Battery management in WP8.1

[belodion]

Just check this out Belodion. This observation is not supported by detailed measurements

Well I've removed a load of them now, for example a lot of the many many photography apps which I realised I never used. I may put some back because I think my battery problem is now fixed. I've posted about it elsewhere but will repeat here. After a soft reset I noticed three app updates had been trying for a week to download. I'd received no notification of this in the App Store tile. During this time, battery usage graph showed many small downward steps, presumably caused by updates repeatedly trying to download. I downloaded them manually and now the battery usage graph descends in a smooth line. Consumption seems back to normal. The soft reset may have had a beneficial effect as well.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[Theo_andravida]

If there are a lot of apps and games on our phone , more than 50, and 30 tiles on start screen, I can be reason for battery draining fast???

 

[belodion]

^^^Microsoft themselves say that the more tiles on the start screen, the higher the battery consumption. What isn't clear is whether that is true even if the phone is switched off.
The more apps you have, even if you hardly use them, the higher the battery consumption if only because some will run in the background.
Well that's how I see it but I stand ready to be corrected.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[s2mikey]

^^^Microsoft themselves say that the more tiles on the start screen, the higher the battery consumption. What isn't clear is whether that is true even if the phone is switched off.
The more apps you have, even if you hardly use them, the higher the battery consumption if only because some will run in the background.
Well that's how I see it but I stand ready to be corrected.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

This makes sense. I have therefore removed any unused tiles from my main screen. Overall, battery life for me has been excellent on my 520 with 8.1 but I am NOT a power user or a regular gamer. I can probably get 2-3 days out of a charge at my usage rate.

 

[Branden Lucero]

uinstalled Live Lock Screen Beta, went into the Notification Center and tweaked it to shut off everything from being notified. let it charge over night. took it with me to Denver, came home. 15 hours later of checking it, BAM.... 100% battery still. oh yeah, i'm a genius baby.

 

[realwarder]

^^^Microsoft themselves say that the more tiles on the start screen, the higher the battery consumption. What isn't clear is whether that is true even if the phone is switched off.
The more apps you have, even if you hardly use them, the higher the battery consumption if only because some will run in the background.
Well that's how I see it but I stand ready to be corrected.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

It's marginal. Windows is smart enough to learn when you look at the phone and predictively update the icons. Additionally since it wakes up and updates several at once its less of an issue. The resources for background apps are quite tightly managed.

Browsing the web or playing a game will blow away tile update usage.

 

[Branden Lucero]

i also, i can confirm at least for myself, that tile account is irrelevant to how fast your phone drains. maybe it depends on certain apps that you set, but even for today's test to Denver and back, it didnt happen, and i have well over 30 tiles on the screen.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r32/branden_lucero/WP_20140819_23_18_10_Pro_zps3ba4cf55.jpg

 

[ksmx]

Hi guys. Thank you for testing that. I was mainly referring to the animated tiles such as contacts or photo gallery. My guess is that CPU is keeping them animated, even under lock screen. I just had this feeling that after minimizing them to the smallest size, I've got some improvement. Sorry if I am wrong

 

[belodion]

i also, i can confirm at least for myself, that tile account is irrelevant to how fast your phone drains. maybe it depends on certain apps that you set, but even for today's test to Denver and back, it didnt happen, and i have well over 30 tiles on the screen.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r32/branden_lucero/WP_20140819_23_18_10_Pro_zps3ba4cf55.jpg

That start screen of yours looks mighty purty too. The still-at-100% thing of your earlier post is very impressive. I charge in the evening to 100%, letting it sit there for a while, then disconnect. I've occasionally still had 100% showing on first use next morning, but don't get that now...usually lose a few percent during phone sleep.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[Branden Lucero]

its been 1 day and 4 hours and i'm still @ 100%. now i'm kind of... wondering what is going on. either the battery is crawling so slowly to drain, or it the battery saver thing is incorrect, and its not tracking how much battery i really have left. but i know that way WP is tied to how your phone charges and starts up, so everything should be tied to the way that OS is....

also, by checking what's using the battery. there is not a single thing using it. i dont see any blue bar showing usage. i'm going to keep going on this expirement. need to know in the next day or two to see if i'm going to be getting 99, 98, etc.

 

[emperor_skull]

Never knew of this trend untill now, nice ideas

 

[Futra Hurairah Salleh]

On a normal setting, I'd get between 5-10% battery drain per hour. This is with Data on, LTE on, notifications on (for FB, Whatsapp, Telegram, 6tag, Battery, Amazing Weather HD, Malaysian Prayer Time.)

Last night, after a full charge from 0%, I disconnected the charger and immediately set the Battery Saver option to On and 'Now until next charge'.. I got an average 1% per hour (8% after 8 hours of sleep) which is actually good.

 

[Branden Lucero]

did a check up, 1 day, 18 hours. 99%. its decreased but i have no idea when it did. and i'm getting a tiny bit of power draw out of Settings and Battery Saver.

 

[Futra Hurairah Salleh]

Update:
Wow, I think the battery utilization is getting better. Whole night's sleep of 8hours, only 2% drained.. that's with Data, LTE, Battery, Battery Saver, Whatsapp, FB, Twitter, Telegram, 6tag, Amazing Weather HD, Malaysian Prayer Times, and Cortana (always) running in background... but without Battery Saver activated (no shield logo on the battery).

Even on Black would've drained at least 5-10%

 

[chezm]

Meh, my 1020 battery is dreadful with cyan+8.1, lasts about 15 hours max. Disabled lte, no difference. If the battery doesn't improve in next few months I'm taking a long break from wp.

 

[Clad14]

Meh, my 1020 battery is dreadful with cyan+8.1, lasts about 15 hours max. Disabled lte, no difference. If the battery doesn't improve in next few months I'm taking a long break from wp.

WP8.1 has been said to be more permissive with background processes. Check your allowed background apps.

 

[Branden Lucero]

update on battery. 94% @ 2 days, 17 hours. i also noticed that, under Battery Saver, Cortana has kicked in on usage <-- even though location is turned off and i disabled her.

from this conclusion, all i have to say is DO NOT install Live Screen Lock Beta. i think this is what was causing my battery to drain fast before, since the app is in constant usage 24/7 and there is no way to shut it off without completely disabling it from being your lock screen.

after uninstalling it, my battery consumption returned to normal before the cyan update.

 

[Adriaan NL]

My experience is that the OS (and the built-in music player) itself is not so power consuming. So, if you have 8.0 + Black, the phone can stay on for like 5-6 days on a single charge if you have flight mode on (tested on a 920). The same applies to 8.1 + Cyan I think, if you put on flight mode overnight, there is zero to a handful of per cents of discharge.

So, my question is... How destructive are apps like WhatsApp, WeChat or... having 3G/ WiFi on for your battery? I kind of think my 920 is unreliable in terms of battery life. I prefer NOT to use it too much when I am not near a charger for a long while. And, using the phone for navigation - it will die before you reach your destination. This kind of defeats the purpose of a smartphone, right? How can these issues be resolved? Has it something to do with the calibration Clad14 explained?

 

[Clad14]

And, using the phone for navigation - it will die before you reach your destination. This kind of defeats the purpose of a smartphone, right? How can these issues be resolved? Has it something to do with the calibration Clad14 explained?

If your phone does shutdown, it is most likely that the battery is fully depleted. Miscalibration can take the form of sudden drops in the battery level indicator.

 

[chezm]

WP8.1 has been said to be more permissive with background processes. Check your allowed background apps.

I have been playing with the WP settings since the day I installed DP 8.1, im familiar with the way background tasks work...as well as the bugs that would cause aggressive battery drain. The offender with WP, and it has always been (for me anyway with my Focus WP7, 920 WP8 and now my 1020 WP8.1) in use...mind you WP8 was the worst for random battery drains, but now with 8.1 i find when using the device it drains SOOO fast. Im talking IE (which we all know is a process/battery hog...and its background is disabled).

The only WP device i read on these forums that is excellent is the 1520, and i believe it...to an extent. Im not saying all WP's act the same, each device has its own temperament/behavior and quirks. But man, WP8/8.1 has been a battery hog for me since day 1. Mind you today its not SO bad...i managed to pull off @ 17 hrs off charge currently 51% still remaining but thats because i havent used it...when i do use it, i can literally see a % drop every time i pull down the notification centre.

We can say what we all want, we all have different experiences. I am very well versed in WP, by todays standards i wouldnt call the battery performance of this phone acceptable. My iPhone 5S i even managed to get 48 hrs on idle, with tons of background tasks working. MY experience with WP has been extremely educational, I love the Start Screen and the unique nature of WP in general. With that said, i feel at this stage MS should have this OS performance more stable, esp how processes are utilizing the battery consumption...at least the apps that are OS specific (IE). Im not trying to bash WP but i aint jumping for joy or gonna defend it on these accounts...i really do believe its a poorly optimized mobile OS right now. I cant speak on behalf of Android, but im sorry iOS destorys WP in performance...yes i hate to say it, im not an Apple 'hater' but i definitely generally dont favor in their way...but i can be honest. Yes, iOS has many years on WP...but that excuse is getting old now. I am really hoping WP9 excels and blows away the competition...but with all the time MS has had with WP, and after using 8.1 for some time now i expected better optimization. my 2 cents.