[Nexus 6P General] shuckeru:
Shuckeru's review/tests for govenor profiles

Some of you have probably seen my tests, and lately I've just seen people hopping onto the most talked about profile, which isn't exactly the best thing to do. I have done testing for quite a few profiles and I'll use this post as a center for all my testing so everyone can come here, look at the results, figure out what's probably best for them, then chase that awesome battery life.

I'll be providing a short summary of things people look for in the profile here, but please go to the respective posts for more detail in usage experience.

PLEASE NOTE: Just because profile has done well for me doesn't mean it will for you and vice versa.

Here are a few things to keep in mind that will affect your final battery life

kernel

different kernels do different things which will use battery at different rates. Contact your kernel developer for more info.​

apps

More things run, more battery used. simple​

ROM

people make optimisations (+ve effects on battery), add features and/or services on top of AOSP ROMs which may or may not affect battery.​

temperature

bit of physics here, phone/CPU hot = energy lost to heat instead of computing. This is not the whole story but an over simplification for those who don't realise.​

movement

If you're on MM, this will affect you more than official N users as they have Doze on the go now, but I haven't seen anyone commenting on how well it works. However I have found that having your phone facing towards you in your pocket with wake gestures turned on will drain more battery because of the phone attempting to recognise your thigh/butt's input.​

governor/profile

What you're here for.​

manufacturing consistency

no one can control this. some phones are just made more equal than others​

any combination of these will change the results you get and as such, this means that it is very hard to do a controlled real world test thanks to the flexibility that has been vested onto our Huawei Nexus 6p.

With that said, I'd like to make sure everyone knows to take the following information as a guide, not concrete facts and is by no means exhaustive. If you have something you'd like me to add or would like me to revisit any profile just let me know via pm/reply.

definitions:

Light usage:

As a general rule of thumb, if you're browsing content. That's pretty light.

Things like checking the news, your social media, forums, watching an offline video, NFC transactions, banking, taking notes.

These actions do not constantly use data/gps and do not require high CPU usage.

Heavy usage:

Another rule of thumb, your phone gets hot. The CPU's probably working hard.

Playing games, video streaming, calling via cellular/data, video calling, navigation, remote management

These actions require some combination of data/gps/cellular and probably uses higher CPU frequencies.

Idle usage:

Few exceptions here, I do it with screen off, and usually falling under this category because it is for non-SOT actions. That's why when I do, I can only track it via idle time.

Music streaming, Whatsapp Web

I think this is enough examples. I don't use every app/mod out there and I'm sure you're smart enough to figure how your app should fair

phone setup:

ROM: stock MM

Rooted: yes

xposed: yes

wifi: always on

data: 4g/3g always on mostly with average(yellow) reception

bluetooth: always on

nfc: always on

location: high accuracy

brightness: auto

daydream/screensaver: off

ambient display: off

fingerprint: yes

swipe to unlock: off

EXKM setup:

kernel defaults

with the following exceptions:

I/O Scheduler: sioplus

readahead: 2048

Discontinued profiles

Profile tests done using Elementalx 1.16 kernel:

Heimdall v4

Performance: hiccups near RAM limits, smooth otherwise

SOT: 2hrs

verdict: eh... its outdated anyway and gmail was probably sucking batt.

post with detail

ghost pepper

Performance: Often see UI micro freezing, smooth when in use

SOT: 2.5hrs

verdict: there was this feeling that i had like "range anxiety"

post with detail

eclipse r1 (light usage only)

Performance: hiccups near RAM limits, smooth otherwise

SOT: 6.5hrs

verdict: really nice all rounder without lagging in games too much.

post with detail

Profile tests done using kylo R21 aosp 4.9: (incomplete section)

eclipse r3

Performance: occasional UI hiccup

verdict: not so good for gaming.

Heimdall v4

Profile tests done using AK 0.66-2 UBER 5.4 (incomplete section)

eclipse r3

Profile tests done using kylo R36 UBER 6.x: ended 2 Sept 2016

Saber

Usage: 2hrs light, 1.5hrs heavy, 1.5hrs idle

Performance: feels like Amanuensis (slower than performance oriented profiles)

Idle drain: ???

SOT: ~4hrs

verdict: still feels better than Heimdall, but why use this when there's Dragonfly?

post with detail

Blackpepper v1

usage: 2.75hrs light, 2hrs heavy, overnight + 1hr idle

performance: lag on wake/some nav functions. No problems in most games, lower fps in 3d intensive games

idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 4.75hrs

verdict: for the people who constantly complain about "my phone is too hot"

post with detail

Glassfish v1

usage: 3hrs light, 1.5hrs heavy, 3hrs idle

performance: stuttering in most games, lags on fingerprint to wake

idle drain: 2.1%/hr

SOT: 4.5hrs

verdict: is alright, but "unusable" when on low battery

post with detail

Profile tests done using Ninja v1.9 for M:

DragonX v1 Hotplugging disabled

usage: 3.25hrs light, 2hrs heavy, 1.5hrs idle

performance: smooth and responsive, no observed lags

idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 5.25hrs

verdict: Great all rounder, but reported scrolling lag in specific applications

Post with detail

Improved profiles

Profile tests done using kylo R36 UBER 6.x:

AmanuensisOne

(Uber heavy)

Usage: 3.5hrs heavy

Performance: just a little slower than being fully performance blowned like butterfly. No lags though

Idle drain: N/A

SOT: 3.5hrs

verdict: the new baseline for my tests since 28 July 2016

post with detail

(mixed usage)

Usage: 3hrs light, 2hrs heavy, 8hrs idle

Performance: just a little slower than being fully performance blowned like butterfly. No lags though

Idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 5hrs

verdict: the new baseline for my tests since 28 July 2016

post with detail

and since this is the baseline another piece of information that may interest you- script vs exkm profile differences.

DragonFly

Usage: 2.5hrs Light, 1.5hrs heavy, 30mins-1hr idle

Peformance: best of all. 0 lags

Idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT : 4hrs

verdict: No compromises and yet such respectable SOT. pretty average with heavy drain, but this time its full speed ahead.

post with detail

Excalibur v2

usage: 3.75hrs light, 1hr heavy, overnight idle

Performance: snappy. no lags.

idle drain: 1.17%/hr

SOT: 4.75hrs

verdict: would not mind using this for a daily

post with detail

Deadpool

usage: 2.5hrs light, 1.75hrs heavy, 6hrs idle

performance: smooth even when CPU throttles

idle drain: <1%hr

SOT: 4.25hrs

verdict: THE profile for light users

post with detail

Hawktail v1

usage: 2hrs light, 1.75hrs heavy, 6hrs idle

performance: stutter in pokemon go

idle drain: <1%hr

SOT: 3.75hrs

verdict: has really good background usage

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GlassFish v1.2

usage: 2.5hrs light, 2hrs heavy, 9hrs idle

performance: stuttering in most games and apps

idle drain: 1%/hr

SOT: 4.5hrs

verdict: is alright if you can stand stuttering, not worth the sacrifice in user experience to save low battery unusability as in v1

post with detail

DeusEx

usage: 3hrs light, 2hrs heavy, 5.5hrs idle

performance: micro stutters on low battery if CPU is hot, still usable

idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 5hrs

verdict: I can recommend this alongside Amanuensis

post with detail

Profile tests done using Ninja v1.6 for M:

DeusEx Revolution

usage: 2.5hrs light, 2hrs heavy, 9hrs idle

performance: lags when hot/low battery in heavy usage

idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 4.5hrs

verdict: not exactly for mixed/heavy usage. Should be ok for light usage

post with detail

Saber v2

usage: 3.5hrs light, 1.5hrs heavy, 15hrs idle

performance: Very smooth and responsive, until Power saver mode kicks in. Stutters when warm only in games but not UI

idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 5hrs

verdict: Don't let Android power saver kick in and you should be mint

Post with detail

Profile tests done using Ninja v1.9 for M:

DragonX v2 Hotplugging disabled

usage: 3hrs light, 1.75hrs heavy, 10hrs idle

performance: very smooth and responsive, no observed lags

idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 4.75hrs

verdict: Even smoother than v1, doesn't get as hot, could have slightly more SOT

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Profile tests done using Ninja v1.11 for M:

Werewolf v1.2 Hotplugging disabled

usage: 2.5hrs light, 1.5hrs heavy, 5.5hrs idle

performance: smooth enough and mostly responsive, lags on 3d fire effects

idle drain: <1%/hr

SOT: 4hrs

verdict: Smooth enough for daily use, but not enough SOT.

Post with detail

Recommendations Updated 31 Aug 2016

Light users: Deadpool/Saber v2

Mixed users: AmanuensisOne/DragonX v2/Deux Ex

Heavy users: AmanuensisOne/DragonX

performance users: Dragonfly

cold phone users: Blackpepper v1