Comments on: The Truth About Why Your Smartphone Battery Sucks

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:14:00 +0000

http://www.themobilefanatics.com/the-truth-about-why-your-smartphone-battery-sucks/

By: EPx

EPx — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 02:37:00 +0000

Who cares? iPhone taught everyone to keep a charging cable within reach, and people got used to it. At last resort, you can buy a DealExtreme “external battery” with USB 5V output. This is the price for carrying a computer+GPS+camera+compass+gamepad in your pocket, that happens to double as a cell phone.

If you want just a cell phone, buy a Nokia 1208 (which is excellent anyway, but I prefer to carry just one gadget).

By: MasviL

MasviL — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 23:25:00 +0000

OK, thanks for make me understand.

So I guess using SmartConnect or similar APN switcher (something like “if there is Wi-Fi use it, else use 3G”) is a good idea, right?

By: MasviL

MasviL — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 23:25:00 +0000

OK, thanks for make me understand.

So I guess using SmartConnect or similar APN switcher (something like “if there is Wi-Fi use it, else use 3G”) is a good idea, right?

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 21:50:00 +0000

As I understand it…under heavy transmission, WiFi is much less battery intensive than using a 3G connection with the same load.

Without using Power Saving Mode (PSM) on a WiFi device, the radio in many smartphones top out at Tx/Rx 120mW and can be scaled down to 10mW by the user. Compare that to anywhere up to 2W for GSM/UMTS/HSPA, that’s an immediate difference.

If you’re using a certified WiFi device and use PSM, your packets get buffered by the access point and your radio enters a sleep mode and cycles power to check for waiting packets. This can reduce the power draw by well over ten-fold. Huge numbers. Huge difference if you enable it.

I say, WiFi is less power hungry than 3G.

By: Mike Macias

Mike Macias — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Hi MasviL,

I’m sure that @SimonLR has a better answer than me. I’ve heard both sides of the Wi-Fi vs 3g power consumption argument. I think if you’re constantly scanning for Wi-Fi then you’ll get more drain then just leaving 3g on and Wi-Fi scanning off. But if you are using a constant connection like streaming movies then I would think Wi-Fi will be easier on the battery. But I might be wrong!

By: MasviL

MasviL — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:49:00 +0000

Very interesting article!

So 3G connection drain power more than Wi-Fi? I read a lot of articles they say to avoid Wi-Fi connection because it consumes more than 3G. Please clarify.

By: Allen

Allen — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:17:00 +0000

You make a lot of sense

By: Mark Guim

Mark Guim — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:19:00 +0000

he makes me feel stupid when I read his tweets

By: Hisyam Halim

Hisyam Halim — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 00:50:00 +0000

This is a truth that not many in the tech press know/write about. The limitation here is battery not the processor or how bright your screen can get. A smartphone that ran out of battery right after lunch is not even a phone anymore. Since now Symbian is forced to be more touch friendly and have bigger & brighter screens, it’ll be interesting to see whether Symbian ^3 will fare better than Android & iOS in battery consumption.

In the end, what matter is, when you’re holding a dead 4″ screen devices, your BB & S60 3rd ed friends will be laughing at you when you have to borrow their phones to make a call.