Is the battery life really this much better in 1.70?

[groovechicken]

After flashing 1.70 (the upgrade didn't go too well), I have noticed that the battery meter is reporting WAY more battery life than I am used to getting. In my old setup, I did leave USB Host enabled at all times and this time I have left it off and enable as needed, but nothing else has really changed. I take it off the charger when I leave for work and will often not touch it until around my lunch break, at which point I will often turn on wifi and open Thunderbird to check email, then leave that running until the end of the work day. Previously, it would be down in the 80s% left when I would first open it, and would be down in the 40s or 30s by the end of the work day if I left Thunderbird going. Now, under the same scenario, I will often find it is still in the high 80s at the end of the work day. If I play some SNES games in the afternoon, check email another time or two, and use it to access my passwords in KeePassX, I am still finding it in the 70s when I plug it in later that night.

So, was USB Host being enabled despite not using it wasting that much juice, or has battery management improved that much, or is the meter possibly way off? If this reported battery life is correct, it is going to change the way I am using my OP... in a good way. Any thoughts?

 

[TrashyMG]

After flashing 1.70 (the upgrade didn't go too well), I have noticed that the battery meter is reporting WAY more battery life than I am used to getting. In my old setup, I did leave USB Host enabled at all times and this time I have left it off and enable as needed, but nothing else has really changed. I take it off the charger when I leave for work and will often not touch it until around my lunch break, at which point I will often turn on wifi and open Thunderbird to check email, then leave that running until the end of the work day. Previously, it would be down in the 80s% left when I would first open it, and would be down in the 40s or 30s by the end of the work day if I left Thunderbird going. Now, under the same scenario, I will often find it is still in the high 80s at the end of the work day. If I play some SNES games in the afternoon, check email another time or two, and use it to access my passwords in KeePassX, I am still finding it in the 70s when I plug it in later that night.

So, was USB Host being enabled despite not using it wasting that much juice, or has battery management improved that much, or is the meter possibly way off? If this reported battery life is correct, it is going to change the way I am using my OP... in a good way. Any thoughts?

Which version of the OS did you come from?, because yes there was some huge power saving improvements put in several major patches ago.. The Pandora draws like 60mA when idle when the screen blanks..

Mind my stumbling speech..

https://www.youtube.com/embed/FOyjxOpL0WQ?feature=oembed

 

[groovechicken]

Hmmm, interesting. I was running the latest stuff before 1.70 because I had been using the update feature every so often to keep it current. It had been maybe a month or two since the last time I had run it before I tried letting it update to 1.70, but that caused multiple issues, at which point I did the reflash. This is on a Rebirth which I have never overclocked.

 

[notaz]

... I did leave USB Host enabled at all times and this time I have left it off and enable as needed, but nothing else has really changed.

When the screen is off and CPU is idle, the whole system needs less power than USB host alone. Also USB host is blocking low power states of remaining SoC parts, so pandora is using 3-4 times more power when the screen is off with USB host enabled compared to without it.

 

[groovechicken]

Oh, well, that would explain it then. Doh! If only I had known that before I went on my trip. Thanks for the info. Guess I would have known that if I had RTFM, right?