Ah, the mobile battery ─ a thing of myth, of legend... of frustration. So much sway does battery life hold over us that we buy specific phones that guarantee us a couple of days' usage. And all of this when other devices can eke out a week's worth of usage (think Amazon Kindle).
Feb 22, 2016 - A few Moto E owners have had problems with rapid battery drain. Disable the radio module that makes contact with the cell towers but it. What is.Cell standby. and how can I keep it from eating my battery? Ask Question. As the cell radio was disabled during Airplane Mode, no colors are shown; the system didn't know anything about signal strength in this time frame. And with the cell radio turned off, it also didn't use additional power (more precisely, it didn't use any power.
Users go to some strange measures to keep their batteries going and going and going. Yet much of what we hear about mobile batteries is simply not true. Let's examine some of these misconceptions about the batteries that power the devices we depend upon day in and day out.
1: Batteries have 'memory'
Nope. Not at all. People used to think that you had to 'train' your battery to make sure it would take the most charge. To do that, people would drain it regularly and charge it — and they'd never plug it in when it was over 50%. The thought was that over time, the battery would develop a memory and allow for just a percentage of the charge. This is not true. If your battery is at 80%, top that baby off. Frequent charges will do no damage to your battery.
2: Off-brand chargers will damage your battery
Although some off-brand chargers aren't optimal (and some even take longer to charge the battery), they will not harm it, as long as the charger is working properly. This means it's perfectly okay to run to Target and buy that cheap charger to replace the factory charger that came with your phone. The one exception to this is the charger that shipped with your Droid Turbo. Make sure, when looking for a replacement, you find one made specifically for that device; otherwise, you won't enjoy the 15-minute charge time that delivers eight hours of usage.
3: Charging your phone overnight will damage your battery
False. Most smartphones are now 'smart' enough to know when a battery is at capacity and will stop charging. However, there is one thing you can do to extend the life of your battery. Instead of charging your phone all night, every night, try keeping it charged between 40% and 80% most of the time. This will ensure the longest possible life from that battery. If you can leave it unplugged overnight (every so often), do so.
4: Don't use your phone while it charges
People seem to think that using a phone while it charges will have a negative impact on the quality of charge the battery gets. But unless you're using a low-quality knock-off charger, this is not remotely true. Your battery will charge as expected whether or not you use the device. Think about it this way. With smartphones, chances are the only way there is no syncing of data (in one way or another) is if the phone is off. So even when you aren't literally using your phone, your phone is using your phone and data is being synced. So go ahead and use that phone while it charges.
5: Turning off your phone can damage your battery
Nah. There isn't even the slightest truth to this. Of course, if you leave your phone off for an extended period of time, the battery will drain (that's the nature of batteries). But it is perfectly fine to shut that device off every once in a while. You can even shut the device off and (if applicable) remove the battery if you like. No harm will come to the battery. In fact, for some devices, a simple reboot can help to restore battery functionality. So even though that Android device runs perfectly fine day in and day out, give it a break now and then.
6: You should always charge your phone to full before first using it
Many people think that the first thing they should do with a new smartphone is plug it in and charge it to 100%. This is simply a myth. Remember, smartphone batteries work best between 40% to 80%, and since most phones ship at half capacity, you should be good to go out of the box. As a side note: If you fire up your new smartphone for the first time and the battery is below 40%, you might want to consider taking it back because that battery could be very old.
7: Putting your battery in the freezer will extend its life
I remember that back in the 80s, we placed batteries in the freezer for a short period to try to get a bit more life out of them. It didn't work then and it won't work now. In fact, Li-Ion batteries are negatively affected by both heat and cold. Room temperature is always the best temperature for your smartphone battery. Remember, those devices already get hot, so there's no need to expose them to extra heat — and cold is an enemy of Li-Ion batteries.
Also, make sure you store your device somewhere with airflow. My wife used to place her phone in a sealed plastic baggie when she road her mountain bike. Yes, it's good to prevent moisture from getting into the device. But sealing all that heat in will affect both the phone and the battery. A word of caution: Heat is much more damaging to batteries than cold is.
8: Using the internet will run down the battery faster than anything else
Not true.* The single most draining thing you can do on your smartphone is gaming. The graphics engines are massive energy drainers. If you game a lot on your devices, dim the screen as much as you can while playing (if you want to extend your battery life). But if you can play that game while charging, go ahead and keep that screen at full brightness.
* This also depends upon what you are using the internet for. If you're viewing videos through YouTube, online gaming, or doing other graphics-intensive activities, it will drain your battery faster.
9: Turning off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS will prolong your battery
In and of itself, this is false. The only time these services actually drain your battery is if they are in use. So having Bluetooth turned on, when you're not using a Bluetooth device, isn't going to drain your battery any more than having Wi-Fi on when you're not accessing the network. Yes, they may pull an insignificant amount of energy from your battery, but they will not drain it over the course of a day. If you're really concerned about getting as much life as possible from your battery, dim your screen.
10: Task managers help prolong your battery life
As much as I hate to say it, third-party task managers do nothing for battery life that the built-in system can't handle. Yes, those task managers can whitelist/blacklist tasks. But in the end, they really don't help your battery any more than the built-in system. You might want to employ a task manager to better control your apps, but don't assume that third-party manager will extend the life of your battery any better than the default tool.
A better approach
Smartphone batteries and smartphone usage of those energy cells get better every year. But those old-school (and some 'new school') misconceptions simply need to die off. With just the slightest consideration, your battery will last you a long time.
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Sign up today Sign up today I updated to lollipop on my Moto X phone and I am now seeing a large percentage of my battery being used by Cell Standby. How do I stop this?
Steve Steve
4 Answers
I have dealt with this bug a lot. (Moto x gen 1) The good news is that Google has assigned someone to fix it, however right now the best way to fix this is to force close apps when you are done using them.
What is happening is when an app requests cellular data, your phone's data radio turns on. In most cases the radio immedietly turns off when it is done, but there is a lollipop bug that keeps the radio on until the app that requested it is force stopped.
The force stop can be done manually through the running apps list in settings, but there is another app called Greenify that will do this for you automatically. No, you won't need the paid version. Just let the app have accessibility access and it will force close apps for you on request.
If you want proof, here is what my cellular battery usage is when I forget to use Greenify all day.
(Click image to enlarge)
And when I use it vigorously
(I am in no way affiliated with Greenify or its development team)
Manubhargav2,97877 gold badges1717 silver badges3636 bronze badges
Ethan ZEthan Z
Turn airplane mode on. Airplane mode will disable cell standby while active.If you need wifi, you can turn it back on without cell standby turning on.
Grant DavisGrant Davis
Only solution is to downgrade to 4.4.4...I've faced this bug on my XT1058, and was not able to solve it for good (I could disable the bug for a while, but eventually reappeared).After downgrading to KitKat, phone works flawlessly.
SanDSanD
One possible solution:
Short answer: Settings (gear) -> System Update -> Update Motorola software
Medium answer: Using Moto X (2013 a.k.a. Moto X1 ) “System version” is now “222.21.19....' Also helps to use MOTO instead of GOOGLE assistant to save battery
Long answer: I finally let “Motorola Update Service” upgrade from Android 4.4 to 5.1 Also let “download manager” upgraded apps. BUT it reported “Cell standby” using over 20% of battery. This is after disabling or stopping every App possible and letting it sit on the desk.
But all the other upgrades have 'nag screens' or are 'automated'. 'Update Motorola software' is a manual process. After the update... the 'screen' is back to being my top 'Battery' user, everything else is 1%.
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