OnePlus Nord | A Retro Review

The original OnePlus Nord. The budget version of the first brand to offer the "Flagship killer." This is a long time coming review of the phone which I'd been using for the past 5 years. After all this time it's finally time for an upgrade as the phone has gotten sluggish and battery drains faster than I'd like without using it too much.

Checkout the video to find out more and to see what phone I might be getting.

Update - How to save battery drain on Vodafone Smart 858

Image via Wikipedia

Just an update on saving battery drain on a Vodafone Smart 858. Following up from my previous post - How to save battery drain on Vodafone Smart 858

I've stumbled upon another setting which should further restrict your phone from intermittent data access. In the last post turning off background data was the supposed silver bullet which I thought should solve the drain. Although, it had cut it down a good amount, there was still annoying cellular data transfer which I felt was unwarranted. These transfers occurred when apps were syncing or getting ads relayed to them.

The offending setting can be found under:

Settings>Wireless & networks>Mobile networks

• Data enabled (Enable data access over Mobile network)

Simply uncheck this option and the little 3G/G symbol should disappear. Now you've fully choked data transmissions and hopefully added to your battery mileage.

Disclaimer: This content is purely for informational purposes and should not be taken in mission critical scenarios. The author accepts no liability for any consequences arising from using this information. The previous part is dismissible, if and only, usage arising constitutes a favorable return and arouses generousness in associated user, who further, wishes to divulge part of generousness to author.

How to save battery drain on Vodafone Smart 858

I've just purchased my first ever smart phone courtesy of Vodafone.
**** Update: 7th Aug 2014 recently moved up to a One Plus One **** 

I'd noticed on the Vodafone site itself, the biggest complaint was how short the battery seemed to last. Chocking it up to just regular energy demands for a smart phone, I didn't think too much of it. At the price it was available I didn't care, much.

However, after having barely used it for a day the battery was almost completely drained. So I charged it fully before going to bed. The next morning what I awoke to was perplexing. No it wasn't a giant bean stock. The battery was less than 30 percent and i'd not even used anything.

I tried app killing software, turned off WIFI and everything else, but still nothing. But I did finally find the hitch. So here's what to do:

First off, make sure you do all the manufacturer recommendations to preserve battery. Then make sure to check if the following are off or on:

Settings>Wireless & network settings:

• Bluetooth
• Wifi

Settings>Location & security settings

• Use wireless networks (this can be kept on as long as Wifi in the previous menu is set to off)
• Use GPS satellites (as a default this is the largest drain on battery mentioned by the manufacturer)

Now the rascal that I got caught out with
Settings>Accounts & sync settings

• Background data (this actually uses your cellular connection to continuously relay info back and forth from servers to installed apps)

The last one was the kicker. Now with those settings turned off, your smart phone should see battery usage drop to that of a regular 'Dumb' phone. I don't rely too heavily on internet or app use or games. But occasionally turning them on to access the internet shouldn't drain the battery as much as say leaving them on.
With the background data setting on, my battery usage while on idle or standby was equal to the amount used by the Android system itself.

Apps will still have access via 3G or other connections which will have to be adjusted from within the Apps' own settings, however, turning off background data, should, drastically lessen the flow.

**** Check out my new One Plus One I recently bought ****

Disclaimer: This content is purely for informational purposes and should not be taken in mission critical scenarios. The author accepts no liability for any consequences arising from using this information. The previous part is dismissible, when and only, usage arising constitutes a favorable return and arouses generousness in associated user, who further, wishes to divulge part of generousness to author.