A power consumption question re: Android.

[spectheintro]

I've been curious about this for a while. Supposedly, WM6.5 had better power management and battery life than WM6.1. I wonder, is this the case with Android?

Generally, we can expect to get worse battery life with a ported OS than one built natively, at least during the opening phases of development. But I noticed on my wife's Sprint Touch that her device, underpowered as it was, seemed to get as good (if not better) battery life under Android as it did under NFSFan's WM ROM. This prompted me to wonder: if we actually nail power management, could Android have better battery life than WM? Or is it a more power-hungry OS in general?

[spectheintro]

I certainly hope so. I really want to run Android and Android only, as I believe it to be a better OS all-round. I just wonder if the TP2, because of its heritage and hardware, would be fighting an uphill battle for battery life. If Android is more draining than WM, I may not realistically be able to use it as my primary. But if Android is a better power manager than WM, then the TP2 could potentially even last longer than it does now.

[Viper786]

I downloaded this widget called Toggle Data. Or maybe it was called No Data. Basically it just disables data. I have my data disabled until I need to use it and this GREATLY increases battery life.

[natemcnutty]

Originally Posted by Viper786

I downloaded this widget called Toggle Data. Or maybe it was called No Data. Basically it just disables data. I have my data disabled until I need to use it and this GREATLY increases battery life.

The biggest thing to remember is that certain things such as wifi are always on if you enable them. At least with wifi, my battery heats up badly even if the screen is off and not in use. Supposedly, the screen doesn't entirely power down properly either, and I know they found it but not sure they have patched it yet.

[Viper786]

Originally Posted by natemcnutty

The biggest thing to remember is that certain things such as wifi are always on if you enable them. At least with wifi, my battery heats up badly even if the screen is off and not in use. Supposedly, the screen doesn't entirely power down properly either, and I know they found it but not sure they have patched it yet.

Did you disable autodimming in windows mobile? because if you didn't, the screen will not fully power down. Mine fully powers down. Check the faq.

And if you download a wifi toggle widget, it is not always on.

[butler360]

I've read about an app called JuiceDefender that turns data off automatically when not in use. Haven't tried it but it seems to get good reviews.

[Viper786]

If you have Wifi on, it will always stay on. Why should it be automatic? How should the phone now when you want Wifi on and when you want it off?

[natemcnutty]

Originally Posted by Viper786

If you have Wifi on, it will always stay on. Why should it be automatic? How should the phone now when you want Wifi on and when you want it off?

Well, I would think that if there is no data going on the wifi and the device is supposed to be in standby that it would turn the wifi off or at least put it into a sleep mode. Wince certainly does this, and if you want wifi enabled while the screen is off, you have to change registry setting.

[Kro-Bar]

I think I may have found what is draining the battery. I think either bluetooth or wifi is staying on while the phone is sleeping. I know some stuff like the keyboard light will stay on if it's on in WM when you start haret, so this seems plausible.
Anyway I disabled everything I could in WM and I've now had Android running for 10 hours unplugged and my battery is at ~60%. This was overnight, so there was very little use, but it's still alot better than I've seen before.

[spectheintro]

Kro:

Let ACL or WoZZer know about this--it could help them work with power management. I get the feeling most of our problems with Android on the TP2 is from things just being called improperly--and a constant on for bluetooth and/or WiFi would seem to fit that bill.