Make Your HTC Evo Last Longer with These Power Saving Tips

Written by:  • Edited by: Simon Hill
Published Jul 22, 2010
• Related Guides: HTC | Wireless Network

Learn how to disable unnecessary services and features to greatly extend your battery life on your HTC Evo. Don't be without power again when you need to send that important text or answer a call from your boss. Extend your battery and enjoy your Evo without worrying about it going dead.

Battery Begone

The HTC EVO is the first 4G phone released by the maker HTC for the Sprint Cellular Network. With a gorgeous hi-resolution screen,

HTC Evo 4G
click to enlarge
8 megapixel camera and plenty of connectivity options it is no surprise that HTC Evo battery life is terrible.

Many users report having poor battery life with the HTC Evo even when they do not talk on the phone. Poor HTC Evo battery life even when in standby is caused by the phone automatically connecting to the data network and launching preloaded Sprint applications which are stored on the HTC Evo.

This guide will provide you with a few tips and tricks on how to adjust the settings in your HTC Evo to increase your battery life dramatically. This guide will provide you with several means to extend your HTC Evo battery life, however the most permanent solution is to purchase a higher capacity after market battery to extend HTC Evo battery life.

Tips for Extending Battery Life

The first step to better the HTC Evo battery life is to stop the data connections from constantly checking for data and thus draining the battery.

Disable the "always-on" mobile data connection. Goto "Settings" and then "Wireless & Networks". Choose "Mobile Networks" and tap the box next to "Enable always-on mobile data". This will disable the always-on mobile data connection which will save dramatic amounts of battery on the HTC Evo.

The next step to reducing the amount of data being transmitted is to disable the background data. Background data is randomly sent by the Google Services built into the phone. Disabling background data may hinder some functionality of the Google Services however it will greatly save battery life.

Disable background data. Goto "Settings" and then go to "Accounts & sync". Un-check the box next to "Background data" to disable the background data service.

The next two steps will disable auto-sync and wireless network location services. Disabling these two options will again, hinder some functionality of the services on the HTC Evo. In exchange for functionality, they will drastically increase the HTC Evo battery life.

Turn off auto-sync. Turn off auto-sync by going to "Settings" and then "Account & sync". Un-check the box next to "Auto-sync" to turn the auto-sync feature off.

Turn off wireless network location services. Go to "Settings" and then "Location". Tap "Use Wireless Networks" and change the settings from there. Turning this off will disable your ability to see your location in the Maps application. Turn this service back on to restore functionality when necessary.

There are several other things that also cause poor HTC Evo battery life. The majority of the drain is from the aforementioned data services although several other features do cause battery drain. Below you will find information on how to disable these features to assist with increasing the HTC Evo battery life.

Turn off haptic feedback. Haptic feedback is a nice feature to have on the HTC Evo, however the constant feedback does use battery life and so it can be disabled. Go to "Settings" and then "Language & keyboard". Choose "Touch Input" and then "Text Input". Turn off the option that says "Vibrate when typing".

Turn off the phone vibrate. Phone vibration for incoming calls can drain battery life fast. This is especially true if you receive a lot of calls or text messages throughout the day. Disabling the phone vibration will also help with your HTC Evo Battery Life.

Additional Tips

The above tips may sound very basic and obvious but they will go a long way to help with the HTC Evo battery life. There are a few more steps you can take to further extend battery life of the HTC Evo.

Disable home screen widgets. Tap on a widget and goto "Settings". Disable the widgets you are not using or consider disabling all of the widgets on your home screen. Widgets use a lot of battery life.

Install a task manager. Many HTC Evo users recommend installing a task manager application on the HTC Evo to help extend battery life. Launch the "Android Market" and search for a task manager. Download a task manager application and look at which services are running. Kill certain services such as "Camera" to save battery life.


Comments

Showing all 6 comments
 
Alex Mar 24, 2011 9:30 PM
Shuts off & Battery
My phone is also shutting off on its own and that is probably a hardware concern. My phone has been reformatted 3 times and still does it, HTC told my it sounds like hardware. Although task killer apps help with battery life i have found that they often conflict with the android software. The trick with battery life is setting yourself up with a power source in the areas where you most need you're phone and disabling only the features you don't use. If you disable all of them then as Steve said you end up with "A very expensive call only phone".
Anonymous Jan 23, 2011 8:46 AM
2nd Life
This greatly extended my battery life. I believe it was Gmail, gtalk and Facebook constantly using the cell radio for updates. Tuning off syncing and background date did the trick. I can now last over a day on the battery. I traded instant updates on my email for an occasional refresh. Thanks.
Robert Sep 28, 2010 1:38 PM
no refund required
With advanced task killer and an app called SetCPU (requires root) I've been able to easily extend my battery to 24hours of normal use (lots of email, popping on the web once or twice, calls during the day, some texting..) If you setup those two apps appropriately and create the proper CPU profiles.. you can get through a day without any problems. I also turn off GPS. While GPS itself doesn't require much power, all the apps that use gps constantly trying to update their location rape your battery. So just turn GPS off until you need it. I also disable wireless and 4G for the same reason until i need them and no problems. If you let 20+ apps just run free-for-all in the background your battery is going to get hammered no matter what phone you use. At that point you don't need a refund.. Your phone isn't the problem. Your inability to manage it is.
Lyn D Sep 16, 2010 12:39 PM
Shuts off sporadically
Every now and then my EVO will power off, then power on, then power off by itself. I was in the middle of a conference call when it started doing this! And my battery was fully charged! I had to call Sprint to reset the phone, but it still continues to do this sporadically. This is a nuisance! Any suggestions as to why it does that?
Steve W. Aug 21, 2010 10:00 AM
Battery
So you follow all these tips and what do you have? A very expensive call-only phone with no features. The solution is that Sprint & HTC have to fix the problem or offer refunds to everyone who bought the 3 hour phone.
Johnson Aug 7, 2010 1:24 PM
Another Tip
Great article! You can Google at http://bGoog.com to save battery power too. The black background consumes less power than white and it looks cool!
 
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