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Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? - Printable Version

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+---- Thread: Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? (/showthread.php?tid=12776)



Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? - bitnick - 01-13-2021

I've had wildly varying results regarding how long the battery will last with the phone on standby, sometimes lasting a day + a night lying idle with a bit of battery to spare, sometimes dying within a few hours after being fully charged.

Recently I went to Software -> the "three horisontal bars" button -> Update preferences and disabled Automatic updates and Automatic Update Notifications. Since then, the phone has consistently lasted for 24+ hours on standby after a full charge.

I'm not sure exactly what these settings does - the phone still tells me there are updates available now and then (and starts flashing the blue led) - and besides, Software Updates have been broken on my phone for awhile anyway, so I can't really say if there is any missing functionality.

Just wanted to share this possible solution to the lousy standby time, since it can be a real problem! Please share your results if you try it!


RE: Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? - goku499 - 01-22-2021

This is one of the most important feature IMO.


RE: Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? - ragreenburg - 01-22-2021

No idea on the fix but I remember the devs saying that battery life isn't a priority until this phone is daily driver ready so that more time and energy could go to getting it daily driver ready.


RE: Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? - wi_badger - 01-30-2021

I applied your suggested settings right after you posted this, so about 2 weeks ago.     I can't say that I have really noticed any difference in battery life so far, which is to say that typically I see not much more than about 5 hours out and about away from a charging cord.
Since I am using my Braveheart as a daily driver, I have saturated my environment with USB-C cords for keeping it on charge most of the time, except when actually out in semi-wilderness for hiking.

Anyway, I will update if I see any noticeable change.    Thanks for the suggestion, regardless !


RE: Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? - Zebulon Walton - 01-31-2021

(01-30-2021, 05:57 PM)wi_badger Wrote: I applied your suggested settings right after you posted this, so about 2 weeks ago.     I can't say that I have really noticed any difference in battery life so far, which is to say that typically I see not much more than about 5 hours out and about away from a charging cord.
Since I am using my Braveheart as a daily driver, I have saturated my environment with USB-C cords for keeping it on charge most of the time, except when actually out in semi-wilderness for hiking.

Anyway, I will update if I see any noticeable change.    Thanks for the suggestion, regardless !

FYI, for those in the United States charging up in multiple places, I've been finding USB-C charge cables at Dollar Tree stores for $1 each.


RE: Possible fix for lousy standby battery life? - dcinoz - 02-04-2021

I've been using Mobian for several months now on a daily basis.
It had been doing well with mobile (cellular) modem on standby during the day. Typically down to 50 or 60% at the end of the day.
I've even had about 15 to 20% battery drain overnight with modem OFF (and wifi and BT OFF).

However, something must have changed in the last few days as it's gone 'dead' with low battery signal overnight so I can't see the time in the morning. That's always with modem OFF overnight (and wifi and BT off).

I've also had a few longer phone calls during the day and that has drained the battery very quickly (not sure if that was always the case).

I've just done a 'sudo apt dist-upgrade' to see if that helps but it definitely seems like a bad change has been made somewhere very recently (last few days).

Hopefully Mobian / other distros are aware of this too and the damage will be undone. Unless for some reason my battery is dying all of a sudden and it's just my Pinephone!