Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini Battery Life Actual vs Telecom's and others websites

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini Battery Life Actual vs Telecom's and others websites

jasonwaiheke

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#140994 26-Feb-2014 14:00

How can anyone claim that this phone has a standby battery life of upto 15 days when in a real life situation it never gets close. Straight out of the box, no data on, no sync on, only a few downloaded apps over the ones that came pre-installed and texting and only browsing on Wifi at night I got 3.5 - 4 days at best. Since then I have added mobile data on all the time, downloaded more apps and turned on sync. I dont have GPS or NFC on, i dont have location sharing on and apart from at night playing a game or browsing the news usage is not that heavy, i would have thought standard at best. Thought it might be Wifi on all the time killing the battery, but no, downloaded GSam battery monitir and battery usage from Wifi is a minimal 8%. Phone signal is mostly mid to high bery little low. and most apps anre set to use the phone as little as possible.

I would have thought that if it can get up to 15 days on standby, you should be getting at least half if not 2 thirds of that depending on how you use it, obviously leaving it there in airplane mode and doing nothing with it might get you 15 days, but who does that?

Accorsing to GSam battery monitor app, I loose about 2% an hour, and i have an average battery life of 1 day 19 hours. Some times I can be a bit heavy at night playing games and checking email and browsing the news, and doing this the percenatge drops quickly. I have enabled powersaving, dropped the screen brightness, but nothing gets close. I have even turned off all the smart features.

Does anyone have an answer as to why it is so much lower than stated.
http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/personal/phone-details/samsung-galaxy-sIII-mini-blue/our-picks

Also specs here give a similar time.

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i8190_galaxy_s_iii_mini-5033.php

And here.

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphones/android/GT-I8190RWABTU-spec

What am I not doing or doing wrong? WOuld love more battery life for when travelling etc.

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#994833 26-Feb-2014 14:00

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jeffnz

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#994880 26-Feb-2014 15:08

I think you are expecting the battery life of a dumb phone with a smart phone. It isn't Telecoms information but the manufacturers.

Usage varies between users as very few use phone in same way and remember you have a large-ish screen to feed power to.

What are your expectations?? if you get 1 day 19 hours that would be more than most.

edit: Remember also you may have apps that are trying to sync and can't, google Now is a known battery hog have you switched it off?.

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timmmay

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#994905 26-Feb-2014 15:29

The published information is unrealistic. Most people charge their smart phones every 1-2 days, if you're getting 3-4 days you're doing very well. If you want 15 days battery life get a dumb phone with an extended battery, or turn your smart phone off.

hamish225

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#995022 26-Feb-2014 18:49

for future reference, i find windows phones seem to have excellent power management. i get 3 days ish out of my phone, i generally check facebook, my emails once an hour or so every day. i send about 300 texts a month, wifi is always on and it falls back to 3G/4G when theres no wifi.

i tell everyone i know to get a windows phone, they're amazing. my phones a nokia 625 by the way, previously i had an HTC 8s, that was pretty dam good on the battery also.

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

Kirdog

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#995041 26-Feb-2014 19:10

Mugen power batteries is excellent solution, almost 2.5-3 times more juice compare to usual stock one.

Tested on Galaxy S3: 7-8 Hours of ingressing instead of 2.5-3.

Sorry about my English guys :>

sbiddle

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#995118 26-Feb-2014 21:45

The simple reality is modern phones are device that needs to be charged once a day.

jasonwaiheke

277 posts

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#1023305 11-Apr-2014 10:45

I hear what everyone is saying, and I understand these new smartphones use a lot more power to keep all the apps and functions we require going than the old classic dumb phone. and battery life on them is not going to be what they are with out some super duper high spec battery or some crazy battery saving tools or software. But if this is the case, that a battery may last a day or two, despite the fact I know some can get three days, why do manufacturers claim there phone will last such an unrealistic period of time. Where do they get this info from? If they can say or show it lasts that long, why can no user get this time. Either it is a clear case of false advertising ontthier part to sell thier product or we are all doing something they are not.

I have screenshots from two battery analysis apps attached.

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jasonwaiheke

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#1023308 11-Apr-2014 10:46

note; I dont use Kies.

timmmay

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#1023335 11-Apr-2014 11:26

Post the battery page from settings. "Screen" doesn't feature in that app, and it typically takes the most power.

There are scripts that will remove all the Samsung crud from your phone, that would hugely increase your battery life. Something like this but for your phone. Also turn off location services if they're on.

jasonwaiheke

277 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1023356 11-Apr-2014 11:41

location services are typically off, unless for a specific location requirment whereby i turn them back on.

jasonwaiheke

277 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1023360 11-Apr-2014 11:45

As you can see, the majority is in the apps, and the majority in the apps is the kernal or OS. i just cant get this down...

jasonwaiheke

277 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1023362 11-Apr-2014 11:51

oh, and ironically, some of the biggest drain occurs in the night when i am asleep not using it. otherwise drain is minimal unless browsing the net, perhaps chrome is not efficient.

jasonwaiheke

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#1023364 11-Apr-2014 11:55

also i have restricted background data, turned off GPS and turned on power saving to no avail. but i guess turning off background data only stops sysning or use of background data when on mobile data, if WiFi is on which it typically always is and i have wifi at home then there is no restricition on the background data. looking at the stats wifi on does not consume that much, i used to turn it off but after this did not bother... but perhaps the wifi itself might not but what having it on does for the apps does.

timmmay

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#1023392 11-Apr-2014 12:37

I still think the majority of power use will be in the screen. Power the settings power screenshot at the end of a day, not the screenshot from an app. My S4 screen typcically uses 50% of the power of the phone, today I have 55% screen, 22% idle, 6% calls, 6% OS, etc.

jasonwaiheke

277 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1023418 11-Apr-2014 13:00

the screen usage in the app is 20.7% and the screen usage in settings -> battery is 15%

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