What are some reasons for big difference in time usage and small difference in mAh?

Question

I have found an android phone with really good specs like 1.5GHz Quad Core, 1GB RAM, 5", HD screen. My question though is on the battery

Battery Size: 2000mAh
Usage Time: 6 Hours
Battery Standby: 72 Hours

In comparison with let's say Samsung S4, it comes with a battery of 2600 mah,

Stand-by     (2G) / Up to 370 h (3G) 
Talk time    (2G) / Up to 17 h (3G)

Why is that big difference in the time of usage with just 600mah? I got the numbers for the S4 from Gsm Arena and the other one from the manufacturer.

Thank you for your time

Answer 1

I'm not sure where you got those figures from, they seem a bit too good to be true. 370 hours is next to impossible for Li-ion batteries (when they are attached to smart phones). 370 hours is more than 15 days. As of 2013 there is no Android powered smart phone that can last in standby for more than 15 days. It doesn't cost a ton of battery to be connected to a cell tower, but over hours and hours of being connected, it adds up to be a lot. Plus add in a ton of background processes to the mix and you have yourself a battery eating machine.

And your figure isn't really practical anyway because I could not think of anyone who could let there phone sit on standby for 15 days without using it.

I know 2 people who have the S4 and both of them said that they can't get more than 2 days out of their charge with practical use.

So to answer your question, there is not a big difference between the two, but the S4 does come with some nice software to help you make the most out of your battery with practical use:

If I had an S4 I would definitely check this out because if you want to get the most out of your battery, this "Smart Screen" is a great start.

from Wonder How To

I think that this is the article you were referencing. This artical states that the "average" battery life is 57 hours:

now 57 hours is a more manageable number. I was interested in how the S3 did in the same test. Here are the results:

Now all of that said, the difference between the two is only 14 hours. 14 hours is a great improvement for Samsung's next S generation phone.

Don't always believe things you see on the net =)

Answer 2

You are comparing USAGE TIME with STAND-BY TIME and TALK TIME witch is incorrect.

First of all you will never get a clear answer when comparing battery consumptions, not even when you compare 2 identical phones, because for you may by talking is a priority and for another browsing the internet, and when you would compare battery life with him there will be a very big difrence.

Now talking about GENERAL battery consumtion, for the this example assume that exactly the same operations are done at a point of a millisecond.
Now what you have failed to mention, and it is one of the most important thing, is the screen SIZE.
You will find that the screen size is one of the biggest power eater that you have on a phone, the bigger it is the more it will eat.

To answer your question(partially answer it) may by the phone with the 2600mah has a smaller screen then the one with 2000mah and it is normal to see such a big increase in battery life.
Then there is the software. Witch even tough they are all android device the way that they handle things when you close the screen is different from manufacturer to another.
And again that can be a diference to, a very big actually.


One more thing, you are comparing usage time with STAND-BY and TALK TIME. Witch both require the screen to be off, while USAGE TIME requires the phone to be on and allways use it like send a email, open a photo, then send a tweed, etc, that is usage time.

Now keeping that in mind we cannot make a decision for you if it is a big difrence or not, you will have to take a decision by your self, but one thing is for sure, don't compare usage time with stand by time.