GSM only, coz I do not use internet at all.
by the way, great thread.....)
bye

She's got it extremely basic, no widgets, no weather nothing, there's only 4 shortcuts on all her home screens, mostly black background (static picture).
No battery apps or task killers are on it.
All radios, GPS etc are disable, screen brightness on auto ( however I usally leave it around 20% for better battery performance)
It is never connected to the internet, she uses it just as a phone. I'm quite impressed with the battery life she gets.

I'm a bit curious, if she just used it at the most basic level, than why would she get a smartphone?
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using XDA App

Hi Guys,
Just a quick update, the phone has made it to over 6 days stand by and the 30% energy saving has only just kicked in.
What I wanna know is, is there a way to log (appart from logcat) what's going on it the background. Granted she doesn't use it a lot (mostly as a personal radio and because it was a free upgrade to answer the previous question) but if you look the angle of decline increases after use when surely it should sharply drop and then continue on the same curve?
Nevermind.
This means her phone is up to 151ish hrs standby and still going, I'm gonna have a few more tweaks and see if I can get it anywhere close to the times quoted on the HTC site:
Standby time:
WCDMA: Up to 570 hours
GSM: Up to 360 hours
Infact (sorry i think outloud when I'm typing) how the hell do they think you'll get BETTER battery life on WCDMA? No chance unless you live under the mast and never leave the house.
I think for my next test I'll put it on WCDMA only and see how it affects the battery.

Also the battery doesn't have a very high capacity. That could also be the problem. I heave heard the hd2 I think has the same battery size but a much higher capacity.

Hi, I got my WS last week, and so far I cannot complain about battery. I am using it on GSM only, no data, bluetooth on, I'm going trugh an average of 40 calls a day, and in the evening I still have about 60 % of battery left. I am pretty sure that that won't be the case if I use mobie data or WiFi though.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

Hi,
I just can agree, coz even I made a test put the WS on GSM only, and it seems reallly to having more battery life.
As for now, just to have the usual use, 5-10 text 3 calls a day a bit wlan, i can use it for now almost 5 days, which I think it is ok.
thanks

This is an incredible tip. 24hrs and I've still got a full battery!
Sticky please

hi guys.
i'm just trying this tip right now, but, please, can someone explain to me what are the differencies between cdma and gsm "stuff"? (i am using 3g, wifi and classic phone functions)
thanks a lot

baaabovka said:
hi guys.
i'm just trying this tip right now, but, please, can someone explain to me what are the differencies between cdma and gsm "stuff"? (i am using 3g, wifi and classic phone functions)
thanks a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you connect to the internet on your phone through your network provider don't switch to gsm only as 3g signals are much much faster. If you only connect to the internet when there's a wifi signal then set it to gsm only to save the battery.

thanks mark.
i switched to "GSM auto (PRL)" as amraving said in first post. i am using 3g only for sending sms through app called free sms sender and for update weather. so internet speed is not my priority. hope it will works fine.

First time I read this I thought this is in setup, didnt know there was a secret menu. I just activated it now then I got full bars than just GSM only. thanks buddy.

baaabovka said:
thanks mark.
i switched to "GSM auto (PRL)" as amraving said in first post. i am using 3g only for sending sms through app called free sms sender and for update weather. so internet speed is not my priority. hope it will works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, I set mine to gsm only and I've noticed a fairly big difference with battery life, can last a few days on idle, not to bad with moderate wifi use either.

Its good to see so many people getting some use out of this tip. If it helped could you click the thanks?
HTC desire. amoled.
stock hboot
insert coin 1.0.8 stable.
1gb ext3

So if you use this tip you wont be able to use 3G and HSDPA ?

Giving this a go, I never use Mobile Network, only wifi so.. lets see.

[Q] 4G or WiFi drains more battery?

what wastes more energy? having 4g on or having wifi on? i read the other threads but it had to do with 3g.. they said 3g wastes more power. is this the case with 4g as well?
thanks!

WiFi drains more battery always
that's from personal observation on all the phones i've owned in the past to now
as soon as you use WiFi the battery drains like there's no tomorrow
however this phone seems to handle it quite well

Yeah, 4G is a big battery hog. Wifi doesn't drain as much so long as you are connected to the same one for a while.
EDIT: just saw AllGamer's reply. Wifi really drains that much? I remember seeing the Droid Razr review saying that 4G eats batteries for breakfast. I might be wrong then!
Sent from my SGH-T989D using xda premium

They both drain battery about the same in my opinion.
When ever I can I turn both of them off to save battery.
It's really easy with the toggles that a couple roms have.
This phone is a BEAST!

From my personal experience wifi doesn't drain as much as 4g.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

WiFi is far more efficient than the cellular network, and any usage will count against your allocated full speed GB's.. not a good thing.

don't have a sgsII yet but my experience with my vibrant is that wifi if connected uses less battery than hspa. If I'm not connected to a wifi network it drains the battery looking for one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium

heygrl said:
WiFi is far more efficient than the cellular network, and any usage will count against your allocated full speed GB's.. not a good thing.
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Click to collapse
Forgive my ignorance but how come the usage of Wifi will count against your allocated full speed? My personal experience has been different .

knut150 said:
Forgive my ignorance but how come the usage of Wifi will count against your allocated full speed? My personal experience has been different .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant not using it will count against your data allotment

lol so there's no unanimous answer. i guess i'll just try to experiment a little and see which one uses more. thanks everyone.

4G uses more battery than WiFi

Definitely 4G... I sit on wifi all day and do not use much battery at all.

skadude66 said:
Yeah, 4G is a big battery hog. Wifi doesn't drain as much so long as you are connected to the same one for a while.
EDIT: just saw AllGamer's reply. Wifi really drains that much? I remember seeing the Droid Razr review saying that 4G eats batteries for breakfast. I might be wrong then!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand, LTE is a bigger battery hog than HSPA+.

jasnmb said:
From what I understand, LTE is a bigger battery hog than HSPA+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For sure. And after that I'd say HSPA+ > WiFi in terms of battery draining.

Wait, our phone runs off energy. Please tell me its kinetic?!
Sent from my Juggernaut SGSII or Galaxy Tab 10.1 now "In Paris"

bhowanidin said:
Wait, our phone runs off energy. Please tell me its kinetic?!
Sent from my Juggernaut SGSII or Galaxy Tab 10.1 now "In Paris"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solar backpack maybe ?

ok guys lets keep this topic sane, yeah it's funny, but lets go back on topic
it's a very valid & informative question
my personal experience shows me WiFi is worst, but others here says 3G/4G is even worse, but from personal experience 3G/4G is less than WiFi
so even i find that contradiction very interesting
the thing that could make a difference is the signal strength, perhaps better 3G/4G reception requires less power to maintain the connection?
possibly the same reason why WiFi always seems to do worse for me, because all the Starbucks, Airport, Hotel, Library, and other coffe/restaurant places that offer WiFi it's horrible, very slow, and hard to maintain signal, probably because tooooooooo many people are hogging it or maybe just because too many devices are bumping each other off the Router/WiFi AP on those establishments

Whenever I use wifi I turn my data off and gst better battery that way. If you have a bad data signal or wifi it'll take more battery to try to keep a connection.
In my Bio class I have terrible data signal and my battery will drain really fast with heavy use but if I turn on my wifi and turn off the data my battery iis way better
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

So after doing testing of my own I have come to the conclusion that 4G drains more battery than wifi. With wifi I can get about 14 hrs, but with 4G I only get 6-8 hrs.
This phone is a BEAST!

AllGamer, makes sense. If you have slower networks, your screen will be on for longer as you wait inbetween pages and downloads. Fast downloads => less screen time.
My personal experience with wifi vs THREE-g is that wifi eats my battery quickly (on all previous phones and there have been many, including present BB Torch for work). An d 3G doesn't drain as quickly.
However I agree wifi seems pretty sippy and efficient on the SGH-T989. My battery is learning. I am now getting 1 day and 13 hours of discharge time. Very moderate use. 4G. So yes there well may be a difference between 3 and 4G.
I will test wifi-only as soon as I can in the next few days.
AllGamer said:
ok guys lets keep this topic sane, yeah it's funny, but lets go back on topic
it's a very valid & informative question
my personal experience shows me WiFi is worst, but others here says 3G/4G is even worse, but from personal experience 3G/4G is less than WiFi
so even i find that contradiction very interesting
the thing that could make a difference is the signal strength, perhaps better 3G/4G reception requires less power to maintain the connection?
possibly the same reason why WiFi always seems to do worse for me, because all the Starbucks, Airport, Hotel, Library, and other coffe/restaurant places that offer WiFi it's horrible, very slow, and hard to maintain signal, probably because tooooooooo many people are hogging it or maybe just because too many devices are bumping each other off the Router/WiFi AP on those establishments
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

2G vs 3G power consumption

It's generally believed that setting the phone into 2G mode uses less power than 3G mode. Is this true for our phones? Does 3G use a different radio than 2G?
Of course, 4G uses a lot more power than both and is for sure a separate radio.
Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2

I get a considerably greater amount of battery life when switching to edge vs. 3G/HSDPA+ vs. 4G(lte) running the latest CM9 nightlies

I happened to be Googling the same and came upon these two links that agree with what I've read before on the subject:
http://radioaccess.blogspot.com/2012/03/3g-vs-2g-current-consumption.html
http://www.berryreview.com/forums/topic/battery-tips-a-tale-of-wifi-3g-and-2g
One thing to mention is Wifi is very efficient, the only high drain part is searching & connecting to an access point, once that's done, to maintain an idle connection takes very little power.

Experiences While Travelling

I've noticed something interesting while using my Galaxy Nexus in different cities.
I frequently spend time in both Calgary, Alberta and Victoria, BC. What I've noticed is the battery life of my phone is great in Calgary, and horrible in Victoria. With no changes to apps or roms or modems, etc.
Anyone else notice something like this? I can only assume, perhaps, the mobile network in Victoria is poor, leading to reception problems, therefore increased battery consumption?
Anyone else have any ideas or input?
Thanks in advance.

davanw said:
I can only assume, perhaps, the mobile network in Victoria is poor, leading to reception problems, therefore increased battery consumption?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its prolly this.

davanw said:
I've noticed something interesting while using my Galaxy Nexus in different cities.
I frequently spend time in both Calgary, Alberta and Victoria, BC. What I've noticed is the battery life of my phone is great in Calgary, and horrible in Victoria. With no changes to apps or roms or modems, etc.
Anyone else notice something like this? I can only assume, perhaps, the mobile network in Victoria is poor, leading to reception problems, therefore increased battery consumption?
Anyone else have any ideas or input?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My battery life will vary widely depending on the level of service I get. Even if I'm showing 1-2 bars, my battery drops much quicker.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1969741
This is an interesting read in general but if you skip down to "Airplane Mode Toggle" talks about how toggling the airplane mode will reconnect to the best possible tower and why it may not have been initially.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

You are completely correct in your hypothesis. Signal reception does directly impact battery consumption
A misconception among smartphone users is that bars are a good representation of signal. While often times the reading is accurate, bars are just a GUI element. The best way to check your signal is by going into settings -> about -> status and looking at the Signal strength in dBm. The higher the number, the poorer your signal and vice versa. Excellent signal would be around ~60dBm whilst poor would be in the ~120dBm ranges, give or take a few.
/endthread
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I used my nexus this past summer in Europe and I found my battery died extremely quickly. The majority of places where I used my phone were concrete buildings which meant signal strength was fairly weak and using data with weak signal is a bad combination for battery life.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

I think it also has to do with the building you are in. My apartment has lots of concrete walls and it seems to cause dead zones in it. My work building has wrap around floor to ceiling glass which makes my cell reception much better.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app