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Let's Be Honest About The Battery Life

widehead said:
As of now it's been 9hrs 24 mins since my last charge. Used my phone for 20 mins in that time and my battery is at 80%. Sounds great until you realize that the 20 mins was spent texting. No wifi. So widgets. No synch. No calls. No Smartphone.
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What signal strength and network signal are you using/getting?
 
widehead said:
Oh come on surely you don't think that this is nonsense do you?:

As of now it's been 9hrs 24 mins since my last charge. Used my phone for 20 mins in that time and my battery is at 80%. Sounds great until you realize that the 20 mins was spent texting. No wifi. So widgets. No synch. No calls. No Smartphone.
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I'd be quite happy with that. But you're obviously not so maybe your should sell it and get a different phone?
 
This thread is simply going around in circles, with the same people regurgitating the same stuff.

In the hope of moving it on a bit you guys need to understand something.

Firstly, battery life issue threads (on the whole) only attract those that suffer from the problem. Those who dont find it an issue will just bypass the thread, so to make claims that it is the single biggest problem when all you have is anecdotal evidence from a small % of users is unscientific.

Secondly, IF someone goes out of their way to try and help and is called a liar and subjected to the level of disrespect that I have been (which is against forum rules by the way) then I think you have two hopes of finding a solution to your problem - Bob and NO!

Thirdly, the people you are asking for help are the ones in the same position as you and have NO clue how to help you!

I posted up a pic showing the usage info and it got flamed. So IF anyone thinks I'm going down that road again you can forget it.

I posted my findings to show that longer battery life IS achievable. IF that is not for you then just ignore it and move on.

I dont get the complete lack of respect, but I aint surprised as I have seen this kind of ignorance many times before now.

So I'll leave you to your flame baiting thread and get on with having a phone that I enjoy immensely and DONT have a battery life issue with.........:cool:
 
riki1kenobi said:
Hang on, let me get this right, so because YOU and one or two others say it cant be done then that is how it is? Wow mate, talk about living up yer own arse or what....

Heres a top tip for you, Maybe you should read another book ;)

Well folks, we have been told by the "experts"! NO-ONE can get even remotely close to 3 days out of their battery and the ones who do are all lying or exagerating!

Hmmn :rolleyes:
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...WITH CONSTANT USE!!!!!!!!!!!

Which is what we are talking about here. How can you say someone is "living up their own arse" confidently without actually reading any of the thread.


I think you need to calm down. Your attitude and language towards me are not appreciated.

But if you want to stream music for 3 days or play a game for 3 days, perhaps leave your screen on for 3 days and send a screen shot (not photoshopped) with proof that your phone will last 3 days on standard battery under these conditions, I will happily re-think the impossible.
 
My attitude is fine mate.....As to my language toward you, maybe you should take your own advice and READ the whole thread!

I dont appreciate being called a liar and having little disrespectful digs made about me....So you can calm down as well! And nice use of the text resizing......Although to be fair, it was slightly over-emphasized! :D
 
I have read the whole thread. You have taken me out of context. I didn't say it was not possible to get 3 days out of the battery. That is entirely possible. I said that it is not possible to get 3 days constant usage out of the battery. If you read the thread, you will see that the OP has mentioned this.

I haven't disrespected you in anyway. I haven't called you a liar.

You jumped on me for stating a fact (a fact which you have taken out of context by the way) and told me that I am living up my own arse.

You are the one disrespecting, taking things out of context and frankly, acting like a child.
 
riki1kenobi said:
...level of disrespect that I have been (which is against forum rules by the way)
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crying_baby2.jpg


Let's see your screen shots and put it end to it then!

I love my phone and get a little over a day with good use but, yes, I'm calling you a liar with your false claims!
 
Only time was when she didn't use the phone. I would post a pic but it is not relevant since it only shows what not using the phone achieves, plus I really can't be arsed listening to anymore accusatory bull.

Anyone who reads through this thread will understand why :-(
 
Look now, everyone please just leave this one alone. Nothing can be achieved by continuing down this path.
 
riki1kenobi without wishing to reignite the flames I & I'm sure others would, be interested to hear what kind of set up your using.

BTW I'm not calling you a liar, would like to see how it's done :D
 
I just registered today after finding this forum. I'm a USA HTC Desire owner for over a month now and I am having terrible battery life with this phone.

It seems most of you are not in the USA (?) but I'm also skeptical of the claims that people are using their phone for days on end without a charge.

I don't have specific usage data but I can tell you that I have never gotten more than 10 hours of use out of this phone. Yesterday my phone ran for 9 hrs and 44 minutes before it automatically shutdown. This included about 1 hour of web browsing, 20 minutes of calling, 20 minutes of texting, and 1 hour of app usage (news, facebook). I generally do a lot of browsing and mp3 playing with my phone so I usually see 6 hours between charges.

I have figured out that the biggest drain on my battery is cell standby. I routinely get 0-1 bars of cell reception on my phone at home and work, and because of that reason I usually keep wifi on almost all the time.

Here are the usage stats for my phone this morning with extremely light usage:

1h 58m since unplugged
Cell standby 36% (13% time without signal)
Phone idle 28% (1h 43m time on)
Android system 21%
Wifi 9%
Display 6% (14m 41s time on)

My battery is currently at 84%, and I have done pretty much nothing with the phone in the past 2 hours.

I guarantee if I had been doing some web browsing or using apps or something, my phone would be at around 70-75% right now after 2 hours.

I have tried everything because I've been researching my battery problem since I got the phone (weird charge schedules, syncing, turning off options, etc).

What I've concluded is that there can actually only be 3 reasons why anyone would get better battery life than my usual 6-10 hours:

1) You live right next door to a cell tower and always have good reception
2) You turn off all the options that make the HTC Desire a smartphone
3) You are exaggerating your claims

I'm not posting to call anyone a liar, I guess I'm just posting to say that I've come to terms with the poor battery life of the HTC Desire. I still love this phone, I just have to keep it charging throughout the day if I want to keep using all its features. I will never turn off the data network, syncing, wifi, or use a task killer because those all interfere with the purpose of having a smartphone.

However I am still interested in this thread, and I would like to see more people posting their usage statistics from the battery screen. Screenshots are even better!
 
My phone is rooted, running sub501's custom governer with an undervolt module. On standby I could probably stretch to three days but with 5 hours of browsing even on Wifi I would be lucky to last a single day.

Liar, liar, pants on fire.
 
im sorry but this is aimed at one person only, this person knows who its aimed at and is likely giggling behind his monitor cracking his fingers in delight of his nonsensical and illogical claims disguised as logical and sustainable knowledge and information

custom_1242930531440_Troll_hard.jpg
 
ianb11 said:
I & I'm sure others would, be interested to hear what kind of set up your using.
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I have mine setup with 3G, background sync, always on data, GPS, all enabled, with Stocks, News, Weather (hourly) doing regular updates, a few brief calls today, a few texts, Maps briefly to find a store's phone number, etc. It was a bit lighter day than normal and as of this writing I'm at 71%, display on 52mins, and 15hrs 25mins since charged to 100% last night. I have a strong signal at home, and an average signal at work.

I tend to top up the battery each night so it's fully charged and ready for my next day. I have a car charger and USB cable at work if needed if I use it heavily.

I just took some pics but I guess I can't post directly, and I don't post my pics online so I can't link to them. So you can either choose to believe my post or not (hint: I'm not making this up).
:D
 
JShep said:
I just registered today after finding this forum. I'm a USA HTC Desire owner for over a month now and I am having terrible battery life with this phone.

It seems most of you are not in the USA (?) but I'm also skeptical of the claims that people are using their phone for days on end without a charge.

I don't have specific usage data but I can tell you that I have never gotten more than 10 hours of use out of this phone. Yesterday my phone ran for 9 hrs and 44 minutes before it automatically shutdown. This included about 1 hour of web browsing, 20 minutes of calling, 20 minutes of texting, and 1 hour of app usage (news, facebook). I generally do a lot of browsing and mp3 playing with my phone so I usually see 6 hours between charges.

I have figured out that the biggest drain on my battery is cell standby. I routinely get 0-1 bars of cell reception on my phone at home and work, and because of that reason I usually keep wifi on almost all the time.

Here are the usage stats for my phone this morning with extremely light usage:

1h 58m since unplugged
Cell standby 36% (13% time without signal)
Phone idle 28% (1h 43m time on)
Android system 21%
Wifi 9%
Display 6% (14m 41s time on)

My battery is currently at 84%, and I have done pretty much nothing with the phone in the past 2 hours.

I guarantee if I had been doing some web browsing or using apps or something, my phone would be at around 70-75% right now after 2 hours.

I have tried everything because I've been researching my battery problem since I got the phone (weird charge schedules, syncing, turning off options, etc).

What I've concluded is that there can actually only be 3 reasons why anyone would get better battery life than my usual 6-10 hours:

1) You live right next door to a cell tower and always have good reception
2) You turn off all the options that make the HTC Desire a smartphone
3) You are exaggerating your claims

I'm not posting to call anyone a liar, I guess I'm just posting to say that I've come to terms with the poor battery life of the HTC Desire. I still love this phone, I just have to keep it charging throughout the day if I want to keep using all its features. I will never turn off the data network, syncing, wifi, or use a task killer because those all interfere with the purpose of having a smartphone.

However I am still interested in this thread, and I would like to see more people posting their usage statistics from the battery screen. Screenshots are even better!
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Cell standby is an issue with me too. This is because the phone is constantly switching between no signal, a 2G network and a 3G network in poor signal areas. This is very heavy on the battery and causes a huge battery drain; putting the phone in Airplane mode will extend your battery life significantly, but of course renders the phone practically useless! If you have either a strong 2G signal or 3G in your area, but not both, you can force the phone to use one or the other by going to Menu > Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks > Network Mode. Might be worth a shot!

That said, my battery does still seem slightly better than yours: -

8h 12m 26s since unplugged - 54%

Display - 4% - 46m 18s on
Voice calls - 5% - 8m 12s
Android system - 15% :
* CPU total - 8m 6s
* CPU foreground - 6s
* Data sent - 121.60 KB
* Data received - 151.10 KB
Wi-Fi - 19% - 5h 17m 32s
Phone idle - 26% - 7h 26m 27s
Cell standby - 31% - 8h 12m 46 / time without a signal - 9%

FYI, I have auto-update on everything turned off. I don't see the point on my phone updating while it's in my pocket! Other than calls, SMS, etc, but I only check my status updates and emails as and when I need to.

I also keep my brightness fairly low and use a dark wallpaper (OLEDs consume less power for dark colours)
 
JShep said:
What I've concluded is that there can actually only be 3 reasons why anyone would get better battery life than my usual 6-10 hours:

1) You live right next door to a cell tower and always have good reception
2) You turn off all the options that make the HTC Desire a smartphone
3) You are exaggerating your claims

I'm not posting to call anyone a liar, I guess I'm just posting to say that I've come to terms with the poor battery life of the HTC Desire. I still love this phone, I just have to keep it charging throughout the day if I want to keep using all its features. I will never turn off the data network, syncing, wifi, or use a task killer because those all interfere with the purpose of having a smartphone.
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I have made bold the most pertinent parts of this quote to illustrate the entire point of starting this thread.

I came to this forum looking for help with extending what was, at the time, atrocious battery life.
Aside from following idiotic advice about installing a task killer (seriously, if you have one of these uninstall it now) I did get some awesome advice.
Thanks to those people taking the time to tell us their stats. It enables some of the proficient and knowledgable users to point out what may be draining battery in specific cases but more importantly it provides new users with a realistic goal with regards to battery longevity over a day and it allows prospective purchasers a look at the reality of owning a Desire. Think how many users make the jump to Android from, say, a Symbian environment with Nokia. The current S60 smartphones can last days of actual usage. And whilst it may appear obvious that the Desire isn't actually a comparable device in some respects (processor, screen etc) it is branded as a smartphone - just like the N97, N86 8MP etc etc. Casual adopters of Android tech may not be aware of the colossal difference in battery life.

I personally found it mildly distressing to read, as an early member of this forum, that people were seemingly able to squeeze days of use out of the Desire.
Turns out that distress was totally unnecessary and I could have saved myself a lot of time, effort and worry both trying to fix my phone via setup and wondering whether I should go through the dreadful process of trying to return it to the shop (it's not exactly easy to do here in Manila).

Plus: had I been completely aware that not only was I sacrificing an unbelievably good camera for a phone (N86 8MP) but that also the ability to roll 3 days without charging I would never have bought the Desire.
 
Sorry, I can't give you any actual statistics atm because I just happened to both restart my phone & plug it into the charger before I started reading this thread. I would, however, agree that 4-5 hours of usage that includes having the screen on (games or net etc) sounds about right for my phone.

Which in my opinion is ok. However, if it had been up to me to design the phone, I would have given it a much bigger battery than it has, 2400mah probably. I haven't bought a bigger aftermarket battery because I like to keep my phone in a silicone case, but I do have one of those battery packs that plug into the usb port (now), plus I have several chargers in different places.

I just got back from a trip to Europe & had to be very careful about my phone usage in order to get it through a whole day of doing tourist stuff. I had to be careful because I was relying on google maps to find my way around & would have been screwed if the phone had died when I was away from the hotel.

I didn't dare, for example, play games while standing in long cues, or use layar/google goggles very often. I found this rather disappointing & in my opinion a phone that is a bit bigger because it has a much longer battery life is a fair trade off. I don't understand why companies like HTC, Samsung, etc don't have some phone models that get great battery life & other models that are "sleek & sexy".

Sigh. maybe it'll get better in the future. It did happen back in the days of the Motorola Startac & Nokia 100. Battery life went from 2 days to over a week, then they started putting colour screens in & battery life was back down to 2 days. Now some of those sort of phones get nearly a week again. Hopefully my next smartphone will get 3 days.
 
Interesting points-of-view... I purchased mine a couple of days back.

I wasn't all that impressed with the battery life, but I prefer to play the waiting game. I have read opinions that the OS takes about 10 days to "acclimatise" (?) itself.

Thus far (over two long nights), my usage has primarily been Wi-Fi related. And manually turning off any App that starts running 'cos of any other "dependency".

Now that I intend to upgrade to FroYo over the impending weekend, add another ten days and I'll post my opinion here.

Thanks for all the information, folks. :)
 
I can vouch for the fact that having poor signal buggers your battery life. I spend a fair bit of time in a room that fluctuates between no signal (Most places) and one or two bars (A couple of hotspots), and by the end of the day the battery is a good 30% lower than it ends up if I'm not in there.
 
widehead said:
I personally found it mildly distressing to read, as an early member of this forum, that people were seemingly able to squeeze days of use out of the Desire.
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The people who get days of use out of their Desires most likely live in great signal areas. When I'm in London, my battery lasts at least several hours longer than when I'm at home/work, for example, because without the constant signal fluctuation the phone can just stay steadily connected to a network.

Personally I don't think the battery life on the Desire is great, but I'm happy with it. The reason I'm happy with it is because it lasts me from when I take it off charge in the morning to when I put it back on charge late/in the early hours... but I definitely do have to charge it every day, no way my phone would last if I didn't charge it overnight!
 
While I'd prefer longer battery life, I can charge at work, in the car etc. The thing that's really strange to me is the charging behaviour of the phone. It can be on charge all night but not be at 100% in the morning. This morning for example, when my alarm went off it was showing 91%. When I came back from my shower it was up to 96%. On days when I've had time, I've left it a while and it's got back to 100% fairly quickly and shows what I understand is the full 4192mv. Bizarre.
 
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