[New Results] How power hungry is your radio version? [16-01-2008]

[mrvanx]

Hey people,

following on from artisticcheese's thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=358599) about battery consumption Ive performed a few tests on some different radio versions to see what the actual difference in battery consumption is.

Right now (as of 16-01-2008) I recommend the following radios:

1.47.30.10 with an overall score of 1.22 (the highest in the test)

or

1.54.30.10 with an overall score of 1.21 (2nd place).

Remember people, if you are planning on changing your radio version, flash hardspl, and make sure nothing is running which will interrupt the flash process. The radio flash is still the most risky of all flash processes and it is possible to kill the device so be sure before you flash. In doing these tests I performed over 10 radio flashes in a day and i made usre nothing CPU intensive was running on the PC and that i wasnt going to unplug the USB by accident etc...

-------------------------------------
Test Run 16-10-08:

Before running these tests the phone was soft reset, ALL today plugins shut off (apart from x button), internet explorer for downloding and acbPowerMeter (http://www.acbpocketsoft.com/Products/acbPowerMeter/acbPowerMeter-Overview-2.html) for power monitoring.

All tests again running on WM6 "V3 cabb'd III".

This set of tests is the following:
Test 1: GSM mode, backlight off, downloading for 5 minutes.
Test 2: UMTS mode, backlight off, downloading for 5 minutes.

The results vary and a pattern ive noticed is radio versions 1.47.30.10 and 1.54.30.10 seem to have the same behaviour in GSM modes, perhaps the extra ".30" in the version number denotes a particular tweak or feature??

Radio_Power_Tests_16012008.zip (http://www.mrvanx.org/files/Radio_Power_Tests_16012008.zip)

Enjoy.
-------------------------------------

Inital test run:

Using a freshly flashed version of my "V3 cabb'd" ROM which is a tweaked version of pandora naked 6 3.60 ROM with nothing installed so a lean install and using acbPowerMeter (http://www.acbpocketsoft.com/Products/acbPowerMeter/acbPowerMeter-Overview-2.html) I ran the following tests on each radio rom:

Test 1: Backlight off, automatic standby disabled, all processes stopped using start>settings>system>memory. GSM only and phone left on idle.
10 minutes and average current consumption recorded.

Test 2: Same as test 2 , UMTS only.

Ive taken a screenshot of the data with magicss and normalised the results so the earliest radio version tested is the baseline score.

The results of the first test are in the attached spreadsheet and screenshots.

Conclusions:
The results show that overall the differences are neglegable for these tests, however I still believe there is a major difference in practice. So the next load of tests I propose will test the power consumption with data connection attached. Somehow I want to test during a call or download since the HSDPA power consumption is likely to be a BIG number.

[Voldemort]

how comes you didnt test the latest radio versions? *waits for more results*

nice idea though

[mrvanx]

each test involves flashing a new radio (20 mins-ish) and two ten minute test runs...I need to use my Tytn today so can probably try the other radios later on, it takes a fair ammount of time for each one so i only went from the ground (1.43.00.00) to the one currently on my device (1.47.30.10) last night. I abandoned doing the later ones until ive figured out a worthwhile test to run for ALL versions. Ive presented my findings so far to show that essentially the 4 versions i tried are identical under idle conditions...not really a true to life test.

[kipe]

..big thanks to u bro! ..awesome work as usual.. :)

[Wam7]

each test involves flashing a new radio (20 mins-ish) and two ten minute test runs...I need to use my Tytn today so can probably try the other radios later on, it takes a fair ammount of time for each one so i only went from the ground (1.43.00.00) to the one currently on my device (1.47.30.10) last night. I abandoned doing the later ones until ive figured out a worthwhile test to run for ALL versions. Ive presented my findings so far to show that essentially the 4 versions i tried are identical under idle conditions...not really a true to life test.

Yeah, I think it will be the 3G call and HSDPA tests where the benefit of testing will be found.

My own tests show little difference in the idle power consumption.

[PaY87]

I made very good experience with 1.41.00.10.
Good signal and low power consumption! ;)

[ethos84]

I've changed from 1.54 to 1.48 and I can honestly say my phone goes another day or two without charging!!!!!!!

[mrvanx]

Im gonna do some more tests tonight on the new format probably with some sort of download running (web n walk is usefull hehe).

So i'll post some more results later on if i can.

[Dr.Kanawati]

I tried many different radio roms for my Jasjam, believe me the best radio rom I've used regarding to power usage and signal is 1.46.00.11.
Even when using UMTS and 3G, in other radio roms; when connecting to internet with my laptop, I mean using Jasjam as access point to internet , the battery drains fast even if the Jasjam is connected to charger. but in this radio rom, when the charger is on, the battery stays stable and the Imate can also get charged. I know that this radio rom is designed for Trinity which is GPS enabled, but I am telling my experience. THANKS

[CRCinAU]

For your testing goodness, here are pretty much all the radio roms I have ever come across.

http://www.crc.id.au/files/xda/Radio_Roms/

They are in .nb format - so you'll need to use Duttys tool to get them into .nbh files.

[Starfury]

The power consumption is definately related to voice call usage.
My normal usage in a day means I use about 50 - 80% of my battery.
Whilst away in Tenerife I used my phone exactly the same but without making voice calls and I only used 50% after 3 -4 days.

[CRCinAU]

This is certainly true. I was away in a place with no mobile coverage (no GSM or UTMS) and using the device for GPS navigation only I was able to get 2-3 full days out of the standard battery.

[matar]

What is necessary to detect the correct battery consumption?

Something like this: http://www.vandenmuyzenberg.nl/PowerGuard/ ???

Should I use this tool?

[Starfury]

What is necessary to detect the correct battery consumption?

Something like this: http://www.vandenmuyzenberg.nl/PowerGuard/ ???

Should I use this tool?

Both threads you have posted in have shown you the program that is to be used. Why do you keep asking?

[Wam7]

The power consumption is definately related to voice call usage.
My normal usage in a day means I use about 50 - 80% of my battery.
Whilst away in Tenerife I used my phone exactly the same but without making voice calls and I only used 50% after 3 -4 days.

Experienced exactly the same thing when I was in Majorca. Even though I did use the phone a lot for sending as MMS (as that was free for me) I still got more usage out of the phone in Majorca if I had done pretty much the same usage pattern over here (UK) and that is because I suspect there transmitters put out a stronger signal, which means the phone has to 'work' less to get a stronger signal.

[matar]

Both threads you have posted in have shown you the program that is to be used. Why do you keep asking?

Sorry for double posting, but I read that those tools doesn't show the correct consumption because they needs power themselves and therefore distort the result... Maybe somebody can confirm this? Thank You.

[mattk_r]

A very good point. I've known the radio kicks up the power when you have a low signal, and if it's lost - I turn off the radio until I get back to a good area or it really kills the battery fast.

Just thinking here, but to add another level of complexity to the testing - while statically measuring power drain without moving the device will give repeatable results, could a radio power draw "react" differently to signal strength variations, and not be as "efficient" compared to others while on the move (typical usage)?

For example, if the signal goes above 50db (no idea if I'm even using the correct scale here ;)) it incrementally increases power by 20% for 10 seconds each until an "acceptable" signal level is reached. Once this is achieved, will it reduce back down - say you came around a building an now have a better signal? How long will that take? Will some radios respond more rapidly than others - optimizing power usage vs signal strength?

[CRCinAU]

Dammit Matt! Now you've really got me thinking :P

In a bit of the background on this, the GSM/UTMS protocol allows the base station to tell the mobile to increase or decrease the transmit power of the phone. This allows it to tune the performance of the phones radio to get the optimum signal level at the cell site. It also helps a heap in deciding what cell towers to jump between and all the critical handoff levels and names.

Much more info can be found:
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5357513-description.html

There's a lovely paper about it all here - but I don't want to pay for it :P
http://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?PaperID=18185&reason=500

[tonyb15re]

power useage is down to lots of different factors, one of the main culprits is use of HSDPA/3G and it bounsing up and down between it and GSM when the local Cell doesnt support it or has a weak signal.

I can't believe the statement made above about the battery being used quicker when you talk, of course its going to drain quicker, its permanently transmitting for gods sake ;)

It also depends on how strong the signal to the nearest cell/Base Station is, if its a week signal then the radio/phone will bounce around to find a stronger one, I believe typically a phone will register with up to 3 base stations to enable you to auto switch between cells when you move.

if you're really bored and want to dig into how GSM works heres a starter for 10

http://www.fci-cu.edu.eg/INFOS2005/presentation/GSM_Concepts.pdf

If you want to test weak signals stick your phone in a tin box, assuming this doesnt kill the signal totally then the phone should start ramping up its power output and sucking the battery dry quicker.

[Starfury]

My point was made in reference to the testing of the phone to see what uses the most battery and indicating that we should direct our testing at the phone application over any others.

[mrvanx]

OK ive devised the following tests which would probably replace the idle ones:

Test 1: Phone on, gsm mode, gprs attached........idling. 5 minutes
Test 2: Phone on, gsm mode, gprs attached and downloading. 5 minutes
Test 3: Phone on, umts mode, as Test 1.
Test 4: Phone on, umts mode, as Test 2.

and if people think its a good idea:

Test 5: Phone on, HSDPA mode, as Test 1.
Test 6: Phone on, HSDPA mode, as Test 2.

Im trying to figure out a set of files to download, tried a few ideas last night....anybody got some webspace to download a zip file of a fairly large size (75MB + )??

[tonyb15re]

My point was made in reference to the testing of the phone to see what uses the most battery and indicating that we should direct our testing at the phone application over any others.

Anything that keeps an open voice or data connection should flatten the battery pretty quickly, simply opening a browser won't do this, as you alluded to above you will need to either upload or download something for a long enough period for it to make sense. other option is to open a voice call and leave it going but unless you're on a free voice plan I wouldn't want to recommend that ;).

[Starfury]

Anything that keeps an open voice or data connection should flatten the battery pretty quickly, simply opening a browser won't do this, as you alluded to above you will need to either upload or download something for a long enough period for it to make sense. other option is to open a voice call and leave it going but unless you're on a free voice plan I wouldn't want to recommend that ;).

Can you tell me what is adjustable regarding voice calls that can reduce battery usage. Call quality, transceiver power, call volume, etc

[mrvanx]

Can you tell me what is adjustable regarding voice calls that can reduce battery usage. Call quality, transceiver power, call volume, etc

At the moment i use GSM only since HSDPA kicks in with tmobile when activesync does its stuff over the data connection...thats a serious power drainer. However hopefully the tests with these radios should provide us with some more insight into how much battery each version uses (relative) and then we can draw our own conclusion?

At the moment since your on orange (GSM 1800) id go into phone option>band and switch to GSM and GSM900/1800 + UMTS 2100.

[23ICEMAN23]

Well heres my experience for my dopod 838 pro
ive heard that your phones last for 2-4 days while taking phone calls.
i've called for around 89mins straight on the phone and after that it starts to say that im low battery is this correct? talking 89mins straight drain my battery?
and after a long chat on the mobile phone my phone starts to heat up then lose its connection making me restart my mobile to call again.
my radio is 1.54.00.10
i charge my phone every night. is that the reason my phone battery drains quickly?
most of the radios that are good are the 1.41-1.46 but what is the best radio..

[Starfury]

At the moment i use GSM only since HSDPA kicks in with tmobile when activesync does its stuff over the data connection...thats a serious power drainer. However hopefully the tests with these radios should provide us with some more insight into how much battery each version uses (relative) and then we can draw our own conclusion?

At the moment since your on orange (GSM 1800) id go into phone option>band and switch to GSM and GSM900/1800 + UMTS 2100.

Will that still allow me to use HSDPA?
Also Off topic a sec, do you know what the Contacts exe is called as I want to set it as a TouchFlo gesture but I'll be buggered if I can find the program to run it.

Ta

[mrvanx]

Will that still allow me to use HSDPA?
Also Off topic a sec, do you know what the Contacts exe is called as I want to set it as a TouchFlo gesture but I'll be buggered if I can find the program to run it.

Ta

No HSDPA will only work in UMTS mode. Its probably the reason you use your battery so quickly...its a power hog.

[mrvanx]

OK im gonna get some useable results to you lot tomorrow.

Already tested on my current radio version (1.47.30.10).

[PaY87]

OK im gonna get some useable results to you lot tomorrow.

Already tested on my current radio version (1.47.30.10).

Dude you did a good job yet. The only thing I noticed was that here in Germany 1.5x ROMs are very unstable with 3G data connection. They also use a lot of power.. :o

[Starfury]

No HSDPA will only work in UMTS mode. Its probably the reason you use your battery so quickly...its a power hog.

You said "At the moment since your on orange (GSM 1800) id go into phone option>band and switch to GSM and GSM900/1800 + UMTS 2100."
So surely the above gives me UMTS?

Any idea about the contacts.exe seeing as you seem to be very knowledgable on WM6?

[mrvanx]

You said "At the moment since your on orange (GSM 1800) id go into phone option>band and switch to GSM and GSM900/1800 + UMTS 2100."
So surely the above gives me UMTS?

Any idea about the contacts.exe seeing as you seem to be very knowledgable on WM6?

Come on now dude....in the top menu you select GSM (so it ONLY works on GSM...not both GSM and UMTS)
and the bottom menu select the bands available to you. By doing this you ONLY use gsm, in the top menu select auto to use both...or WCDMA to use 3G.

Sorry i dunno about contacts.exe........contact slither2006 he might be able to help you.



@all

results coming.

[Starfury]

Come on now dude....in the top menu you select GSM (so it ONLY works on GSM...not both GSM and UMTS)
and the bottom menu select the bands available to you. By doing this you ONLY use gsm, in the top menu select auto to use both...or WCDMA to use 3G.

Sorry i dunno about contacts.exe........contact slither2006 he might be able to help you.



@all

results coming.

Well its set to GSM in the top but it can still use 3G just fine.
I thought 3G HSDPA and GPRS were different data protocols/technologies and were available on either GSM or WCDMA?

[mrvanx]

Well its set to GSM in the top but it can still use 3G just fine.
I thought 3G HSDPA and GPRS were different data protocols/technologies and were available on either GSM or WCDMA?

HSDPA is based on UMTS.
GPRS/EDGE are based on GSM.

You CANNOT use HSDPA over a GSM connection you need to have a UMTS/WCDMA connection.

Are you sure you have set it to GSM because you should only get the 'G' symbol. If you get the '3G' symbol then it is still set to either auto or WDCMA.
Do you have the comm manager with the 3G button? if so make sure the 3G button is deactivated.

[mrvanx]

New Results posted.

[noellenchris]

Wow, awesome work. It looks like 1.47.30.10 & 1.54.30.10 are the least power hungry. After all the talk about 1.48, I would have thought that would have been the best. Thanks for all your work!

Chris:)

[patp]

Disappointing, if you rely mostly on 3G it makes little difference. Of course there's much more that could be done - it could be that some radios deal better with a weak v strong signal, or interact with other processes, or even the WM ROM versions. Did you measure the actual amount of data downloaded? It might be more bytes = more energy!!!

This is a great piece of work, thanks for all the time you've spent on it.

[Pumpiron579]

Thanks for your hard work Mrvanx.

[Voldemort]

i always had this odd feeling about the radio 1.54.00.10...
it was the first time a newer radio version drained the batter faster than the previous one (the original radio was some 1.0X) and i noticed an improvement almost every time i upgraded it except for this last time lol

looks like my feeling wasnt that wrong

thanks mr vanx for the great job!

[Starfury]

HSDPA is based on UMTS.
GPRS/EDGE are based on GSM.

You CANNOT use HSDPA over a GSM connection you need to have a UMTS/WCDMA connection.

Are you sure you have set it to GSM because you should only get the 'G' symbol. If you get the '3G' symbol then it is still set to either auto or WDCMA.
Do you have the comm manager with the 3G button? if so make sure the 3G button is deactivated.

I see what has happened, if you go into the comm manager and enable 3g it changes the Settings > phone > band > type to auto instead of gsm...

I will have to leave it on auto as I need to use 3G. Whats UMTS 2100 + 850 compared to UMTS 2100?

[diezoo]

Excellent work!!! WOW!!! :)

I been using 1.50.00.00 because I had a good feeling about this radio and now I confirm my feeling, I will flash my Hermes with you first place in you ranking! ;)

Thank you Mrvanx!!

[claymen]

I've got a whole stack of Radio roms i've picked up from around the place if anyone needs them.

Radio Roms (http://www.parkingdenied.com/downloads/Hermes/Radio%20Roms/) (Link Updated)

There are also a number of them in the wiki however i've picked up a few more than what they have listed there.

Wiki (http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_ExtractedRadioRoms)

[closetland]

I tried many different radio roms for my Jasjam, believe me the best radio rom I've used regarding to power usage and signal is 1.46.00.11.
Even when using UMTS and 3G, in other radio roms; when connecting to internet with my laptop, I mean using Jasjam as access point to internet , the battery drains fast even if the Jasjam is connected to charger. but in this radio rom, when the charger is on, the battery stays stable and the Imate can also get charged. I know that this radio rom is designed for Trinity which is GPS enabled, but I am telling my experience. THANKS

may i use this on my tytn in sweden? i also got the problem with batterydrain even though the cable is connected.

sorry if im threadjacking or something but im a noob on this...

thx in adv

[AikonCN]

How about data transmite speed of 1.47.30.10 in GSM mode,
I feel this radio has a lower speed in GSM(EDGE) mode.

[niftydl]

Fantastic work!

I have been planning to do something like this for a long time, but your results are dead on. 1.47 radio locks onto 3G faster and establishes GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA faster than 1.48. This is Maryland/East Coast US -> Att/Cingular. I will watch the battery for a couple of days with regular usage, but I have no doubts in your results.

:)

Thanks for all the great work!

[galaxys]

Great results and agree 1.47 rocks for me! Plus normal to even better battery usage!

[furiardy]

what's the different between 1.47.30.10 and 1.47.00.10 ?
the original radio was 1.47.00.10, i live in indonesia

[furiardy]

where i can find radio rom 1.47.30.10 ?

[vichet007]

where i can find radio rom 1.47.30.10 ?

Read post #41 from claymen, links to all radio versions are there.

Lyhuoth

[jasonchiu]

i might get shot for typing this but, will the next set of tests be correlating the battery life with reception? (yes i understand that there are many operators but a general view maybe cool? yes? no? lol?)

*ducks for cover*

[bleeding_edge]

i Recently discovered that one of these radio roms seems to bypass the data metering that THREE aus are using.

I cant say which rom But i strongly advise all the THREE users in australia to try some roms out and check the usage on planet 3

ive been getting free data for three months now !!

some of the senior members might be able to explain how a radio rom stops their data metering?

Edit : Big thanks to Mr vanx your work is much appreciated down under.

[Kompuffu]

Great Post, Thanks.

I had for a while the 1.54.30.10 radio. it was working well but had an enormous use of battery. now I'm back to 1.47.30.10 and it works from my feeling same but with much less battery consumption.


Current Radio: 1.47.30.10
Previous Radio: 1.54.30.10

[Wam7]

Great Post, Thanks.

I had for a while the 1.54.30.10 radio. it was working well but had an enormous use of battery. now I'm back to 1.47.30.10 and it works from my feeling same but with much less battery consumption.


Current Radio: 1.47.30.10
Previous Radio: 1.54.30.10

I had pretty the same experience as this. Though from the result here it would seem they are pretty much the same. There may be other forces at work.

[meyekulbayrd]

I'm running 1.41 right now w/ Schap's 3.54b Rom. Only had the phone for a couple days and so far the battery life is better than my MDA with the original 1.08IPL/SPL.

I've browsed this site for a little while and only recently started posting. I had no idea anyone put the time and effort like this into modding a cell phone.. I guess you can check another hobby to my list...

[jasonchiu]

i Recently discovered that one of these radio roms seems to bypass the data metering that THREE aus are using.

I cant say which rom But i strongly advise all the THREE users in australia to try some roms out and check the usage on planet 3

ive been getting free data for three months now !!

some of the senior members might be able to explain how a radio rom stops their data metering?

Edit : Big thanks to Mr vanx your work is much appreciated down under.

which one? i am using 3 in UK!

[bleeding_edge]

I dont think this would work in three UK, we in aus apparently arnt running 7.2 however id say the uk allready are.

someone inside three told me the rollout is due very soon.

[thekrush]

Great Post, Thanks.

I had for a while the 1.54.30.10 radio. it was working well but had an enormous use of battery. now I'm back to 1.47.30.10 and it works from my feeling same but with much less battery consumption.


Current Radio: 1.47.30.10
Previous Radio: 1.54.30.10

I have the same feeling on mine...seems like the 1.54.30.10 battery is burning way too fast...reverted back to 1.47.30.10 as well. Thanks!

[driz]

Has anyone tested radio roms in southwest Asia for signal strength, reliability, and battery life? Thanks.

[roomtek*8525]

Great Post, Thanks.

I had for a while the 1.54.30.10 radio. it was working well but had an enormous use of battery. now I'm back to 1.47.30.10 and it works from my feeling same but with much less battery consumption.


Current Radio: 1.47.30.10
Previous Radio: 1.54.30.10

i have the 1.54.30.10 radio, is it reallllllly advisable to switch, is the battery drain at least 1 hour different from the 1.47.30.10?

[MaRaHoX]

I do not understand to this - results of power consumption are similar in case of 1.47.30.10 / 1.54.30.10 - how could 1.54 consume battery power much faster? Could someone explain? Are these feelings based on some measurement? Are these results depended on GSM network? I also proceeded these tests and my results with 1.54.30.10 are similar to Mr.Vanx's...

[All-Purpose Guru]

Actually, the best measurement of battery consumption is the following:

UMTS connection in progress,
GSM call in progress (be right between two towers so the phone switches back and forth)
No connection, attempting to bring up UMTS
No connection, attempting to make a GSM call
You can do the "no connection" tests by sticking the phone in an unplugged microwave (believe it or not)

I'm a firmware engineer that works on cellphones, these are what we use to test power consumption.

This is the situation when the phone has cranked up the radio to full power to try to catch a tower. This is why your cellphone croaks quickly when you do an international (over water) flight and you forget to turn the radio off.

[All-Purpose Guru]

It is also possible that different radio ROMs burn more power because they were designed for different areas-- the .30.10 and .0.0 ROMs following a pattern would tend to bear this out--

For example, you need very high powered radios in the US for GSM because our networks are very weak; heck, certain HTC phones (the Faraday comes to mind) need a wart on top to accommodate a larger antenna in US-spec phones.

In Europe, for example the UK, you can crank down the radio power because there are lots of towers. Mountainous countries will also need more power.

Which ROMs are Cingular/ATT ROMs?

[jerroen]

My Hermes (200) was originally shipped with radio rom 1.47.00.10. Reading this post I decided to flash my radio rom to 1.47.30.10 to save power.

But my Hermes consumes more power with 1.47.30.10 then with 1.47.00.10. I always charge my Hermes in the evening and dismount the adapter when he's full. Normally in the morning my battery shows 100%.

With radio rom 1.47.30.10 the battery shows 70%?

Is my Hermes different or don't you measure the standby time?

[dinoalbert]

May I ask (sorry if this was already asked and answered before)..... if I just flash a new radio on my Hermes, wont it delete everything like a hardreset or a new ROM flash? Will all my apps/contacts remain?

Also, where can I donwload those Radio versions you recommended?

Thanks...

[te_les]

i just flashed the 1.47.30.10 and the 1.54.30.10 and the battery drains really really fast less than a day.
does anyone know the different between x.xx.30.10 and x.xx.00.10 because i think it may affect the usage and battery drain. i live in indonesia and my previous radio rom was 1.03.00.10 and with that rom my hermes can last for 2-3 days without charging.

[Oleschuldad]

Damn, I flashed 1.47.30.10 last Thursday night and used it all day Friday and this weekend and am completely flabbergasted. After seeing so many posts both positive and negative I was skeptical, but all I can say is I am impressed.

I charge my phone when I get home and it is normally 100% when I go to bed around 1130pm.. I used it for an alarm so it is unplugged and by my bed. I get up at 330 am and get to work by 430am. By this time my battery is normally down to 70%. By late afternoon(4pm) my battery is down to 30% and by 6pm I am getting warnings that it is going to shut down due to low battery.

Its 515 am now and its still at 100%. I have push mail that runs constantly. Use the internet occasionally and AIM occasionally. Friday I used the music player for almost two hours straight and it barely made a dent. Just to see how long it would last I didnt charge it Friday night at all.. Saturday morning I still had 50% battery. I finally plugged it back in the charger Saturday afternoon because we were going out later that night and I didnt want to take a chance of having a low battery while out. I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs at work this week....

[hardcore]

It is also possible that different radio ROMs burn more power because they were designed for different areas-- the .30.10 and .0.0 ROMs following a pattern would tend to bear this out--
I believe the clue to this would be to see which radio versions are packaged with the official ROMs for each region. Looks like the last 2 numbers somehow affect the radio ROMs optimizations.

To me it looks like:
xx.xx.00.10 radio ROMs are general use
xx.xx.30.10 radio ROMs are Australia-targeted
xx.xx.00.00 radio ROMs are US-targeted

And also while testing, the Band setting of the phone *may* have an effect on data transfer rates (and thus power consumption). Since most people leave it on Auto, it would be only fair to test it with the Band set to Auto.

[Zero|Cool]

Hey you guys everytime i try to install a radio rom i get this error, FLASH write, it goes suddenly form 0% to 7% gives error and then the device stucks on the bootloader screen.Im using the CRCinAU radios and his custom RUU to update. I tried FARIAS RUU updater, but same error. The radios are in nbh format.

Help?:(

[zocster]

Hey you guys everytime i try to install a radio rom i get this error, FLASH write, it goes suddenly form 0% to 7% gives error and then the device stucks on the bootloader screen.Im using the CRCinAU radios and his custom RUU to update. I tried FARIAS RUU updater, but same error. The radios are in nbh format.

Help?:(

Best practice, flash with your carrier's shipped ROM first then downgrade/upgrade your radio and then flash with your desired cooked ROM ... hope this helps.

[hardcore]

Been testing for a few days:

1.54.00.10 vs 1.54.30.10
1.47.00.10 vs 1.47.30.10

The .00.10s and .30.10s of both versions are very similar in quality and power consumption. I noticed one pattern:

The .00.10 versions tends to go to "G" (2G) more often in standby.
The .30.10 versions tends to go to "3G" mode more often in standby.

Naturally the .30.10 versions used up the battery a little faster.
The .00.10 versions consumed noticeably less battery for me - less than 10% of the battery overnight (around 8 hours).

[ermenzegna]

1.50.00.00 and OS 5.2.19949 (Build 19949.1.2.0 PV DVH) (Diamond) 2G 6MB PP Unlocker
the battery last longer than any other ROM I ever use (from 100% to 20% approx almost 2 and half days with normal usage like call and sms and 3G and HSDPA all day no GPRS or Edge) :D

[jerroen]

Did some testings today (after I've bought a new stock 1350mah battery) with acbPowerMeter.
I've now my Hermes for a couple of years and always used radio rom 1.47.00.10, the radio rom that was originally flashed on my phone.

For the test I call my conference call number for 9 minutes and compares the power use of radio 1.47.00.10 with radio rom 1.54.00.10.

Results:
RR 1.47.00.10
avg 153 ma
total 11 mah

RR 1.54.00.10
avg 146 ma
total 10 mah

And then I decided to lower the brightness of the screen (now on the 4th point of the left) and turned the blinking service LED off with nueLED:

RR 1.54.00.10
avg 136 ma
total 9 mah

Tweaking safes power :D

[baal_zebub]

hello,

so 1.47.30.10 and 1.47.00.10 seem to be ok. - but what about 1.47.00.00 ?

this radio is my original radio. since i heard flashing the radio is a big risk - i'd like to keep it - if it's ok.

did anybody compare 1.47.00.00 to the others ? is it worth the risk to change to 1.47.30.10 ?