MG and I came at our EVO 4G reviews from different backgrounds. Even though I’m married to a BlackBerry with a little Droid action on the side and he’s a self-proclaimed iPhone fanboy, we both came to the same conclusion: the battery life on the EVO 4G sucks. Sorry, it does. But that’s the state of high-powered Android phones at the moment. Both the EVO 4G and Incredible are in the same boat. The 1GHz Snapdragon CPU makes the phones a joy to use, but drains the battery in no time. It’s not entirely the snappy dragon’s fault either. Android users have been putting up with these type of shenanigans since the G1 debuted in late 2008. It’s really sad that the battery life issue still exists and users have to work around it just to use the latest and greatest hardware.
I read every single comment on my EVO 4G review with the hope that I was wrong about the phone’s battery issue and was simply doing something wrong. But none of the suggestions significantly improved my EVO 4G’s battery life. However, by doing a bunch of little things, I extended it’s idle life from about 12 hours to 14:30 — this is the phone’s battery life with everything turned off besides 3G and it just sits. All the tweaks are easy to do, but you’re going to have to forgo some of the more fun things about Android. It’s a shame, really, that a user has to give up fun widgets, advance wireless connections, and auto setting just to squeeze a few more hours from their phone.
Phone settings
- Get rid of the large HTC widgets like bookmarks and FriendStream
- Turn off widget animation
- Use a static background rather than a live background
- Turn off auto brightness, set screen backlight at 10%
- Decrease screen timeout from 1min to 15 seconds
- Keep WiFi, GPS, 4G off until it’s needed
Apps
Advanced Task Killer
- Flame me in the comments if you want, but ATK should be installed. Without it, there’s no way to kill the Sprint apps the randomly launch and drain the battery. All of a sudden on the EVO 4G, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, or Nascar Sprint App will run. But it’s just not those apps that need ATK. There’s no way to kill the camera without a task killer like ATK. Yes, Android is based on Linux and manages apps efficiently blah, blah, blah, but I’ve found that ATK does improve battery life when managed properly.
SetCPU
- This app allows users to tweak the CPU in various ways. Either you can overclock the chip, and kill the battery faster, or set the CPU to downclock when the phone’s idle. The only problem is that the phone has to be rooted.
Light tweaking
Switch the default from GSM to CDMA
I’m not entirely sure about this tweak. It seemed to work for me but a few of my buddies didn’t notice any difference. Apparently Android tells the phone to look for a GSM signal by default even though there isn’t a GSM radio in the phone and so you can save a few cycles by selecting CDMA only — or something like that. Give it a go. It’s easy to do and switch back if you notice any detrimental side effects.
Use caution with 3rd party batteries
We’ve covered this before but it’s worth noting again. Some 3rd party and even “official” batteries aren’t exactly living up to their claims. Where OEM batteries constantly live up to their mAh ratings, many from other vendors fall short. Use caution, or better yet, wait until a few members of your favorite forum sites report back positive results.
Please, use the comments section for your own proven Android tips and tricks. Let’s keep the flames well-tended and the comments considerate.
In other words, cripple your phone for the sake of battery life. that’s a shame.
yup, that’s the game.
to adapt a photographer’s rule, “the best device is the one you have with you… that’s not in the charger.”
I don’t know what the problem is with these phones. My Nexus one can sit on standby for a few days even with widgets like facebook running. Maybe HTC Sense is at fault. Constant active use with web will kill the battery in around 4 hours or so, (estimate because I never use my phone longer than 10 min at a time) but my usage pattern gets me a day easy (from waking till bed time)
Should read, “rarely use my phone more than 10 min at a time” I have used it for over 30 on a few occasions out of boredom and lack of other options.
marine6680, my desire is pretty good on battery too, and I have wifi on all the time, FB, Exchange, and 2 gmail accounts on auto sync. I dont use a task killer. I use the news widgit, but thats about it.
I use it throughout the day to check FB and update, check emails, and lite web through the day (links from emails etc). At night I use web on it a lot more (say 1-2 hours). I also play the odd game throughout the day for 10 mins at a time. I find myself charging it every night, if I dont then I will need to charge it throughout the day the next day.
If im not in a wifi area, and the phone is using gsm etc to do all this stuff, the battery will obviously take a much harder hit. But in summary, I dont find the battery life that much worse than my old Nokia n95 considering the extras I get.
I have just resorted to a car charger and a charging cable at the office, I left the iPhone for a reason even though it had a decent battery life. I love my EVO and I will just deal with a couple of extra cables
If you buy a battery cable receiver from walmart that has a usb and 3 extra plugs for various other stuff then the cable that comes with the evo is all you need – just don’t forget to bring your cable with you daily. The trade off is worth it – don’t disable your stuff then what would be the point of the technology. The battery can only take so much – give Sprint a break its a great phone, I haven’t had any problems and the hotspot works great, I actually couldn’t believe it and no other phone does that yet.
Debbie: With Android 2.2 (even a pre-release) I have been doing that (Wifi hotspot) on the Nexus for some time now.
yea i left the iphone for the same reason… cough cough over rated…. lol i just went on ebay and bought 2 extra batters and a charger for the evo for $15. and it is so much easier than carry a charger around. i rarely make it through my second battery and if i do still have a 3rd on hand
So, Steve Jobs was actually right about the problem of multitasking. And it’s interesting to see how technology pundits have largely criticised iPhone for not being fully multitasking.
It’s not a problem with multitasking, it’s a problem with not being able to completely exit most of the apps on your phone.
Removing multitasking was a cop-out. It’s like saying your 10 year old Mac is magical now that you’ve decided never to run more then one program at a time.
In other words, it’s a problem with multitasking.
There was no cop-out, you could multitask with voice, email, maps, etc etc. But this has all been lumped into a generic argument over 3rd party apps multitasking. In order to assure they don’t make the same dumb mistakes you see on Android, Apple wants them to use only pre-approved programming languages so that they function the way they should…which now leads to more whining.
Your analogy there is really off, don’t kid yourself.
No Justin, no.
Apple gimped there phone for the illusion of superiority over other phones, particularly with battery life – which isn’t even amazing even with the lack of multi-tasking.
Regardless of what you think about things – people should be able to make their own choices on whether they want to drain their battery or not using multiple tasks – and not have a phone maker dictate how the device is going to be used – after they have sold it.
Android needs a task manager – period. Then people will be able to kill apps, and emulate iPhone’s single tasking if they wish – to save battery life.
Otherwise – don’t justify Apple’s BS decisions on handling their devices.
Apple didn’t remove multitasking after selling the phone…and I guess you will need to be reminded that there were NO apps when the iPhone came out, so every app was capable of multitasking. Their phone appeared superior because it was superior in SO many ways. And that’s why it’s been imitated on every front.
People can make their own choice about multitasking – buy another phone or wait for iPhone to multitask. There’s more to this than battery life, far more. Let Android deal with the problems for now…and, well well…Android really does have the problems that Apple has been working on for the past year or two to resolve.
There’s no need to justify anything, for me. I just think I need to keep reminding people like yourself of the facts that you love to conveniently foret.
I have an iPhone. If I use my phone on my hour train ride for something like streaming Pandora, I have to charge it as soon as I get in the office.
My iPhone standby after 2 years is now about 13 hours of doing nothing (not jailbroken, nothing running, wifi off, 3g off). It sucked to begin with, but now I have to carry a charge with me at all times.
So was Mr. Jobs right? Yes and no. Technically, the technology for batteries today are not compatible with any smart phone. Smart phones evolved so quick and the most important aspect (power) was overlooked. I mean the same could have been said about laptops. Don’t multi-task, don’t x,y,z cause it will kill battery life. Yep, but it will also make the device less useful.
Moral: Batteries need some serious innovation for our current day lifestyle.
What this dude says is right. Even if I would severly disagree with his choice of phone, there is a discrepancy between hardware and software right now; the hardware issue is now being adressed in everything BUT the battery (notable exception, and props to moto for doing this: Droid X has a better batt than the current droid). And yeah, it is a bit of a pain to use, but I’m actually more sorry for you iPhone guys without replaceable batteries. I would be so dead had I not had mine…
Do you leave your phone plugged in a lot? Dock it often throughout the day? That’s the worst thing you can do to a battery. They need to be charged up and run down as often as possible. I work at a place that issues laptops. I’ve had mine (15″ MBP) for 3.5 years and am on the original battery, still get about 90 minutes out of it. Other people have had theirs for less than 2 years and are on their third or fourth battery because they just leave them plugged in all day while working. I’ve only had my iPhone 3GS for about 6 months but the battery is as good as new (charge every 2 or 3 days, moderate usage, including streaming audio when driving 45 minutes/day), as is my 4.5 year old 5G iPod. I happen to own a lot of Apple gear but these tips apply to anything rechargeable.
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
My phone (iPhone) is a little less then two years old. The other day it got a low battery warning at about 10:00 (this is less then four hours after taking it off the charger). Usually I can use it all day. I made a remark to a colleague who was just about to make the same remark about his iPhone to me.
Turned out, the provider had a bad day with their infrastructure so the phones were screaming at the top of their lungs to keep in contact with the cell towers. That, more then anything, seems to drain batteries.
When I use my phone at home or in the office, that is when it updates everything through WiFi, I have way more juice left at the end of the day then when I am traveling and I need to use 3G.
One of the nice things about the iPhone is the iPod touch. I have one that I keep almost identical to my iPhone in what I sync to it, so I can use the iPod touch for all the same things, except making calls. And I can go several days with the iPod touch without recharging. IMO it compares favorably to having a spare battery.
You hit the nail on the head! It all comes down to battery life. Aps, multitasking and processor speed are all elements we desire from our gadgets. This is why we buy them, right? Battery life has always and may always be an issue until new technology is created to help us gadget geeks out.
Brian:
What you are saying are old urban legends that have been around from the Nickel-based battery days (when what you say was true). Nothing on the page you link says that you need to fully discharge your batteries “as often as possible.”
There are two facts on that page that you may have misread, which leads you to believe it is substantiating your inaccurate beliefs:
A) Lithium batteries are extremely heat-sensitive, and should not be used at high temperatures. This is the rationale behind “trickle-charging” which is managed by the (OEM) charging adapter. This is why you should not use poor-quality charging devices, as they may improperly ramp down the voltage. Voltage leads to heat, so frequently “topping up” your battery with low-quality chargers will damage your battery life. But it’s not the topping up that’s to blame, it’s the heat.
Solution: Use the charger you were given with your device. If you ever take your device off a charger and it feels “hot” — DANGER. Stop using that charger immediately.
B) Lithium Ion batteries do not store well. In the bottom-right of that page it talks about regularly charging and discharging your (unused) electronics. The reason behind this is that if Lithium batteries ever reach *complete* discharge, they cannot be effectively recharged. When your device shuts down because of the battery, it does so with plenty of room to spare to prevent this from happening. However, unused devices could reach this complete discharge state, which is why Apple suggests recharging them once a month. This is not a concern of actively-used electronics, only devices which are not often used.
While the info on the Apple site is all correct, you have misread it to confirm your incorrect beliefs.
Most of my information comes from Battery University. You can find information relevant to this discussion here:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
The entire site is well-researched and informative.
Also, to continue on from my other post: Multitasking, yes, takes up mroe battery. However, in case you’ve forgotten, Droids and such have SPARE BATTERIES.
This move was genious. I can wake up in the morning, disconnect it at 5:30 AM, and not ahve to charge until 6PM. My batteries will be pushing their ultra low limit of 40 PERCENT after a whole days worth of note-taking, poetry-writing, texting, being logged on to Skype and Meebo, etc. Select any one and Meebo, and I was probably running it on my phone.
Also, may I all direct you to an app called Auto Task Killer: When you put your phone into sleep, all those weird programs that run for no reason? If you can easily set it up for them to get killed. And yes, it is ATK-like in that you can do so for ANYTHING (even market updater and a lot of stuff not made for touching). This saves a TON of battery life, as does turning the screen brightness to minimum (that thing is still damn bright, so much so that I use it in glare with a dirty, dirty screen… turning it down in no way cripples your phone, unless you’re half-blind like my father).
So to be short: Steve Jobs’s claims about Multitasking are as valid as his claims about Flash. If you saw that video about how flash made Froyo lag like a [female dog] while constantly turned on, you really need to see it with flash “On demand.” You still use flash, but YOU CHOOSE which flash to use (also hillariously works as an ad-blocker ;) ), and this keeps the V8 rocking as hard as Eddie Van Halen injected with the Cremated ashes of Led Zepplin.
And I’m sorry, but the iPhone’s multitasking is not true multitasking. Many of the apps that I love are not native at all (PDA Net anyone?) and so I really wouldn’t want to have to stop using them to do something simple like make a call, especially if its for the newest update of Cyanogenmod or our FREE SDK.
PDANet could be made to multitask, now that the OS supports it.
You hit the nail on the head. The ultimate Android task management tweak is to remove your dead battery and swap in a fresh one. Voila!
Actually, PDANet could not be made to multitask. The new iPhone multitasking system is brilliant, but it has its limitations. It essentially dumps the app to harddrive (Which requires no battery usage), and allows one of 7 service types to continue to run (gps, audio, 2 types of push, voip, fast-switch, and task completion, like an upload). The advantage here is that, aside from the services, absolutely no battery life is used by having an app in the background. On the other hand, only seven service types can continue to run in the background, third party tethering is not one of them.
Raven, I am aware of how it works and I know that out of the box there’s no way PDANet could multitask. However, PDANet only runs on jailbroken phones…which kind of opens up those limitations a little bit, I would suspect.
Thi,
I don’t think anyone is accusing Jobs of being erroneous in his assessment of battery life. The fundamental objection is that it is not his decision to make on my behalf.
If I have different priorities then Mr. Jobs, I am free to balance the benefits with the consequences on an Evo and use it the way I want to. Apple does not give you the choice.
Great response! In the end it comes down to the freedom of managing how we use our phones. I don’t want the manufacturer telling me, “Listen, you can only run this many aps or your battery will die”. I want to make the decision myself. If I have an extra battery then I’ll use it, but don’t limit the processing potential of my phone because you think you know best! This is why I’m loving my HTC EVO sooooo much. =)
What people need to understand is that, Apple directed the iPhone to the mainstream consumers. There are still so many people that don’t know how to take full advantage of a phone, or even downloading an app for everything. My guess is that there is a large amount of iPhone users that barely notice the fact that they can’t multitask, and that the ones who do know that don’t think it’s the worst disability out of the phones available.
But for all of the smartphone abusers, they can jailbreak it, and finding out about it is not far away from a google search of “multitask iPhone”, and with the applications available that make jailbreaks so easy, and it’s not much harder (if at all) than the android users who have to search google on how to preserve battery life on their Evo and find the task killer.
Seems to me if people didnt spend all day everyday on there phone their batteries would not die. However, those that use their phones for work is different, but dont complain about short battery life when you spend more time on twitter, myspace and facebook than you actually sleep geniuses.
Well, if I’m not USING my phone, I might as well not have it, right? How long does your Jitterbug last, gramps?
I am just curious how much apple paid you to write this article because it is completely FALSE!!! I have the Evo and I did a battery test after reading your article and my results are extremely different then yours: I have installed ATK on my phone and I last charged it at 7:00am yesterday morning – I made calls on it moderately, texted minimal, browsed internet (3G) for about 20 minutes, watch 30minutes of “GAMER” movie from my sd card – got home from work got on my wifi network and browsed for about 10 more minutes and talked on phone for about 15 minutes. Now it is 8:15am and I have 26% battery life left!! WHAT I DID AND YOU SHOULD DO TO PERSERVE BATTERY LIFE
1. Get ATK (advanced task killer) go to setting and but it on auto kill when the screen turns off and put it either safe to agressive mode (I have mine on crazy) – all it does is turn off any apps running in the background when your screen turns off – you can also uncheck any app you don’t want it to kill.
2. Use 4G when you need it. Turn it off when you don’t (simple)
3. I have the power control widget on one of my screens – I have wifi off, bluetooth off, GPS on, Sync off, and there are three levels to brightness and I have it on the middle one
Please don’t believe the evo battery is as bad as people try to make it out to be – it is no different than any other smartphone
All smartphone batteries are not the same, though. I imagine the EVO battery dies faster than an iPhone battery, but is replaceable to make up for that.
Over the past 3 years, as people argued against iPhone and having to turn features off to keep its battery life, it’s interesting to now see the tide turning.
Can you please let us know how you make your battery last…because we just got the phone two days ago and paid over 700.00 for two phones and our batteries are not lasting like your? All the help would be appreicated.
Thanks
I’ve had my EVO for just over a week now and I have used most of the tips to decrease battery drain. It has helped a little, but still do not have anything near what my BB has. I can leave my BB Navigation app running all day and still have 8-10 hours of use. The EVO dies after about 2 hours with any Nav app running.
And HTC has admitted that the battery drains far more faster than anticipated. HTC did not fully “field test” the EVO prior to putting it on the market. HTC is working on a fix, but no release date is projected yet.
OR, if you are not a complete idiot you can ROOT your phone to make the battery last almost 40 hours
Craig, i have read the comments! No need to the rude, I am electronic illiterate and i would appreciate instructions on how to root my phone. I might be the blind, but i did not see step by step instructions. Thanks for the response
Jennifer, just head over to the XDA Developers forum. You’ll find plenty of info there.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=653
Also, Android and Me had a blog post about the battery life getting much better after a few days of “conditioning”.
Jennifer, DO NOT root your phone if you are “electronic illiterate.” Not being root protects you from screwing up your phone, and being attacked by malicious software or websites.
You can’t do anything as root that will improve your battery life, as far as I know.
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Yup, I did all this stuff with my g1 when I first got it. Fortunately the novelty of the phone wore of and I stopped using it like a man possessed. Also, I have two charges at home, one at work, and one in my car. It’s a small (ok, medium) price to pay to use Android.
I might also suggest the app “Dimmer” which makes your phone backlight dimmer than even the dimmest setting. Then use “bar control” to put “Fast Bright” in your notification bar. This essentially allows you to go from max brightness to completely dim with one button press.
Question: Can 3g AND 4g be turned off on the Evo?
Yes, you can turn off 3G and 4G, but I’m not sure why you’d want to run WiFi only and not be able to receive phone calls.
1. turning of 3g/4g only turns off data so you can receive phone calls.
2. Edge would still be enabled (i think) and Wifi would likely be off also…
Edge? We’re talking about a Sprint phone.
He means the “2.5G” voice connection, when used for data, it’s called 1xRTT.
To do all this stuff (like download an app to fiddle with brightness in order to maximise battery life, to use an app killer in order to maximise battery life, etc.) is simply giving users a bad experience.
Users should not have to do such things in order to manage battery life. The phone itself is a computer. It (and the operating system, Android) ought to be designed in such a way that it manages its own battery life effectively.
I think after all, Steve Jobs was right. Given these issues with Android, Android has some ways to go.
Steve Jobs was right about something everybody already knows. Multitasking kills battery life more quickly than running one app at a time. Duh!
But he’s wrong about not giving users the choice on whether to multitask. Explain the pros and cons and leave it up to the user, you know the person who paid for and is using the phone. Us Androiders don’t need our steak cut up into little pieces for us like fanboys do.
Right, only fanboys can appreciate Apple taking a simple approach. Yet you call yourself an “Androider”, clearly stating that you’re a fanboy yourself.
NO.
Why, because Steve Jobs is marketing it to all the consumers, not just the tech guys.
I’ve seen and found people’s iPhones and sometimes the ONLY app they’ve downloaded is Facebook. (Found, I work at a bar, they are always there for when customers call)
That’s if they’ve even downloaded an app, there are a bunch who haven’t. So, to ALL of those, technologically illiterate customers that still want to use a cool phone, they’ll get screwed over by the android system, but not the iPhone.
Which gives a better experience, to the general public? Which gets them coming back with a positive user experience?
That is why Steve Jobs wants to make sure these things work.
I don’t need my steak cut up either, but I know my steak is a better quality than your mystery meat at the butcher shop.
@diar – “Us Androiders don’t need our steak cut up into little pieces for us like fanboys do.”
That would make you an Android apologist, no?
At least we in the “Apple majority” get ready-cooked steak. All Android apologists get is a still-breathing steer, which they need to first slaughter and dissect, then start a fire, then choose just the right bits of meat (because you have “freedom of choice”), then make sure that your fire hasn’t burned out because you’re trying to grill too many “choice cuts” all at once, etc.
Hey, it’s a free country. Knock yourselves out.
Oh, and you also get to compare and contrast the various Android Clones’ features or lack thereof. But really, the newest Android Clone is always the best. Instantly obsoletes all the previous ones. So why buy an Android Clone this month when a new, improved Android Clone (aka iPhone wannabe) will be released next month?
@ SockRolid
Nice job guy – act a little more pompous about Android phones. If you enjoy your walled garden, and wearing a dog collar for Master Jobs – then you do that, power to you. But don’t insult people for wanting freedom (you know, actually knowing something about phones and technology to be able to take care of yourself) over slavery (knowing nothing and letting Daddy Jobs take care of you). That’s hilarious!
Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone is a good peice of tech – but Apple’s stranglehold isn’t a good thing – it’s a control freak approach. Your phone will be stuck, restricted as the same as the next guys iPhone. No personal touches allowed unless jailbroken. That’s a true clone.
You really don’t seem to know the definition of Freedom and Slavery. Freedom has nothing to do with knowing anything at all. Slavery has nothing to do with lacking knowledge.
I see what you’re getting at now and YES, I WANT A CLONE PHONE! Just like I want a clone Xbox or Wii, or a clone of any other electronic device on the market. Keep It Simple, Stupid….words to live by.
@SockRolid
Give a man a pre-cut steak, feed him for a day. Teach a man to catch, kill, gut, and clean his own steer, and THAT man will eventually get a high-paying job working for the company that wants to give consumers more options than just pre-cut steak. Whether the company that hires him is a company competing with the first man, or the first man himself trying to keep all the good talent to himself doesn’t really matter. The point is the same; do something for yourself, even if it’s difficult, and you become more valuabl to yourself and others.
I guess the question then boils down to this: Are you uninimidated by the idea of working to get exactly what you want from your food, or are you the guy who’s too afraid to get his hands a little bloody but still insists on sitting around barking about how great his steak is?
Just running with your own analogy.
@Tyler Let’s run further with that analogy, I’m a man that has already caught, killed, gutted, and cleaned every animal that exists. I now teach others how to do that (companies, actually, as a technology consultant).
So, I’m the guy who is sick of dealing with cutting my own steak for my personal devices because I spend all day around meat being cut – I want someone to serve something to me…the rest of the world can train to be what I am, I’m already there, thanks.
Apple has made a comfortable niche off of smart phones for dummies. Not everyone is a geek at heart and certainly their is a market for people who just want a smooth easy experience (and manuals with a 2 syllable max). The trade off is you have to do smart phones Apple’s way. Apple’s way is to censor a lot of material including all Flash content on the web.
Job’s isn’t wrong, their is a lot of really bad Flash material out there, but shouldn’t that be up to the user?
Blah blah blah Steve Jobs…
Its a computer. Unplug your laptop, netbook, virtually anything that runs on battery and you have to make moves to conserve the available power. It has nothing to do with Android, iPhone, your flashlight or your television remote control – if you use it, its going to run out of power. If you can’t live with this limitation, you don’t deserve a smartphone.
I hear the if you turn off the HTC UI and default to the stock Android UI you can get some battery boost.
Can you just turn off Sense or do you mean custom roms?
You can install another “Launcher” application (AKA “Home”) and then choose this new app as a default when you press the [Home] button.
The best I found is “Launcher Pro”: it provides nice additions to the stock Android 2.1 Launcher3D, in addition to be very fast.
As a net result (no more Sense Launcher & no more Sense gadgets), I get *a full day of battery* (yes), without any of the tricks mentioned on this page (with the exception of the ATK set to “aggressive” mode).
i’d say 40-50% brightness is the way to go. as long as it’s not constantly blasting the upper levels because of autobrightness, you’re good to go. that’s one of the biggest battery killers, the screen.
Or just buy a second battery? No? Am I missing something? What’s an extra $50?
an extra $50.00.
It’s ridiculous to pay fifty dollars extra for another battery. Google and/or HTC need to do some work here because it should be expected that smartphones get at least a day of moderate/intense use before needing to be charged.
agreed. I can get about a days worth of moderate use with my older iPhones when they were brand new and if this only lasts half a day I’m not going to address this shortcoming by turn down the default settings or buy a new battery.
It’s not cool to have to pay $50 for an extra battery.. I agree.
1.) It’s $50 you thought you wouldn’t need to spend.
2.) It requires spending more cash to get a battery charger
3.) I don’t carry a purse or “man-bag” so I already have keys, wallet, cell phone, spare change. I don’t want my phone screwed up so all that other stuff is in 1 pocket… cell phone in the other… where do you suppose I store this “extra battery”?
A cellphone should go 48 hours if used just as an “emergency” phone… I say this because you never know when you might get drunk and crash at a buddies place or some strange female’s house.
It is NOT difficult to properly size a battery to a phone.
Seido makes a 3500 mah battery… we get 1500 mah by default. it WORKS… it’s a decent size for a possible 48 hour stint. Problem is… it look like your phone has a damn tumor. Had the phone been properly built to accommodate such a battery it would still be a pretty sleek device, the cell phone accessories would all fit properly… good luck finding a case to fit a phone with a tumor on the back.
http://www.seidioonline.com/product-p/bacy35hev4-bk.htm
I wouldn’t mind something more like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16855991098&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Cell+Phones+Accessories-_-ENERGIZER-_-55991098
That’s 1200 mah of extra juice… AS the case.
But instead I have an iGo home/car adapter kit I keep in the car in case I really need a fix at a friends house… an iGo regular at the office… and the standard charger at my house.
Let’s be honest… it’s ridiculous. I like the features of the Evo… but the battery issue is something HTC should have been WELL AWARE of.
and yes I have all the extra wifi, bluetooth, GPS stuff turned off… dimmed the screen, removed some widgets, use advanced task killer etc… I’m the supervisor of the I.T. department here at work… I’m NOT a newb.
I’m not an iPhone fan boy either… I’m just a guy who thinks smart phones SERIOUSLY need to reassess the battery issue.
Question… what do pure electric cars and smart phones have in common? Battery issues…. how come we never hear about major battery research going on? I dunno…
Oh yeah, nothing wrong with having to swap batteries every single day, plus getting a desktop charger to charge the second. Then it is more than $50. Genius idea.
However, i you plug it in at night, and plug it in at work, you will be fine. Just get a different phone for the weekends. Or stay at home, as I am sure you probably do!
Use auto-brightness too for the screen. With all the various tweaks out there, I can use my Nexus One to its full potential. Widgets, auto sync, everything and still get over 30 hours of battery life.
I assume the giant screen on the Evo is a serious drain on the battery. Best to use the lowest brightness setting you can get away with to improve the battery. Auto brightness can sometimes be annoying, but it does work great.
Why are you still posting about this? Battery life obviously is going to suck on any smartphone, even if this is worse other reviews like Engadget (which, sorry, is much more respectable and balanced than you guys) have given it at least decent battery life. So obviously not the best, but just BUY ANOTHER BATTERY and get a car charger, and you’ll live.
I seem to remember these same retarded complaints when the iPhone 3G launched. Guess what, software updates over the next 6-10 months helped! Guess what is coming to the Evo in 6-10 months? Software updates!
Not all smartphones. I get 16 hours of moderate to heavy usage from my blackberry tour. Battery life is precisely the reason I traded in my Hero for a Tour, if I can’t enjoy all of my phone’s features because of the battery..what’s the point? Living in constant fear that I’d kill the battery left me only using my phone for texts and the occasional phone call. If I wanted that I could just get a Moto Razr haha
I like my blackberry, just wish it had more (and cheaper) apps… :\
yeah, but the blackberryOS is crap
i’d rather commit sepuku than to use a blackberry over my nexus. i’m not having any battery issues with my stock nexus running stock android 2.2… maybe people should just learn to buy better android fones… it’s a no brainer that 4.3 lcd screen sucks up more juice than 3.7 inch amoled on the nexus or ifone’s even smaller 3.5 inch lcd…
On the EVO, the “Cell Standby” always seems to be the biggest battery hog.
Jose H, your point is well made.
There is nothing useful in getting a smartphone in which we have to turn off most features on a day-to-day basis in order to extend phone battery life. Like you said, if you end up using the smartphone like a regular nonsmart cellphone, might as well just get a cheapo cellphone!
Jose H, your point is not well made. the BB Tour is not in the same league as any Android phone. The tour is not a touch screen and there for does not have the same drain on a battery. If you want to compare, compare the Storm. I had a Storm b4 I got my Droid and the battery was only a little better. I also did not use the phone as much because web surfing sucked on BB. I understand what you are saying, but you have to compare touch screen to a touch screen.
Wow, you’re whining about the guy telling the truth and you’re making a sweeping generalization that is false. iPhone simply does not have this problem. Blackberry doesn’t have this problem. An iPad has a 1GHz CPU and an even bigger display and can sit for a month on standby and wake up having lost only 1-2% of its battery.
Android is sold as if it’s an iPhone. Every way that it’s not an iPhone is really important in a review. Lack of software/hardware integration, the closed native C API, and lack of security features are all really important points. Users find all the steak missing after they buy the sizzle. This why we have reviews.
The iPhone does have battery issues, it just depends how you use it. Google it. The iPad is 6+ times larger than smartphones; i don’t see how that comparison is relevant.
It’s relevant because people are complaining about the size of the EVO’s screen. He was mentioning the iPad has a MUCH larger screen (and can run for 10 plus hours on its battery.) The iPad can also sit forever without draining the battery, something the EVO can’t seem to do (according to this review.) These seem to be major OS flaws and are relevant.
I don’t need to Google it, I have a 3GS. And I can tell that the battery is fine without having to take any of the crazed measures advocated above: everything is on (3G, GPS, WiFi, etc.) permanently, brightness is up, autolock is set at 3 minutes, etc.
And you know something else — guess what the biggest surprise when the new iPhone is released is going to be? Just how good the battery life is. The iPad can’t play 12.5 hours of video on a single charge because it hiding a 2 ton battery somewhere — it is all about the A4 CPU which is power efficient first, second and third. It will be in the new iPhones. Good luck getting those SnapDragons to stop sucking power through software updates.
You do realize that the iPad is a much bigger device and thus, able to have a much bigger battery right?
The EVO also has a 25% larger battery than the iPhone.
The iPad also doesn’t have to listen for calls. When it goes to sleep it can turn off all the radios.
@grepper the iPad does not go to sleep, nor does it turn off the radios when idle – it accepts 3G push notifications as well WiFi push at all times.
Because an iPad has to take calls and retain some modicum of network connection.
That’s definitely a good comparison!
Even the iPad WiFi+3G doesn’t keep the radio on at all times.
iPads also have larger batteries. Huh. Imagine that!
Could you tell me when the iPad turns off the 3G radio? Because last I checked, I’ve never had to wait for it to establish a new signal. It has push notifications, because that radio is always on. Huh. Imagine that!
Fair point. The rest of my argument still stands. It’s not a phone. In the interests of not continuing your misguided hostility, I should probably end this here.
Hostility? I’ve got some issues with people that make up facts, sorry. I only turned your own attitude against you.
What still stands? Yes, it has a large battery but the iPad will literally lose 1 or 2 percent of battery in a week if not a month or more – all the while dinging with emails, accepting push notifications, maintaining connectivity on a 3G network, etc. There is no exaggeration, the OS is running very, very efficiently with the new A4 processor. Laptops have even bigger batteries and couldn’t even sit on standby that long. Expect some major improvements if the new iPhone really is designed similarly.
As for taking calls…it’s the same 3G radio…it’s either being used or it’s not. There’s no extra magic going on there because the thing takes calls.
Your numbers suggest the iPad has a battery life of one year to one decade while sitting there with the radios on. Yet that’s no exaggeration, and you’ve got some issues with people that make up facts?
Yeah, why exactly do the iPad users here at work always keep it plugged in?
I gotta say that the iphone does have these same problems, maybe just not to the same extent. I have a 3G and have to charge it each night, and once during the day while at work. I don’t use it all day, in fact most of the day it just sits on my desk. I have wifi turned off, brightness at about 35%, autolock is set to 1min. My original iphone would last 2 day with the same usage. I don’t know the battery life of the 3GS, but I can say that I haven’t been impressed with the 3G for the last year. I’m already in the habit of charging all the time anyway, might as well get out from under Apple while I can.
every person that writes something in here about iphone batteries having problems…i just don’t get it. the whole point of owning anything apple is that when something starts to have problems…you drive to the apple store and walk up to the genius bar and they hand you a new phone. tell me one provider or even other computer manufacturer that has the same customer service as apple. there isn’t…
that is why you get the iphone
They replace your entire phone even if it’s not malfunctioning and you just want more battery life? Or maybe they just replace aging batteries for free?
When it comes to actual problems, Verizon has been for me pretty much exactly like you describe. If I go into the store with an issue, they send me a new phone. (I’m sure they can fix some very minor things there, but if I go to the store I’ve already tried more fixes than they have time to) I’ve done it with both my old feature phone and my current smartphone. I don’t even buy my phones in the store, but they support it just the same.
if anyone is the retard, its you! Why the hell should we wait for software updates?! The damn phones, i have the new Incredible, should have been tested to consumer satisfaction during R & D. Software updates to correct deficiencies on product release are so last century.
And, all smartphones are battery deficient? B.S. – I have a Blkberry Storm and get 36 hrs of active use on a charge. The Incredible – 3-4 hrs if I’m lucky. Didnt buy this pos to sit and look pretty. The problem with this world is that we suckers happily settle for mediocrity – and the manufacturers know it.
Your BB Storm is AWESOME! i never got battery life like that in my time with it. I was lucky to get 16hrs. I didn’t use the phone as much and didn’t have as much stuff on it.
If 50% of the battery life is going to cell standby, then this doesn’t seem to be an android issue, does it? More like a form factor issue: i.e. manufacturers sacrificing battery capacity for slimness. That’s why turning off a litany of services only yields an extra two hours. It’s the cell phone hardware (/radio) itself that’s consuming all the juice.
For what it’s worth I never disable anything on my Nexus One. I’m actually really impressed that I can leave WiFi, GPS, and bluetooth on all day without any issues. But then again, my phone usually gets plugged in at least once after work simply because I live in a studio so the phone’s natural home is on the charger.
So you’re saying its a hardware/software integration issue? Then it’s an Android issue. Android is the one with the PC style split hardware/software that causes integration issues. This says something about Android.
You’re making the same kind of excuses that were made for PC’s in their day because Android phones have the same lack of integrity. You can buy a phone that just plain doesn’t work.
The one thing that’d work to increase battery life and actually add features that you can use:
Install Froyo
Is Froyo actually going to improve battery when things like auto sync are enabled?
When those dual core snapdragons come out – battery life will be even worse! *sigh*
Those dual core snapdragons have the same power consumption as current snapdragons, so the battery life shouldn’t suffer.
LOL. There’s no problem that can’t be fixed by vapor.
“Switch the default from GSM to CDMA”
Whoa, if you are having 50% cell standby this could be the issue. Do you have a test device? When I hacked my sprint hero and brought it to android 2.1, I had this problem – changing the default to CDMA brought the battery life back to normal.
Yes, you’re going to get flamed for recommending a task killer because they actually decrease battery life and decrease the performance of the phone.
You’re best leaving the screen brightness on auto because it means the phone display is usable but still gives you the decent battery life.
Removing the bookmarks and friend stream widgets? Are you implying that the bookmarks widget somehow uses battery when the phone is idle?
As for the friend stream, set the refresh to manual and it’ll only use battery when you tell it to. Even when set to update every few hours it still doesn’t use much.
The difference in battery life between static and live wallpapers isn’t even noticeable.
The only useful tip in this article is to turn off wireless services when you’re not using them.
Wifi battery usage goes through the roof if it’s not connected because it scans for nearby networks. The same goes for 3/4G, not being connected actually uses more battery because it boosts the power in an attempt to connect to nearby towers.
Not sure if it’s 100% accurate, but this comment about the phone searching for signals makes a lot of sense. A ton of sense.
now these are some GREAT TIPS! thanks, James!
Are you Serious? I went from from 8hrs of life to 14hrs doing mostly the same things with my Droid. Live wallpapers use more of the cpu which means more battery. More Brightness means more power.
Sprint has basic info on helping out the battery, which honestly (in my years of smart phone use) are no different than any other adjustments for other devices and do really make a difference:
http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Improve_battery_performance_on_your_HTC_EVO_4G/case-wh164052-20100601-130442?&INTNAV=SU:DP:HDIA
That is just BS. You don’t have to do this with Apple devices. An iPad spends most of its battery on the display and hardly loses any power at all when sleeping. It can sleep for a week and lose only a tiny bit of the battery.
Android is famous for bad battery management. Pretending it is not is not credible. The software came from a different company than the hardware, the battery here has no custom software written for it. It’s a systemic problem with Android’s artificial software/hardware split.
Why do you Apple Fanbois keep comparing the iPad? It has a larger battery and SLEEP! A phone doesn’t sleep….otherwise how would you calls?
It does not sleep – it operates exactly as the iPhone does, down to always being on and accepting push notifications over 3G networks.
I knew when you started with Apple Fanbois that you weren’t so bright – but you’re really worse than I thought.
Listen fanboy, this isn’t as much of a concern on Apple devices because they are toys. The one-app-at-a-time model that you’ve bought into doesn’t work for power users. We make some battery sacrifices to have true multitasking, unlimited background processes/syncs/updates, widgets and homescreens that aren’t just app drawers.
That said, Android could still manage the battery better, but believe it or not, it’s not mostly an Android problem. Lazy developers are mostly to blame with apps that poll too often, update too often or unnecessarily, allocate memory haphazardly or inefficiently and keep unnecessary services running. The iPhone OS gets credit for limiting how much developers can do that and Android can stand to take a page from that book, just as iPhone can learn a thing or two from Android.
Power users, eh? What do you do that’s power use on a smartphone? Give me a break.
The only people who “power use” a smartphone are using blackberries to send hundreds of emails a day. The rest of us are tinkering and playing with the phone. I’m not specific to any one company, and I work for a major player that isn’t Apple. But there’s no denying that the iPhone totally changed the world of smartphones…and now that multitasking is in the iPhone, I don’t understand why you’re still using this argument.
Power user…ROFL.
I guess I can be considered a power user because i sent 102 emails from my Droid on Tuesday.
Diar, you’re an idiot. I have a jailbroken Iphone that has true multi-tasking– not the nonsense on Android– and have none of these battery issues. I’m actually seriously considering switching to the EVO but battery life matters and it is a strength of the iphone over Android right now.
BTW, lose the “i’m so much smarter than you are” attitude. The Iphone is a great phone, deal with it. If I leave it’ll be because I don’t like Apple’s locked down mentality but i’ll do so knowing that I’m leaving behind a quality product. Luckily there are some nice android phones out there but you’re unflinching support for android is no different than the Apple “fanboy’s” love of Apple.
G-Money, it’s more likely that what you did was productive use of the phone, so yes, that was power use.
As far as any other apps are concerned, aside from the phone, email, calendar, GPS, and texting features, very little of that requires multitasking. There are some sore spots that these phones could take advantage of but in most worlds 3rd party apps aren’t going to provide more than media consumption or notifications of news and whatnot.
The iPhone has multitasked in those areas from the start, so I’d love to hear an actual use case that matters on the Android with multitasking.
I don’t understand how this issue is getting tagged as just an Evo issue. Your review had 3 cons for the Evo, all of which said “battery life sucks”. Now you say that the Droid Incredible shares the same issue.
I just did a Google search on “iPhone 3gs battery life”. The couple pages of links are all about how bad the battery life is. (Note I didn’t search for a negative on battery life, that’s just what was returned.) I asked a friend with an iPhone and he says if he uses the iPhone like a madman, he’ll drain the battery by the time he’s headed home to work.
Isn’t it more accurate to say that modern smartphones with large screens and fast processors that are used heavily won’t last a full day without a recharge?
Your comments make it sound like the Evo will be dead in hours while it’s direct competitors can go days and days between recharges. I don’t seen any evidence of that.
Sure you can say the Evo’s battery life is bad. But then aren’t all smartphones plagued with this issue?
I Would think that MG Siegler has a pretty good grasp of how the EVO 4G’s battery life compares to the iPhone 3GS’s. If they were essentially the same, I don’t think he would have made such a big deal out of that issue.
“Colorado” is the voice of reason.
What would be FAR more helpful in an indepth review would be a graph showing the relative battery lives (with a large margin of error of course since results vary widely) of a group of popular smart phones.
You don’t even need to make a graph. How about a few sentences citing statistics?
The point is, “the battery life sucks” is relative to other products, but other products were not compared in the initial review.
You did ask to be flamed :)
First off, the Sprint apps do not randomly launch, there are triggers for these apps to start. For instance, when charging starts, when the phone apk starts, when the phone stops. None of there are random. Blindly using the task killer can result in less battery life.
If you want to save on memory and possibly battery life, then use an app like autostarts that can stop those ‘random’ apps from starting to begin with.
Best tip today. Autostart makes a different. But battery eating are only active apps that are communicating somewhere (using the net). The rest sits idle (like in the new iPhone) in tbe background and keeps its fingers of the battery.
all highend multi-tasking smartphone have this problem. i dont fault the phone. Mr Hesse said last year on Charlie Rose the biggest thing holding back the mobile is battery. He said we’ve been using the same technology since the turn of the decade.
Invent a long lasting, safe, small battery and you will be a billionaire many times over cause the perfect battery is not out there yet
Nope, Symbian-based smarthphones have far better battery life than the others. OS matters.
I developed the habit years ago of plugging my mobile in anytime I could. If I sit at my desk, there’s no reason not to plug it in. Same thing in the car, boat, whatever…
My GPS is off most of the time, and I generally turn my wifi off whenever I can. It helps.
Hi all,
1. You can’t make a claim that HTC EVO’s battery sucks without comparing it to other smartphones.
2. Also you need to charge your phone when powered off. Seriously. If you charge your phone turned on, it will reach full charge status very fast. The problem is, it’s not really full, only Android thinks so.
3. You need to understand which apps are running and how much energy they use.
4. Disable “always on” mobile data. This is one of the biggest battery savers. Go to Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks. Tap “Enable always-on mobile data” to uncheck the box. I haven’t found a negative consequence of disabling this feature, as Gmail and other apps/functions still work perfectly. (c) from sprintsdroid forum.
P.S. You need to use only major tweaks. Since changing background, brightness, animation will only slightly increase battery life.
This is strange. I was charging my Nexus One. The phone was showing the green light (90%+ charge).
I took your advice. Turned off the phone and put it back on the dock.
It is showing the orange light at the moment! I would wait for a couple of hours to see if it goes green (the phone is off)…
This is strange!
How about doing a column comparing the different popular phones battery lives?
Using AutoKiller has given me a noticeable improvement in battery life on the HTC Hero. Been switching between custom ROM, some of which have terrible battery life and it makes such a difference! Again you need to have Root access to use that.
To be honest I don’t really use and of the HTC / Android Widgets and I only have my Gmail sycning, otherwise I might as well just be sat at the computer all day being antisocial!
Again – I can’t believe we’re arguing about battery life anywhere close to the 10hr mark. I say if you’re getting that much out of your smart phone you ought to shut up before the battery gods find you and start dismembering you.
Seriously – The only smart phones that come close to having amazing battery life are the RIM products which you have to have a serious blind spot in order to love.
iPhone, Palm Pre, and other Android phones age going to need charging throughout the day the way we choose to use them now.
Get. A. Life.
One of the trickiest parts of comparing phones, battery life and network quality is where you live. I’m pretty sure my iPhone 3G battery lasts longer now that I’ve switched to a carrier with a cell tower in plain sight, not >10km away. No seeking, full signal all the time, no dropped calls.
Glad I have that option here in Australia where every carrier has the iPhone. Sorry that you have such limited choice there in the US.
In the motorola droid community, the ‘Cell Standby’ bug manafested itself in some phones, and it would cut the battery life by 2/3rds. Some clever dev will find the culprit for this phone or HTC will hotfix it.
No phone should die after a days idle. My droid idles for 3 days no problem, and I can play music for 4 hours and barely hit 60%.
Give it two weeks or so.
Your battery issues are solved with JuiceDefender & Power Manager! Both Market apps are all you need.
For comparison purposes from Apple.com
iPhone 3GS offers up to 5 hours of talk time on 3G, 12 hours of talk time on 2G, 5 hours of Internet use on 3G, 9 hours of Internet use on Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video playback, or 30 hours of audio playback on a full charge at original capacity. In addition, iPhone features up to 300 hours of standby time.
You find me an iPhone that can last 300 hours, or anywhere close to that mark and I’ll eat my hat.
My 3G can get about 3 days with 3G, Wifi and Push turned off, although that’s whilst still using it for phone calls. I suppose I could get a week out of it if I left it in airplane mode and never turned the screen on, but what’s the point?
“In addition, iPhone features up to 300 hours of standby time.”
Hahahahahahah! ….Yeah, that does NOT happen. Maybe the day you take it out of the box, but even in standby I can make it 24hrs at most.
Here’s another idea… Give up the ghost on the Google thing and get a real phone. Google is GREAT at search and email (assuming you are nit concerned about privacy), but horrible at anything else. Period.
Amen brother!
Also, that Google Maps is pretty handy. And Calendar. Oh yeah, that RSS reader is pretty good too. Oops, forgot about the cool new browser…
I agree with Tom. Google should stick to search. The other stuff (save Maps) is all ugly and half baked. It’s Microsoft all over again, but on the web.
That’s the WONDER of the free market. You get what you like, I get what I like.
Shoo. troll.
What about Google Maps? I think most people would agree that Google Maps is great.
I hate my Andriod phone (Droid). I just listed it on eBay. I’m getting ready to get the new iPhone. Can’t wait. My Wife has had an iPhone from work for the lady three months, and I love it. Good riddens Droid.
Maybe you can take your balls out of your wifes purse while you’re at it.
I agree. Android phones are junk. I stopped using mine three months ago and never looked back.
Android phones are the poor man’s iPhone. If you don’t have money or taste, the Android is a good choice.
Good call! Oh wait, didn’t I just see the iphone for $97 at Walmart! Class! Class! Class!
Yes, and iPhone is for the man who has no need to make actual phone calls.
I would be poor indeed if I had to rely on AT&T for communications. The only reason I can afford a $200 cell phone and $150 / mo service is that my clients can reach me via the carrier known as Verizon, which does not presently offer the oh-so-tasteful iPhone.
Funny and well said. Android users tend to be tech geeks, teens who can’t afford anything better than a buy one get one free piece of crap phone, or people who live in trailer courts. Long live Apple!!!
You are sooooo right Mr. Me. Thanks for the post. Give me an iPhone any day of the week over an Android or Blackberry. A few of my friends have Android phones and they are ho- hum about them or flat out not happy. They are waiting for the new iPhone like me.
I recently read that over 70% of Android users don’t know what kind of phone they they have. They chose the phone because it was free or available at a very low cost or pushed on them by the mall phone salesman, but not because they wanted or sought out the Android brand. In fact, most Android users don’t even bother to upgrade their OS or look for apps. That tells us that there is little to no brand recognition or loyalty. Sounds like a path to failure.
Yep, just like Microsoft’s miserable path to failure with Windows. Whatever happened to that company? I’ll check the deadpool.
I was wondering the same thing and then I realized they were busy dominating the personal computer market and not making toys like apple.
I thought that was the general idea behind android, look at the Garmin Phone using android, at first look you wouldn’t know it was running on android 1.6. Carriers and Manufacturers can make as many changes as they want to the OS and use the operating system for what I can assume is almost free (obviously they’re patents for certain features).
In the long run Google have a much better business model with Android than Apple with the iPhone. Put it this way in 5 years time they’ll be more people with Android based devices than iPhones, and that will lead to a much larger developer base making apps. It doesn’t matter if Google doesn’t have brand recognition because they have a product which can be installed on hundreds of devices all of which can access the same app store. To be honest, the core functionality has already passed the iPhones OS’s functionality, it just needs polishing up :)
Yup, Android has already passed the iPhone’s functionality (WWDC is on Monday, FYI), “it just needs some polishing up.”
Is this an example of the type of polishing up you speak of?
http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3gy7f97Ye1qzpapzo1_1280.png?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1275779301&Signature=9N%2ByRj4P9yC0imgPk%2FukkGlKhUE%3D
Funny. I recently read 90% of iPhone owners are smug bastards with blind brand loyalty.
Sounds like someone’s girl jeans are a little too tight.
and the iphone is the new RAZR
what’s your point again?
The RAZR was practically free…so no.
The razr was like 500 bucks when it first came out.
Shoo, troll, shoo. The grownups are talking.
My stock EVO 4G from Google I/O, after 26 hours of 3G idle standby, I had 70% battery left.
50% of it spent on “Cell Standby”
50% of it spent on “Phone Idle”
Not sure why you’re getting horrible battery life.
On the flip side, I can kill the battery in 4 hours with 4G turned on an Sprint HotSpot turned on and using actively used.
Funny… I have seen almost the exact same numbers with mine. After 24 hrs on 3G idle I was at 73% & I get just over 4 hrs of 4G Hotspot.
I don’t think the reviewers are lying but have to wonder what’s going on I’ve been very happy with the battery life I’ve seen so far (especially given the features, screen size, etc…).
My experience has been rooting your phone and installing a rom without all the Sprint bloat helps. I’m getting 24 hours with my hero. Android central did a post on battery life tips. I use a 3rd party battery and recommend it.
Sure, it might not be a touchy-feely, pinch-to-zoom super-phone, but the Blackberry does the same stuff and has far superior battery life.
I live in Philly, so I want a 4G phone with hotspot capabilities..? Which Berry for that?
I loved my BB, but it is not the same. The BB is way behind every other smart phone on the markey in every aspect except email and battery life. Everything that makes a smartphone smart sucks on a BB.
I do not have an EVO, so I don’t know about its battery life. I do know, however, about another Android phone – my Nexus One. I’ve used my Nexus One fairly liberally, I feel. At least 2-3 hours of active use plus 13-16 hours of standby. I check and write e-mails, I read Google Reader on my lunch break. I spend 20 minutes on games while waiting for my computer to finish crunching numbers. Maybe 30-60 minutes of phone calls some days. Yes, it’s pretty drained at the end of the day. But it’s never failed to last. And I don’t do anything to specifically maximize battery performance other than switching off WiFi when I leave my apartment.
Of course, once I started using a car charger on the way to/from work it became a non-issue anyway, but even when I wasn’t things didn’t seem TOO bad. Honestly my non-smartphone LG Muziq that I had with Sprint before didn’t seem to do *that* much better than my Nexus One. I always had to charge it at the end of the day.
I don’t see this particular Android phone as having a severe battery problem. Could it be better? Yes. Is it the best battery life of any mobile device I’ve used? Definitely not. But it doesn’t feel unreasonably underpowered to me.
By the way, if the battery usage statistics in the settings screen of my Nexus One are to be believed, my screen’s eating up about 70% of my power. It seems like the best thing I could possibly be doing to save battery is to avoid LOOKING at it.
14 hours battery life on standby is bad, something is wrong. My Nexus one can sit on stand by for a few days if I never touched it.
That being said…
People seem to be in the dark about lithium ion batteries, how they are charged, and how the device estimates battery charge remaining.
When properly charging a Li-ion battery, the last 10% of the charge should take almost as long as the time it takes to charge from 0 to 90% (about half as long) Charging with the device off, charges the battery more completely and consistently.
It is always good to let a device run until dead and then charge with the device off a couple times when the device is new, and then charge the device from empty while powered off once every couple months. This allows the device to maintain a proper reference data file on the battery and its charge state. this data file is what Android uses to estimate the charge in the battery, if the file is not accurate, the device may power down sooner than it should.
Also, Li-ion batteries are rated for capacity from a discharged voltage of 3v. So a 1500Mah battery is rated to provide 1500mah of power from fully charged to a final discharged voltage of 3v.
I do not know what the minimum operating voltage of the Evo 4G is, but if it is higher than 3v; then the phone must shut down at its min operating voltage and not the 3v needed to get full capacity. My Nexus one shuts off around 3.5v there is around 25% of the rated battery capacity left.
There is also a voltage drop on a battery when under load. So if you are putting a heavy load on the device (like a 3D rendered game) then the battery voltage may drop to below the device’s min voltage. This means that if the phone shuts down during this time, you could probably turn it back on and get a few hours of standby or a few more minutes of light use.
There has to be some bug. The HD2 lasts significantly longer, and any Android phone can sit idle with 3G on for 2 days without shutting down. Shame it’s there, and hopefully there’s a fix soon.
Feel like phones are over-valuing thinness these days. For the recent batch of Android phones, I’d gladly take an extra 3MM thickness if most of that volume goes into the battery!
Completely agree.
Can someone please explain to me how 10hours is bad? I barely get that out of the mt3g.
Why all the half measures? If you turn the phone off altogether, you can extend the battery life much longer!
Bring on the Lithium Sulphur batteries!
I got an idea. Just turn the phone off. Your battery will last forever.
Knock Apple all you want but they try their best to balance power vs battery life.
HTC seems to want to build high performance v8 muscle cars but only with a 5 gallon tank. They HAVE to be thinner than the iPhone. This EVO is big enough why not add a little more to give a good battery?
I think Apple chooses the right things to sacrifice to balance things out.
Right on!
We get it, Matt burns loves his iPhone too much to review other phones. I don’t have to turn off anything on the incredible I have tried and I get 10 hours of heavy use and more than a day of standby. New editor to do phone reviews please. Thanks.
Maybe newer phones should use the Pixel IQ screen? This way when you want to save power and don’t need a color screen you can turn on the e-ink.
Also is Nvidia Tegra only working with Windows phone OS?
I still think 10 hours is pretty good.
Why did I have to read over half of the comments for someone to just mention the fact that Android multi-tasks and the Apple iPhone DOESN’T (right now).
Shut up Apple Fan boys. MG, you have lost all credibility in my mind and I’m reading Tech Crunch less and less because of it.
Your tests aren’t even remotely objective and even less scientific.
sure Android is probably not quite as good on Battery as the integrated Apple platform, but I doubt it is nearly as bad (as a result of android) as all the apple fan boys are saying. Maybe there are other problems causing it, but the reasoning all the AFB’s are giving is insane. How can you possibly compare the iPad to anything here? Same processor, similar functionality, same OS as iPhone, AND MASSIVE BATTERY. You guys are insane.
If you actually paid attention to what is being said about the iPad…the battery isn’t draining at all. Also, it’s not quite a large battery as you are making it out to be.
If iPhone 4 has this A4 processor, it’s going to have some very impressive battery life. That’s what is being pointed out, don’t be so dismissive over one’s preference.
oops article by Matt Burns. Still MG’s original article was pointless and biased
There are great battery tips for the EVO at this site
http://www.goodandevo.net/2010/05/20-tips-to-improve-htc-evo-4g-battery-life.html
I can’t wait to get this phone tomorrow!! 6am at Radio Shack, woot!
To quote Larry Page, “If your android cannot last through a day with moderate usage, then something is wrong.” Most likely it’s some app preventing the phone from sleeping properly. The top battery drainer would then be the radio transmit/receive and processor usage. Turn off auto-update for email, facebook, twitter, flickr, friendstream, weather, and just opt to check it manually should be a good start. I have faith in all the battery solution tips I’ve read from androidforums and xda-developers, and can’t wait to debunk all these battery user issues tomorrow.
It is also possible Matt’s phone with most battery consumption on cell standby may be due to horrible cell signal, thus may not be a good battery longevity representation to the average city user with better reception.
Again, people said the same thing about the Moto Droid because they were beating off to it all day long for the first week… after that…
I call shenanigans… Everyone said the Moto Droid battery sucked… Mine has been up 17 hours…
2 hours voice calls, 45%
1.5 Hours Display on 27%
15 hours phone idle 10%
17 hours Cell Standby 8%
11 minutes Android System
4 mins Browser CPU ONLY
blah blah… 50% battery remains.. have been on FB, taking pictures, making calls, GPS on all day.
I think the network you are on blows or you don;t know to leave Android alone and let it do its thing. Mine is all stock except wifi is off.
When I say “stock” I only mean the “battery affecting” settings like auto-brightness, display timeout, etc. I use “push” exhcange and gmail and the news, weather, etc are all on very short auto check intervals, like 15 minutes…
WOW! I laugh at all these ridiculous comments about who has more money and who has less and Apple VS Android… Please!
I have an HTC Desire, its the same phone at the end. The battery maximized after a few days of use. Maybe is time to look into new battery manufacturers HTC?
This article is spot-on on what I also did to gain much more than 2 extra hours… Off Live background and brightness and widgets. Phone saves much more with only 3G enabled instead of WiFi.
I love my Android and I’m not going back to iPhone nor will be giving a cent more to evil Jobs.
When was the last time you guys went to a class in Material Sciences or Circuit theory or any other engineering discipline. Man on man, it is so fucking easy to criticize a product on the basis of some mundane set of rules you have defined yourself cuz thats all you can do. Take a moment to realize what this Processor is doing, what the radio is doing and then ask yourself how is the power supply being delivered.
Sure you can want and ask for a lot of things, but try making this and getting it perfect the way you want it the first time around. They are deploying their product and I bet they have a better version to sell in 6 months as well. Will you wait for that version to come out or will you use this one.
Every one of these vendors have a series of product updates/upgrades laid on in the product’s lifecycle and one can wait for version 2 etc or just get the newest one and feel good about.
Just stop bitching about things like lacking battery life etc, there is no other phone with this feature set and so you really cant compare to it to others yet. For it does it does a good job and so be it. Don’t like it don’t use it and do’t write about it either. Sit on the sidelines and wait for version “n” to come out that meets your needs.
I really like my Nexus One and don’t have a huge issue with battery life. Coming from an iPhone 3G to the Nexus One, I’m pretty sure the Nexus One has worse battery life but it also is powering a higher resolution screen and has some apps I installed that constantly poll for update (Twitter, Listen, etc).
But to say you can’t criticize the product because you have to consider everything that is happening in the hardware is just silly, and that’s the entire point of this blog post in my opinion. Excellent engineering comes from finding the proper balance between what you want a device to do and what the downsides are.
I personally outgrew the limitations of the iPhone OS, but one thing I will admit is Apple has done an excellent balancing act of giving people what it is they want in a way that doesn’t drain the shit out of the battery. People complain that iPhone OS 4 doesn’t due “true” multitasking, but again, Apple is betting that it will get 90% of people what they actually want without the downside.
The major problem I see with Android is if people have bad battery performance, it’s next to impossible to really track it down. There is the battery usage screen which is very cool, but as you can see in the screenshot it’s hard to understand why some of the system stuff is so high. It’s great when you can see that a single app you downloaded hogged a ton of battery, but often times that’s not the case.
You say you do tons of polling (Twitter, Facebook, etc) and suspect that drains your battery.
Answer: yup.
Just google Twitter app and iPhone and you’ll see the exact same thing on the iPhone. It’s not the OS as much as it is the apps running on it. The only current difference is Android allows services to run in the background, and now that we are polling/syncing all these accounts all the time, we somehow expect the battery life to be the same.
That’s an unrealistic expectation.
I’ve turned off all the syncing except some mail and news. Guess what, I get nearly 2 full days now on my Evo. Turns out one app was written poorly for it’s syncing/polling, and that was 100% responsible for my new Evo to barely lasting 16-18 hours with moderate usage. Same as that twitter app for iPhone.
I suspect that if I turned off all syncing I could easily get over 2 days on it.
See here: http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/06/04/is-twitters-official-iphone-app-draining-your-battery-life/
Which settings are you turning off? Can you direct me please?
Mike, i can barely even get 5 hours on my phone when it’s idle. How do you get it for 16-18hrs of time on yours? I have to charge my phone twice a day and all I do is Facebook and text.
Please help!!! Thanks :)
so you STILL haven’t discovered the apps Juice Defender and Screebl?! My batery life went to maybe 48 hours with those alone! TechCruch=retards!!