Juice Defender Ultimate Android App Review (Settings & Walkthrough)
201Morning everyone. Today I'm reviewing the excellent Juice Defender Ultimate for Android.
This app really does help you configure your phone to save battery when you're out and about so be sure to let me know what you think in the comments below!
I took a look at this app a while back on my blog and the story is just down below:
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Today I'm going to best testing out the excellent little app JuiceDefender to see just how much battery it can save me on my HTC Desire.
Usual phone settings apply (see below). JuiceDefender running with default 'out the box' settings.
Here is how my HTC Desire is configured:
Fully charged at 9am.
Screen: Medium brightness (auto brightness off)
WiFi: ON (Wireless N enabled but will not be used at work as we currently only have 802.11b/g)
Syncing: ON (2 Gmail accounts and FriendStream -- see below)
Bluetooth: OFF
GPS: OFF
FriendStream: ON (Twitter updating every 15 minutes and Facebook every 1 hour)
Wallpaper: Set to Live as per the previous test but didn't mention.
2G/3G Data: Enabled with network mode set to automatic and data roaming enabled
I'm going to compare the battery level with my previous Froyo test to get a rough idea on how much it's helping. Old scores will be in square brackets
9:00 100% Will be listening to Grooveshark on my way in to work
10:00 98%! Not bad so far. Have been e-mailing lots (as my computer is currently out of action) and made a phone call
11:00 95% [92%] Still looking good, have sent plenty of e-mails and checking tweets and Facebook
12:00 90% Have only used 10% of the battery in 3 hours which isn't bad considering the usage. I have still been e-mailing, Facebooking and tweeting since 11.
13:00 82% [78%] A bit of a jump here. I was listening to FM Radio on the walk back home for lunch and have been eBaying quite heavily (PKT Auctions app). I've noticed a few quirks with how JuiceDefender works. One example is that it will disable your volume keys when the screen is locked. This isn't a huge problem unless you're listening to music but it's obviously one of the ways it saves your battery. (Phone usage should go back to normal after lunch as I have now fixed my computer )
14:00 78% Only light usage since the last update.
15:00 74% Again, haven't used the phone much. Checked e-mail and tweets a few times.
16:00 71% More general use of the phone in the last hour, only lost 3%
17:00 69% [60%] Not bad going in the last hour, only down by 3%. Comparing this to the last test I can see that JuiceDefender has done a great job at saving me some power. Knowing that at the end of a working day and some quite heavy usage is reassuring. At the rate the phone has been discharging I know it could still get through a whole night out without being charged.
18:00 64% The walk home and some tweeting hasn't caused a huge problem. Will be reporting again later on tonight.
22:45 53% left [34%] Well, nearly 14 hours on and I still have over half my battery left! I can certainly conclude from this initial test that JuiceDefender has done a great job at saving power on my phone. I will leave my phone on overnight and see what I end up with in the morning. (JuiceDefender will be disabled along with all syncing activities.)
Here's the proof!
[Update 04/02/2011] My phone has now been away from a power source for over 28.5 hours and I still have 18% left! I'll see how long I can push it for the rest of the day!