It is very common for cell standby to drain your battery which people are not aware of. Cell Standby is the primary cause of unexplained battery drain on Android smartphones.
Cell standby, also known as mobile radio active power, reflects the amount of power used by the cellular radio (3G/4G LTE) to stay connected to a cell site or tower.
When your phone is idle, it’s in standby mode and the cellular radio is turned off to save power. If you are not using your phone, there is no reason for the cellular radio to be on which will drain your battery.
Why is Cell Standby Draining my Battery?
The more cell standby your phone does, the more power it drains from your battery. The reason for this is because when you turn on your smartphone and open apps such as email, messaging etc., the network connection to the cellular radio will be turned on automatically. This consumes a lot of power and hence reduces your battery life drastically.
Cell Standby used to be a problem in older Android phones that had 2G/3G radios. However, this is not the case with modern smartphones that have 4G LTE radios because they are more power efficient compared to 3G networks.
Most modern devices like iPhone 6S and above use Qualcomm’s X12 LTE modem which reduces standby power by up to 60 percent.
How to Reduce Cell Standby Drain on Android
There are a few things you can do to reduce the amount of cell standby that drains your battery:
• Turn off LTE: If you are not using LTE, turn it off to save power. Most smartphones have an LTE/4G toggle in the network settings.
• Turn off Wi-Fi: If you are not using Wi-Fi, turn it off to save power.
• Turn off GPS: If you are not using GPS, turn it off to save power.
• Use a Battery Saver App: There are many battery saver apps available on the Play Store which can help to reduce the amount of cell standby that drains your battery.
• Get a New Battery: If you are having problems with battery life, consider getting a new battery. Lithium-ion batteries do not last forever and will eventually lose their capacity to hold a charge.
The bottom line is that if you are not using your phone, turn off the cellular radio to save power. This will help to reduce the amount of cell standby that drains your battery.
What Happens When You Leave Cell Standby On All Day?
Leaving your phone in standby mode all day long will drain your battery. The amount of standby power used by the cellular radio is directly proportional to the amount of time the phone is in standby mode. So, if you leave your phone in standby mode all day long, it will drain your battery completely.
Is Cell Standby Bad for my Phone?
Leaving your phone in standby mode will not hurt your phone. However, it does use a small amount of power and hence reduces the overall battery life which might be bad for your device especially if you have an old smartphone with a weak battery or a high-end device that has a large battery.
In fact, some people believe that leaving your phone in standby mode all day long will slowly damage your battery. This is not true, but it is a good idea to turn off the cellular radio when you are not using your phone to save power.
Conclusion
Cell standby is the number one reason for unexplained battery drain on Android smartphones. It is very common for cell standby to drain your battery even if you are not using your phone. If you use messaging apps, email etc. regularly throughout the day, there is a good chance that cell standby will drain your battery without you noticing it.
If you want to prevent cell standby from draining your battery, turn off LTE/4G when required and turn off Wi-Fi and GPS when not in use. You can also use a battery saver app to reduce the amount of power used by the cellular radio. If you are having problems with battery life, consider getting a new battery.
