Hi all,
Wondered if anyone knows which is worst for battery life out of
GPRS
3G
HSDPA (assume its the same as 3G)
Wifi
If was connected for the same amount of time which would be better. From my day to day usage i personally have found that Wifi didnt seem to guzzle as much battery as i expected it to.
Has anyone done any proper tests on this?
It depends on the usage. Here are two ordered lists on what takes the most battery (in my eyes).
Active data transfer:
3G
2G
WiFi
No data transfer
WiFi
3G/2G
It also takes more battery for searching a WiFi network compared to being connected to one.
but what about searching for a phone signal/data connection... is that worse than wifi searching?
any other opinions/results?
Related
hi all
recently i have just calibrate my battery.. and it works just fine
but now i found that it drains alot quicker using 3g signal compared to wifi...
the drain rate can take 10% /hour on 3g and only 4% / hour for wifi
why is that ?
is there something wrong on my gsm ?
btw am using leedroid froyo 2.0c and using latest radio 32.47.xxx
pls some one can tell me.. what to do ??any clues on this ?
3G has more power drain than wifi so it's normal.
Sent from my HTC Desire
elmalote said:
3G has more power drain than wifi so it's normal.
Sent from my HTC Desire
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oiya ? is it ?
coz on my iphone it was different... wifi was worse..
anyway.. is there anyway to slower battery drain ?
interqd said:
oiya ? is it ?
coz on my iphone it was different... wifi was worse..
anyway.. is there anyway to slower battery drain ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 3G has always had higher power drain than WiFi. There isn't really anything you can do about it other than to turn it off. Alternatively you can disable "Always on Data" under Wireless & Networks => Mobile Networks
interqd said:
oiya ? is it ?
coz on my iphone it was different... wifi was worse..
anyway.. is there anyway to slower battery drain ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disable automatic sync. My data networks are switched off since last week. Now my battery lasts 2-3 days. I only use wifi at home.
You can also use juicedefender to control battery use and sync intervals.
interqd said:
hi all
recently i have just calibrate my battery.. and it works just fine
but now i found that it drains alot quicker using 3g signal compared to wifi...
the drain rate can take 10% /hour on 3g and only 4% / hour for wifi
why is that ?
is there something wrong on my gsm ?
btw am using leedroid froyo 2.0c and using latest radio 32.47.xxx
pls some one can tell me.. what to do ??any clues on this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This can also be caused by low/patchy 3G coverage in areas you are in.
If the 3G signal is weak then the handset will use a lot of power to try and keep the signal, as it prefers it over 2G.
If you don't mind the slower data speeds, switch to 2G/GSM Only as this does not use as much power (due to 3G cell breathing - Google it )
r2b2 said:
If the 3G signal is weak then the handset will use a lot of power to try and keep the signal, as it prefers it over 2G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One way to alleviate *some* of that is to set the phone to "GSM Auto (PRL)".
Go to dialer and dial "*#*#INFO#*#*". That should take you to the settings screen.
r2b2 said:
This can also be caused by low/patchy 3G coverage in areas you are in.
If the 3G signal is weak then the handset will use a lot of power to try and keep the signal, as it prefers it over 2G.
If you don't mind the slower data speeds, switch to 2G/GSM Only as this does not use as much power (due to 3G cell breathing - Google it )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely true. Your cell will consume much more power when you are outside of coverage area. The antena will keep searching the network according to your preference. So if you have 3G active all the time the phones internal antenna will keep looking for it and will drain your battery quicker.
okey..
thx all 4 d answers...
goo that to know there's nothing wrong with my signal or battery..
i think my problem is bad signal coverage.. as i always be in the shop which is so inside ....
but cant make it to edge/gsm as 2g speed is awful here in indonesia...
i think i'll just use juicedefender
thx..
As you may know desire has a built in feature that monitors when you do need 3g connection and when not, so when you do not need it it automaticly switches to 2g. I have also read somewhere that this feature consumes less battery then being always on 2g. Is that true? I still heard a lot of people that are most of the time on 2g while they do not browse the internet, reporting decent battery lives.
So, as the title says, which is better?
2g uses less battery than 3g. Use 2g when not using data for the best battery life.
Whoever said that 2g and sometimes 3g uses less battery that 2g only needs to go back to school, its mathematically impossible if 3g uses more battery.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
lvnatic said:
As you may know desire has a built in feature that monitors when you do need 3g connection and when not, so when you do not need it it automaticly switches to 2g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you completely sure about that? my phone seems to be always in 3G as long as it is available and switchs to 2G if it cant get a 3g connection.
anyway, 2G is the best option battery wise.
there is a video from google i/o 2k9 talking about this. I think it's this one : http://developer.android.com/videos/index.html#v=OUemfrKe65c
I have used both modes for some weeks, but i didn't see any difference.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=688492
How about this? Does it apply to desire as well? I am curently using gsm only when im not browsing the net.
2g only will use the least battery.
Auto is great but the issue is that it will preferentially seek 3g. To seek 3g more power is required. (Now this is a negligible amount on its own). However if comparing the battery use in only a 2g area the 2g phone will last longer.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
if you have signal i recommend to use 3g. the cells needs more power to have/transmitt fast data connections like hdspa and in that case the cellphone need less battery to connect to it. in Romania the network it's kinda new hardware, because we use cellphones later than anyone else and the tech was envolved when we first install the network, but remember if your cellphone go from 2g to 3g often, this will consume a lot of power.
Robert A said:
if you have signal i recommend to use 3g. the cells needs more power to have/transmitt fast data connections like hdspa and in that case the cellphone need less battery to connect to it. in Romania the network it's kinda new hardware, because we use cellphones later than anyone else and the tech was envolved when we first install the network, but remember if your cellphone go from 2g to 3g often, this will consume a lot of power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you recommend wcdma only? Even when I don't use the internet? Its true that I have signal most of the time, but I am on "gsm only" all the time, switching to wcdma only when I browse the net.
I would recommend GSM auto (PRL) from the testing menu ( *#*#4636#*#* ) then in phone information. Your phone will still use 3G but only when the signal is strong. Otherwise it will prefer 2G.
WCDMA preferred will try to force 3G even when the signal is weak. Consuming more battery.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
2G only uses the least power.
3G only uses moar power.
Constant switching uses the most, it peaks at 600mA battery drain in the process.
3G only will only give you signal outages, therefore I would not recommend it. It is not widespread as GSM signal is.
Oh I finally know how to acces PRL options, thanks. But regarding this, I found this thread on the nexus one section, which says wcdma prl is better. Any of you know how accurate that is?
Edit:
sheek360 said:
He mentioned that gsm auto prl will save the user a bit more power because it wont force the phone to continuasly hunt for a stronger signal. Typically this option gives our n1's a weaker signal and slower data speed. But he said it depends on our network in our city.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nvm, it wasn't battery related anyway. And I found what I needed. Thanks a lot.
Im back to gsm only, gsm auto prl didn't seem to be better in terms of battery saving.
I have recently moved location and its a bad area for my network provider. Because of this my desire had little to no reception and only get basic 2g internet.
Question is, when the phone has little to no reception and only 2g internet, does this use more power and thus create a larger battery drain?
I've noticed that the battery runs out quicker now.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Weak signal usually means bigger battery drain.
If you have no 3G you can disable it the mobile network settings under wireless network settings.
If you have bad reception your battery will drain faster as it is constantly scanning all frequencies for a better 3G signal.
2g generally uses less battery but if the phone is scanning for a 3g signal as mentioned above it will use more. So just select 2g only to stop it scanning for 3g and save battery.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I'm about to get 3G plan for my phone, and curious about a few things, thanks in advance for anyone who can answer them:
1) Is there any problems with connecting to 3g, just like there is in wifi sometimes?
2) Outside, would you rather using 3G than searching a wifi network? (because of speed, etc)
3) How fast is it (in average, for an average phone company)
Thanks again!
GFex said:
I'm about to get 3G plan for my phone, and curious about a few things, thanks in advance for anyone who can answer them:
1) Is there any problems with connecting to 3g, just like there is in wifi sometimes?
2) Outside, would you rather using 3G than searching a wifi network? (because of speed, etc)
3) How fast is it (in average, for an average phone company)
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no problem with 3g or wifi.
Wifi is sometimes quicker, sometimes free or cheaper than data, and uses less power.
No such thing as average, it varies wildly based on carrier, location in the country, maybe time of day, signal strength and many other things.
3G is fine but it's not down to the phone it's down to your carrier.
As mentioned above, time, congestion, signal strength all play a part in how good a connection is.
Radio keeps getting better for me on each new release so not an issue, just find a radio that works well and stick with it.
GFex said:
I'm about to get 3G plan for my phone, and curious about a few things, thanks in advance for anyone who can answer them:
1) Is there any problems with connecting to 3g, just like there is in wifi sometimes?
2) Outside, would you rather using 3G than searching a wifi network? (because of speed, etc)
3) How fast is it (in average, for an average phone company)
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm using 3g instead of wifi because i have hardware fault and i didn't fix it yet. 3g works perfectly!
i reached 7mb/s with 3g (vodafone italy)
it doesn't drain much battery so you can just keep it on everytime
Is it worth to use 3G over 4G so save battery? I mean, I know if I stand still and if the 4G connection is good i'll save battery over 3G but if I'm moving (public transports) I guess 3G will save me battery because it won't always be switching between 3G and 4G.
My question is if it effectively saves enough battery for me to care about and keep my data connection in 3G
Thanks
No if signal is full, the more your phone takes to download stuff the more cpu uses so having faster internet means doing things faster and using less battery.