[Nexus S General] bedalus:
Testing Methodology

Two videos are available, and note, a circuit diagram of test now linked within the battery benchmark spreadsheet. I've decided to share it publicly as I've now set up and run this test three separate times, with no major problems. So I've reclassified it from utterly reckless, to merely dangerously stupid. Do not under any circumstances try this with your own phone! You have been warned!

You cannot trust battery monitor widget. (More on that in the 4th post)

Here's a way to test Deep Idle without rewiring your phone:

Note - SOMF means Screen Off Max Frequency

Setup must be identical (apart from SOMF). Install battery monitor widget, set history update rate to 10 minutes (not particularly to monitor the battery, but just to act as a timer). Set to run without widget. Turn off all radios, turn off sync, turn off location services, put in airplane mode. Turn off any of Ezekeel's mods excepting (Deep Idle of course). Set up your music app to play the same song on a loop. Make sure all volumes are down. Phone must be in mute. Turn of auto-brightness just in case. Morfic told me that to avoid the problem of the battery not reporting itself properly you can begin both tests with the same charging procedure: charge while off overnight. In the morning bump charge for exactly one hour. Disconnect, boot, start music immediately. Power button to screen off. Leave phone for 48 hours (should be enough time to auto power off).

After the first test, check the history from battery monitor widget to see how long the phone was on for.

Repeat again but with SOMF set to on.

***

Here's more on metering the amps:

REMEMBER I ADVISE THAT NO ONE SHOULD ATTEMPT THIS.

If you're thinking this is something you'd like to try, you'll need:

1) An analogue multimeter or pure ammeter because a digital one will be difficult to read with constantly changing amps.

2) Two battery caddies with space for 3 AA batteries each.

3) Six rechargeable batteries. Use rechargable ones because the volts are a bit less, 3*1.35=4.05 - close enough to the spec 3.7

4) Lots of cables with crocodile clip ends

5) Some fine copper wire

If you're thinking of soldering something onto your battery, DON'T - you may accidentally make a short circuit that will be difficult to undo, and cause the battery to explode. Plus the heat of the soldering iron certainly won't do it any good. And don't solder anything onto your phone contacts, just carefully twist a few strands of copper wire around them, so they can be easily removed. REMEMBER I ADVISE THAT NO ONE SHOULD ATTEMPT THIS.

[Q] Why do I need 6 AA batteries when 3 would provide enough volts?

[A] My multimeter inserts a 600 ohm resistor into the circuit (yours may be less, and if so you will need different calculations to convert to amps). This resistor allows the multimeter to evaluate the amps by measuring the voltage drop across it. But the resistance will cause your phone to starve of power. Running a parallel battery to the phone will prevent it crashing when the voltage supply isn't sufficient for things like screen on+cpu max frequency+sdcard IO... This parallel supply should run directly to the phone, not through the multimeter. It can be disconnected when the screen is off, and will not harm the phone. Remember to reattach it before powering on your screen, or it is likely your phone will crash. I would advise to start with fully recharged batteries, and not connect the USB charger.

[Q] Won't the amps read half of what is actually being drawn?

[A] Yes, but you'll get the correct reading if you unhook the parallel battery.

[Q] Might I also be able to do that when the screen is on?

[A] Yes, but I recommend that you do that with everything possible powered off, wifi, 3G... etc... screen brightness minimum. Set your screen timeout to never, so that you have control over it with the power button. Always reconnect your parallel battery before changing from screen on to screen off, and visa versa. (Due to large power spike)

[Q] I want to try this. Should I?

[A] No, no-one should try this.