After a couple of weeks in waiting and 40+ hours of running tests the Spotlight is finally ready to unveil the results of the Epic Touch’s battery assault. Last week’s post outlined the protocol I leveraged to put battery life to the test but if you missed it here is the link providing the details:
(if you are unable to view the URL post a comment and I’ll repost the details as a comment)
I’ve got a couple of updates I need to disclose since that post; first I added a gaming test scenario which is simply an obvious miss on my part. Second I added a standby scenario with the 3G radio so readers could further baseline the impacts of the 4G radio on battery life. Last but not least I need to inform you that along with all the sync and display setting I previously mentioned I also ran a live wallpaper during the tests. (not overly impactful but in the spirit of full disclosure. . .) With all that said my intent with this test was to come up with everyday battery use scenarios or conditions specifically requested to give potential buyers and admirers an idea of what they can expect from the device. Undoubtedly you have probably heard that the battery life for this device is significantly improved over previous generations of Android devices but by how much? My advice is check out the results below, compare them to your current device’s performance and make the call! Personally I’ve had the good fortunes to have a good baseline in that I owned the previous generation Epic, which like the EVO, had battery life challenges. (so much so I had a horkin 3500mAh extended battery)
Test Results
For context I will mention this, each scenario was tested for 5 hours or until I bumped up against the low battery warning at 15%. Test results are stated as such; of course you would know all of this if you were a faithful Mobile Spotlight follower. No pressure but follow me. . . do it. And just so you know I’m not making these results up I’m including screenshots for each scenario, enjoy!
Scenario 1: Constantly Stream Pandora or Netflix while on a 4G connection
Purpose: Test whether or not you are going to be able to watch the entire length of “Muppets go to Hollywood” on the plane and then stream your “Michael Bolton” Pandora station during your lay over.
Test Results: 13% battery after hitting the battery warning at 4 hours, alternated at 1 hour intervals between the two applications
Comments: A little better than I expected as I’ve traditionally understood streaming video to be the biggest drain on battery life and testing proved that out. I was happy with 4 hours of overall use as I normally don’t do this type of activity for more than an hour/hour and a half at a time but another hour would have been nice.
Test Result Image:
Scenario 2: 4G connection, normal use of checking SMS/email/twitter notifications as they appear
Purpose: Test to see what impact 4G radio has on normal daily use to help determine if there is any truth in the 4G drain urban legend.
Test Results: Full 5 hours, 59% battery life remaining
Comments: Compare this one to the results from Scenario 3, not a huge difference. If you are in a 4G coverage area you might want to consider simply leaving your 4G connection on and remove the stress of dealing with it. That is unless you are like me and have programmed yourself over time to unconsciously turn on/off the connection. Change takes time, cut me some slack.
Test Result Image:
Scenario 3: 3G connection, normal use of checking SMS/email/twitter notifications as they appear
Purpose: Examine 3G battery life under normal daily conditions sans voice usage, assumes you are like me and prefer to text someone than actually talk to them. . .
Test Results: Full 5 hours, 65% remaining
Comments: This test is a good benchmark on what you can expect out of the battery life when you aren’t engaging multimedia functions on the device. Suffice to say the Android and Touchwiz software updates are doing a good job of controlling background tasks.
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Scenario 4: Talk time, leverage voice and check all SMS/email/twitter notifications
Purpose: Test battery life for all the yackers and telecommuters out there, you know who you are.
Test Results: Full 5 hours, 51% remaining, attended 2 hours of conference calls with the display dormant during calls
Comments: 15% more drain than the previous test scenario but I did spend two hours on the device in speaker mode. Voice doesn’t seem to be a big drain on the battery and I don’t doubt the stated 8.7 hours of talk time based on this test.
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Scenario 5: GPS use- leave GPS radio on and leverage Google Maps, Navigation, Yelp, etc
Purpose: Test out the battery life for the directionally impaired, geocachers, and traveler types. How detrimental is it to not know where the h#ll you are going?
Test Results: Full 5 hours, 28% remaining, roughly spent 2 hours of the 5 hours leveraging GPS based services off and on but GPS radio was always on.
Comments: This is the test that surprised me as I thought the GPS radio would match the battery drain of streaming video. I know 28% after the five hour period doesn’t sound like a lot but to put it in context you could have used GPS services the entire 3 1/2 hour drive between Kansas City and St. Louis and still have power left over afterward. Of course that means you would have needed GPS services for a road trip that is almost a perfect straight line East and West, great example Scott. . .
Test Results Image:
Scenario 6: Office Talk
Purpose: This one is for your Cary! For those not in the know Office Talk is a free application that allows you to have Microsoft Lync IM services on your phone. Both Cary and I had this on our Epics and it was a battery drainer so looking to see what impact it has on the Epic 4G Touch.
Test Results: Full 5 hours, 52% remaining and I was on the application quite a bit
Comments: Adds roughly a 10% drain against the baseline readout in Scenario 3, just need to decide if the battery expense is worth having the connectivity
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Scenario 7: Standby times, little to no interaction with various radio settings
Purpose: Test standby times with 3G/4G standby battery life, originally had 3G and 4G split into two different scenarios but this post is already way to long.
Test Results: 3G- Full 5 hours, 79% remaining, checked a handful of text messages
4G- Full 5 hours, 66% remaining, had to take a couple of 5 minute calls
Comments: 4G connection impacted standby time more than I thought after reviewing the results from Scenarios 2 and 3. The only stated standby battery life I could find was 252 hours or 10 ½ days. Not sure I believe that but that measurement might represent leaving the device untouched in airplane mode the entire time. (extremely useful)
Test Result Images:
Scenario 8: Gaming, 3G connection
Purpose: How useful is the device to gamers and their endless hours of slaying the dragon, drinking Mountain Dew, eating Doritos, and stretching thumb cramps.
Test Results: stopped at 3 hours with 32% remaining, left a game running the entire time and periodically slipped in some playing time in between work duties.
Comments: I apologize for not running the full 5 hours on this one but I just didn’t have it in me. I like to game as much as the next person but I fear in my age I’ve lost patience for it. In terms of the test results this is sort of what I expected as Angry Birds, which was my game of choice during the scenario, is littered with advertising transported over a data connection. That coupled with the display being constantly on resulted in a very video streaming like result.
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Test Conclusion
Overall the test results are in line with what I expected given the marketing hype around the improved battery life and the experiences I've had with the device over the course of the last 5 weeks. I feel like we've finally reach a point technologically where we don't have to compromise between display quality and battery life. The Super AMOLED display tech can be classified as both vividly beautiful and efficient. This isn't the first device I've touted as much improved over previous generations as the Gingerbread update has shown benefits in the HTC EVO 3D and Motorola Photon. The Epic 4G Touch out performs those devices because the new display tech is designed to use 15% less power than the first edition of AMOLED tech found in the original Epic. Pretty big accomplishment for a display that still surprises me, haven't found a phone yet that looks quite this good. To wrap up I personally think the battery life will meet the demands of even the most demanding users but don't take my word for it. . . compare my test results to your normal usage patterns then predict what you would get. Until next time Spotlighters, never spit in the wind and always tell your mom you love her! (especially since you live in her basement)
Link to previous Samsung Epic Touch Post:
http://mblspt.blogspot.com/2011/10/battery-test-precursor.html
Link to previous Samsung Epic Touch Post:
http://mblspt.blogspot.com/2011/10/battery-test-precursor.html
