Workaround to extend the life of the standard battery?

[robimon7]

Does anyone know of a workaround to extend the life of the batt? you know, close some background programs not being used, have it on different settings, anything that will extend the life.  Thanks!

[MrMikeM513 · Accepted solution]

Hello:

A few tips:

1. Kill radios you don't need. Not using Blutetooth, WiFi, or GPS? Switch 'em off. Apps like Quick Settings are invaluable for this. Some say the GPS radio doesn't matter: only certain apps use it only at certain times. Well, if you're indoors and you can't get a GPS signal, it's still wasting your battery, right?

2. Kill data auto-sync. If you don't have to check your Facebook or Twitter data every 15 minutes, shut it off.

3. If you want your data to update for you, leave on auto-sync, but go through all your apps and check the interval time. Set those to as large a number as you're comfortable. Similarly, shut off notifications if you don't need them. Kill vibration when only a sound will do. Kill sounds if you don't need to hear confirmation. (I wish Android had a central setting for all apps)

4. Kill your widgets. Some social networking widgets automatically pull down data at a fixed rate and can suck your battery dry.

5. Dim your screen. I usually run mine around 45% indoors.

6. Charge it often. Lithium ion batteries like frequent top-offs. Once a month, though, you should run your battery down to about 10% then charge all the way up. This keeps your digital battery monitor accurate.

7. Watch your phone's volume.

8. Employ a task killer to monitor rogue processes only. Android likes using RAM and it's supposed to. Unlike Windows, the amount of RAM used doesn't matter either toward performance or battery life. Processor cranking, though, will kill your battery faster than anything, so if you suddenly find your phone's getting warm and your battery's getting dry, check your running processes and kill only those which are running high. I had a problem with WHERE running at 30% even when closed. I removed it from my phone pending the next update.

9. Do not use a task killer to automatically kill processes to free RAM. Won't matter to your battery and it will cost you performance.

10. Keep it plugged in your car. One prominent reviewer ditched his X cause its battery drained after using sat nav for an hour unplugged. DUH.

All I can think of for now. Hope it helps.

[robimon7]

hey thanks! this was what I was looking for, please add to message if anyone else have more little tips.

[gerio]

That list is pretty extensive and accurate.

2 things - if you need still more battery life, get an extended-life battery from Verizon.

And I've tried several aftermarket home chargers, not good. Stick with the OEM charger that comes with phone. I'e not found them in the Verizon stores, their online store bad them. I've also found them on Ebay.

Geri O

[djtonic]

Great tips MrMike and well written.

I would follow all of those tips except for "6. Charge it often. Lithium ion batteries like frequent top-offs. Once a month, though, you should run your battery down to about 10% then charge all the way up. This keeps your digital battery monitor accurate"

I did a lot of research on Lion Batteries for a cert. test and found that LiON batteries should never be "refreshed".  The device is designed to shut down before the battery is critically depleted but once there is literally Zero charge on a LiON battery you may not be able to charge it again. 

[Its-Annie]

This is all great info! Upgrading from Droid,  I've had my DroidX for less than a week,  I was about ready to let my dog have it. Every time I looked at it,  it needed charged and Im not a heavy user. I followed all of these tips and problem solved..  I absolutely adore this phone, its sharp, I love the  big screen (I don't have to put my glasses on) the screen size was the big draw for me and its very user friendly. The only issue I have now with it is the ringer. What happened there? I miss calls because its so quiet.

[lewwill]

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Its-Annie wrote:

This is all great info! Upgrading from Droid,  I've had my DroidX for less than a week,  I was about ready to let my dog have it. Every time I looked at it,  it needed charged and Im not a heavy user. I followed all of these tips and problem solved..  I absolutely adore this phone, its sharp, I love the  big screen (I don't have to put my glasses on) the screen size was the big draw for me and its very user friendly. The only issue I have now with it is the ringer. What happened there? I miss calls because its so quiet.

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Try using a different ring tone.  Some are louder than others.  I use Droid Lab, it gets my attention.  For my wife I downloaded Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash).  Then I know when I'm in trouble.  I saw a list of louder ring tones on one of the forums, I think the Motorola Droid X forum.  Check there.  Since 2.2 my tones have been considerably louder and have thought about lowering the volumn on some.

[taskellusaf]

Where do you even see that face book updated itself every fifteen minutes

[Android10]

You can see new Facebook updates under the Notifications Panel when they are sent to the device, or you can go to the Facebook application, then choose notifications, then press the menu key and update.    The typical refresh rate of the Facebook Applicaton is 30 minutes to an hour.