Media Players and Battery Life

[davitof]

Hello

I recently decided to use install a music player to replace the pre-installed one on my Samsung GT-S5570, Android 2.2.1. Since I tend to listen to music for long periods of time, the player's impact on battery life was an important factor. I did a few experiences on Meridian 1.4.2 and Music Player Pro 1.17 using PowerTutor. If someone decides to expand on those tests (I hope someone does ), I suggest to follow these rules:
- use the same battery measure system for all your tests !
- always mention the versions of your players
- test the same set of tracks, at the same volume
- avoid using other apps during your tests

First test, 21 tracks, 1:39:31, Meridian first, PlayerPro second
Meridian 71.2 (333.8 for media server)
PlayerPro 35.7 (155 for media server)

Second test, 6 tracks, 44:51:00, PlayerPro first, Meridian second
PlayerPro 40.1 (192.6 for media server)
Meridian 97.1 (195.5 for media server)

I don't have any idea why Meridian triggered so much Media server usage for the first test, maybe I did something wrong, for example forgetting to reset PowerTutor, but I don't think so, especially since I tested Meridian first. I have uninstalled it now, but if someone wants me to test it again, I can.

My conclusion: PlayerPro uses less battery, but when you add media server use to player use (admitting my first measure on Meridian was wrong), the difference is less dramatic.

[davitof]

I just saw that my title is a little misleading. It should be "Media players and battery life". If possible, I suggest a moderator changes it.

[davitof]

Thanks for changing the title.

[davitof]

I tested another media player, PowerAmp 1.4 release 373, so here are the new results.

First test, 21 tracks, 1:39:31
Meridian 129.4 (326.4 for media server)
PlayerPro 33.4 (345.2 for media server)
PowerAmp 612.9
It seems that it was actually my PlayerPro media server values which were wrong last time. Meridian use roughly the same power for media server as PlayerPro, which makes sense if, as I guess, the "media server" is the Android library which offers mp3 decoding services to the players. There is no media server value for PowerAmp, and this means PowerAmp probably decodes mp3 itself, without using the Android library, which would explain why PowerAmp is one of the few music player able to do gapless and crossfade.

Second test, 6 tracks, 44:51:00
PowerPro 313
I did not re-test the other players for this second set of tracks.

My conclusion: PowerPro is a power eater! It uses about 50% more juice than the 2 others.

[Sarahlili]

thanks for your information, i know the Vplayer form a tech article. which listed the top 8 video players for android, the Vplayer is no.1, i downloaded a Vplayer for my GT, it works well. Howerver, so far i don't pay attention to the battery life by using vplayer. do you have some information about this?

[davitof]

I was interested in Music players, not Video players. My phone is too low-res for me to look at videos on it :-) VPlayer Pro will only play video, so that I can't compare it to the apps I already tested. I suggest to create a new thread for testing the power usage of video players.

[Deathbyyogurt]

Hey, TOTALLY just made an account to thank you for running these tests. I've been looking into buying one of the media players, and I had this same concern on my mind.
If you don't mind, is there any chance you could run a test on doubletwist? Just so us FREEgans can get an idea :P

[Androppan]

I was using Meridian. I will change to PlayerPro.

[TheOrionThetas]

thanks

[androidtips]

implayer for android is the best media player