Mobile Phone thread - please include links to good deals

[Brad]

My Galaxy Note 2 has the best battery life of any smartphone I've ever had. Just in case though I have two spare batteries so it's totally no longer ever an issue. I'm using stock rom. Presumably I have touchwiz but I don't really know what that means. I use a different launcher. Battery lasts a couple of days with what I'd call average usage e.g. reading forums, twitter, facebook, emails etc. I have NFC, Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS switched on constantly too so I'm taking no battery saving measures at all.

It's the best phone I've ever had. Despite that though I'll probably go back to iPhone next time just because it'll be more like my iPad and I can use Monkeymote on it :-)

[egparadigm]

It's little things with touch whiz – e.g. not being able to go straight to the camera from the lockscreen. You have to select camera, then put in your pin and then you can use the camera. With cm you just select the rightmost widget from the homescreen.

Thanks for the reply.

[Brad]

Yeah that totally sucks. Didn't realise it was Touchwiz crippling the phone that way, I assumed Android was just a bit crap.

For all iOS's faults I appreciate that when there's an iOS update, unless your device is lacking some specific hardware, then you get to run the latest version. My Note 2 is running Android 4.1 because Samsung, and then my carrier, decide if and when I get an update. Samsung have a 4.3 update out (reportedly it's a bit crap, with people trying to downgrade) but Three haven't put it out yet. There's now talk that Note 2 will get 4.4 as well but who knows if it'll actually be any good on a Note 2 or if I'll ever be given it anyway. With any Android other than a Nexus you have to be happy with the phone exactly the way it is and not be upset if you never get an upgrade because who knows if you ever will.

I've got an external Vita charger that works for practically any USB connected device so I'll probably get another iPhone. The (comparatively) crap battery on iPhone won't be an issue really.

Sorry, going on about my own thoughts rather than helping you Pat!

[charlesr]

Normally the bigger the phone, the bigger the battery and the longer the life.

Have you tried the whole fully charging, fully running it down till it turns itself off, fully charging thing?

[egparadigm]

Not exactly. I did actually buy a bigger battery, but it turned out to be faulty. Even running two batteries I frequently ran out and then I lost one of them.

Tempted to go back to my san fran, but the camera is god awful.

[VR46]

Think the S2 was always a big battery drainer. Take it you did all the usual steps re trying to make the battery last ie turning off GPS, wifi etc when you weren't using them.

Charles, bigger phone = bigger screen too, on my Note 2, If I check the battery usage in settings, the screen can account for 60% of battery usage and I never have the brightness above 50%.

[charlesr]

That's just what I noticed from looking at manufacturer quoted specs.

[VR46]

You're right, but I think the other big bits outweigh the big battery sadly.

[Brad]

Screen always makes up most of my battery usage but I find the battery in the Note 2 at 3100mAh is big enough to easily get me through a whole day. My previous Xperia S was terrible on battery use and the battery wasn't removable either. I do wish phone makers would make this their #1 priority when designing new phones.

[egparadigm]

Am I right in thinking iPhone battery life is good? My brother seems to hunk his 4s is good, but I don't know how much he really uses it.

[Brad]

I would have said yes prior to having my Note 2. It's better than every android I've had apart form this Note. My old 4 used to last me a whole working day (I'd plug it in when i got home) and that included me arsing about with it quite a bit I suppose. Under the same conditions every android I've had would be dying on its arse by the time I got home.

[VR46]

Hopefully these batteries will become the norm before too long, even if they are a few years away.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26934932

A battery that can charge in under 30 seconds has been shown off at a technology conference in Tel Aviv.

Israeli start-up StoreDot displayed the device - made of biological structures - at Microsoft's Think Next Conference.

A Samsung S4 smartphone went from a dead battery to full power in 26 seconds in the demonstration.

[egparadigm]

I've done some research:

Nexus 4 bad power management, big battery, good OS
Nexus 5 really bad battery, good OS
LG G2 amazing battery, terrible OS
Note 2 good battery, bad OS

iPhone good power management despite smaller battery.

Anyone know about battery life for smaller, less flashy phones? Ones that have a camera that's half decent (not amazing)?

Could just get this MASSIVE battery: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4500mAh-Hi...item4d07a7964c

[egparadigm]

What would be the best internet forum to ask for more ideas about this topic?

[Duncan James Waugh]

Normally the bigger the phone, the bigger the battery and the longer the life.

Have you tried the whole fully charging, fully running it down till it turns itself off, fully charging thing?

With lithium-ion batteries fully discharging the battery is a really bad idea as below a particular charge threshold they undergo permanent physical degradation that reduces the total charge and accelerates deteriation. I believe it's the same with li-po batteries too.

What would be the best internet forum to ask for more ideas about this topic?

www.gsmarena.com is the go to site for mobile phones. They list the standby and talk time for every handset, which admittedly doesn't necessarily represent that many use cases but gives an idea of long term drain. They also have comprehensive reviews for most handsets and full technical breakdowns. Bear in mind that with li-po batteries they degrade noticeably faster than li-ion.