Battery Life and Verizon

From what I understand battery doesn't last as long with CDMA phones (3-5 hours) vs. GSM (5-7 hours) on average.
It's not just Verizon, but Sprint, Alltel & US Cellular.
The battery in my Alltel phone (LG AX4270) is advertised to last 3 hours, which is about right.
But I don't have to worry about it because my phone is usually always plugged in.

The type of battery also makes a difference. You can upgrade your battery, too.
My phone uses a 1000 mAH, but 1700 mAH is offered and that might expand the battery life.

 

I don't know the technical aspests of it, but GSM phones have longer battery life than equivalent CDMA models. That's just the way it is in the phone world.

-Jay

 

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D062; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

yep code div. vers time div. always been that way.

 

Buying a special battery for a CDMA phone should extend the battery life of a CDMA phone.
(one with more mAh - Milliamps per hour)

One of my friends upgraded their battery in the LG AX4270,
and got more than 5 hours of talk time on one charge, vs 3 with the old battery.

The battery cover had to be replaced because the upgraded battery was almost twice as thick.
Total cost to upgrade the battery and cover (from off eBay) was about $25.

 

CDMA technology offers lower talk time than GSM because the transmitter (code division) is active all the time.
GSM has higher talk time than CDMA based phones because the transmitter does not require constant transmit (time division). The transmitter can be idle when not actually transmitting packets. This in a nut shell is really why you have this.

Here is a good link
Mobicare

 

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very good link explains it pretty well.

 

Yeah it is a very good site. Just dont get confused when they say gsm has more roaming that are talking about world wide not just the usa.

 

Also consider once AT&T, TMO, VZW, and Alltel go LTE, Sprint will be the bastard child with no roaming on other carriers. 4G will be the standard that will bring all these companies to the same platform.

-Jay

 

I can't say that I agree with everyone's opinion, even if they are technically correct about the CDMA/GSM difference. The last few Verizon phones I've used have had equal or better battery life than the GSM equivalents I've used for T-Mobile and AT&T.

I think the phone maker and the quality of the battery itself makes the biggest difference. I've had excellent success with Nokia phones, regardless of the network. The 6256i (CDMA), 6101, 6102i, and 6682 have all had excellent battery life. The lone Nokia exception is the 6131, but the battery issues with this phone have been discussed heavily on this site. It has been a common issue with this phone.

I currently use the Verizon LG Voyager and I've gotten the best battery life, I've ever experienced, with this phone. I've had a single charge last 10 or more days. Even with moderate use, this thing holds its charge. I'm already on the 8th day of its current charge with 3 of 4 battery bars remaining.

So my experience with battery life on Verizon phones hasn't been the same as the consensus opinion so far. I guess it's different for everybody.

 

Yeah and usage will vary by user if someone just talks on their phone for 10 minutes a day then it is going to last a while. Now me I barely make it through 8 hours at work on mine lol.

 

Your mileage may vary....

Even folks with GSM phones are going to banter back and forth based on the specific device [and battery option] they picked out for themselves.

A true, honest assessment of how well your battery fairs has to include all of the following:

a) Type of phone
b) Type of battery
c) Network [GSM, CDMA, etc...]
d) Usage patterns
e) Types of usage [Data, Voice]
f) Coverage in the area of use
g) Charging intervals [How often, and at what battery life level]


All of those play a factor in the life of a battery. The only phone that I got horrid service with was the Samsung SCH-U540. It had to live on the charger in order to survive.

 

LOL, sounds like my old TDMA Startac. I barely got 8 hours out of it before I had to plug it in again.

-Jay

 

Now if we were still in the analog days then wow phones would not last very long and they would get hot glad that is over lol.

 

yes i hated when they would get so hot you could barely hold the phone to your head. young people have no idea how bad it was lol.

i remember talking on the phone at night and being on it so long i had to hang up bc of the heat. and often times, the battery would start going down rapidly when it heated up.

i also recall TDMA phones getting really hot also.

 

After a week with the u540, the battery life would always go down to about a [work] day's usage. So roughly 8 hours after I had taken my phone off the charger, I would need to get it on the charger again. Since I don't have a land line, this is my primary means of communicating with everyone. Until I had two chargers, it was a real cluster-fark.

By all accounts the 8350 is a rough equivalent of the u540 in terms of features and size. [Screen is better in my opinion but that is besides the point] I can go a full 24 hours before I see the battery life on the device go from full to half. I can go another 24 hours before I get the low battery indicator. From there I have maybe another hour or so before the phone goes dead.

Usage on the device varied, but since it was also a "home" phone, I would say it was used quite a bit. I also used data and played games. The only thing I didn't make use of was music - and I still don't. The 8350 is able to handle all of this without too much issue.

I also hear how people aren't able to get this much life out of the phone, and I also hear how I should maybe get some more. So, "your mileage does vary".

 

now i wonder if your in a 1x area and not EV if the Verizon phones last longer. sorta like with att when your in an EDGE area batterys last much longer than in a UMTS (3G) area

 

I'm not sure. Also one interesting think to take note of, that I don't think anyone else has mentioned. On the GSM/UMTS side I noticed on 3G phones that 3G mode has a higher standby time, but 2G mode has a longer talk time.

-Jay

 

Alright I have an EVDO/1x phone with good signal. Here is what I have noticed from the many years on CDMA. If you have 1x set only then it does tend to last a bit longer but not much. If you are only running 1x then this eliminates on function to not use battery power.

 

wonder if having EV on ur phone affects it also!! My phone with EV service battery doesnt last very long compared to just being in 1X

 

I would suggest if you dont use the internet just turning your EV off if you need help with that PM me.

 

EVDO has not affected the battery life of my Voyager. I do notice some fluctuation between 1X and EVDO, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I'm now on the 9th day of this current charge cycle, with 2 out of 4 bars left. Go fig?

 

I have definitely noticed that my battery lasts longer after I turned off EVDO. I use a bit of Mobile Web but it works fine on 1X. I would rather wait the extra few seconds on 1X than to have to put my phone on the charger every day.

 

For what most people use their mobile web for, 1X is fine. I'll check my Gmail if I have a new message, or I'll sync my PIM info on Airset - but usually not much after that. I did use my Navigator last night when I had to go out to a restaurant that I wasn't familiar with for my father-in-law's birthday.

I got alerted to a traffic incident and I was able to use a detour and get there 15 minutes before everyone else.

 

You have a PM I hope that works for you.