5 ms·

I don't know if it's the SoC or Android itself that's gotten so bad lately, but phones these days are exhibiting similar battery life to phones from years ago w

by causi 5y ago

I don't know if it's the SoC or Android itself that's gotten so bad lately, but phones these days are exhibiting similar battery life to phones from years ago while having enormously larger batteries.

boplicity 5y ago
Not my experience; I have a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. The battery regularly lasts 3 to 4 days with light usage. Something that was unheard of a few years ago. Of course, you can compare this to the pre smartphone era, where batteries often lasted a week, or longer, but that's not really a fair comparison.
- aceazzameen 5y ago
  Do newer Samsung phones still have the ultra power saving mode? It used to convert the screen to greyscale, throttle CPU, disable all background services and apps, and useable only for phone calls, sms, and basic web browsing. It could last over a week.
  - Ourgon 5y ago
    > It could last over a week Install LineageOS but skip "GAPPS" (Google apps), don't install nosy background-active spyware like Facebook and its ilk and you should be able to easily go beyond 1 week on a device with a 4500mAH battery with "light usage". in full colour, with normal functionality. Standby time of up to a month (I got 21 days on a Motorola Defy with a 1700mAh battery), "normal" charge interval of twice per week with normal use. I would not buy a device which needs daily charging.
  - awiesenhofer 5y ago
    Yes they still do, without the greyscale as standard nowadays though. Its pretty great, you can "promote" 1-2 normal apps to work in that mode too. I used it heavily on trips where I only needed the camera and gmaps anyway - my trusty S10 lasted for days thanks to it.
- causi 5y ago
  My current phone is also an S20 FE (SD865). Comparing it to my previous phone, a Oneplus 6 (SD845), both get almost identical amounts of screen-on time while browsing the web at 150 nits, despite the S20 FE having a 4500mAh battery and the OP6 a 3300mAh battery. The SD835/845 era was a high water mark for performance per watt and so far the situation is only getting worse. The 888 and 8 gen 1 are both hot power hogs and the exynos 2200 is a garbage fire.
- Izkata 5y ago
  My original Galaxy S in 2010 would last 2-3 days pretty regularly...
  - MYEUHD 5y ago
    Are you still using it as your daily phone? If yes, which custom rom/android version are you running? and is it still usable?
    - Izkata 5y ago
      I was using it as my only phone with the stock OS up until mid 2018 when it started having what looked like hardware issues - like, sometimes the phone wouldn't ring but I got the missed call notification seconds later. It still had around 1 - 1.5 days of battery life at the time, with the original battery.
DocTomoe 5y ago
I think we're seeing the same phenomenon we've seen with computer memory: Hardware has become larger and faster by orders of magnitude as compared to the early 1990s - yet actual user-facing programs have not become faster, I actually know people who prefer Word 6.0 to modern Word if given the choice. More power does not translate to faster experience, it translates to less efficient software. More battery life translates to doing more wasteful things in the app, optimisation is not considered "worth it" anymore. Related, even if not directly referencing battery life or Android: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30442529 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30442529
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- juanci_to 5y ago
  >I actually know people who prefer Word 6.0 to modern Word if given the choice. In the same vein, I use Photoshop CS2 because it works in Wine, the licenses were distributed for free by Adobe themselves, and specially because it has most of the features I would want from PS.
ldoughty 5y ago
I'd imagine it's hardware growing to meet the capabilities of the battery... While batteries keep growing, we keep increasing screen sizes, pixel density, refresh rates... I believe 5G also consumes more power. On my last phone, I had a few apps that were power hogs, but I'd say that's more poor design by their programmers.
- clumsysmurf 5y ago
  > On my last phone, I had a few apps that were power hogs, but I'd say that's more poor design by their programmers. The two misbehaving apps I use at the moment are Google Fit / Google Earth. Even after I finish my workout it drains the battery, as indicated in Settings -> Battery. I have to force stop them manually. If Google can't write a behaving app, after all this time, isn't that indication of some fundamental flaw in the OS ?
  - h4waii 5y ago
    Both of these applications provide tons of data to Google; they have a clear incentive to keep them running in the background.
dspillett 5y ago
A significant factor in this is screen capabilities. Look at the battery life test results comparing phones with ~1080p screens and ~720p ones, and those with simply larger screens at the same resolution, and you will see definite patterns. There are other significant factors like the overall screen tech used, so it is far from entirely clear-cut, but the fact the device size and resolutions have increased along with battery capacity goes quite a way to explaining why the extra capacity isn't being well reflected in overall run-time between charges. We also tend to use our phones a lot more than we used to, so they spend more time in a given day in active modes rather than standby ones, and many people have more background apps checking for updates than they used to, so there are extra short periods of CPU wake time, and radio activity, when the device would otherwise be in a lower power standby state. SoCs being more powerful will have an effect too, but they are also getting more efficient especially when not in full use, so I doubt that this is significant compared to the factors I mentioned above.
- causi 5y ago
  device size and resolutions have increased along with battery capacity Is that actually true? Five years ago it seemed like every phone had a QHD screen with some 4K options. Now most phones are 1080p, or are set to run at 1080p despite having higher resolution screens. The best phone display I've ever used was the 2560x1440 beauty on my Note 4 and I'd kill to get another phone with a QHD 16:9 OLED panel.
  - dspillett 5y ago
    > Is that actually true? It seemed to be the last couple of times I was researching new phones. Though there is a significant caveat there that I don't buy top-of-the-range flagship devices as the hit when I break them is too high, perhaps the difference does not carry to the really fancy devices with all mod cons because they have more expensive but more efficient screens? The other caveat being that I'm going by 3rd party tests: this isn't something I've verified with my own study. As mentioned above, overall tech could play a role in some larger and/or higher res screens doing better than they might compared to other models wrt battery life: IIRC Samsung use AMOLED screens which are generally more power efficient than the screens that might be used in my price range?
BunsanSpace 5y ago
From my understanding is part of the issue is the quality of batteries is decreasing. Too much demand so phone makers have to use shittier batteries. Anecdotally, I have an S10 and in the two years I've owned it, it's gone from finishing the day with 30% left, to having to charge it 1-2 times a day. I've never had an android phone reach this level, my V30 would still get to the end of the day at 0-10% after two years.
- awiesenhofer 5y ago
  Did something change in how you use it? Or do you use fast charging a lot? Also purely anecdotally ofc but my 3y old S10 still finishes with 10-20% left at night, and I'm using it heavily for browsing during the day (FF+Ublock). I do have some power saving settings enabled though, and disabled fast charging (since it charges over night anyway).
NikolaNovak 5y ago
I assume screen is a massive drain; starting with Apple's "Retina" push, and all manufacturers following, my tiny phone now has resolution and refresh WAY higher than anything I deem functionally useful (though I do have a friend or two that will incessantly talk to me about how "smooooth" scrolling or whatever is; don't care!). As well, while on my original HTC G1 I optimized the thing to an inch of its existence, with modern phone there is SO much happening in background, I don't even know where to start so I give up and have literally bought couple of 10-packs of charger wires, and have wireless charging pods in several rooms. I miss the days of my Palm Treo, when I could take it on a vacation and not bother with charger :P

by causi 5y ago

boplicity 5y ago

Not my experience; I have a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. The battery regularly lasts 3 to 4 days with light usage. Something that was unheard of a few years ago. Of course, you can compare this to the pre smartphone era, where batteries often lasted a week, or longer, but that's not really a fair comparison.

aceazzameen 5y ago
Do newer Samsung phones still have the ultra power saving mode? It used to convert the screen to greyscale, throttle CPU, disable all background services and apps, and useable only for phone calls, sms, and basic web browsing. It could last over a week.
- Ourgon 5y ago
  > It could last over a week Install LineageOS but skip "GAPPS" (Google apps), don't install nosy background-active spyware like Facebook and its ilk and you should be able to easily go beyond 1 week on a device with a 4500mAH battery with "light usage". in full colour, with normal functionality. Standby time of up to a month (I got 21 days on a Motorola Defy with a 1700mAh battery), "normal" charge interval of twice per week with normal use. I would not buy a device which needs daily charging.
- awiesenhofer 5y ago
  Yes they still do, without the greyscale as standard nowadays though. Its pretty great, you can "promote" 1-2 normal apps to work in that mode too. I used it heavily on trips where I only needed the camera and gmaps anyway - my trusty S10 lasted for days thanks to it.
causi 5y ago
My current phone is also an S20 FE (SD865). Comparing it to my previous phone, a Oneplus 6 (SD845), both get almost identical amounts of screen-on time while browsing the web at 150 nits, despite the S20 FE having a 4500mAh battery and the OP6 a 3300mAh battery. The SD835/845 era was a high water mark for performance per watt and so far the situation is only getting worse. The 888 and 8 gen 1 are both hot power hogs and the exynos 2200 is a garbage fire.
Izkata 5y ago
My original Galaxy S in 2010 would last 2-3 days pretty regularly...
- MYEUHD 5y ago
  Are you still using it as your daily phone? If yes, which custom rom/android version are you running? and is it still usable?
  - Izkata 5y ago
    I was using it as my only phone with the stock OS up until mid 2018 when it started having what looked like hardware issues - like, sometimes the phone wouldn't ring but I got the missed call notification seconds later. It still had around 1 - 1.5 days of battery life at the time, with the original battery.

DocTomoe 5y ago

I think we're seeing the same phenomenon we've seen with computer memory: Hardware has become larger and faster by orders of magnitude as compared to the early 1990s - yet actual user-facing programs have not become faster, I actually know people who prefer Word 6.0 to modern Word if given the choice. More power does not translate to faster experience, it translates to less efficient software. More battery life translates to doing more wasteful things in the app, optimisation is not considered "worth it" anymore. Related, even if not directly referencing battery life or Android: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30442529 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30442529

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
juanci_to 5y ago
>I actually know people who prefer Word 6.0 to modern Word if given the choice. In the same vein, I use Photoshop CS2 because it works in Wine, the licenses were distributed for free by Adobe themselves, and specially because it has most of the features I would want from PS.

ldoughty 5y ago

I'd imagine it's hardware growing to meet the capabilities of the battery... While batteries keep growing, we keep increasing screen sizes, pixel density, refresh rates... I believe 5G also consumes more power. On my last phone, I had a few apps that were power hogs, but I'd say that's more poor design by their programmers.

clumsysmurf 5y ago
> On my last phone, I had a few apps that were power hogs, but I'd say that's more poor design by their programmers. The two misbehaving apps I use at the moment are Google Fit / Google Earth. Even after I finish my workout it drains the battery, as indicated in Settings -> Battery. I have to force stop them manually. If Google can't write a behaving app, after all this time, isn't that indication of some fundamental flaw in the OS ?
- h4waii 5y ago
  Both of these applications provide tons of data to Google; they have a clear incentive to keep them running in the background.

dspillett 5y ago

A significant factor in this is screen capabilities. Look at the battery life test results comparing phones with ~1080p screens and ~720p ones, and those with simply larger screens at the same resolution, and you will see definite patterns. There are other significant factors like the overall screen tech used, so it is far from entirely clear-cut, but the fact the device size and resolutions have increased along with battery capacity goes quite a way to explaining why the extra capacity isn't being well reflected in overall run-time between charges. We also tend to use our phones a lot more than we used to, so they spend more time in a given day in active modes rather than standby ones, and many people have more background apps checking for updates than they used to, so there are extra short periods of CPU wake time, and radio activity, when the device would otherwise be in a lower power standby state. SoCs being more powerful will have an effect too, but they are also getting more efficient especially when not in full use, so I doubt that this is significant compared to the factors I mentioned above.

causi 5y ago
device size and resolutions have increased along with battery capacity Is that actually true? Five years ago it seemed like every phone had a QHD screen with some 4K options. Now most phones are 1080p, or are set to run at 1080p despite having higher resolution screens. The best phone display I've ever used was the 2560x1440 beauty on my Note 4 and I'd kill to get another phone with a QHD 16:9 OLED panel.
- dspillett 5y ago
  > Is that actually true? It seemed to be the last couple of times I was researching new phones. Though there is a significant caveat there that I don't buy top-of-the-range flagship devices as the hit when I break them is too high, perhaps the difference does not carry to the really fancy devices with all mod cons because they have more expensive but more efficient screens? The other caveat being that I'm going by 3rd party tests: this isn't something I've verified with my own study. As mentioned above, overall tech could play a role in some larger and/or higher res screens doing better than they might compared to other models wrt battery life: IIRC Samsung use AMOLED screens which are generally more power efficient than the screens that might be used in my price range?

BunsanSpace 5y ago

From my understanding is part of the issue is the quality of batteries is decreasing. Too much demand so phone makers have to use shittier batteries. Anecdotally, I have an S10 and in the two years I've owned it, it's gone from finishing the day with 30% left, to having to charge it 1-2 times a day. I've never had an android phone reach this level, my V30 would still get to the end of the day at 0-10% after two years.

awiesenhofer 5y ago
Did something change in how you use it? Or do you use fast charging a lot? Also purely anecdotally ofc but my 3y old S10 still finishes with 10-20% left at night, and I'm using it heavily for browsing during the day (FF+Ublock). I do have some power saving settings enabled though, and disabled fast charging (since it charges over night anyway).

NikolaNovak 5y ago

I assume screen is a massive drain; starting with Apple's "Retina" push, and all manufacturers following, my tiny phone now has resolution and refresh WAY higher than anything I deem functionally useful (though I do have a friend or two that will incessantly talk to me about how "smooooth" scrolling or whatever is; don't care!). As well, while on my original HTC G1 I optimized the thing to an inch of its existence, with modern phone there is SO much happening in background, I don't even know where to start so I give up and have literally bought couple of 10-packs of charger wires, and have wireless charging pods in several rooms. I miss the days of my Palm Treo, when I could take it on a vacation and not bother with charger :P