Settings, Wireless Networks, Network Mode, GSM Only. GSM is 2G and WCDMA = 3G. Good luck.
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Battery life - post update - strange but true
- Thread starter robo21
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- samsung vibrant
D
Deleted User
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Unless you live in an area with spotty 3g, it prolly won't matter but.. settings - wireless and networks - mobile networks - network mode - gsm is 2g.
It seems very random to me, and some people have had luck with factory resets or running apps.. juice defender worked or seemed to work for a few days, but it may have just been random.. My phone has been off charger for about 7 hours with light use and I am already at 60%. Yesterday over the same time with same use I dropped only 12%.. that was the only time since the ji6 update that I had that kind of battery life.
It seems very random to me, and some people have had luck with factory resets or running apps.. juice defender worked or seemed to work for a few days, but it may have just been random.. My phone has been off charger for about 7 hours with light use and I am already at 60%. Yesterday over the same time with same use I dropped only 12%.. that was the only time since the ji6 update that I had that kind of battery life.
The Vibrant is like any other smartphone, it can be a battery hog or not, much of it depends on your location, your setup and your usage patterns. I had an iPhone and at first I could only get a day maybe out of it. By the time I got rid of it I always got 2 days, sometimes 3 out of it. I can almost always get 2 days out of my Vibrant now, whereas when I first got it a day was about max. Today is a couple of hours into day two for my Vibrant and it is at 48% and I used it quite a bit yesterday. How do I do it?
1) I use a black background, not a live background. The screen is naturally black and takes light to show anything. If you keep the number of things it has to show minimal, it will pretty dramatically extend battery life.
2) Keep my screen at minimum brightness as much as I can. Indoors that is always. Outdoors I do have to turn it up. To do that you have to manually do it not just use the auto settings. Fortunately the top slider bar for brightness makes that easy on our phones.
3) Make sure your running programs have polling set up correctly. Email can be constant or periodically. I have email set to poll (update or sync) every 30 minutes. That seems to keep me reasonably real time and cuts power consumption a lot. Facebook or twitter if you use them, set them to manually update. If you are getting real time updates your 3G is running constantly to sync and it takes a lot of battery to do that. If you need it, fine. If you don't throttle it back and you will be amazed at the effect.
4) If you really care about max battery life put your phone in 2G (GSM) mode. That takes less battery than 3G period. If you need the speed of 3G, well do it but accept the 3G power hit. If you are in an area of spotty 3G, it will stop it from searching for 3G and that will really make a huge difference. I live in a large metro area with good 3G coverage so I usually leave it in 3G at home. But I could get an extra day if I did put it in 2G here too.
5) Turn off power drains like BT, GPS or WiFi when not using them. They suck huge amounts of power. I put watchdog lite on it (available in Marketplace) and I watch power usage. If an apps sucks too much power I ask myself if I want that feature or not. If its "nice" but I am really not using it I kill it. We have a pocket computer. It needs power to do all these things it can do, but they do not have to do it all the time. That is your choice.
I went on a motorcycle trip camping for 4 days with no power. I got those 4 days out of it doing that plus putting it in airplane mode when I was not actually using it (particularly if I couldn't hear it like on the bike or overnight sleeping). I would turn off airplane mode, sync email and make a call of two and then put it back in airplane mode. It still had quite a bit left when I got home. Of course I was aggressively managing power consumption to do that, but I needed to if it was going to make it.
Bottom line is the phones can be battery hogs, but they can be managed to give better life than seems possible. It takes some thought and trying different settings - of course all dependent on your values on features. Choose wisely...
1) I use a black background, not a live background. The screen is naturally black and takes light to show anything. If you keep the number of things it has to show minimal, it will pretty dramatically extend battery life.
2) Keep my screen at minimum brightness as much as I can. Indoors that is always. Outdoors I do have to turn it up. To do that you have to manually do it not just use the auto settings. Fortunately the top slider bar for brightness makes that easy on our phones.
3) Make sure your running programs have polling set up correctly. Email can be constant or periodically. I have email set to poll (update or sync) every 30 minutes. That seems to keep me reasonably real time and cuts power consumption a lot. Facebook or twitter if you use them, set them to manually update. If you are getting real time updates your 3G is running constantly to sync and it takes a lot of battery to do that. If you need it, fine. If you don't throttle it back and you will be amazed at the effect.
4) If you really care about max battery life put your phone in 2G (GSM) mode. That takes less battery than 3G period. If you need the speed of 3G, well do it but accept the 3G power hit. If you are in an area of spotty 3G, it will stop it from searching for 3G and that will really make a huge difference. I live in a large metro area with good 3G coverage so I usually leave it in 3G at home. But I could get an extra day if I did put it in 2G here too.
5) Turn off power drains like BT, GPS or WiFi when not using them. They suck huge amounts of power. I put watchdog lite on it (available in Marketplace) and I watch power usage. If an apps sucks too much power I ask myself if I want that feature or not. If its "nice" but I am really not using it I kill it. We have a pocket computer. It needs power to do all these things it can do, but they do not have to do it all the time. That is your choice.
I went on a motorcycle trip camping for 4 days with no power. I got those 4 days out of it doing that plus putting it in airplane mode when I was not actually using it (particularly if I couldn't hear it like on the bike or overnight sleeping). I would turn off airplane mode, sync email and make a call of two and then put it back in airplane mode. It still had quite a bit left when I got home. Of course I was aggressively managing power consumption to do that, but I needed to if it was going to make it.
Bottom line is the phones can be battery hogs, but they can be managed to give better life than seems possible. It takes some thought and trying different settings - of course all dependent on your values on features. Choose wisely...
robo21
Android Expert
It sounds like you are having an issue with 3G tower seeking in a weaker area. Also read the "Help" section in the JI6 Task Manager. Mine used to drain between 10 and 40% while a slept at night starting with a 100% charge. Now it drains between 3 & 7% during the same time period.
Throughout my workday I'm very satisfied with my battery life now. Keep in mind that this mobile device has a lot of horsepower and a large brilliant screen - it will use quite a bit of juice, especially if the screen is set to brighter settings and or you are in fringe 3G areas. We have to get creative to analyze what our unique battery usage profiles are and then find ways to minimize drain. Logic and patience can yield big dividends in battery life.
To switch between 2G (GSM) and 3G (WCDMA) is quick and easy, From your Home screen go to Menu/Wireless and network/Mobile Network/Network mode and change from the default GSM/WCDMA (auto mode) to GSM only. I used the app Anycut to make a shortcut on my Home screen to quickly get to Network settings so I can switch back to 3G when needed.
I hope this helps.
D
Deleted User
Guest
@ Wittier..
Thanks for the information, but there are a lot of vibrant users who are experiencing dramatic battery drain since the ji6 update.
I have done everything you mentioned and more, in fact I have even disabled all syncing and set all programs to sync every 8 hours which makes it very difficult for me at work and along with everything else I have disabled, it really defeats the purpose of even having a smart phone. My viewty that I had before this with the worn out battery served me better.
I could go on, but you can read mine and other posts here and get the idea, and I am@ 9% now so I beyer wrap it up.
Thanks for the information, but there are a lot of vibrant users who are experiencing dramatic battery drain since the ji6 update.
I have done everything you mentioned and more, in fact I have even disabled all syncing and set all programs to sync every 8 hours which makes it very difficult for me at work and along with everything else I have disabled, it really defeats the purpose of even having a smart phone. My viewty that I had before this with the worn out battery served me better.
I could go on, but you can read mine and other posts here and get the idea, and I am@ 9% now so I beyer wrap it up.
robo21
Android Expert
If you have tried all of the above and still are experiencing excessive battery drainage then my next thought would be to let customer care know about both the issue and the steps you have taken. You should be provided either a new battery or an equipment exchange or both.
D
Deleted User
Guest
I already got new battery and sim card, going to t mobile tomorrow to try to get exchange.. Any help on what to say to get them to exchange in store would be helpful, I have heard on other forums that vibrant is (was) on back order due to this problem and a lot of people were turned away in the stores even though they have the phone in stock (for new customers) 3% now so..
robo21
Android Expert
It shouldn't be a problem now, I just got an immediate exchange via UPS. Tell them exactly what I suggested above, the battery drains very quickly (let them know specifics) and that you have tried all of the battery conservation methods listed in this thread and on the Task Manager help screen - all to no avail. They will probably want to first try a battery swap with a new one, if that fails you can ask for a phone swap.
D
Deleted User
Guest
Every once in a while I get a glimpse of what it should be.. Like just now I took it of the charger an hour and a half ago, and it still says fully charged.. Usually it immediately goes to 99 and would be at 90 by now.
So did you try to get an exchange in store, will they even do it?
So did you try to get an exchange in store, will they even do it?
robo21
Android Expert
I believe the only way you can get an exchange at the store is during your buyer's remorse period. If it's a warranty exchange you will most likely have to go through customer care.
misterrunon
Well-Known Member
for the people with battery life issues: have you tried removing the battery and replacing it with a different one? the last two times i did it, i got 35+ hours with light usage. don't know if this is the trend, but i'll continue doing it.
M
mdtolic
Guest
Just a standard, OEM, battery?
robo21
Android Expert
As stated above, post-update I did have battery issues. After trying various troubleshooting methods my next step was to try a new OEM battery which did not help matters.
I am not saying that a new battery will not help some, it might if a defective battery is being used. In my case it was finding the right combination of settings.
M
mdtolic
Guest
I have now disabled all automatic syncing and am trying out an app called Synker. One click to sync everything; when I choose. Like someone else stated, it's a bummer not to have instant email, but it's not essential that I do. Seems to save some power. Anyone else try an app like this?
And what are people's thoughts on the generic batteries on eBay?
Thanks for that and thank you to everyone for your replies. I figured the radio usage was to blame when I would put my phone on airplane mode at night because I hated shutting it on and off every night. While in airplane mode overnight, I would only lose about 2%.
I have downloaded juicedefender and it seems to be working good. I will upgrade to the paid version to apply the changes as you have them set.
I always have my screen set to the lowest level of brightness, use k9 email and only use the phone for some phone calls, texting and minimal web browsing. I use it lightly so I should have great battery life.
On to looking up this JI6 update stuff because I have no idea what that is right now.
LoweredStandards
Member
I got 73 hours and 54 minuts with light to medium usage a week ago on the OEM battery.
VegasTouch
Android Enthusiast
What do you consider medium use, because i dont buy it at all.
LoweredStandards
Member
I posted about it on the last page.
I receive 2-3 calls a day (im not a heavy talker), the calls were usually a few minutes long. Constant texting (im a heavy texter), I used my GPS once to navigate to a house that I had never been to, I used the web each day (2-3 times to check grades online when I'm in class).
I definitely consider it light/medium usage. Complete light usage would be a call or two and some texting here and there. But I had the phone out the majority of the time. Couldnt tell you the exact number of texts over the time period but at least 150 incoming and 150 outgoing.
Had screen timeout set as low as it will go, screen brightness at auto, I turned GPS and WiFi off if I wasnt using it. I live in an area where I always have full service so that helped too im sure. I have launcherpro with a darker background, minimal white space.
Not bulls***ing at all. I find it quite weird as well. I consistently can go 2-3 days without charging the phone.. very odd....
Exact uptime since unplugged from charger was 73 hours, 54 minutes and some change.
Freak battery maybe?
I receive 2-3 calls a day (im not a heavy talker), the calls were usually a few minutes long. Constant texting (im a heavy texter), I used my GPS once to navigate to a house that I had never been to, I used the web each day (2-3 times to check grades online when I'm in class).
I definitely consider it light/medium usage. Complete light usage would be a call or two and some texting here and there. But I had the phone out the majority of the time. Couldnt tell you the exact number of texts over the time period but at least 150 incoming and 150 outgoing.
Had screen timeout set as low as it will go, screen brightness at auto, I turned GPS and WiFi off if I wasnt using it. I live in an area where I always have full service so that helped too im sure. I have launcherpro with a darker background, minimal white space.
Not bulls***ing at all. I find it quite weird as well. I consistently can go 2-3 days without charging the phone.. very odd....
Exact uptime since unplugged from charger was 73 hours, 54 minutes and some change.
Freak battery maybe?
VegasTouch
Android Enthusiast
Emails? Twitter?
I wish i could get that. Best i have ever done is 20 hours and that was once. Mostly do between 15 to 18 hours. Maybe one short call a day...maybe two, read numerous emails, read numerous tweets, maybe 10-15 texts on an average day, some days more of course, and i use a background pic on home page. No live wallpaper. Have bluetooth on always, using 2G most the day when at work just for tweets and emails then use wifi when im at home but not using it today, GPS off unless i use it and light web browsing.
Have 21% left today and been on for 14 hours & 15 minutes.
Mine was unplugged 14 hours ago. Currently 83%. 3G all day. Some Twitter and Facebook. Battery is a bit better than normal, only 3 phone calls today. Normal use would probably have in the mid to upper 60's. I almost always get 2 full days per charge. Good luck.
Wow, that's amazing. The thing that bugs is that the battery drains a lot when I'm not even using the phone. I had all the options as you stated earlier set, now I even set a dark wallpaper and disabled automatic background data from accounts and sync. I had weather bug and k9 mail receiving updates. I'm going to charge it 100% and see what difference it makes. I liked having the weather so I'm going to want to put that back. I am also running juicedefender now too.
D
Deleted User
Guest
I have that same problem, and it started after the update.. enough people have had this problem for t mobile to get bogged down.. After reading several forum threads on the issue and seeing what kind of battery life others are experiencing, I have come to the conclusion that I never had a good battery life, and the update just made it worse. Mine drains very fast when being used 20% an hour or so.. And when not being used 5-7% an hour..
This is with every setting, tip and trick I have come across and juice defender running. If you are seeing this drain with no usage (mine was 40-50% over night) you should call and get a warranty replacement.
I should be getting mine next week. Fingers crossed.. Right now I'd be happy to make it through an 8 hour work day without having to bring my charger with me.
I'm going to T-mo on Friday to see if they'll give me a warranty replacement. Prior to the update, I had no complaints about the battery life. I'm on my 3rd battery, and still the same results. I've tried reseting the phone, starting from scratch, same results. This morning, I unplugged my phone, disabled wireless and gps, and just let the phone idle. It lasted 6.5 hours before it died.
bluertooth
Lurker
hi to all, can some one help me with my battery problem, i have a droid x, i noticed whn im using wifi, my baterry last around 8-10 hrs with moderate use, gps and bluetooth off, but when i switch to 3g like when i go out, my battery drains so fast like it will only last for 3 hrs from 100 % charge down to 5%, i also notice that above the speaker there is significant amount of heat to touch as compared when wifi ON, can any one help me with this, do i need to bring my droid x to verizon and have it replace? i tried every setting to conserve battery but it seems that all is the same. desperately needing help right now, thanks