Does the SIM card affect battery life?

Does the SIM card affect battery life?

I've just given my old phone to my wife and the battery lasts about 3
days instead of 6 days for me.

The only thing that's changed is the SIM. Do some use more power than
others?

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On 21 Aug 2006 09:03:58 -0700, [email protected] wrote this with the utmost
thought:

>Does the SIM card affect battery life?
>
>I've just given my old phone to my wife and the battery lasts about 3
>days instead of 6 days for me.
>
>The only thing that's changed is the SIM. Do some use more power than
>others?

The user has changed! When they claim they only use the 'phone for a few
minutes they subconciously lie They lose all track of time when talking
on one.

On a more serious note, are you both with the same service provider? If
not, her's may be having to put out more power to hold a signal.

Dunno if my phone is typical, but its something like 2.5 hours talk and
144 hours standby, so it doesn't take much talk to knock down the juice
compared to standby.

I don't think the carrier would matter, but I could see how maybe it
might if it used different bands etc. Maybe somebody that actually
knows will reply.

"Danglerb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dunno if my phone is typical, but its something like 2.5 hours talk and
> 144 hours standby, so it doesn't take much talk to knock down the juice
> compared to standby.
>
> I don't think the carrier would matter, but I could see how maybe it
> might if it used different bands etc. Maybe somebody that actually
> knows will reply.
>
Not claiming that I'm "somebody who knows" but like the previous post
mentioned, the carrier CAN have a significant effect. If one is mostly
calling from a place with poor coverage from one operator while another one
has good coverage, the phone needs to transmit at high power in the first
case while low power is sufficient for the other.

This may also affect standby time. It is power consuming if the phone has to
change between cells frequently, compared to a case where it constantly
receives good signal from one cell.

Operators may have different parameter settings on their networks too. In
standby mode one may allow longer power saving periods while the other one
orders the phone to wake up more frequently.

There are some differences in SIM cards too. Modern phones do not accept 5V
cards but some that did, had to provide the operating voltage with a step-up
switching regulator which consumes more power than driving a low voltage SIM
with normal regulators. Very old SIM cards requested a continuous clock
which prevented efficient power saving features (don't think those SIM cards
exist any more).

Like previously mentioned, the user behaviour is very important too. One may
be playing with the phone almost unconsciously, activating display lights
(and preventing power saving modes) etc. etc. The standby current
consumption on GSM phones is so low that any activity, even if not placing a
call, consumes power equivalent to a significant standby time.

We do have the same service provider. Also, she hardly ever makes any
calls and she's totally clueless about the phone's other functions; she
has no idea how to make or read text messages.

Both our SIM cards are about 5 years old.

[email protected] wrote:
> We do have the same service provider. Also, she hardly ever makes any
> calls and she's totally clueless about the phone's other functions; she
> has no idea how to make or read text messages.
>
> Both our SIM cards are about 5 years old.

There are many variables that affect battery life. Firstly the age of
the battery, if is a hand me down phone then possibly the battery is
nearing the end of it's usable life.

As stated by others, if she is playing with the phone it will drag down
the battery. Are there games on the phone she is playing?

Lastly as other's have stated the signal strength of the nearest cell
will determine the output power of the phone. If she is in a weaker
coverage area more often than what you would be then the phone will
consume more power. The phone will periodically transmit to log in and
advise the network where it is and that it is still operating even if a
call is not made, this is necessary for the network to know where to
route the call to the phone.

I hope this helps solve your query.


--
The views I present are that of my own and NOT of any organisation I may
belong to.

73 de Simon, VK3XEM.
<http://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/client_search.client_lookup?pCLIENT_NO=157452>