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Battery saving tips

So, I just bought the S3 today for Virgin Mobile. I must say, although it's fast, has a nice screen, and all that, it is by far the worst battery drainer I've ever owned. I've had large screen phones in the past(Evo 3D, GS2, Nexus 4), and none of them drained this quick. I charged it to 100%, unplugged it, didn't use it for 45 minutes, and it was already at 96% when I woke it.

Do you guys have any tips that conserve the battery better? I'm aware of the simple things, like lower the brightness, turn off WiFi, etc. Anything else?

What are some of the useless stock apps that I can disable?

Any tips are appreciated.
 
Here is the truth in a nut shell ... There aren't any "concrete" method i know of that can give you the kind of battery saving you are looking for. Even if you take such an awesome device and limit its potential (meaning its beauty and functionality) you might just get 5-10% more of what you were getting before.



Keep in mind, that these smartphones have many features that consume a lot of battery power, and a new phone battery needs time to reach its full capacity.

Try this method: Fully charged and drained the battery four to five times.

See how that works for you. :)
 
I found, after trying all the suggestions about battery saving, that the best way to handle the problem was to have lots of chargers placed around the house and to use them. every time ur home just plug in:)

JM
 
What I do is press the home button down and see what apps are running in the background that you are not using and swipe them off. That seems to help a little.
 
Sync is the biggest battery drain on mine without a doubt. I'm ok manually checking emails (which is the only real difference sync makes to me personally apart from chrome bookmarks) for the sake of better battery.
 
I have the same phone and also Virgin Mobil USA, i feel you might have a bad battery. I would take the phone to where you bought it or visit your local Virgin Mobil store if there is one near you.
I have no problem with my battery staying up and just losing a small amount each day around 25% in 12 hours, and i leave my WiFi on all the time.
But everyone uses their phone in many ways,so i can't say what might be the problem besides the battery.:rolleyes:
 
Click on settings then on Battery. See what it says is draining the battery the most. This resets when you charge the phone to 100%.
 
Juice defender improved battery life by about 20% which was about enough to do a whole day on a single charge. But I've now bought an extended battery 3000mAh from Samsung and finish the day between 50 and 30%.
 
Of course this isn't the ONLY way to increase battery life, but with my S3 I've noticed a couple of the newer "features" increased the battery drain.

When Google Now was introduced I noticed my S3 wasn't lasting as long during the day. I turned the feature off and I was back to normal.
Google Search app / Menu key / Settings / toggle Google Now off

When the Android Device Manager was introduced, I noticed the same increased drainage. I turned it off and battery was back to normal again.
Google Settings app / Android Device Manager / uncheck Remotely locate device
I also turned off location reporting
Google Settings app / Location / Location Reporting & Location History unchecked

Of course you lose the functionally of the feature, so it's your choice. Battery life or functionality. Historically some people used to keep there phone in airplane mode all day, but that severely reduces functionality.

And +1 to BynoUK comment about Sync. There's no need to have an app check your email, or Facebook, or Twitter every 15 minutes. Set those sync times appropriately.
 
1) remove (if rooted) all carrier and samsung bloatware, if you're not rooted, disable it.
2) change wifi to Always on during sleep (Wifi>Advanced>Keep WIfi on during sleep>Always)
3) turn off sync for any Google Services you dont need to have constantly updated (I have gmail always synced, but I manually sync app data, calendar, contacts and internet)
4) Manually turn GPS on when you know you'll need it.
5) scrutinize and experiment with every setting in the Android Facebook app
6) screen brightness counts against battery more than you think
 
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