Smartphone GPS Battery Life

 

I "bit the bullet last night and order a Google Nexus 4. Anyway, I noticed that it lists its battery capacity as 2100 mAh. That got me to wondering about my Garminfone and it lists the battery as 1150 mAh. So, now what I am wondering is if I can expect roughly twice the GPS navigation operating time with the Nexus 4 vs. the Garminfone or are they way too many variables to assume that?

I do recall reading that not all GPS receiver chips are created equally. Does anybody happen to know if the GPS receiver in the Nexus 4 is more efficient than the Garminfone?

Also, what about things like single core vs. dual core vs. quad core processors. How much difference is there between them in how much power is used?

What about the display? Is it safe to assume that the display of the Nexus 4 would draw more power than the Garminfone because it is larger?

Can things like 4G vs 3G make a significant difference? I seem to recall reading somewhere that some people force their older phones to 2G because they draw less power than 3G. Does it also follow then that 4G draws more power than either 2G or 3G?

Maybe I will find that even though the battery of the Neus 4 is nearly twice the capacity of the Garminfone that it doesn't last that much longer than the Garminfone!

What do you folks think?

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=3277&idPhone2=...

Battery...

Depends on 3G, 4G,screen size, brightness, what apps are running, how often are apps updated, etc. etc. lots of things run down batteries...

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Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

Nexus 4 GPS

I've tested the GPS on mine for 30 minutes or more a few times, and it used 5% battery during that time on LTE. Not too bad at all.

As farrissr stated, there are a few variables involved, though.

--
nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

One app that I find helps

One app that I find helps conserve battery power is Android assistant, free download on Google Play website. See if it is recommended for your phone. Before, I was charging the htc Droid every day or so with just moderate use.

Now I charge once every 4 and occasionally every five days, once I learned to use the app and better understood how the smartphone apps often force themselves on, therby depleting resources more noticeably.

Hope this helps.

Re battery life and phones

I probably would not expect a MASSIVE improvement in battery life, if only because as battery life goes up GPS performance also tends to go up.

(I have gotten roughly the same battery life on GPS to a *bit* better on the GS3 versus the G2/Desire Z...then again, the GS3 has even better GPS performance, and doesn't just use GPS constellations but also GLONASS so it's keeping track of about twice as many satellites. So it's about six of one and half a dozen of the other.)

Battery life will vary depending on whether you're in a 3G or LTE zone or not. Also, if you're in a weaker signal area for cell towers, your phone will suck battery (though fortunately as long as you are using a relatively modern Android phone you can turn the phone data off to conserve battery and just use a GPS app with a built-in map--and there are lots out there...I know you can do this on most HTC and Samsung kit, at any rate, and as the Nexus 4 IS Google Standard I don't see why that bit of LG kit wouldn't allow this).

If you're using the device in a car (rather than, say, on a hike or whatnot--there are solutions there too) I'd still use a car charger/car power cable just to be on the safe side for long road trips, but that's my own two pence and preference. (Then again, I also like to keep a good charge in case there's stuff at the roadside that's GPSable like geocaches to find. grin)

Games turn up the brightness

Games turn up the brightness on the screen and quickly drain the battery.

Turning off Bluetooth, WiFII and GPS significantly improves battery life.

Using something like Google Maps/Navigation uses cellphone data or WiFII to D/L maps.

Battery life on my HTC phone is pretty poor if I'm using GPS. My solution is to have a charger and cable everyplace I'm likely to be using it. Every car I have a charger with 2 USB ports.

Buy yourself a Droid Razr

Buy yourself a Droid Razr MAXX and you don't have to worry about those things.

Removable Battery

I went with the HTC Rezound over the Razr because the Razr didn't have a removable battery.

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><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

The RAZR and RAZR Maxx are

The RAZR and RAZR Maxx are two different phones.

--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams

Yes, I know.

The Maxx wasn't out when I bought my phone.

Can you change batteries in the Maxx?

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><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

Will Try

Makinja wrote:

One app that I find helps conserve battery power is Android assistant, free download on Google Play website. See if it is recommended for your phone. Before, I was charging the htc Droid every day or so with just moderate use.

Now I charge once every 4 and occasionally every five days, once I learned to use the app and better understood how the smartphone apps often force themselves on, therby depleting resources more noticeably.

Hope this helps.

Will definitely this app.

--
Bob: My toys: Nüvi 1390T, Droid X2, Nook Color (rooted), Motorola Xoom, Kindle 2, a Yo-Yo and a Slinky. Gotta have toys.

Battery change

gdfaini wrote:

The Maxx wasn't out when I bought my phone.

Can you change batteries in the Maxx?

It can be done, but the capability of the phone to resist water and dust could be compromised.

--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams

Smart Phone battery life and GPS--

I have an iPhone 4S. I like Waze, and my daughter pointed me to a fun app, Fog of the World. Both of these make use of GPS, and pull in map tiles over cellular.

But doing some simple experiments, the real power hog for these things isn't so much the GPS, or the cellular use, but the constant screen updates! A reasonably modern GPS subsystem should only draw 10 to 20 mA at 3.3 Volts or so -- not a huge drain. It's the processing to update, redraw, and animate the screen that sucks up the power!

Fog of the World runs my iPhone HOT, and drains the battery quickly when it's up and running, recording positions and doing continuous screen updates. But start it up recording GPS locations, and then run it in the background (bring up another app, or just hit the button), my iPhone doesn't run as hot, and the battery drain, as estimated by how fast the charge state changes, is much less.

I know, one of the reasons to run a GPS app is to be able to see what's going on all the time. When I'm doing that with my iPhone, I plug the thing in, and I've made a little hanger to mount it from one of the AC vents, so it stays cool as well.

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Nuvi 2460, 680, DATUM Tymserve 2100, Trimble Thunderbolt, Ham radio, Macintosh, Linux, Windows

The "market" suggests people

The "market" suggests people want smartphones which are small and light. As lower power components are utilized battery size, and capacity, are reduced.

There may be a market for customers who want to use a smartphone as a GPS device and who won't be using a charger when they use it. They might be willing to accept a significantly larger unit but I don't think the market is large enough to market such a product. A solution which utilizes an external battery is probably the answer.

A PP made a great point. Let your screen go dark. Use the voice directions or turn on the screen as needed.

stick with the Garmin

stick with the Garmin

That's a non-starter for me.

I won't buy a phone without a removeable battery.

Strephon_Alkhalikoi wrote:
gdfaini wrote:

The Maxx wasn't out when I bought my phone.

Can you change batteries in the Maxx?

It can be done, but the capability of the phone to resist water and dust could be compromised.

--
><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598