Battery Saver Always On

[jmagill01]

I've had my 520 for a week now. It is my first smart phone. And my main complaint is battery life. Seems to be a very common complaint. Per an hour of research on it, top amongst many ideas to extend battery life seems to be battery saver. But then there are 3 (in advanced) options to choose from. If the battery life needs to be extended, the Always On choice makes the most sense to this smart phone newbie. But Nokia then says it is not recommended. Isn't that a contraction? Use battery saver as the #1 thing to do to extend my battery. But only use it when it is low (meaning I'm already in trouble) or until next charge (again, I'm already in trouble). But Always On which would hopefully keep me out of trouble is not recommended because it prevents many background functions to work.

I suppose that warning might be important to many users. For this newbie, I use my 520 for calling, texting, and maybe some rare google searching - only if urgencies make me unable to wait for the laptop. So my 2 questions are...

1. With my current uses, does the prevention of background functions affect me to any significant extent?

2. Again, I'm a smart phone newbie. So let's assume that in time my uses change. Please give me some examples of uses that would make me choose to NOT use the Always On option.
Thanks,
Jerry

 

[lordsnow]

Microsoft doesn't recommend the Always On option because the notifications and live tiles won't work right.

 

[David P2]

With battery saver on permanently, live tiles wouldn't update as often (if at all). Emails won't regularly be checked/pushed to you - you would have to sync them manually. Basically anything data related (other than web browsing) would need to be done manually to get any updates (like emails or instant messages from Facebook or Whatsapp). Periodically saving your phone's location (so it can be found via the website) probably wouldn't work either.

If all you really do is calls, texts and the odd bit of web browsing then it shouldn't really be an issue until your usage pattern changes.

 

[jmagill01]

Okay, so if I choose the battery saver always on option on days of anticipated higher usage, and then turn off battery saver on days of anticipated lower usage, would any live tiles that I use in the future get updated on those days that battery saver is off.
I understand that this thinking would not be applicable if I am on slower days still using the phone for programs such as emails or FB, etc.

 

[David P2]

If battery saver is off everything will work as normal - the live tiles and notifications will return to life until it's turned on again.

 

[jmagill01]

I am guessing David you mean until it's turned off again.
Thanks everyone,
Jerry

 

[switch side method]

The beat thing to do is go to notification and settings as there will be apps like games that run in the background without you knowing that's a main killer. And you can turn the brightness down too medium to get extra life. Make sure you turn WiFi off when not needed as with blue tooth and it will make a massive difference

 

[aybarrap1]

The beat thing to do is go to notification and settings as there will be apps like games that run in the background without you knowing that's a main killer. And you can turn the brightness down too medium to get extra life. Make sure you turn WiFi off when not needed as with blue tooth and it will make a massive difference

These are probably the top things to do first. Also turn off double tap to wake. With a series of small tweaks, you can keep functionality while getting better battery life. If you like having live tiles up to date (weather, news, etc.), battery saver always on is not the way to go. If live tiles are no big deal then power save always on is the way to go along with other settings and tweaks.

 

[jmagill01]

You mention double tap. That is not an issue since when I go to settings / touch, it won't open. It just reverts back to the same system menu. Limited research says there are updates like Amber and Black, but Phone Update says my phone is up to date, and as (under settings) Extras + Info opens to describe Nokia Black, that just takes me to a general Nokia page. I searched for Nokia Black unsuccessfully from that page.

 

[David P2]

If it's saying Black then that's what you are currently running. Double tap to wake - I think that's phone specific and not all phones support it, which could be why it doesn't show for you.

 

[jmagill01]

Ah, had no idea it meant I am currently using Black. thanks David.