[Galaxy Note 3 General] wild wadi:
SOT (Screen On Time) & Kernel discussion for Note 3 with Phronesis, MagmaNX & Aspire

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Note 3 with Phronesis, Magma NX or AspireTeam C9 Pro ROMs SOT (Screen On Time) Battery and custom Kernel Discussion.

Let me start by saying that this tread is born out of a passionate back and forth discussion I had with one the above-mentioned custom ROMs a rather ubiquitous assistant developer here on xda. It all began with his casual use of SOT (Screen On Time) hours he got when asked by a user why his battery was draining. He would, without fail, give the usual line of your usage vary from this to that, and each horse is different from the other, etc. etc. which is fine. But, somewhere along the line, he will casually throw in that he personally gets 7-8 hrs. SOT and possibly reach 11 hrs. That’s when I took him to task, until the moderator asked us to quit and start a discussion thread if we feel the need to go further on the subject of SOT.

So here I am, but first let me say this, I know that this subject is not easy and subjective, but I would like to approach it in a simple way, better yet, can there be a common point here where we all agree what would be a default setting on a custom ROM? I’m proposing WIFI active, Data 4G active, Location active and Bluetooth active. At least the first 3 come activated on every devise you purchase. Most people use these principal services for various connections in their daily lives. Let’s call this for the sake of this argument “Normal Use”.

Xda developers like to always remind users who they call “noobs” ( I certainly was once, and most probably still am) that this is a developer site and you should first break your bones before coming here. Sorry, but that isn’t reality, most custom ROM users are NOT developers, in fact many, many are noobs. In fact, the noobs are what makes a custom ROM successful. The more pages the thread garners and the more downloads, the more the developer appreciates his success and xda benefits.

Now I know there are many factors that paly into SOT, battery age, kernel, ROM, games, wild applications etc. But really, do you think it is wise to promote any custom rom by saying “I personally get 7-8 hrs. SOT and can possibly achieve 11hrs”. Remember, we are talking about a Note 3 stock battery not a custom one. Just imagine what that means; you go to work and come back and you’re still on SOT! I can’t achieve that on an iPad. We’re talking here about a 2017 technology on a 2013 mobile phone device, and the Note 3 was designed with Kitikat 4.2, which is even older.

Granted, you’re a developer or part of the know-how team who can snail tweak the device's software and kernel to achieve a higher SOT, just because you can and you know how. But there is always a price to pay in functionality. I will go even further to say that you do a disservice to the ROM quality and viability by saying that. Even if you achieve that with all those crippling tweaks, most people aren’t ready to use their device as a developer testing machine. Actually, giving them estimates on normal use of 3-4-5 hrs. SOT would be more attuned with reality, and people will not pester your thread with posts asking why they haven’t reached 7-8 hours SOT you bragged about. If they somehow reach a higher SOT on their own, all the praise to the developer. Instead, they have to deal with awful suggestions like “your battery must be dead or something”. Samsung’s best offers never reach more than 5hrs. SOT, if they did, they’d kill the competition. Neither do trimmed down ASOP ROMs.

Finally, I have flashed many ROMS since I got my Note 3, but for this thread let’s keep this discussion limited to Phronesis ROM, Magama NX and AspireTeam since they are the most popular with Note 3 users, and all use Android MM 6.0.1 I’ve used All 3 ROMs above with various kernels and never achieved more than 4 hours with “normal use” (all connections active) 5 hrs. is rare SOT for me even when I use new stock batteries. So, please let us know what is your SOT using what kernel with these ROMS on your Note 3. Do you actually reach 7-8 hrs. SOT? (forget 11. LOL). If you do, tells us how? And please don’t forget to give us some specs about your configuration.