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macbook pro i5

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 13, 2011
1,338
1
New Zealand
Hi, I get 3-4 hours on screen time(half brightness, 3G mostly off, bluetooth always off, GPS mostly off) on my Nexus 4 with franco kernel, are there any kernels that can give me 5 hours with they way I have my phone set up?
 

strausd

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
I've tried franco, trinity, faux, and matr1x on my Nexus 4. Here's the bad news, there is no one click fix for poor battery life.

All of them gave slight battery improvements, but nothing too substantial. The only way to really get good battery life on the Nexus 4, or to improve battery life on any Android phone for that matter, is to limit its functionality.

Never use 3G data, never use GPS, never use bluetooth, limit screen brightness, disable automatic syncing, turn off Google Now, etc. Basically, turn your smartphone into a feature phone and it will get good battery life.

Otherwise, just use a phone with a larger battery, like the Galaxy Note II or RAZR MAXX HD. Or wait for the Moto X which is rumored to have a fantastic battery. Also the Nexus 5 has been rumored to have a large battery, but all rumors regarding the Nexus 5 at this point can't be taken too seriously.
 

macbook pro i5

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 13, 2011
1,338
1
New Zealand
I've tried franco, trinity, faux, and matr1x on my Nexus 4. Here's the bad news, there is no one click fix for poor battery life.

All of them gave slight battery improvements, but nothing too substantial. The only way to really get good battery life on the Nexus 4, or to improve battery life on any Android phone for that matter, is to limit its functionality.

Never use 3G data, never use GPS, never use bluetooth, limit screen brightness, disable automatic syncing, turn off Google Now, etc. Basically, turn your smartphone into a feature phone and it will get good battery life.

Otherwise, just use a phone with a larger battery, like the Galaxy Note II or RAZR MAXX HD. Or wait for the Moto X which is rumored to have a fantastic battery. Also the Nexus 5 has been rumored to have a large battery, but all rumors regarding the Nexus 5 at this point can't be taken too seriously.

Well that sucks. the battery is a one of a few reasons why iOS 7 might bring me back to iPhones.
 

maxosx

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2012
2,385
1
Southern California
I've got two Nexus 4's.

One I use as a daily smartphone and one I have dedicated to modding and trying various roms and other things. I get about six to seven hrs of run time consistently. However in fairness I've been using Android for years and optimize my phones for best performance.
 

macbook pro i5

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 13, 2011
1,338
1
New Zealand
I've got two Nexus 4's.

One I use as a daily smartphone and one I have dedicated to modding and trying various roms and other things. I get about six to seven hrs of run time consistently. However in fairness I've been using Android for years and optimize my phones for best performance.

The Nexus 4 is my first Android phone. I got it in February and I thought the battery would get better, but oh well I still have the iPhone 5S too look forward to:)

(no this does not mean I will stop using Android)
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,738
6,109
The Nexus 4 is my first Android phone. I got it in February and I thought the battery would get better, but oh well I still have the iPhone 5S too look forward to:)

(no this does not mean I will stop using Android)

I get through a day, but that is b.c I basically use the phone as a phone and light browsing. If I get off work and start using the phone for an hour consistently, I watch the battery drop at an alarming rate :eek:
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
I can get around 2-3 hours of on screen time depending on my usage. I've even managed 4 hours of on screen time a couple times. I can get about a day out of it which is fine for me. 4.2.2 fixed battery significantly. On 4.2.1 I was lucky to make it until noon.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,738
6,109
I can get around 2-3 hours of on screen time depending on my usage. I've even managed 4 hours of on screen time a couple times. I can get about a day out of it which is fine for me. 4.2.2 fixed battery significantly. On 4.2.1 I was lucky to make it until noon.

For a minute I thought I wrote your post haha. I had the same experience as you. I can get through a day with little use...right now I have 38% battery with only 52 mins screen time
 

Kaenon

macrumors regular
Oct 4, 2011
154
1
Hi, I get 3-4 hours on screen time(half brightness, 3G mostly off, bluetooth always off, GPS mostly off) on my Nexus 4 with franco kernel, are there any kernels that can give me 5 hours with they way I have my phone set up?

That is pretty bad.

I have my Nexus 4 as stock and I got my phone back in November when it was launched and my battery lasts all day (unless Google Services or some other 3rd-party app gets stuck).

If you notice a quicker drain than normal, go into your battery usage stats and quit the applications that are causing an issue, or do a hard reset (not the battery pull, obviously).

If I just send a couple texts or emails, my battery will be 90-92% by lunch time (5 hours after its off the charger). Then after browsing pulse news, and the Bills forum at lunch, I'll have between 70-77% juice left.
 

sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
I've tried franco, trinity, faux, and matr1x on my Nexus 4. Here's the bad news, there is no one click fix for poor battery life.

All of them gave slight battery improvements, but nothing too substantial. The only way to really get good battery life on the Nexus 4, or to improve battery life on any Android phone for that matter, is to limit its functionality.

Never use 3G data, never use GPS, never use bluetooth, limit screen brightness, disable automatic syncing, turn off Google Now, etc. Basically, turn your smartphone into a feature phone and it will get good battery life.

Otherwise, just use a phone with a larger battery, like the Galaxy Note II or RAZR MAXX HD. Or wait for the Moto X which is rumored to have a fantastic battery. Also the Nexus 5 has been rumored to have a large battery, but all rumors regarding the Nexus 5 at this point can't be taken too seriously.

Not true for all phones. For example, back when it was out the galaxy S3 on 4.0.4 gave me an easy 5-6 hours of screen on time (no root and hacks) with the same usage i did on my iPhone 4. I used auto brightness and never turned off GPS, it is not used unless an app requests it.

The Nexus 4 is simply atrocious and this is why i don't believe anyone who gave this answer to my complaints about it "because android this or screen that or wifi this or giant screen that etc etc" because the GS3 also came with the same capacity, 2100 mah. The N4 battery life reminded me of samsung captivate, it gave me the exact same usage. Pity really.

After all my experiences with that devices i firmly believe that this is a "you get what you pay for" scenario, so enjoy the gimped functionality for $300-$350 outright.

If the N5 is also going to follow this, i am willing to bet it will do poorly in all the chronic areas N4 did i.e. battery, camera, and storage compared to OEM flagships.

----------

That is pretty bad.

I have my Nexus 4 as stock and I got my phone back in November when it was launched and my battery lasts all day (unless Google Services or some other 3rd-party app gets stuck).

If you notice a quicker drain than normal, go into your battery usage stats and quit the applications that are causing an issue, or do a hard reset (not the battery pull, obviously).

If I just send a couple texts or emails, my battery will be 90-92% by lunch time (5 hours after its off the charger). Then after browsing pulse news, and the Bills forum at lunch, I'll have between 70-77% juice left.

And many other similar size android phones will be at 80% or higher with same usage. The N4 battery simply sucks. No denying it. And it may not even be the battery itself, it could be the poor radio LG shoved in it which sucks tons of power, or the poor management of screen. Who knows, neither google or LG want us to know. The same phone, Optimus G does better than this cheaper travesty.
 

strausd

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
Not true for all phones. For example, back when it was out the galaxy S3 on 4.0.4 gave me an easy 5-6 hours of screen on time (no root and hacks) with the same usage i did on my iPhone 4. I used auto brightness and never turned off GPS, it is not used unless an app requests it.

The Nexus 4 is simply atrocious and this is why i don't believe anyone who gave this answer to my complaints about it "because android this or screen that or wifi this or giant screen that etc etc" because the GS3 also came with the same capacity, 2100 mah. The N4 battery life reminded me of samsung captivate, it gave me the exact same usage. Pity really.

After all my experiences with that devices i firmly believe that this is a "you get what you pay for" scenario, so enjoy the gimped functionality for $300-$350 outright.

If the N5 is also going to follow this, i am willing to bet it will do poorly in all the chronic areas N4 did i.e. battery, camera, and storage compared to OEM flagships.

Yes it is true for all phones. The reason the GS3 got better battery life was because it didn't have to power a quad-core S4 Pro CPU and it had a less power hungry GPU. Also it used Super AMOLED, which typically uses less power than LCD screens, especially with black pixels.

If you were to change the screen tech and CPU/GPU in the GS3, it would have gotten worse battery life. If you would have put dual core CPU and more energy efficient screen tech in the Nexus 4, it would get better battery life. The fact still remains that there is no one quick fix for battery life. Everything you bolded in my previous statement is still accurate. If you want to extend battery life, the only way is to disable the features that make a smartphone a smartphone. Why you think that is "not true for all phones" is ridiculous. Battery life is dependent upon the components inside the phone. If you have more efficient components, you will get better battery life. But in relation to extending that batter life, there is no one click fix outside of disabling features. And that is true for all phones.

Yes, you do get what you pay for. But outside of battery life, the Nexus 4 is a fantastic phone at a huge bargain. A $300 phone runs Android better than a $650 phone runs TouchWiz. You just can't beat its performance for the price.

If the N5 is going to follow the same N4 trend, it too will be a huge hit. Great power at a great price factory unlocked? You bet people will go for that. Also, rumors have it that the N5 will have a 3000+ mAh battery in addition to a Nikon camera on the back. Of course that is just a rumor, but even that one rumor is more evidence than what you have.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
Well that sucks. the battery is a one of a few reasons why iOS 7 might bring me back to iPhones.

Don't let the Nexus 4 put you off and make you switch to iOS solely because of it's battery life. I have one and don't use it anymore because of it's terrible battery life but there are other Android phones with much better battery life. Couldn't be happier with my S4 which gives me 12-14 hours on time and 3-4 hours screen on with everything turned on except Google Now.
 

torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,633
2,734
Sydney, Australia
I've tried franco, trinity, faux, and matr1x on my Nexus 4. Here's the bad news, there is no one click fix for poor battery life.

All of them gave slight battery improvements, but nothing too substantial. The only way to really get good battery life on the Nexus 4, or to improve battery life on any Android phone for that matter, is to limit its functionality.

Never use 3G data, never use GPS, never use bluetooth, limit screen brightness, disable automatic syncing, turn off Google Now, etc. Basically, turn your smartphone into a feature phone and it will get good battery life.

Otherwise, just use a phone with a larger battery, like the Galaxy Note II or RAZR MAXX HD. Or wait for the Moto X which is rumored to have a fantastic battery. Also the Nexus 5 has been rumored to have a large battery, but all rumors regarding the Nexus 5 at this point can't be taken too seriously.

Interesting because using Franco kernel im getting 5-6 hours SOT on average and 3 days standby. This is more then double what i get on stock.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
Interesting because using Franco kernel im getting 5-6 hours SOT on average and 3 days standby. This is more then double what i get on stock.

What are your settings? :eek:

How in the world are you getting battery life like that. What have you turned off? :p
 

torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,633
2,734
Sydney, Australia
What are your settings? :eek:

How in the world are you getting battery life like that. What have you turned off? :p

I don't have anything turned off. Im just using a very good lightweight Custom Rom called SaberMod and Franco Kernel with my own settings and my phone seems to like the combination. I could only get 4 hours SOT and 2 days standby tops with other ROM and kernel combinations.


Here is a pic of my current standby at 50% battery.
Screenshot_2013-06-23-13-40-49.png
 

sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
I don't have anything turned off. Im just using a very good lightweight Custom Rom called SaberMod and Franco Kernel with my own settings and my phone seems to like the combination. I could only get 4 hours SOT and 2 days standby tops with other ROM and kernel combinations.


Here is a pic of my current standby at 50% battery.
View attachment 420297

No screen on time, so can only assume you let it sit while doing nothing.

We will believe it once we see it.
 

strausd

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
Interesting because using Franco kernel im getting 5-6 hours SOT on average and 3 days standby. This is more then double what i get on stock.

I can get that if I spend all my time doing simple tasks like just reading on the Kindle app.

But once you take into account a more varied usage, SOT drops significantly. Once you do some light gaming, YouTube, take photos, videos, video chat, maps, stream Google Play Music, then you won't be getting anywhere close to 6 hours.

What we are discussing now is battery life based on usage patterns. Note that this is still very different from my original point which people still seem to be missing. You can extend battery life by changing settings and changing usage patterns. But if you want to keep the exact same usage by just downloading an app or just flashing a new kernel or ROM, you will not go from 3 hours SOT to 6. It just won't happen.

It is a known fact that battery life will vary depending on usage. It is in the fine print for every device out there. But dramatically extending your battery life without any change in usage won't happen.

----------
I don't have anything turned off. Im just using a very good lightweight Custom Rom called SaberMod and Franco Kernel with my own settings and my phone seems to like the combination. I could only get 4 hours SOT and 2 days standby tops with other ROM and kernel combinations.


Here is a pic of my current standby at 50% battery.
View attachment 420297

Looks like you haven't used your phone at all. Especially considering the two things accounting for a majority of your battery usage have in their names "idle" and "standy".
 

torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,633
2,734
Sydney, Australia
No screen on time, so can only assume you let it sit while doing nothing.

We will believe it once we see it.


Believe what you want lol. No skin off my nose.

----------

But if you want to keep the exact same usage by just downloading an app or just flashing a new kernel or ROM, you will not go from 3 hours SOT to 6. It just won't happen.


Well im sorry to say but my usage has not changed but my SOT and Standby has doubled since using my current rom and kernel combo. Before jumping to conclusions perhaps you should actually try the combo im using????

----------

Looks like you haven't used your phone at all. Especially considering the two things accounting for a majority of your battery usage have in their names "idle" and "standy".

Yes you are right i have not used the phone to much but even when not using the phone at all i could not get 2 days standby with stock kernel let alone at 50 percent charge.
 

strausd

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
Well im sorry to say but my usage has not changed but my SOT and Standby has doubled since using my current rom and kernel combo.

Well seeing as how you have presented no evidence to support your SOT before the change, I guess we will just have to take a random person online at their word ;)

Care to explain your average usage? Because your previous screen shot showed a lack of usage...

Yes you are right i have not used the phone to much but even when not using the phone at all i could not get 2 days standby with stock kernel let alone at 50 percent charge.

In this case you are not talking about extending your battery life based on usage, but instead extending battery life by not using it. See the difference?
 

torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,633
2,734
Sydney, Australia
In this case you are not talking about extending your battery life based on usage, but instead extending battery life by not using it. See the difference?

Did you even read my post??? Re read it then re comment.....

----------

Well seeing as how you have presented no evidence to support your SOT before the change, I guess we will just have to take a random person online at their word ;)

Care to explain your average usage? Because your previous screen shot showed a lack of usage...

I don't really have any evidence, i just took that screen shot to give you an idea of my standby time. TBH i don't really care if people on a forum don't believe it, i will continue to enjoy my great battery life either way ;)
My average usage consists of browsing the web, You Tube App, Falcon, Phone calls and Whatsapp.
 

strausd

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
Did you even read my post??? Re read it then re comment.....
Thats a no. You don't see the difference.
I don't really have any evidence, i just took that screen shot to give you an idea of my standby time. TBH i don't really care if people on a forum don't believe it, i will continue to enjoy my great battery life either way ;)
My average usage consists of browsing the web, You Tube App, Falcon, Phone calls and Whatsapp.
Your screen shot in no way reflects the usage you just stated.
 

3bs

macrumors 603
May 20, 2011
5,434
24
Dublin, Ireland
Did you even read my post??? Re read it then re comment.....

----------



I don't really have any evidence, i just took that screen shot to give you an idea of my standby time. TBH i don't really care if people on a forum don't believe it, i will continue to enjoy my great battery life either way ;)
My average usage consists of browsing the web, You Tube App, Falcon, Phone calls and Whatsapp.

Evidence would be clicking on Screen and taking a screenshot just to show them your screen on time :p
 

torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,633
2,734
Sydney, Australia
Thats a no. You don't see the difference.

Your screen shot in no way reflects the usage you just stated.

Well believe what you like but that's what i do on my phone, like i said on my current charge i have not used the phone much but im going to get 4 days standby with this usage, with my normal usage i only get 3 days standby ;) I understand why you wont believe a random person on a forum, im the same. Feel free to try out the combo and see for yourself as its the only way you will believe anything. Perhaps you may be surprised. I know i was. :)
 
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