iPhone 3GS vs. iPhone 3G real-world battery test
Posted by rubydjunaedi in iPhone on July 3rd, 2009
Sure, smartphones such as the iPhone can order your groceries and hail you a cab, but they eat batteries like a fat kid let loose on the pick-n-mix.
Apple promised that the new iPhone 3GS would improve things with better battery life, but we’re the kind of rugged individualists who have to see things for ourselves, so we took an iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G into our hermetically sealed lab deep in the antarctic tundra–okay, a desk in the corner–and set them two gruelling tasks.
First, to get the lithium-ion batteries really sweating, we turned the screen brightness up to maximum, turned off the sleep function so the screens would stay on, and turned on Bluetooth. We charged both phones to maximum and then let it rip. Tests were recorded with a laughably small video camera on a ridiculously big tripod, to ensure we caught the very moment of exhaustion.
Note that our iPhone 3G has been faithfully working for the past six months, so its battery isn’t as fresh as the iPhone 3GS we used.
We set up the iPhone 3GS and 3G on the Crave Towers Wi-Fi network and set to streaming Leonard Cohen Live in London on BBC iPlayer. Although we tired of the Canadian crooner after a couple of hours, the iPhones lasted longer.
The old boy 3G gave up with exhaustion after 3 hours and 2 minutes of classics such as Bird on a Wire and Hallelujah. The young whipper-snapper 3GS toughed it out for exactly 5 hours of septuagenarian renditions of So Long, Marianne. That’s 118 minutes longer, or a 65 percent improvement. Applause for the 3GS! And encores for Len.
To test voice calling over 3G, we rang each phone from a landline and pumped the dulcet tones of Radio 4 through the receivers to simulate a civilized chat.
The older 3G stayed tuned to Woman’s Hour for 2 hours and 35 minutes before giving up the ghost. The fresh-faced 3GS lasted 3 hours and 48 minutes until it was completely discharged. So 3G calling definitely drains those batteries, but the iPhone 3GS lasted 73 minutes–or 47 percent–longer.
Let’s compare these values with Apple’s estimates for battery life, shown in a hand-knit table.
Apple says these are maximum values, and don’t forget that we had screen brightness turned up to max and everything turned on that could be turned on–and our iPhone 3G wasn’t new out of the box. So maybe it’s no surprise that our findings of around 2.5 hours of talk-time on the iPhone 3G and 3.75 hours on the iPhone 3GS are way below the max value of 5 hours that Apple claims. And our test over Wi-Fi got us 5 hours on the 3GS, not 9 hours, and 3 hours on the 3G rather than the 6 hours advertised.
With over 45 percent improvement over the iPhone 3G in both our tests, the iPhone 3GS lives up to its claims of battery superiority. And it’s interesting to note that the 3GS out-performs its older cousin even when Apple says that the talk-time over the 3G network is the same.
We did a straight talktime test on EDGE, and managed almost 11.5 hours of battery life, compared to the iPhone 3G’s results of 8.75 hours.
The upshot is that yes, battery life on the iPhone is diabolical… but it’s significantly better on the iPhone 3GS. So if you’re pondering whether it’s worth the investment in the US$164-more-expensive 3GS, consider how long you’re likely to spend away from the plug.
And whether you decide the future is now with the iPhone 3GS, or kick it old-school with the iPhone 3G, you’ll need Apple’s tips on how to conserve battery life. Who knew? All you have to do is turn all the good stuff off.
This story was first published on Crave UK.
Top five free Android games
Posted by rubydjunaedi in Google Android on July 3rd, 2009
Our favorite Apple joke is that the Mac has one game–Marathon–and Apple users are still playing it 250 years after it was first released. Horrifically, it seems we won’t be able to use this time-honored material much longer, as Apple is on its way to becoming one of the leaders in mobile gaming–all because of the iPhone. It’s not the only smartphone platform, of course, and Google’s Android OS is building up a fine library of its own.
We’ve put together a list of the best value (free) games you can lay your hands on at the moment for Android. If you’ve got one of the rapidly expanding number of Android phones, this should help you get more out of it. You might find you’re no longer bored on the train, and that time spent in the doctor’s waiting room just flies by. You might also find that your battery lasts 17 minutes, and you get really angry when someone calls and the game resets. But we can’t really help with that.
You can download all of these games over the air, simply by searching in the Android Market. Let us know your favorite Android games in the comments section below, and feel free to berate our pathetically inadequate choices. Game on…
Bonsai Blast
Seriously, we can’t put this wretched game down. People are starting to look at us funny on the Metropolitan line, because we’re muttering, cursing and generally stabbing a tiny glass screen while our face is contorted in an agony of concentration. Indeed, we’re working so hard to play this game we’re actually too tired to work–and we’re having to nap at our desks quite a bit to recover.
It’s a hugely entertaining Puzzle Bobble-style reaction-tester. The aim is to fire brightly colored balls from a brightly colored cannon. When you get three brightly colored balls in a row, they disappear and you get some points. The tension comes as the balls wind their merry way towards a little yin-yang symbol. For some reason, the yin yang wants to eat your brightly colored balls–hey, it makes as much sense a blue hedgehog running around picking up rings. If it succeeds in swallowing your spherical friends, you lose.
We’ve played Bonsai Blast pretty much non-stop since we downloaded it. You may find it becomes a problem during your morning editorial meeting when, apparently, game playing is frowned upon.
Abduction
Abduction has six game modes, starting at “kids” and finishing with something called “evil infinite”. So far, we’ve only been able to play it on the kids mode, which puts us in our place, but is preferable to smashing the HTC Magic into a thousand small fragments.
We aren’t entirely sure what the aim is, or why you’re playing as a bouncing cow, but it seems that at some point some bovine abduction has occurred, and it’s your job to bounce happily up a series of platforms until you reach a spaceship at the end. On the way, you’ll encounter presents, which when opened by your cattle-based avatar will give you little bonuses, like the ability to jump higher.
You’re punished with fewer platforms though, which is very upsetting. On your way up, you’ll encounter parachuting cows–interacting with them will yield a bonus and is well worth doing.
Overall, this game is a great big cowpat of fun, but it’s really flipping difficult unless you play it on the kiddie mode. Humiliating, but still a hoot.
Battleship
If you can play this game without hearing the “you sank my battleship” line from The Simpsons, we’ll be very impressed indeed. There isn’t much anyone can say that will persuade us that Battleship isn’t one of the greatest games ever devised. And now, you can play it on your Android phone! For free!
Now, let’s get the bad bits out of the way. This game was clearly not designed for Android handsets initially, because moving the ships into your desired location is next to impossible. Certainly, positioning them with even the slightest degree of accuracy is nearly impossible. Where they end up is really just a matter of random luck. It also appears that the computer can rotate its ships to be both horizontally and vertically orientated. We couldn’t for the life of us make our boats go vertically.
But the lack of positioning flexibility pales into insignificance when you consider what a cheating swine the stinking computer is. Almost certainly it will hit one of your ships straight away. And why is that, you might ask? Well obviously because the swotting thing knows where all your boats are–after all, you did tell it. It would be fairer if the game let you write down where your ships are, then asked you if it had hit one. That’s sadly not an option here–so you’ll have to deal with a dastardly horrid cheat.
It’s terrific fun, honestly.
[by Ian Morris]
Get more out of your iPhone battery
Posted by rubydjunaedi in iPhone on July 2nd, 2009
A number of complaints regarding the iPhone 3GS’ battery have surfaced on Apple’s discussion board since the handset’s June 19 launch. Given Apple’s promises of a faster and longer lasting iPhone, it’s understandable that 3GS users, particularly those who have made the jump from the previous models, have higher expectations.
Preliminary battery testing on our iPhone 3GS review model showed positive results. Until that time, I can offer tips on making your iPhone battery last. They can be used individually or in combination to best suit your own needs. Some of these ideas are even recommended by Apple and some of them we’ve mentioned on iPhone Atlas before.
Reset iPhone
In addition to resolving signal strength problems, resetting an iPhone can fix a faulty battery indicator and end applications that are improperly consuming the battery. Hold down the home and sleep buttons simultaneously until you see the white Apple logo indicating that your iPhone has restarted.
Restore with original settings
You can restore your iPhone by launching iTunes and selecting the Restore option on your iPhone’s Summary page. This process will erase your iPhone’s software and data, including all settings. You can restore them later via iTunes.
Drain the battery completely
Instead of charging it midway through a battery drain, add more juice only after the battery dies completely. A full drain may reset circuitry that prevents a full charge from occurring, despite indication of a full charge.
Force quit applications
If an application quits unexpectedly and you begin to notice poor battery life, relaunch the application, then force quit it by following the directions in this post. This can eliminate problematic or hung processes that might be draining the battery.
Lock your iPhone
Make sure that your iPhone goes to sleep automatically when not in use. You always can press the Sleep/Wake button, but even better is the Auto-Lock feature in the General section of the Settings menu.
Auto lock screen (Credit: David Martin)
Applications
Apps that keep the display from dimming or shutting off and that prevent your iPhone from sleeping can reduce battery life. This is particularly true for apps that use location services and push notifications. You can turn off Location Services in Settings > General menu. You’ll have to deactivate Push Notifications for each app individually, also in the Setting menu.
App Push Notification settings (Credit: David Martin)
Location Services toggle (Credit: David Martin)
Push notifications for email
The iPhone 3G’s Push functionality for Exchange and Mobile Me accounts also can destroy battery life. Turn this option off in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data before restarting your iPhone. Messages sent to your push email accounts will now appear on your phone based on the global Fetch setting (every 15 minutes, every 30 minutes, hourly, or manually) rather than as they arrive. The manual Fetch setting will preserve the most battery life.
Push and Fetch (Credit: David Martin)
Checking fewer email accounts
Deleting email accounts or turning them off can preserve battery life as well. You can remove an email account in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, tap to choose an email account, and tap Delete Account. To turn an account off but leave it on the phone, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, tap to choose an email account, and set Account to Off.
Toggle email account on/off (Credit: David Martin)
Delete email account (Credit: David Martin)
Airplane mode
Even it you’re not flying, use the airplane mode while listening to music, watching a video, working in your favorite productivity app, or whenever you don’t want to be disturbed. Also, since constantly seeking a cellular connection also drains the iPhone’s battery, the airplane mode is useful if you’re in an area with poor cellular coverage.
Airplane mode (Credit: David Martin)
Reset network settings
Restarting your iphone will delete any stored Wi-Fi passwords, DNS settings, and more. And in some cases it also can resolve signal strength issues. Find it in Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
Reset network settings (Credit: David Martin)
Turn off Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth
Be sure to turn off these features when not in use. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and set Wi-Fi to Off. Go to Settings > General > Bluetooth and set Bluetooth to Off.
Toggle Bluetooth (Credit: David Martin)
Turn off 3G
The iPhone’s 3G radio consumes a lot of juice so turning if off will save power. Go to Settings > General > Network and toggle Enable 3G to Off. You’ll be able to make and receive calls and access some data while 3G is off, though your iPhone will run on the slower EDGE or GPRS 2G network.
Enable/Disable 3G (Credit: David Martin)
Adjust brightness
Dimming the screen definitely can extend battery life. Go to Settings > Brightness and drag the slider left to lower brightness or right to increase brightness until you reach your desired settings. Turning off the Auto-Brightness settings also will help.
Brightness settings (Credit: David Martin)
Turn off the equalizer
Just like on the iPod, this feature can reduce battery life. Go to Settings > iPod > EQ and select Off. Yet, since EQ settings in iTunes migrate to the iPhone, you’ll have to override those settings and set the iPhone to Flat. Go to Settings > iPod > EQ and select Flat.
iPod EQ settings (Credit: David Martin)
iPod EQ options (Credit: David Martin)
More help
If you’re worried about your iPhone 3GS being defective, according to HardMac there is Apple’s Procedure for Users Experiencing Short Battery Life with the iPhone 3GS. Also, if you’re still experiencing severe battery problems after trying some of these tips, it might be time to take a trip to your local Apple Genius Bar.
Personal experience
So far, my personal experience has been that my iPhone 3GS lasts a bit longer than the iPhone 3G, particularly after I tuned the iPhone 3GS’ features to meet my personal needs. Yet, it still doesn’t last more than a day with heavy use, unlike other smartphones.
One typically intense day started at 100 percent battery capacity at 5.00am. The battery then dipped to 80 percent at 9.30am, 64 percent at 12.30pm, 39 percent at 3.30pm, and 25 percent at 6.30pm before showing the 20 percent battery warning at 8.30pm. With my iPhone 3G, I used to get that warning prior to 6.30pm. And after tweaking my iPhone 3GS using the tips below, the battery showed 49 percent capacity after 15 hours of heavy use. That’s not bad for smartphone battery performance.
Are you experiencing problems with your iPhone battery? Got some tips to share that might help conserve battery life? What kind of activities do you do on your iPhone that deplete the battery faster? Let us know in the comments.
[This story was first published on CNET's iPhone Atlas blog.]
Recent Comments