tn_outside
Newbie
This is in regards to Samsung Epic 4G running Android 2.1 (Eclair).
Battery life can vary from 3 hours to 12 in stock configuration. Poor. 24 hours is easy and 30+ is attainable. Read on:
{Everything here I learned from other posts and experimenting. Not claiming any credit. Read ALL OF THIS POST. I read dozens of posts and condensed it to this one for YOU!}
A note regarding 3G, 4G and cdma: 3G and 4G are DATA SERVICES ONLY! These are NOT your phone and text services (cdma). They ARE your email and voice mail notification services (as well as web data, obviously). Turning all of these services off makes your smart phone a dumb phone. This is VERY appropriate during a movie at the theater, during work hours, while commuting, etc. However, I like my phone being a smart phone. So keep in mind that the WiFi uses LESS battery than the 3G, which uses less than the 4G. Use WiFi ALL THE TIME when in range INSTEAD of 3G or 4G (which are MOBILE data services---like when you are MOBILE). I use WiFi only, turning it off (if I remember) when commuting. Really--3G and 4G are services that most users will rarely use! These are only useful for when you are outside, travelling, in the mall, etc. Again--MOBILE data services. WiFi is in most of our homes, schools, and workplaces.
**A note regarding the radio/battery "Airplane Mode BUG" in the Samsung phone. The Epic 4G needs a radio reset ONCE upon reboot to reset the radios. This is a known bug and if not reset the cdma will constantly hunt for service, draining your battery. This can account for HALF of your battery drain!!!!! To verify this--go to settings->about phone->battery use--and look at battery uses. Number one on the list is the Display at upwards of 50%. (should be). Number two is probably cell standby. This number should be UNDER 45% (assuming you have had near-constant signal). Mine is currently at 16%, but runs at almost exactly 50% if I don't address the bug.
---> To reset the radios: With phone running, hold the power switch on the side of the phone for a couple of seconds until you feel a slight vibration. A menu will pop up. Click on Airplane Mode. This turns ALL radios off. Repeat. Click on Airplane Mode to turn radios back on. This must be done right after restart, once. Extra times wont help or hurt.
Now that we have the preliminary steps and info covered, follow these steps to further extend your battery life:
*Kill DRM services (this is the media hub stuff that no one has ever used but it eats a lot of battery). Go to settings->Applications->running services and look for DRM Services and DRM protected services. Disable both of them. You will get a warning about making media hub not work. That should be fine. Kill it. This is a BIG DEAL! Don't skip this one!
*Download, Install and run, in the default configuration, JuiceDefender (free, not beta (beta crashes)) from the Market. Just install and run. Nothing to really set up in the free version.
*Press and hold the home screen until the menu pops up and click on "widget" and install the "Toggle mobile data" widget. This widget installs when you install juice defender. This widget puts a toggle on your home screen allowing you to turn off the 3G radio. Click the toggle until it turns red and your 3G turns off. (Turning WiFi ON turns 3G off. Setting WiFi to "sleep never" will keep it on while keeping 3G off. I prefer toggles on my home screen that change colors. Simple and I am in control.
*Download and install "WiFi Toggle" from the Market Place. Install this widget on the home screen near the Mobile Data widget. It toggles WiFi on and off and turns colors when off and on. (Yeah-the phone has a built-in switch. But this widget is simple and installed right next to the 3G widget it gives you simple, verifiable control over your radios).
*Background Data and automatic sync: This option (found in settings) uses battery when the phone routinely syncs with servers seeking updates on new messages, emails, etc. I prefer to leave mine on and keep my phone smart. It will drain a bit more power. If you want to micro-manage, keep this off at all times and manually check your email, etc. (If WiFi and 3/4G are toggled off, background sync can't do anything anyway...)
*Keep your Display set to auto time-out in a short time. Keep brightness to auto or low. Display is your NUMBER ONE battery killer. Oh well. You gotta use your phone, right?
*Task Killers: a controversial subject. An important consideration: Most services, applications, etc running will show up in Battery Usage monitor as "Android System." My Android System is currently using 12% of my battery. I DO NOT run an automated task killer. Yeah--Android keeps a bunch of crap running in the background. And if you kill it all the time you can reduce your Android System battery use from 12% to 10% gaining a whopping 2%. If you manage 30 hours out of your battery this could get you an extra 40 minutes of battery time....
Consider that automated task killers ALSO use resources and wake the phone up to kill processes.
However, it is nice to be able to shut down all non-essential processes when necessary (during a near-lock up, etc). I use System Panel Lite for a system monitor and task killer when necessary. You have to set up exclusions for this program. Use your common sense and exclude everything that says Android, and Swype, etc. Don't exclude Media Hub, Amazon MP3, etc. When you want to, you can select "end all" from System Panel and end everything BELOW the level you select (should be below Excluded Apps generally).
That's really it. Reset the Airplane Mode. Keep 3G and 4G off unless actually using them. Use WiFi. Kill DRM services. Keep the screen off when you can. Use JuiceDefender. Don't worry about automated task killers.
I doubled battery life in my phone immediately. The biggies were the Airplane mode bug (dropped cell standby use on my phone from 50% to 16%!) and turning off 3G. JuiceDefender got me a bit more. These simple things will get you a lot of gains.
Worry yourself to death with app killers and auto sync settings and micro-manage your phone and you can get life upwards of 35 hours...but I fail to see the point. This is a "charge every day" phone. As long as it works for 24 hours, everything is good. These tips should get that for you.
However--keep in mind: if you sit there and obsess on your phone (you are a teenager) you are gonna need extra or extended batteries. I am referring to NORMAL USE in this thread. A few texts in a day, checking the web here and there, playing Pandora on the way to work, a few phone calls, a few emails. Basic use. Executives attached to their phones and teens probably can't get desired usage time out of the stock battery.
Good luck.
Battery life can vary from 3 hours to 12 in stock configuration. Poor. 24 hours is easy and 30+ is attainable. Read on:
{Everything here I learned from other posts and experimenting. Not claiming any credit. Read ALL OF THIS POST. I read dozens of posts and condensed it to this one for YOU!}
A note regarding 3G, 4G and cdma: 3G and 4G are DATA SERVICES ONLY! These are NOT your phone and text services (cdma). They ARE your email and voice mail notification services (as well as web data, obviously). Turning all of these services off makes your smart phone a dumb phone. This is VERY appropriate during a movie at the theater, during work hours, while commuting, etc. However, I like my phone being a smart phone. So keep in mind that the WiFi uses LESS battery than the 3G, which uses less than the 4G. Use WiFi ALL THE TIME when in range INSTEAD of 3G or 4G (which are MOBILE data services---like when you are MOBILE). I use WiFi only, turning it off (if I remember) when commuting. Really--3G and 4G are services that most users will rarely use! These are only useful for when you are outside, travelling, in the mall, etc. Again--MOBILE data services. WiFi is in most of our homes, schools, and workplaces.
**A note regarding the radio/battery "Airplane Mode BUG" in the Samsung phone. The Epic 4G needs a radio reset ONCE upon reboot to reset the radios. This is a known bug and if not reset the cdma will constantly hunt for service, draining your battery. This can account for HALF of your battery drain!!!!! To verify this--go to settings->about phone->battery use--and look at battery uses. Number one on the list is the Display at upwards of 50%. (should be). Number two is probably cell standby. This number should be UNDER 45% (assuming you have had near-constant signal). Mine is currently at 16%, but runs at almost exactly 50% if I don't address the bug.
---> To reset the radios: With phone running, hold the power switch on the side of the phone for a couple of seconds until you feel a slight vibration. A menu will pop up. Click on Airplane Mode. This turns ALL radios off. Repeat. Click on Airplane Mode to turn radios back on. This must be done right after restart, once. Extra times wont help or hurt.
Now that we have the preliminary steps and info covered, follow these steps to further extend your battery life:
*Kill DRM services (this is the media hub stuff that no one has ever used but it eats a lot of battery). Go to settings->Applications->running services and look for DRM Services and DRM protected services. Disable both of them. You will get a warning about making media hub not work. That should be fine. Kill it. This is a BIG DEAL! Don't skip this one!
*Download, Install and run, in the default configuration, JuiceDefender (free, not beta (beta crashes)) from the Market. Just install and run. Nothing to really set up in the free version.
*Press and hold the home screen until the menu pops up and click on "widget" and install the "Toggle mobile data" widget. This widget installs when you install juice defender. This widget puts a toggle on your home screen allowing you to turn off the 3G radio. Click the toggle until it turns red and your 3G turns off. (Turning WiFi ON turns 3G off. Setting WiFi to "sleep never" will keep it on while keeping 3G off. I prefer toggles on my home screen that change colors. Simple and I am in control.
*Download and install "WiFi Toggle" from the Market Place. Install this widget on the home screen near the Mobile Data widget. It toggles WiFi on and off and turns colors when off and on. (Yeah-the phone has a built-in switch. But this widget is simple and installed right next to the 3G widget it gives you simple, verifiable control over your radios).
*Background Data and automatic sync: This option (found in settings) uses battery when the phone routinely syncs with servers seeking updates on new messages, emails, etc. I prefer to leave mine on and keep my phone smart. It will drain a bit more power. If you want to micro-manage, keep this off at all times and manually check your email, etc. (If WiFi and 3/4G are toggled off, background sync can't do anything anyway...)
*Keep your Display set to auto time-out in a short time. Keep brightness to auto or low. Display is your NUMBER ONE battery killer. Oh well. You gotta use your phone, right?
*Task Killers: a controversial subject. An important consideration: Most services, applications, etc running will show up in Battery Usage monitor as "Android System." My Android System is currently using 12% of my battery. I DO NOT run an automated task killer. Yeah--Android keeps a bunch of crap running in the background. And if you kill it all the time you can reduce your Android System battery use from 12% to 10% gaining a whopping 2%. If you manage 30 hours out of your battery this could get you an extra 40 minutes of battery time....
Consider that automated task killers ALSO use resources and wake the phone up to kill processes.
However, it is nice to be able to shut down all non-essential processes when necessary (during a near-lock up, etc). I use System Panel Lite for a system monitor and task killer when necessary. You have to set up exclusions for this program. Use your common sense and exclude everything that says Android, and Swype, etc. Don't exclude Media Hub, Amazon MP3, etc. When you want to, you can select "end all" from System Panel and end everything BELOW the level you select (should be below Excluded Apps generally).
That's really it. Reset the Airplane Mode. Keep 3G and 4G off unless actually using them. Use WiFi. Kill DRM services. Keep the screen off when you can. Use JuiceDefender. Don't worry about automated task killers.
I doubled battery life in my phone immediately. The biggies were the Airplane mode bug (dropped cell standby use on my phone from 50% to 16%!) and turning off 3G. JuiceDefender got me a bit more. These simple things will get you a lot of gains.
Worry yourself to death with app killers and auto sync settings and micro-manage your phone and you can get life upwards of 35 hours...but I fail to see the point. This is a "charge every day" phone. As long as it works for 24 hours, everything is good. These tips should get that for you.
However--keep in mind: if you sit there and obsess on your phone (you are a teenager) you are gonna need extra or extended batteries. I am referring to NORMAL USE in this thread. A few texts in a day, checking the web here and there, playing Pandora on the way to work, a few phone calls, a few emails. Basic use. Executives attached to their phones and teens probably can't get desired usage time out of the stock battery.
Good luck.
