How to minimize power consumption of android smartphone?

Hello,
in Oruxmaps I found the following menus (I think...) to minimize power consumption:

top buttonbar/rightmost button (4 horizontal bars)/settings/GPS/minimum time:
- 0s
- 0.5s
- 1s
- 2s (recommended
...
- 60 minutes

top buttonbar/rightmost button (4 horizontal bars)/tweaks/GPS/select GPS mode:
- default
- fast
- power save

What does it mean, GPS/minimum time 30 seconds?
GPS receiver is off for 30 seconds, then it turns on for a short positioning (lets say for 2 seconds?), then it turns off for the next 30 seconds?

What does it mean, GPS mode default/fast/power save?

I did the following test:
I took the battery out and connected the battery contacs of the phone directly to an external power supply with a current display (mA) an measured the current over a current probe (hall sensor type) and oscilloscope to see potential current spikes.

What I found out:
Idle current (display off, all tasks killed before): 1,7mA
Operating current 100-250mA (depending on display backlight brightness)
Standby current with Oruxmaps track recording (display off): about 100mA

I was suprised by the fact, that none of the settings in the above mentioned menus (GPS interval + power save) had influence to the power consumption. Also the interval settings did not cause visible current pulses...

Can somebody please clarify the power topic?

I use a bluetooth GPS, after 8 hours of non-stop track recording, I am around half battery. I have Droid Razr Maxx, with ice-cream-sandwich.

Tom* wrote:Hello,
in Oruxmaps I found the following menus (I think...) to minimize power consumption:

top buttonbar/rightmost button (4 horizontal bars)/settings/GPS/minimum time:
- 0s
- 0.5s
- 1s
- 2s (recommended
...
- 60 minutes

top buttonbar/rightmost button (4 horizontal bars)/tweaks/GPS/select GPS mode:
- default
- fast
- power save

What does it mean, GPS/minimum time 30 seconds?
GPS receiver is off for 30 seconds, then it turns on for a short positioning (lets say for 2 seconds?), then it turns off for the next 30 seconds?

What does it mean, GPS mode default/fast/power save?

I did the following test:
I took the battery out and connected the battery contacs of the phone directly to an external power supply with a current display (mA) an measured the current over a current probe (hall sensor type) and oscilloscope to see potential current spikes.

What I found out:
Idle current (display off, all tasks killed before): 1,7mA
Operating current 100-250mA (depending on display backlight brightness)
Standby current with Oruxmaps track recording (display off): about 100mA

I was suprised by the fact, that none of the settings in the above mentioned menus (GPS interval + power save) had influence to the power consumption. Also the interval settings did not cause visible current pulses...

Can somebody please clarify the power topic?

Hello;

If you want to save battery power, the most important setting is this:
GPS/minimum time
If greater than zero, android can (not required, but it is normal to) turn off the GPS chip in that time.

The GPS uses a lot of battery, so this parameter affects a lot.

Of course, the biggest power consumer is the screen, if it is always on, do not care about gps settings

The other settings are a quick way to modify this parameter:

- Default -> use GPS settings.
- Fast -> GPS min. time to zero seconds, the GPS always on.
- Power save -> GPS min. time to 30 seconds. GPS is a long time off, the battery will last around a day.


orux