HTC Desire Battery LIFE

[SwitchBlade]

Hi Folks, 1st I hope this has NOT been done before... I don't believe it has.!

This Thread is for all HTC DESIRE Handset owners who worry, or, are concerned about the poor battery LIFE. Like all 1Ghz SmartPhones they do use a lot of juice... (to be expected)

Can you help by posting what level of time you get out off you're "HTC DESIRE"... 1st in (idle) low power mode... (Then in Heavy use Mode)...

I would be grateful to all Desire owners who contribute to this Thread...

Cheers...

David.

PS. Thanks for your support in this Forum.!

 

[SwitchBlade]

My HTC Desire Battery USE:

In (Low power Mode) I get 1-2 days... making just a few calls...

Plus in (Heavy USE Mode) I get about 6 hours, with heavy use of the internet, TEXTING, and calls...

I have let my battery run in, which took a few days...

However the Sony X10 only manages about 4 Hours in heavy use Mode.

Which has many of the same features...

All Replies Welcome...!

 

[Messiah]

I am quite a heavy use of my phone and see some quite varying results. However,

in high usage mode, leaving all services (WiFi, BT, GPS, syncing, screen, etc) turned on I will get 6-8 hours use from the phone before getting the battery warnings.

in low power mode, same usage but turning off WiFi, BT, GPS and only turning on when needed and leaving screen in low brightness mode, I will easily get a full 36 hours or more.

The biggest pain for me is that I came to the Desire from an iPhone 2G. Without all the fancy power draining stuff I could easily get 3 days + from my trusty 2G. I therefore accept that all the nice to have stuff (3G, GPS, etc) will consume battery and have to live with that.

I overcome this by putting my phone on charge whenever I am at home and haver a car charger in both our vehicles so top it up throughout the day.

The biggest issue of all for me was the battery drain experienced over night, which is never consistent. The other night I went to bed around midnight with the phone at 100% and when I awoke at 0645 it was at 34% In contrast, last night it was on 97% when went to bed and it is still now, 0840, at 93%. Difference was last night I turned off BT and GPS. One or both of these two are the definite battery hogs.

 

[Messiah]

BTW, I too had an X10 which I loved the form factor of. I did not like the interface though and like you found the battery life to be appalling. Even with regular top ups I could just not live with it despite really wanting to to see what it would be like with 2.1 on it later in the year.

Hate to think what the battery life will be like with 2.1, or does 2.1 have better power management?

 

[Sniper Ash6]

Bluetooth is a massive power hog, if you do not need it then definitely switch it off

I've recently purchased the Desire (well chosen for an upgrade) and it's nice to see the battery life isnt bad compared to phones with similar features.

Can't wait until I get it - hopefully early next week

 

[Messiah]

You will not be disappointed. It is a technological marvel

 

[Gary D]

My battery life is pretty good

When i got the phone 2 weeks ago a put it through 10 full charge/recharge cycles and i think its really paid dividends.

I run my Desire with everything turned Live wallpapers, background syncing of apps every 2 hours, Push email, calendars etc and i get through the day on about half a battery. I dont use thinhgs like wifi, bluetooth until i need too. Although i do use a Sony Bluetooth headset for listen to music.

There is an excellent app on the market called "settings profiles" which can turn things on and off and given times. For example, i leave for work at 6.50 every morning - at 6.51 wifi is turned off and bluetooth is turned on so i can listen to music on the way to work. Bluetooth then turns itself off at 7.30 when i arrive at work. Bluetooth then comes back on at half 4 when i leave. Wifi automatically comes back on at 5.30pm when i normally return home. My phone goes into airplane mode every night at half 11 when i go to bed and takes itself out of "airplane" at 6am every morning, turns on wifi and downloads the Guardian for me to read on the way to work.

It can be a bit confusing to set up as there are so many options but once you get it right its works like a dream and you dont have to remember to turn things off and on.

All in all i'm really impressed with the battery life, its certainly better than my old iPhone 3G.

G

Linky - Setting Profiles Full - Android app on AppBrain

 

[SwitchBlade]

Yeh, I must agree When you disable WiFi, BT, GPS, 3G, and any other Power Hogging source - The HTC Battery Does Last surprisingly longer.

Like Messiah said: 6-7 Hours on High Drain Mode, is spot on....

and 36-48hrs if your Lucky in Low Drain Mode.

I just charge my DESIRE every evening, for just over an hour, and that seems to keep it above what my needs are...

I have found turning to standard 2G does help, if you don't need to use the internet... a genuine power saver, that's how you may well get upto 36-48hrs MAX.

 

[Sniper Ash6]

My battery life is pretty good

When i got the phone 2 weeks ago a put it through 10 full charge/recharge cycles and i think its really paid dividends.

I run my Desire with everything turned Live wallpapers, background syncing of apps every 2 hours, Push email, calendars etc and i get through the day on about half a battery. I dont use thinhgs like wifi, bluetooth until i need too. Although i do use a Sony Bluetooth headset for listen to music.

There is an excellent app on the market called "settings profiles" which can turn things on and off and given times. For example, i leave for work at 6.50 every morning - at 6.51 wifi is turned off and bluetooth is turned on so i can listen to music on the way to work. Bluetooth then turns itself off at 7.30 when i arrive at work. Bluetooth then comes back on at half 4 when i leave. Wifi automatically comes back on at 5.30pm when i normally return home. My phone goes into airplane mode every night at half 11 when i go to bed and takes itself out of "airplane" at 6am every morning, turns on wifi and downloads the Guardian for me to read on the way to work.

It can be a bit confusing to set up as there are so many options but once you get it right its works like a dream and you dont have to remember to turn things off and on.

All in all i'm really impressed with the battery life, its certainly better than my old iPhone 3G.

G

Linky - Setting Profiles Full - Android app on AppBrain

That looks really good, I have always wanted something similar for my 5800 but never found anything. Now when I get my Desire I can install that and configure it how I want

Thanks

 

[Gary D]

SwitchBlade - Re: PM

I cant really give high and low figures as i only use my handset one way. Lucky for me I work in an office so i can always plug my desire in if i need too. I've not been in a position where i have to "eek out" the battery.

I would recommend that everyone run the Desire through a at least 5 charge and discharge cycles i think it really helps the capacity of the battery.

My wife and I went out the day last saturday and I hammered the phone all day - taking pictures, videos, using GPS, Maps and Layar and it still lasted all day. It was on its lst legs when we got home 10 hours later but it still lasted.

My general tips would be:

• Do at least 5 charges and discharges
• Set the screen to auto brightness
• Turn off Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS (if you not using them)
• Set app updates to a senisble interval
• use setting profiles to automate the turning on and off and unused services so you dont forget.

I become more and more impressed by Andriod everyday, the Desire also made me look at iPhone 4 and think that it wasn't "all that" anymore.


G

 

[SwitchBlade]

Yeh Like Gary said, here is a good LINK for Desire owners..."Below"


Setting Profiles Full - Android app on AppBrain


check it out...

 

[SwitchBlade]

Best LINK yet:

Hot Android apps on AppBrain

Thanks for your HELP Gary

 

[Ivor_Biggern]

My battery seems to be fine considering what the phone does.

From new i followed the advice where you run the battery until the phone auto switches off due to the battery running out and i did this on 4 consectutive occasions followed by the 3 hour charge.

I have live wallpaper running, wifi is on most of the time when i`m at home. I do a decent amount of web browsing on top of the usual phone calls and texting. I occasionally use google maps but not that often.

I comfortably get a day and a half out of the battery, if i didn`t web browse i found that i got just over 2 days from the battery.

 

[Neo_VR]

I know how people keep saying its terrible, but i rekon its on a par with a piephone 3gs. sure if you use apps and things that will use the full power of the phone and CPU its going to drain the battery, but in normal use im getting very similar kinds of life from the desire as i got from a 3gs.. the killer being having exchange sync switched on which more than halfs the life.

 

[Rizvan]

I think my battery life is good for what the phone is capable and I charge it every night.

Riz

 

[PIPChUK]

I am a fairly light user. I tend to only turn on services when needed and screen on 50%. With a few phone calls, the odd brief browse or photo, I can get 60 hours plus. I am presently abroad and have all data etc turned off. Basically I am running in airplane mode. I have been running for 85 hours and am on 61% battery remaining. I suspect I may well get a week out of it at this level (I am not lying, honestly!).

I should say that the reason I am in airplane mode is because I am in radiation shielded areas. As a result, the phone cannot get a reliable signal BUT that does not stop it from trying. The power required to keep searching is obviously massive - last week I was getting little more than a day!

 

[johnloughray]

My battery life is pretty good

When i got the phone 2 weeks ago a put it through 10 full charge/recharge cycles and i think its really paid dividends.

Hope to get my desire this week some time. Is there a function on it that can charge and discharge the phone in several cycles or are you talking about using the phone and charring it 10 times.

 

[Singh400]

My battery life has improved dramatically since I received it (beginning of May). Throughout May I was charging it every night, but recently even with medium to heavy usage, the battery is always above 60-70%.

 

[Gary D]

Hope to get my desire this week some time. Is there a function on it that can charge and discharge the phone in several cycles or are you talking about using the phone and charring it 10 times.

Charge it and discharge it. its a pain but i genuinely believe it helps battery life in the long run.

G

 

[Sniper Ash6]

Well my Desire arrived the other day and I lobbed the battery and used it without charging.

It already had about half battery which lasted me a fair while but my use so far has been light to say the least. Now my exams are over I will be properly customising it and everything so will update this thread with how I get on - as well as learning my way properly round Android as have never used it before but am extremely pleased so far

At the moment I am following Gary's advice of let the battery fully run out for the first few cycles

 

[SwitchBlade]

I'm now getting 4 days, after going into Phone settings and having my Phones screen close in a few seconds after no use... and after light use with a lot of standby, a few calls etc. 4 days is really achievable... if you tweak it right... Some others have claimed 6-7 days, well I have not got that far yet... but deffo a big improvement on my early battery stamina.!

any one else with better battery life than before, please post - cheers!

 

[Messiah]

Getting mixed results with mine. Was getting just about a full day and then purchased Settings Profile Full. Fabulous app and fully tweakable. Even lets me turn off Wi-Fi automatically as I enter Starbucks as that was causing my phone to not connect to the Internet (was trying to connect to the Openzone hotspot but could not, and was therefore turning off 3G)

Since then I have been using about 60% of battery in a full days use and I do use heavily. However, downloaded a couple of new apps the other day inc battery alarm) and now I go to bed with 100% battery and waking up with just 34%. What is going on? It is even set to Airplane mode, wi-fi and data off, screen brightness minimum etc at night (automatically by SPF). I have now deleted the battery monitoring app hoping that was causing it.

Very odd. but know I can get really good battery life when I find out the rogue apps.

 

[Sniper Ash6]

Can you not go into the about phone and then battery section to what is sucking the juice?

I didn't realise that Setting Profiles Full application wasn't free but from what I hear it may well be worth the purchase

 

[Messiah]

SPF is definitely worth the price.

It is phone idle that is using about 65% of the used battery over night. NO idea why as I have SPF turn off wi-fi, data, bluetooth, screen brightness, everything. The first couple of nights it used like 1 or 2% overnight so must be one of the new apps (2 x battery monitors) I have downloaded.

Edit: Just remembered I also installed SMS Autoreply. Wonder if it could be that.

 

[Sniper Ash6]

I saw there was also a lite version, do you know the difference please?