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Gingerbread 2.3.6 impressions

To all who have EP4D, OTA or from SD Card, how would you rate this update compared to the EE4 Froyo update? Has it fixed most issues that you may have possibly had? Anyone experience muted calls, "dead air" issues? Loud squealing or moden noises from the phone? Stock browser load faster, smoother perhaps? Bluetooth bugs fixed? GPS lock pretty quick? Any screen redraws? From what I hear this build is buttery smooth....just wanted to get everyones opinions about it.

Comments

HoustonHeart

The basic lot of the phone is the same (still the samsung interface) with some new features to callender, cloud support, lte stability (depending on area) and performance (benchamrks are much higher).

Battery life is good, but I reset stats and bump charged from the sd clean install.

I didn't have many issues before. Never noticed screen redraw or lag.

I run a 3D launcher and it is smooth.

Game performance is better. Especially in games like Order and Chaos Online (full online MMORPG).

JerryF

HoustonHeart,

Can I reset my Battery stats WITHOUT rooting the phone? If so...HOW?

Thanks,

JerryF

DC5_K20Z1

Right on, what 3d launcher are you using? Anyone done a before and after benchmark with stock ee4 and now with ep4?

strike01

what is bump charged?

DC5_K20Z1

Bump charging is when you turn the phone off and charge it, let it get to 100%, take out the charger, wait a sec, put it back in and let it charge to 100% again, and keep on repeating the process 3-10 times or so. Should help give you a lii extra juice :smileyhappy:

butlerpd1

that bimp charge crap dont work

DC5_K20Z1

Its just fun to do it though..for hours on end.....you don't like doing it butter?????

rcaplinger

I gave up about 2 weeks ago and installed the GB update from instructions on another forum. (This is probably the only reason VZW released it; they waited until *I* would have to re-flash back to stock. j/k!)

I wouldn't call it "buttery smooth", but the issues have either been resolved or mitigated a little.

Bluetooth dropouts - this was a big one for me, since I listen to music on the bus and my bluetooth headphones too a long time to connect, button presses on the headphones (play/pause, answer phone) didn't always register on the phone, and the worst was the constant suttering and dropouts of sound even if I didn't touch the phone. This has been resolved!!

Stock browser loading/swiping - The browser loads faster, but sliding the page up or down, while using the bluetooth headphones, is stuttering, and an exercise in frustration. They basically swapped suttering sound for stuttering web browser!

GPS reception - No change, still slow as molasses to lock on, sometimes minutes before it would get a signal. But it works fine once th initial lock is made. I've used this extensively, and only had a fast lock on GPS once out of maybe 8 times.

Screen redraws - Still slow, but not quite as bad as before. Going from the web browser, especially if I've viewed a video on a page, the icons take a few seconds to display. Widgets on the home screen, including clock and weather widgets, are fine, though.

Camera - Extremely fast shot-to-shot times now! No more waiting for 10 seconds to write the picture to memory, it just seems to "blink" the pics to the microsd card now.

Boot up speed - rebooted twice, both times *seem* a little bit faster, not much, nothing that made me go "wow".

Data Connectivity and speed - no real change. I've had 3 times in 2 days where I had to turn off/on the cell data to clear up some sort of hang that sat for about a minute before I got tired of waiting. The 4G indicator was on, the red down and green up arrows blink on and off a bit, but the web pages didn't update. It's happened different times of the day, and a few different web pages, so I tend to think it's a problem with my phone/OS and not the web sites or the cell network.

Battery life - Much improved! I was getting home at 5:00 with about 20% of my battery charge left before I updated. Still experiencing the same usage as I did before, I now have about 50-60% left when I get home, and I'm leaving WiFi, Bluetooth, and Mobile Data on all the time.

In a nutshell, I have to say I'm extremely pleased with this phone now! The upgrade was a definite improvement and makes the phone usable and somewhat "brag-worthy" now. I never ran any benchmarks, but the phone is zippier, more responsive (except when using bluetooth), and does an acceptable job as both a phone and a mobile internet device. At the current prices I've seen on other websites, this phone is one of the best bang-for-the-buck devices I've seen. I have no desire to upgrade to any other phone out there. This one has a screen that makes me think the iPhones have something wrong with them, a great camera, hotspot capability (I've been using this on occassion for a week), great sounding audio, replaceable battery, front-facing camera, etc. etc.

DC5_K20Z1

Thanks for the insight, nice to hear your thoughts on this update!

Mean_Streak

Is this based on staying 4G?

I know for me I switch to CDMA and WiFi to keep better battery life, but it would be nice not to have to do that.

DC5_K20Z1

Yes that would be great if that was on 4g the whole time.

DC5_K20Z1

Wow, after a day and a half use of this phone running ep4 2.3.6, I am very pleased with how smooth this phone is running. I have not had any issues at all. No Fc's, no freezing, no reboots, no flickering screen after wake, no 1x, 3g, 4g cycling, no "dead air". Everything has been much much better with this phone now. I'm very happy with the gingerbread 2.3.6 software!

MBP2U

Has anyone else had a problem with the YouTube App? Mine now says that I am not linked to my google account. I can still access YouTube on my browser with no probs.

Other than that, this Droid Charge jams!

rav5479

Does anybody know or know where I can find the specific to the updates with GB?

eg.

+ Audio Output
+ Bluetooth®
+ Camera
+ Data Connectivity
+ Data Usage App
+ Email Client
+ EAS Email and Calendar syncing
+ GPS
+ HDMI Output
+ SMS / MMS Messaging
+ Visual Voice Mail
+ Web Browser
+ Video on Demand

All this stuff has been improved but my question is how? more specifically (since some of it is self explanatory) e-mail client, sms messaging, hdmi output, web browser, data connectivity, audio output, bluetooth.

I got the update on Saturday and I have yet to find out how these have been improved. Also, Verizon and Samsung have no idea either.

DC5_K20Z1

I think that is about as good as it is going to get unless you run into a software developer from Samsung that worked on the update for this phone :smileysad:

UMFootball1989

Could someone fill me in on the whole quadrant benchmark thing?

DC5_K20Z1

It gives you an idea of your phones overall performance, but the charge uses a poor file system, so it does not do well on quadrant scores. When a custom kernel is used on this bad boy it yields much higher marks, also if tweaks have been used it is usually even better results.

howsertron

major static feedback during every call

howsertron

anyone else getting this static during calls?

DC5_K20Z1

No, not yet anyway. Sorry to hear that.

tomv20158974

Yes static (screeching) is also a problem for me. Phone was fine before update, now at times I get terrible screeching sounds rendering the phone unusable. It seems worse in low signal areas.

Medic535

I'm running a non-verizon copy of 2.3.6 and I'm having non of the issues people are talking about. Seems to be a issure with VZ's bloatware.

WTTTT

So many of us resisted doing that in anticipation of this update. I wonder if that is why all the reports that snuck out before the release of GB were so positive. I really hope we don't have to resort to technically difficult measures just to get a decently working phone. This update did fix things like the data connection drop for me, but killed my battery life in a big way. It also seems odd that different people have different issues even though the update and carrier service is all the same.

DC5_K20Z1

For those having bad battery life, did you do the update when you had 100 % battery life, plugged into a charger? Was your battery low? Is your screen brightness set to auto? When I did my update, I rebooted the phone first, made sure I was at 100% battery life, on the ac charger, then switched to wifi, downloaded the update, once it started up I rebooted again and since then I've had flawless operation of this phone since saturday, the battery life is a bit better, the phone runs smoother and faster. I'm very happy with the ep4 2.3.6 gb update.

DC5_K20Z1

As for juice defender I've never really heard much good from it as lots of people say it drains the battery faster.

DC5_K20Z1

I'd ditch it (juice defender), turn your phone off, charge it 100% full, maybe even bump charge it a few times, then boot up, stay on the ac charger and turn the brightness of the screen off completely and off auto brightness, turn off wifi and gps (if on) turn off all animations, close out apps that are not important, change synching to longer intervals like every 6 hours, same with pushes for email and weather and such. Make sure the brightness of the browser is also set as low as possible. This should help battery life.

JerryF

DC5,

My battery was at 98% when I did the update. I was not plugged into the charger. My screen brightens is OFF and the other battery saver at the bottom of that same screen is UN-checked. To change brightness I slide my finger across the top of the display.

For those having problems turn your phone off and do 6 BUMP charges in a row and that MIGHT almost reset your battery calc file. If you don't know how to do a BUMP charge search on the word BUMP.

Also, touch the APP Task Manager. Slide your finger from left to right across the row of icons at the top of that screen. Then touch HELP and take heed of those battery saving suggestions.

Whenever you leave an APP if you touch the HOME button the APP remains running but if you touch the GO BACK (u-turn symbol) button the APP is closed so it is not left running in back ground.

Juice Defender did NOT work in my Charge phone. All it did was keep me from connecting to 3G/4G. I un-installed it after 2-3 days and never looked back.

Every once in a while go to Task Manager and see what is running and close them if you are not using them.

JerryF

PS, DC5, Re your post after mine, I agree with you. Also, it is not good to keep WiFi, Mobile Data, and GPS on all the time.

DC5_K20Z1

Jerry, I think most that did the update with poor battery life may have had less battery than you or I, and may not have rebooted their phones in awhile, as well as currently having to many apps running in the bg, and the brightness for the screen is probably high, as well as gps and wifi on with 3g/4g.

WTTTT

DC5_K20Z1 wrote:
For those having bad battery life, did you do the update when you had 100 % battery life, plugged into a charger? Was your battery low? Is your screen brightness set to auto? When I did my update, I rebooted the phone first, made sure I was at 100% battery life, on the ac charger, then switched to wifi, downloaded the update, once it started up I rebooted again and since then I've had flawless operation of this phone since saturday, the battery life is a bit better, the phone runs smoother and faster. I'm very happy with the ep4 2.3.6 gb update.

Yes to all that. Battery was 100% and I did a hard reset before also.

WTTTT

DC5_K20Z1 wrote:
As for juice defender I've never really heard much good from it as lots of people say it drains the battery faster.

I did not install it until after I noticed the bad battery life after updating. Still I am not convinced JD is helping so I will uninstall it and report back.

WTTTT

DC5_K20Z1 wrote:
Jerry, I think most that did the update with poor battery life may have had less battery than you or I, and may not have rebooted their phones in awhile, as well as currently having to many apps running in the bg, and the brightness for the screen is probably high, as well as gps and wifi on with 3g/4g.

And no to all that. Phone is turned off at night so rebooted every day. Screen brightness is auto. Close apps after using them. Phone is set to 3G only as we have no 4G. Wifi is on, but it was before update also. GPS is on, but it was before update also.

I am not complaining about "bad" battery life, per se. Only that with everything the same as before the update, I am getting about 1/2 the battery life I had before GB.

Everything else about the phone is improved, especially the reliability of data connection. Maybe a previous poster is on to something about how that may have been fixed?

bluestar

Downloaded the update with battery at 100% and charging. Rebooted. Have applied all battery saving tactics (no WiFi, no GPS, screen brightness set to minimum, no Juice Defender, and so on). Battery life has decreased by 50%. I'm also using an extended battery. Wonder if somehow that's the culprit (though it doesn't seem likely).

jbrookley

Honestly, I didn't know I needed to have FULL battery when I did it (my phone was almost dead when the update came through and it was pretty late. I didn't want to wait til the next morning just in case for whatever reason, the notification went away so I charged it for a few hours to 60% and then just did it).

So, I've heard the pros and cons of bump charging, I don't want to ruin my battery life. Will bump charging it 6 times or so only this one time (and then resuming normal battery charging techniques from now on) diminish the battery life or is it just repeated bump charging that dries out the battery, etc?

Does it sound like this is the best thing for me to do at present? Like the person before me, I actually have the extended battery too. Maybe that's the issue. That's going to be annoying if I get the same battery life with this tank of a battery that doubles the width of the phone as a normal battery . . . :smileytongue:

Regarding what someone else said, I had had data connection problems with juice defender prior to the GB update but it seems fixed. Maybe that is the cause of my decreased battery life though. I guess i'll uninstall it for now.

Any other suggestions? I do keep my GPS on at all times so I can locate my phone via lookout security (which is very handy) but I understand it isn't using up battery life unless it's being launched with another application that actually uses it (that might be incorrect though). I have found out that facebook uses it though, not stoked on that. Wish I could disable that. I usually keep bluetooth and wifi turned off unless I need to make the switch though and I have my phone in CDMA mode (because, despite Verizon telling me it would be in Ventura by the end of SUMMER, we still have no 4G. Too bad I didn't get them to sign a contract when I extended mine based on their promise of 4G and that I could be released from contract if they didn't uphold their end . . .).

DC5_K20Z1

Try turning off the auto brightness, all the way off, turn off gps only when you need it and turn off wifi if you have 3g on. Or have wifi on and 3g off. Also goto settings for the browser and turn the brightness settings off too. Then charge it full and see if that helps extend the battery life.

DC5_K20Z1

Is the battery from samsung or a 3rd party vendor?

DC5_K20Z1

I notice more battery drain when keeping the gps on at all times even if I'm not using it. Also, bump charging doesnt dry the battery, it is intended to squeeze a lil extra juice into your battery. I do it 3-4 times a week, about 3 times each time I bump charge. I turn off wifi all day, gps off all day unless I need to use either, but if wifi is on, 3g is off. I have auto brightness off completely, lowest setting, browser brightness as well, and no animations, close out all my apps each time I use them, and so on. I'm not sure how the battery is affected if it is at 60% when you did the update, but I wanted to make sure it was at 100% so that when I did the update, if the battery stats got reset it would read the battery as accurately as possible.

xsvenom

I don't know what to do, I notice a great battery drain now on my Charge after this update. I have my Charge constantly plugged in now. If I just pick it up and play a little Angry Birds on my way into work ( 10 minute trip on train ) the battery is at half charge. Are you kidding me? I don't know why Verizon or Samsung don't bite the bullet on this one and refund or store credit all Charge owners moneys. This phone is a pig, it should have came with a solar panel on the back..

WTTTT

I don't have an extended battery. I have the original one. And I understand all the tricks to extend battery life may help a little bit. What is annoying to me is that I have everything exactly the same as before the update and am getting 1/2 the battery life. That is a big difference. I am not trying to tweak to get a bit more, I am trying to figure out why it seems like the update killed my battery life.

Having said that the reason I installed Juice Defender is that it does certain things like turns off 3G when I get within range of my WiFi networks and a bunch of other things that read like they should help. I am not sure JD is helping much, but it is not hurting. I noticed the battery life decrease for two days before installing JD and nothing much has changed since then. I did tweak JD settings a bit this morning and I seem to be getting a bit better results this afternoon. Phone has been on for just over 8 hours and is at 64% with very little use. Pretty much just drained down to that level sitting on the desk. I just woke it to check and I have received and read 3 emails, two texts, and made one 10 minute call using bluetooth today. I know that before the update, I would be at much higher than 64% with that use.

Before the update I used to have my phone on all the time from 6am to 10 pm average. I used it without worrying about battery. Used internet, many texts and emails, phone calls, etc. Once in a while I would even forget to charge it or would accidently leave it on overnight. I would always have enough the next day to get started until I could plug it in. Now there is no way that with normal use the battery would last the day.

DC5_K20Z1

I know that even though things are the same for your setup and your loosing more battery, try doing all that stuff, turning auto brightness off, turn off gps, turn off wifi, turn off all animations, dim the browser brightness, change the push notifications to longer intervals if you can, same with synching accounts, and try charing it fully, and run the phone that way for a few days. Then try going back to your setup and see if the battery drains the same, or less. It is weird that your phone is draining faster now with the same set up, but it wouldn't hurt to try doing that and then after a few days of running it that way, go back and to the current set up and see if it drains as fast again or not.

DC5_K20Z1

Has anyone else tried doing this after the gb update....turn everything off or to low, push notifications set for longer intervals, and then charge full, and try this stop for a few days, see if it extends battery life, then go back to your old setup that was fine before the update? See if the battery still drains as fast?

WTTTT

DC5_K20Z1 wrote:
I know that even though things are the same for your setup and your loosing more battery, try doing all that stuff, turning auto brightness off, turn off gps, turn off wifi, turn off all animations, dim the browser brightness, change the push notifications to longer intervals if you can, same with synching accounts, and try charing it fully, and run the phone that way for a few days. Then try going back to your setup and see if the battery drains the same, or less. It is weird that your phone is draining faster now with the same set up, but it wouldn't hurt to try doing that and then after a few days of running it that way, go back and to the current set up and see if it drains as fast again or not.

I got busy and did not do anything with this issue for several days. I noticed the last couple of days a BIG improvement in battery. This is weird as I did not touch a single setting since last Wednesday. Last night the phone had 64% left when I turned it off after 14+ hours. I had made about one hour of phone calls, 20 or so texts, received several emails, and installed and played around with a calendar app. My Missed Message app did also alert for a while when I was out of hearing range of my phone. I did not use the browser. Not a ton of usage, but fairly comparable to earlier when after a day of similar use would be drained down to 15 or 20%.

I don't know why this could be happening, but I hope it continues. I did look at what has been using the battery and one thing is different. Before, "Android System" and "Android OS" were big users, always near or at the top of the list. Now they are both way down on the list of battery use.

DC5_K20Z1

Glad to hear the battery has improved!

DC5_K20Z1

So after a few weeks of regular use now, both my phone and my wifes phone run amazing. Since the gb update to our charges things run smooth, neither of us have had one force close, not one random reboot, no static in calls, no "dead air", hardly any lag or re draw issues, the battery life seems to be a bit better, no cycling for either of our phones between 1x, 3g, 4g. Things have been really solid!! This is how this phone should have shipped when it was released!

JerryF

For you folks having battery problems take a peek at what I did to my own Charge phone regarding re-setting the Battery Statistics.

My first post in this thread describes how I did it.

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Charge-by-Samsung/How-I-reset-my-Battery-Statistics-without-ROOTING-the-phone/td-p/752478

JerryF

HoustonHeart

I will tell you one thing, I am glad I got an Acer tablet. THey are on top of the ball with updates over any manufacturer. Latest Honeycomb build, updates on a regular bases to fine twak, and will have ICS 4.0 in January.

jbrookley

I wrote this in another post but it sounds like it still would apply here:

I actually had battery life issue when I first got the update as well (and I had an extended battery). I used to get about 2 days out of the phone and after the update, I barely made it through 1. I tried juice defender, uninstalling all apps that I didn't "need" (which is relative, I guess). Anyway, I wrote what solved my problem in this post:

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Charge-by-Samsung/Droid-Charge-Gingerbread-2-3-update-schedule/td-p/548086/page/56

But here's what helped fix it for me (it was a browser issue, from what I found):

"The default browser seemed to be an issue for my phone lagging a lot (and force closing), as well as draining the battery. Even if you close it, it must be staying on in the background or something to that effect. I ended up downloading the mini opera browser and changing the internet shortcut to that instead of the default browser and my phone seems to have sped up and my battery life is doing much better! i've been using my phone as average amount and I'm still sitting at 87% (with the extended battery) where I was sitting at around 60% or so (since the update).

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