[Q] Streak 7 short battery life

[RusGrizzly]

Got a new Steak 7 3 weeks ago. Happy with device overall except VERY short battery life. I know this is mostly because of "ping feature" and have to wait until Honeycomb release, however is there any solid tips on improving before it's release? I did extensive search but was not able to find Streak 7 specific advise... Thank you in advance.

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LAST UPDATE:
After rooting and renaming phone and telephony apk(s) I'm seeing improvement in battery life about 15% drop in 3 hours comparing to 30% what I had previously. This is what I need for now.

 

[otnos]

Read this thread, it will not increase your battery 400%, but it will let you go through the day, so you can charge it at night. This is assuming you have the wifi only model.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1123249

 

[khaytsus]

Got a new Steak 7 3 weeks ago. Happy with device overall except VERY short battery life. I know this is mostly because of "ping feature" and have to wait until Honeycomb release, however is there any solid tips on improving before it's release? I did extensive search but was not able to find Streak 7 specific advise... Thank you in advance.

I suggest you turn off wifi when you're not using the device, that'll GREATLY increase battery life. Also watch partial wake locks and apps using CPU, particularly some widgets will keep the device awake all the time or too much time.

Read this thread, it will not increase your battery 400%, but it will let you go through the day, so you can charge it at night. This is assuming you have the wifi only model.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1123249

That's all complete nonsense. Don't do this, it's a waste of time.

 

[Watcher64]

I suggest you turn off wifi when you're not using the device, that'll GREATLY increase battery life. Also watch partial wake locks and apps using CPU, particularly some widgets will keep the device awake all the time or too much time.



That's all complete nonsense. Don't do this, it's a waste of time.

Actually it is not "complete nonsense", although would argue the 400% thing, Dell has confirmed that part of the battery problem is the "ping" back to Dell, and part of it is caused by the phone.apk and telephonyprovider.apk ..

 

[stevedebi]

Got a new Steak 7 3 weeks ago. Happy with device overall except VERY short battery life. I know this is mostly because of "ping feature" and have to wait until Honeycomb release, however is there any solid tips on improving before it's release? I did extensive search but was not able to find Streak 7 specific advise... Thank you in advance.

I'm using the 4G model, and I have found that it lasts considerably longer on 4G than on WiFi. It might stretch to 4.5 hours or so on 4G.

If you really need more time, I would suggest an external charger. Not cheap, but it would do the job.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZBZ64Q/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=A3GSCL19TAH7YV

 

[khaytsus]

Actually it is not "complete nonsense", although would argue the 400% thing, Dell has confirmed that part of the battery problem is the "ping" back to Dell, and part of it is caused by the phone.apk and telephonyprovider.apk ..

And probably only actually does anything if it's connected to a network. I've had my DS7 for a month and I've experimented with the APKs being there/not being there back and forth, if it makes a difference at all it's very, very small.

My DS7 easily lasts the day with a lot of use, and two days if I'm too busy to mess with it much. I don't watch videos or play games on it typically, however.

 

[RusGrizzly]

Your DS 7 lasts for a day?! WOW!!! Can you please share the trick how? I'm using my tablet for occasional web browsing, checking emails, twitter account. No video or games at all. I have only 2 active widgets I think. But it lasts 4-5 hours at best...
Thank you very much for your time.

 

[otnos]

It doesn't hurt to try removing the phone and telephony apk for yourself, just rename it or move it to a backup folder. Just use gingerbread to root your ds7, then a file manager program like File Expert that allows superuser to rename or move the two apk.

You need to try it for yourself, don't take anyone's word. It will make you feel better about your ds7. Like you, I was disappointed with the battery life, until I found this trick. I'm not saying Khaytsus is wrong, I don't believe in the perfect world where every machine function the same. Khaytsus has his/her experience, I have mine, and so does every other ds7 owner. What is yours?

By the way, have you set your power management to aggressive mode?

 

[Watcher64]

Your DS 7 lasts for a day?! WOW!!! Can you please share the trick how? I'm using my tablet for occasional web browsing, checking emails, twitter account. No video or games at all. I have only 2 active widgets I think. But it lasts 4-5 hours at best...
Thank you very much for your time.

I have the 4G version , but do not use it with a sim card, (although I have one in it just so it does not complain), have it set to Airplane mode with WiFi on , and mine lasts me all day and then some, but also , I don't watch movies on it, unless it is in the dock or plugged in. I easily get all day use of web browsing and the like out of it ... but I am running dj_steve's Honeystreak R2

 

[RusGrizzly]

I have the 4G version , but do not use it with a sim card, (although I have one in it just so it does not complain), have it set to Airplane mode with WiFi on , and mine lasts me all day and then some, but also , I don't watch movies on it, unless it is in the dock or plugged in. I easily get all day use of web browsing and the like out of it ... but I am running dj_steve's Honeystreak R2

Thank you. Probably running dj_steve's Honeystreak R2 helps a lot.

 

[RusGrizzly]

It doesn't hurt to try removing the phone and telephony apk for yourself, just rename it or move it to a backup folder. Just use gingerbread to root your ds7, then a file manager program like File Expert that allows superuser to rename or move the two apk.

You need to try it for yourself, don't take anyone's word. It will make you feel better about your ds7. Like you, I was disappointed with the battery life, until I found this trick. I'm not saying Khaytsus is wrong, I don't believe in the perfect world where every machine function the same. Khaytsus has his/her experience, I have mine, and so does every other ds7 owner. What is yours?

By the way, have you set your power management to aggressive mode?

Apreciate advise. I was looking into rooting my DS7 but it's a shame I could not find an option to set USB in debug mode :-( and I believe it would not work otherwise... In regards powermanagement, I use so-called Juice Defender. Should I disable it and use original one then?
PS
Sorry for so many questions, I'm Iphone person and this is my first Android device

 

[otnos]

Apreciate advise. I was looking into rooting my DS7 but it's a shame I could not find an option to set USB in debug mode :-( and I believe it would not work otherwise... In regards powermanagement, I use so-called Juice Defender. Should I disable it and use original one then?
PS
Sorry for so many questions, I'm Iphone person and this is my first Android device

I misspelled the app name, its gingerbreak. To find usb debug go to setting, application, development. After I removed phone & telephony apk, I uninstalled Juice Def. It did not help anymore.

Setting your power management to aggressive mode will disable data when your screen is off.

 

[RusGrizzly]

I misspelled the app name, its gingerbreak. To find usb debug go to setting, application, development. After I removed phone & telephony apk, I uninstalled Juice Def. It did not help anymore.

Setting your power management to aggressive mode will disable data when your screen is off.

Thanks, last question I hope... If I root DS7, will I be still able to update it OTA when new kernel is available from Dell or I will need to roll changes back somehow?

 

[otnos]

Thanks, last question I hope... If I root DS7, will I be still able to update it OTA when new kernel is available from Dell or I will need to roll changes back somehow?

When you root a phone, or in this case the ds7, you are gaining "administrative" rights, to borrow Windows terminology. It does not change your phone or the os, it gives you the ability to do things that were forbidden, in this case you want to move the phone and telephony apk. You can always un-root it and update when the HC update come out.

 

[RusGrizzly]

When you root a phone, or in this case the ds7, you are gaining "administrative" rights, to borrow Windows terminology. It does not change your phone or the os, it gives you the ability to do things that were forbidden, in this case you want to move the phone and telephony apk. You can always un-root it and update when the HC update come out.

thank you. Appreciate all help

 

[RusGrizzly]

Folks, just wanted to thanks and update everyone involved into the discussion. I root DS7 last night and then renamed phone and telephony apk(s). I'm seeing improvement in battery life about 15% drop in 3 hours comparing to 30% what I had previously. It is good enough for me now and definetely worth to try.

Thanks again guys!

 

[otnos]

Folks, just wanted to thanks and update everyone involved into the discussion. I root DS7 last night and then renamed phone and telephony apk(s). I'm seeing improvement in battery life about 15% drop in 3 hours comparing to 30% what I had previously. It is good enough for me now and definetely worth to try.

Thanks again guys!

I'm happy for you and welcome to the family.

 

[khaytsus]

Your DS 7 lasts for a day?! WOW!!! Can you please share the trick how? I'm using my tablet for occasional web browsing, checking emails, twitter account. No video or games at all. I have only 2 active widgets I think. But it lasts 4-5 hours at best...
Thank you very much for your time.

Really? I'm not doing ANYTHING special and I have a ton of apps installed. And as mentioned I've tried with Phone APKs, without Phone APK's, right now I have Airplane mode on... All the same discharge patterns. Only problem I've ever had is I put a World Time widget in and it apparently was waking the tablet up every minute to update or something, as the tablet's wake percentage was 85% or so. Normally it's around 20-30% at most. Although if I don't reboot after a charge, it's hard to tell since it's awake 100% when charging.

Apps I have installed.. http://www.appbrain.com/user/khaytsus/apps-on-the-dell-streak-7

Here's a few days ago when I was doing some Tasker programming at the end of the day..

And here's the last four days... For some reason it's not super obvious, but generally I unplug around 9am and plug back in around 10 or 11 at night.. Graph makes it look like 2-3 am or something. Compare where the day marker is vs the one day graph above.. Kinda off. But the graphs are right.

 

[S4F4M]

Charged mine overnight.
@8a used it for 60 minutes or so and the battery discharged to 75%.

Put it in sleep (WiFi off), and at 8PM, the battery was dead.

Is there an app that will tell me what process/app is sucking the battery?
I noticed that it flashed on and off every 30-sec to 1-min a few days ago. I wonder if there isn't an app checking for time sync/weather/etc.

Will live wallpapers drain when in sleep?

Thanks for any quick suggestions. I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot extensively.

 

[m16-maniac]

ok i am thinking about buying a used DS7 (mostly because of the good hardware it has in it less the screen)

i currently have a droid-x that i use for my cellphone but not with a cell tower.
i use it with wifi ALWAYS ON....it NEVER EVER DISCONNECTS.
skype is always connected.
i get 37hrs from 100% until about 5%
that is with little use (maybe one hour) basically its a test of how much the wifi radio ALONE sucks the battery when it is the only radio on and always connected.

is there anyway i can get someone else to do this test?
imagine it as your main phone and you want to be able to answer a call at anytime of day or night.
it has to be connected 100% of the time to wifi for skype to be able to do this.

so please....someone test this and let me know.