Slatedroid info

Now that Samsung‘s popular new GALAXY S 4 has hit the shelves of multiple carriers, some of you are probably looking for a nice durable case. Well, how about one that doubles the battery life at the same time? We’ve seen them before but today ExoGear announced their all-new ExoLife 2,600 mAh extended battery case for the GS 4, so check it out below.

The GALAXY S 4 already has some pretty stellar battery life considering it rocks a 5-inch 1080p HD display and quad-core processor, but there’s always those enthusiasts that want to get a little more juice. Then Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 series has their Quick Charge 1.0 feature, but still, more battery life the better these days.

In case you’re wondering, the GALAXY S 4 does have a removable battery and comes out of the box with an impressive 2,600 mAh battery. Which is bigger than most devices of its size. The case being offered and available now from ExoGear is reportedly offering “double the battery life” as it comes with a similar 2,600 mAh battery integrated into their case.

Technically you could go a full 2-3 days without searching for a wall outlet with that. Sounds nice right? As you can see above, the case wraps around the device and also docks into that USB port on bottom to add the additional juice, and even offers a little LED indicator for battery levels while on the go. Sadly it certainly isn’t cheap and will run you $79.99 in either white, or black. It’s pretty sleek considering what is packed inside, get one today and let us know what you think in the comments below.

In the past mophie was a name that many associated with the iPhone. While mophie has some external battery packs available, a big attraction coming from them are the battery cases and up until a few months back — those were only available for those with an Apple device. That being said, mophie had previously released a battery case for the Galaxy S III and as of today they have announced another for the HTC One.

The HTC One battery case is your standard mophie juice pack. That is to say it is a case with a built-in battery. In the case of the HTC One, that means a 2500 mAh battery. This case is priced at $99.95 and will be available in two colors — black and silver. The one catch here, the silver case is not yet shipping. You can move forward with an order, however the mophie website notes the silver juice pack as being ready to ship in mid-May. Otherwise, the black juice pack is available and will ship out in one to two business days.

Aside from providing an extra 2500 mAh battery for your handset, the juice pack is sporting an LED indicator and a pass-through USB. That basically means you will be able to still sync and charge your HTC One without removing the case. Plus, the juice pack is designed so you can still use the features of the handset which means the speaker, microphone, camera and other features remain accessible.

The juice pack will however add a little extra size and bulk to your handset. In this case, the HTC One juice pack measures in at 2.88 x 6.06 x 0.67 inches and weighs in at 5.05 ounces. For comparison sake, the HTC One by itself measures in at 2.68 x 5.4 x 0.36 inches and weighs in at 5.04 ounces. Simply put, you will be trading the slim design for some extra battery life.

Android devices are smart mobile devices. They’re actually mini computers more portable than netbooks or laptops. But, their power requirements aren’t as mini as we’d hoped them to be. Many Android users frequently bewail the battery life of many Android devices.

Yet, used in moderation — and, with energy-saving habits practiced by the user — an Android tablet’s or phone’s battery life can last longer than originally intended. How do you make your battery last longer so you can use your device longer?

In this article, read about tips and tricks to increase Android battery life for your phone or tablet.  (You may also view our video guide incorporating these tips and tricks.)

Unused device features

Connectivity features

Whatever isn’t in use or needed, turn it off. You’d do the same for your electric fan, TV, or the lights at home — I presume. Turn off phone or tablet features that you don’t use, especially the following:

• GPS
• Wi-Fi
• 4G/LTE and mobile network connection
• Bluetooth
• NFC

These connectivity features eat up some of your battery power even if they’re idle, and they eat a significant amount of power when they’re not.

Haptic feedback

A frequently vibrating device also tends to lose power faster.  Haptic feedback refers to the shaking that happens on your device as a result of some interaction or activity on the device. Such feature uses a small vibration motor, which, in turn, eats up power. Do you really need your device to vibrate every time you touch the screen or every time a notification arrives even if the device is on your desk? It’s wise to turn on haptic feedback only for important UI interactions (e.g., typing on the keyboard) or when your device needs to be in your pocket.

Power Control widget and task apps

You can use Android’s built-in Power Control widget to quickly toggle most of the energy-draining features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Autosync, and Auto Brightness. Just place the widget on your homescreen and tap on the toggle buttons as needed.

But, using even a handy widget such as Power Control can become tedious if you need to do it several times a day. The good news is that there are several apps on the Google Play Store that you can use to automate, or semi-automate, the turning off of energy-draining features. Here are some that you can try (in no particular order):

AutomateIt-Automate Your Droid

• This free and ads-free app lets your device perform actions according to triggers that you associate them with. For instance, you can set it to disable certain features (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc.) at certain hours of the day. Get the paid version for more flexibility with the triggers, actions, and rules.

 

Tasker

• This app, although having no free or trial version, is extremely flexible. It works in a similar way to AutomateIt. You can set your device to perform tasks/actions (e.g., disable network services) according to “contexts” that you specify (e.g., time of day, day of week, etc.).

 

 

Juice Defender

• This app is specifically written to help users lower battery consumption and squeeze more power out of their devices’ batteries. The default profile targets the most battery-sapping components (e.g., mobile data [3G/4G], Wi-Fi, and the like), but you can customize the settings further according to your needs.

 

 

Mobile network, Wi-Fi, and network signal

If you must connect to the Internet, and you have a choice between connecting via Wi-Fi or mobile network, choose the former. Mobile data connections sap your battery power faster than Wi-Fi. The reason has something to do with the relationship between strong network signal and distance from the transmitter. Since Wi-Fi presumably is closer to you, you tend to get a stronger and more stable signal, therefore reducing the needed energy to power your phone’s antenna.

So, when connecting to Wi-Fi, stay in a place with the strongest signal. This way, your phone’s antenna won’t need to work so hard to get a stable network signal, saving you some battery power.    The same is true for your carrier’s network signal. The better the reception signal is, the better it will be for your battery life.

Also, it’s a wise idea to disable your phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot feature if it’s not being used. This feature also eats up a lot of power.

Autosync, refresh frequency, notifications

Instead of letting your apps sync their data automatically, choose to do it manually. Or, at the very least, enable autosync only for those apps that really need it. The logic behind this is that when an app is scheduled to sync, it will look for an active Internet connection — and the process uses power. When it finds a connection, it will connect and start syncing even if there is nothing to sync — this part uses power, too. Either set apps to sync manually or set them to sync less frequently.

And, you’d want to sync over a Wi-Fi connection instead of 4G/LTE or mobile data network.

App/widget refresh frequency

Certain apps such as Facebook, Twitter, RSS readers, Instagram, and the like can be set to fetch fresh content or updates in intervals. The longer the refresh interval you specify, the better it will be for your battery life. To be more economical, set the app to never refresh automatically; instead, do the refreshing by hand.

The same principle applies to homescreen widgets, especially those that need an Internet connection to work. If possible, don’t place such widgets on your homescreens. If not possible, be very selective. Weather widgets, for example, look nice and fancy, but they need to update weather data from their servers, consuming power along the way. You can lessen the frequency of such updates, or remove the widget entirely.

Ad-free apps

The same principle also applies to ad fetching in ad-supported apps. These apps use power to download ads and upload user data for location-specific advertising. Where possible, opt for ad-free apps, whether paid or free.

Notifications

Disable or minimize notifications and alerts for apps that you don’t need those for. If all of your apps alert you every time a notification or update comes in, your battery can drain faster than usual. To send you notifications, apps run in the background to pull information from their servers, and consume power in the process.

If you have a device running Android 4.1 or 4.2 Jelly Bean, you can go to Settings > Apps, switch to the All tab, view each app’s info page, and uncheck the “Show Notifications” option.

Screen and display

Generally speaking, more light means more power used. Applied to phones and tablets — the brighter your screen, the more power is used.

When you are indoors, set your screen’s brightness level to the lowest setting that is most comfortable to your eyes. You don’t usually need the extra brightness indoors, and your battery life will be happier for it.

Other people suggest using the auto-brightness feature, which can be handy. But, for the auto-brightness feature to work, the light sensors need to work and consume some minimal power to detect the ambient light levels. So, it’s actually counterproductive.

To save some more juice, shorten your screen’s timeout. If you normally have your screen sleep after five or ten minutes, lower it down to 30 or 15 seconds. Keeping your screen on for a few more minutes without using it will waste battery power needlessly.

Wallpapers and themes

Live wallpapers

Live wallpapers are all nice and pretty. They’re actually a big reason why some people ditch other mobile OSes and stick with Android. But, live wallpapers can also take a toll on your device’s battery life.

As far as I know, there’s no consensus about how much drain live wallpapers inflict on the battery, but one thing is certain: they consume power because they use CPU and GPU resources to animate. And, then, there are the poorly coded live wallpaper apps, which can potentially eat more battery power than you bargained for.

If you can live without the stunning eye candy, you can probably save a bit on battery life.

Dark themes

This tip may not have much effect on LCD-screened devices, but for devices using OLED screens (including AMOLED screens, such as those on many Samsung mobile devices), darkness can be a saving grace for your battery.

Unlike on LCD displays, the pixels on OLED screens produce their own light. The brighter the pixel is (as in the case of white), the more power is used. Black is practically an unlit pixel, so it uses no energy. Thus, the darker your screen or its background, the less power the OLED pixels use.

Based on that explanation, you might want to use a black wallpaper and a dark theme on your OLED-screened Android device. It can save you some juice.

Location services, background data

You could also squeeze a little bit more juice by turning off Location Services (usually found in Settings > Location Services). You might want to prevent apps from using your location info. You will also most likely want to disable the “Location and Google Search” option (or “Wi-Fi and Mobile Network Location” option on some phones) to prevent your device from using Wi-Fi and/or mobile networks for triangulating your precise location and sending the data to Google servers. The process, needless to say, requires power.

Keep an eye on apps that use data in the background. Some apps, such as the Play Store and Gmail apps, continuously collect and send data in the background. You can restrict such background usage of data — per app — and your battery will be the happier for it.

But, you can also perform a blanket restriction in Settings > Data Usage; tap the Menu button tick the “Restrict Background Data” option to enable it. You can also enable per-app restriction by opening each app’s info page.

(Note: The “Restrict Background Data” option may not be available in certain phone models. Also, Google itself considers per-app background data restriction as a “drastic measure that may also affect the app’s performance or cause it to malfunction,” so you might want to use this option with caution.)

“Bad” apps

Some apps are resource-intensive — either by nature (as in the case of games) or by developer incompetence or negligence (as in the case of poorly written apps).

You need to be vigilant about how your various apps consume battery power. A quick trip to Settings > Battery (or, on some devices, Settings > Power > Battery Use) will usually reveal which app or service is sucking most of the juice.

Identify apps that constantly drain CPU and battery life. Poorly coded apps that connect to the Internet even when they’re not supposed to should be uninstalled, as should apps that needlessly use up a huge amount of CPU resources. Replace these apps with better developed ones rather than endure running on lesser and lesser battery each day because of “mischievous” apps.

To help you pinpoint apps that are misbehaving, you can use apps such as Watchdog Task Manager Lite. Instead of telling you to free up your memory, this app alerts you when an app starts hogging up your CPU power when it’s not supposed to.

 

 

Also, keep your installed apps up-to-date. App developers send out updates to provide bug fixes, add new features, and even lessen battery consumption. So, make sure to update your apps regularly; doing so can help in extending your device’s battery life.

As for apps that you don’t use, or that you rarely use — what are they still doing on your device? Get rid of them. Your storage will be all the more spacious without them, plus you’ll be getting rid of apps that potentially run battery-eating background services.

Power saving mode

If you use your device constantly throughout the day, you may want to consider using your device’s power saving mode. In fact, many of the tips suggested in this post are implemented in most devices’ power saving mode. For instance, power saving mode usually limits CPU use, reduces screen brightness, deactivates haptic feedback, disables data network when the screen is asleep, and lowers the brightness level of the browser’s background color.

The generally recommended advice is to disable power saving mode when you intend to use your phone’s smartphone features; otherwise, turning power saving off can help you stretch your battery life further. So, for instance, you might want to disable power saving mode if you plan to play games on your phone, or else you could experience lag or jitter.

To root or not

Rooting may have drawbacks but the benefits far outweigh them. One attractive advantage of rooting is that of possibly improving your device’s battery life.

Debloating

Rooting itself won’t lengthen your battery life. Rooting merely opens the gates to your device’s restricted partitions and directories. With such restriction gone, you can remove useless apps (e.g., bloatware from carriers or OEMs), especially those that run as background services, wasting away precious battery power.

CPU underclocking

With root access on your device, you can also install apps that can improve your system’s performance. A CPU controller app, for instance. Three names instantly spring to mind: SetCPU for Root Users, No-frills CPU Control, and CPU Tuner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apps like these essentially allow you to tweak the CPU settings on your device. You can set the CPU frequency to stay at the lowest (and, as a result, use up the least power but sacrifice device performance) or to stretch the CPU to its maximum limits (resulting in better and faster performance, but at the price of heat, quick battery drain, and potential system instability).

Be careful when using such apps. There are risks involved; for example, your device could behave erratically when its CPU clock is set higher than usual.

Custom kernels and ROMS

And, since in all likelihood your phone has also acquired an unlocked bootloader and custom recovery in the process of rooting it, then you’ll also be able to enjoy the blessings — the power-saving blessings, in this case — of many custom kernels and custom ROMs. Feel free to look around Android Authority for guides on how to flash custom kernels or custom ROMs to your particular device.

Extended batteries and battery care

If you’re one of the very rare few who use their Android devices heavily throughout the day, you might consider buying a spare original OEM battery — that is, if your phone or tablet has a removable pack. We strongly recommend OEM batteries because they tend to outperform and outlive third-party battery packs — even those with higher capacities.

You can also consider third-party high-capacity extended batteries (for devices with removable batteries) and portable “juice packs” (for devices with non-removable batteries). High-capacity extended batteries, however, tend to be bulkier and thicker. Be careful when buying third-party battery packs. Only buy from reputable manufacturers who have already established a good reputation in the market.

Also, since Li-ion is still the most popular battery technology among Android devices, you might want to invest some time in learning how to take care of a Li-ion battery to avoid cutting its lifespan short. For instance:

• Keep Li-ion batteries away from hot or warm places, especially while charging or when in use.
• Generally, don’t completely drain a Li-ion battery before recharging. Bringing the battery level down to zero before recharging is detrimental to the battery — if done frequently. Li-ion batteries work better when charged even while they still have some power left.
• Every once in a while, allow the battery to discharge fully before recharging. Experts recommend doing this after every 30 charge cycles. This reportedly prevents “digital memory” and encourages the battery level monitor to recalibrate.
• Unplug the device when it is fully charged. Don’t leave the device plugged in for a long time after it is fully charged. Doing so can harm the battery.
• Do not subject your device and its battery to prolonged heavy use (e.g., non-stop intensive gaming for hours). Doing so will encourage the battery to deteriorate faster.

Video Guide

Learn more tips and tricks in this video guide:

http://youtu.be/shApI37Tw3w

Conclusion

Battery life is one of the big things that we look out for when examining prospect devices to buy.  Yet, we should never fall into the delusional trap of a limitless supply of Android battery power.  Even batteries have their limits, you know.  If we consider those limits, and adjust our usage habits accordingly, we just might be able to squeeze more power out of our battery packs.

How’s the battery life on your Android device?  How long does your device last before it needs charging?  How do you conserve power on your Android device?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

(with contributions from Elmer Montejo)

References

• Battery University. (2013). How to prolong lithium-based batteries. Retrieved from http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
• Burke, Steve. (2012, August 21). Busting battery myths: Taking care of Li-ion batteries. Retrieved from http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/899-battery-myths-li-ion-battery-management
• Cutlack, Gary. (2012, November 19). 12 Android battery life tips and tricks. Retrieved from http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/12-android-battery-life-tips-and-tricks-697772
• Ecs180. (2013, February 20). Not so known battery saving tips [Msg 1]. Message posted to http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-2/254337-not-so-known-battery-saving-tips.html
• Fisher, John. (2011, February 1). How does power usage for data over Wifi compare to data over 3G? (Ignore LTE for now). Message posted to http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/5512/how-does-power-usage-for-data-over-wifi-compare-to-data-over-3g-ignore-lte-for
• Gabel, Marty. (2012, June 22). Five not so obvious ways to extend the battery life on your smartphone. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/five-not-so-obvious-ways-to-extend-the-battery-life-on-your-smartphone.html
• Gilbert, Sarah. (2011, December 25). Tips for improving your Android device’s battery life. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/products/story/2011-12-26/tecca-android-battery-life-tips/52226890/1
• Google. (2013). Optimize data usage – Android OS help. Retrieved from http://support.google.com/android/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1638168
• Gordon, Whitson. (2011, April 26). How to get better battery life from your Android phone. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5795796/how-to-get-better-battery-life-from-your-android-phone
• haimg. (2012, June 26). Does disabling 3G while having Wifi save battery?. Message posted to http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/24852/does-disabling-3g-while-having-wifi-save-battery
• Hoffman, Chris. (2012, December 27). Does plain black wallpaper save battery on mobile devices?. Retrieved from http://www.howtogeek.com/131823/htg-explains-does-black-wallpaper-save-battery-on-your-mobile-devices/
• Hoffman, Chris. (2012, October 25). Why you shouldn’t use a task killer on Android. Retrieved from http://www.howtogeek.com/127388/htg-explains-why-you-shouldnt-use-a-task-killer-on-android/
• Howley, Daniel. (2012, February 3). Top 10 battery saving tips for Android. Retrieved from http://blog.laptopmag.com/top-10-battery-saving-tips-for-android
• Kassner, Michael. (2010, September 10). Five tips for extending Lithium-ion battery life. Retrieved from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/five-tips-for-extending-lithium-ion-battery-life/289
• Kincaid, Jason. (2011, April 22). Google responds to smartphone location tracking uproar, says Android is opt-in. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/22/google-responds-to-smartphone-location-tracking-uproar-says-android-is-opt-in/
• Lendino, Jamie. (2012, April 27). 10 tips to boost your Android phone’s battery life. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403770,00.asp
• Levi, Joe. (2012, August 2). Wifi vs data, speed vs battery life. Retrieved from http://pocketnow.com/2012/08/02/wifi-vs-data-speed-vs-battery-life
• The Geek. (2010, August 11). Complete guide to maximizing your Android phone’s battery life. Retrieved from http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/25319/complete-guide-to-maximizing-your-android-phones-battery-life/
• waisybabu. (2011). Busted: 5 myths about increasing and decreasing Android’s battery life. Retrieved from http://wccftech.com/article/busted-5-myths-increasing-decreasing-androids-battery-life/

Snapdragon BatteryGuru (Beta) is a smart little app created especially for devices that use a Snapdragon processor. This includes (but isn’t limited to) the likes of the Nexus 4, HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, Droid RAZR MAXX, Droid DNA, Sony Xperia Z, LG Optimus G and Samsung Galaxy S3. For a more exhaustive list check… View Article

Snapdragon BatteryGuru (Beta) – takes care of saving precious battery life for you! is a post from: AndroidTapp.com

The first fiscal quarter of 2013 has not ended yet, but we already have a good idea what phones will be battling it out throughout the year for the Android crown. You know, unless the X Phone proves legit. Or the Nexus 5. And unless the Galaxy Note 3 will come early enough to leave a mark in 2013.

But let’s just focus on the present for now, because we have plenty of exciting gadgets to talk about. On one hand, we have the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, the primary suspects for the throne, and on the other, there are the dark horses – Sony’s Xperia Z and LG’s Optimus G Pro.

One of the duels that will certainly help some folks decide between the four will be the battery life. Which of these can hold its own the most, despite the stunning Full HD panels and zippy processors?

The first Xperia Z, Optimus G Pro and Samsung Galaxy S4 autonomy results have been in for a while, and now it’s time to add in the equation HTC One’s performance too. Like all the others, the One has been thoroughly tested by GSM Arena to see exactly how much it can last in talk time, web browsing and video playback.

The first number is not exactly impressive, but it’s decent enough to keep the HTC One in the race – 13 hours and 38 minutes on a single charge in talk time. That’s a lot less than Razr Maxx and LG Optimus G Pro’s scores, but it’s very close to the 13 hours and 53 minutes of the Snapdragon-based Galaxy S4.

Some of the notable phones beaten to the punch by the One here are the One X+ (by a mere seven minutes), the Butterfly, GS3 and iPhone 5.

So far, so good for the HTC One, but it’s bound to get better. Much better actually, because the 4.7-incher is the pack’s leader in terms of web browsing autonomy. Not only is the 9 hours and 58 minutes a tremendous result, but it heavily outshines the Galaxy Note 2 and GS4 (both with under 9 hours), not to mention the G Pro (6:40) and Xperia Z (6:37).

Apple’s iPhone 5 is the only device that can come close to HTC One’s performance in browsing (9:56), with even the Razr Maxx left in the dust (9 hours and 12 minutes).

The last part of the battery test is less kind to the One, which ran for a little over 10 hours in video playback on one charge. That’s 10 minutes less than the iPhone 5, 14 compared with the Galaxy S4, over an hour less than the GNote 2 and 400 minutes under Razr Maxx’s performance.

And yet the HTC One is in the leading pack here too, which is why it’s shocking to see its overall endurance rating – 48 hours. That’s how much the phone’s battery will supposedly last if you use it “for an hour of talk-time, an hour of web browsing and an hour of video-watching per day”.

The endurance rating is tied with Xperia Z’s score, but it’s a couple of hours under Optimus G Pro’s result and a full 15 hours (!!!) less than GS4’s performance. How is that possible? Well, it appears One’s stand-by efficiency is pretty laughable.

Hopefully, that’s because of a software bug that will be identified and fixed soon enough, because otherwise HTC will have something to worry about besides UltraPixel shortages.

The post HTC One battery test reveals stellar web browsing performance, but sub-par stand-by efficiency appeared first on Android Authority.

There are very few people who would pick battery charging technology as a conversation starter, but at the back of our minds we all know that it’s an Android user’s pet peeve.

Well the Texas Instrument engineers have been working hard to alleviate this problem, as they’ve come up with a new battery charging chip which, at the very least, will reduce the time you have to wait for your phone to re-charge after a hard day’s work.

The new bq2419x family of chips will improve charging times by up to 50%, thanks to some unique battery path impedance compensation and efficient 4.5A switch mode charging. The chip offers up to 92% efficiency at two amps and 90% efficiency when operating at four amps.

Ok I promise no more engineering lingo, what this essentially means is that smartphones and tablets using these new chips will be more energy efficient whilst charging. In practice this will decrease the time taken to charge your device, and will also help to keep everything that little bit cooler whilst plugged in.

As a bonus, Texas Instruments has also built the discharge chip to offer the industries lowest resistance, increasing the run-time of your battery. Whilst this isn’t likely to improve your battery life astronomically, – CPUs and screens are much bigger problems for batteries – every little bit of extra juice helps.

There are also some safe-charging management systems, integrated current sensing, and other design features which are a big deal for manufacturers, but we don’t need to worry about those.

Now we just need to find out which smartphone or tablet will be the first to make use of this zippy charging technology.

The post New Texas Instruments chip cuts battery charging time in half appeared first on Android Authority.

A lot of HTC smartphone users have had complaints about the poor battery life of their devices, a concern compounded with the fact the recent HTC devices feature uni-body designs, making the batteries non-removable. If you were considering picking up a HTC One, but were worried about the battery performance, fear no more!

According to battery endurance tests done by Expert Reviews, the 2,300 mAh battery of the HTC One managed close to 17 hours of 3G talk-time, and more notably, lasted an amazing 8 hours and 32 minutes in video playback! With numbers like these, getting a full day of usage with one charge, which has become increasingly difficult, should not be a problem anymore. The review does state that the review unit did not feature the final software version, but assuming that the final release will only make things more efficient, the battery test results are great.

To put these numbers in perspective, a recent battery test of the Sony Xperia Z, which features a slightly larger battery at 2,330 mAh, showed that while the Xperia Z lasted for 16 hours of 3G talk-time, the video playback test gave a result of just 5 hours and 39 minutes. Granted, the Xperia Z does feature a larger display, but that shouldn’t result in a difference of more than 3 hours.

We’ll be looking at a lot of other battery tests once the HTC One is officially released later this month, but for now, the initial results are certainly impressive. Battery life could well become one of the many reasons to buy the HTC One.

What are your thoughts? Are you worried about the battery performance of the HTC One? Were you surprised/impressed by the test results? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post HTC One performs amazingly well in battery endurance tests appeared first on Android Authority.

Power efficiency can make or break a mobile device. If we weren’t constrained with the power supply, then our mobile devices would probably be even faster and more powerful than they are now. But even as mobile CPUs and GPUs are increasingly becoming power efficient, we still find ourselves finding the need to plug in at the end of the day (or even at the middle of the day). If all goes well with a new technology being developed by Alta Devices, we might be able to rely on the sun or other light sources to augment our batteries or even power our devices altogether.

As it stands, solar cells are currently very inefficient at absorbing energy from the sun, especially if the surface area were only to cover, say, the back end of a mobile phone or tablet. The highest-efficiency solar cell chemical could, theoretically, power a mobile phone, but in its current form, it would be very impractical to incorporate in a mobile device.

Gallium arsenide is better-able to capture light than traditional solar cells, and is currently used in space-bound craft such as satellites. The problem is that gallium arsenide is usually synthesized in a crystalline form — quite cumbersome to add onto a mobile device. Alta Devices, a Silicon Valley startup, has found a way to synthesize the material onto a thin film, and the resulting solar cells can convert up to 30.8% of the energy from light into electricity.

The resulting film is about 1 micron thin — about a fourth of the width of human hair. The solar cells have two layers, one of which consists of indium gallium phosphide, which converts light with lower wavelengths into electricity.

The end result: a smartphone battery cover that can output about 1.5 watts of electricity at peak, such as when exposed to sunlight. Alta Devices has actually developed a prototype for a Samsung galaxy smartphone (model unspecified). CEO Christopher S. Norris says this can charge a mobile phone in about three times the time it would take to charge from a wall outlet. But while that’s still less than ideal, the point here is to reduce dependency on he grid. “If you’re in full sun, a watt and a half for 10 minutes will give you an hour of talk time.”

At this point, the main benefit would not necessarily be taking out the need to plug in altogether, but to augment power from the grid and to extend usage while unplugged. If you’re curious, you can check out Alta Devices’ battery life extension calculator, to determine how much you can extend your battery life. If you’re mostly outdoors and if you carry your phone on your belt, this could be as much as an 83% extension. Students with time spent outdoors get about 54% extension of their battery life.

While this would be a great addition to smartphones in the developed world, the real benefit would be in emerging markets, where mobile devices have proliferated faster than the electricity grid, reports the New York Times.

But going beyond mobile phones, Alta Devices’ technology can also be applied to cars. While Alta Devices solar cells mounted onto a car’s surface area would not necessarily be able to power the entire vehicle, it can help reduce the load on the internal combustion engine by, say, delivering power to the electronics. This is something that certain hybrid vehicles currently do with their gas-powered engine, plus battery technology.

Would you be willing to carry your smartphone on your belt, in order to absorb as much energy from the sun possible?

Featured image credits: Shutterstock / Solar cell film image credit: Alta Devices

The post Solar cells could soon add power to your smartphones and tablets appeared first on Android Authority.

Remember how freaked out we were of HTC Droid DNA’s apparently meager 2,020 mAh battery at first? And how we thought the 5-inch Full HD panel, quad-core Krait CPU and 2 GB of RAM will squeeze the juice out of that “ticker” in no time?

Only our concerns proved illegitimate soon after the big guy’s release, courtesy of a GSM Arena battery test. Well, today is time to bust another myth, aided by the same online publication. The myth that the 2,330 mAh battery inside the Xperia Z won’t be capable of holding its own for a very long time due to a similarly snappy hardware configuration and a pretty much identical display.

As usual, the battery test has been split into three to evaluate the autonomy in continuous talk time, video playback and web browsing.

The first part of the test is by far the most flattering for Xperia Z’s battery. Here, the 5-incher has lasted a full 16 hours, which is very close to Galaxy Note 2’s performance. It’s even two whole hours more than Sony’s official rating of the 3G talk time, which is probably a first.

And if we pit the Z against the Droid DNA, it’s a win by knock-out for the new guy – 16 hours vs just 11.

The second number is far less impressive and actually seems to signal a pretty big issue – only 5 hours and 39 minutes of autonomy in video playback. That’s not only three times less (!!!) than Razr Maxx’s result, but also less than half of GNote 2’s autonomy and two hours beneath DNA’s performance.

And it’s not even the fault of the Mobile Bravia engine, because even with that turned off the Z didn’t considerably boost its numbers. Meaning the DNA can get back on its feet now and push the battle to the last round.

A last round that we’re forced to call a tie. The Z ran for 6 hours and 37 minutes in web browsing, just three minutes less than the Droid DNA back in November of last year. That’s an average result, putting the two ahead of the Galaxy S3, BlackBerry Z10 or Oppo Find 5, but below the iPhone 4S, HTC One X+ or Galaxy Note 2.

On the whole, the Xperia Z got a 48-hour endurance rating from GSM Arena, which is almost tied with DNA’s 49h score. Disappointing? Definitely not. But not very impressive either. In fact, this kind of makes the DNA look better than before, considering the Z had a 310 mAh battery capacity edge and failed to prevail.

It also makes the 2013 battle for supremacy wide open, at least as far as battery life is concerned. Because if neither of these two can impress, maybe the HTC One and/or Samsung Galaxy S4 will. Remember, the One has a 2,300 mAh battery packed into a 4.7-inch body, while the GS4 is rumored to come with a 2,600 mAh ticker in tow. It’s so on!

The post Sony Xperia Z battery can run for 16 hours in talk time, but only 5:30 in video playback appeared first on Android Authority.

There is plenty to talk about when it comes to battery life and keeping your devices charged while on the go. At risk of stating the obvious, but this is one of those times when there never seems to be enough and where bigger seems to be better. The exception to that rule comes when the battery is large enough that it adds serious weight and size to the device. Anyway, the topic of batteries came up when we saw that Woot offering from last week, the one where they were offering the messenger and sling-style bags for $39. Basically, while trying to decide whether I needed to purchase the Powerbag, it got me to wondering — how are most users keeping their device charged while out and about.

Lets face it, with a few small exceptions such as the Galaxy Note II, most devices will drop into the red with a heavy day of use. In taking inventory of my battery charging options, I found that I am using four methods. One of those we can rule out for most Android users right off the bat. That one is the battery case. I have a Galaxy S III and am happy to have the Mophie Juice Pack which adds a 2300 mAh battery to the stock 2100 mAh of the handset. While I consider this to be solid option, I also realize that I may be more of an edge case in terms of use here.

You see, I like the Mophie because it gives me a form factor ‘close’ to the size of my phone and allows me to have double the battery life without ever having to shut my phone down. I tend to use this on long runs when I want to make sure Runkeeper stays running and tracking beyond a few hours time. More realistically here, and likely the reason most Android users would not feel the need for a battery case — many Android handsets have a removable battery.

Enter method two. In my case, I have a few of those. The extra battery option is good for just begin away from power. They tend to work good when I go camping. It is easy enough to swap the battery out and this is one of those times when I don’t mind the phone being shut down for little while. This also goes to the external USB battery packs, method number three. These tend to work better when you have multiple devices and also when it is convenient to be carrying the battery pack itself. After all, unlike a spare battery, these are generally not going to fit in your pocket.

This is where the Powerbag comes back into play, assuming I am carrying a bag that can hold a USB battery pack — it may as well be a bag with a built-in battery and internal wiring. That being the case, I did go ahead and order a new sling-style Powerbag and have plans to pass my current bag off to a friend. Another perk with the bags is the charging. You see, you can have your devices plugged in while inside the bag (multiple devices at a time) and they all keep charged using the bags internal battery. On top of that, you can also charge them all up by simply plugging the bag itself into a wall outlet.

Of course, the key factor with any of these options is to making sure they are charged ahead of time. Sometimes a dead battery or making use of a car charger is inevitable. With that, I shared a bit of my craziness when it comes to making sure my devices keep charged while out and about but I am also looking for some stories from others. Shout out in the comments and share some of your methods, or if you want, call me crazy for having so many battery charging option.