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Working while USB-connected vs battery life

V

Venkath

Lurker
Hello,

I had to save money for a long time to buy an expensive smartphone (HTC Sensation). In contradiction to my old phone (Nokia 3310), which had to charge only once a week, I now have to charge my HTC Sensation at least once a day.

I can imagine that the battery life shortens after each charge cycle, so I'm looking to find ways to enlarge my battery life.

I can attach my phone about 10hrs a day USB connected to my PC, but I don't know if this helps to enlarge my battery life? Some even say it's bad for my battery, so I don't know anymore if it helps or not, and/or if it's good or bad?

Any batterylife-experts over here to help me out?
I can't afford to buy a new battery within the next few years.

Thanks!
 
I've moved this from the Vendors forum to the Android Lounge so more folks would see it and be able to help with you battery questions. If you let us know which Sensation you have, we could get it move to the device forum in case there are any device specific tips that other owners may want to share.:)

Smartphone battery life cannot really be compared to dumb phones. With a smartphone, generally, if you can make it through the day that is enough. Some folks can get 36+ hours but in many cases disable so much stuff that they are turning their smartphone into a dumb phone. I really only care that I can unplug it in the morning, use it for what I need throughout the day, and plug it in when I go to bed.

I have really never noticed a drop off charge to charge. I do know that some of my retired devices don't last as long as when they were new, but at the time of retirement they still lasted me all day long. I wouldn't worry about this too much.

If your screen on your phone is off, you should be able to charge it from your computer. In many cases, the 500mA USB charge is not enough to keep up with the power demands of the device with the screen on.

I'm sure others will offer more information as well. I hope this helps.:)
 
One strange thing I’ve come to live with is that if I’m connected to my PC via USB, it says it’s charging but the level drops anyway. But if just connect to the standalone charger, that works fine.
 
My Nexus One charges fine with the screen on non-stop while charging through the USB port of a computer. I've fully charged my battery while doing cpu intensive tasks, being plugged in this way.

My personal opinion is you really dont need anything more than a 1ghz processor paired with a decent gpu unless you're a hardcore mobile gamer (which is kind of lame in the first place IMO). My phone performs all the daily tasks I ask of it to my full satisfaction. In comparison, my old 600mhz phone with crappy graphics would lock up on me all the time and require a battery pull.

I can easily go two days of light use with my current phone without a charge. There's no way that can be done with any dual core phone. I see coworkers on their dual core phones with their phones on the charger and chuckle. 1 ghz + decent gpu = perfect compromise
 
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