New (for me) OS feature...

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Socoder -> Hardware and Technology -> New (for me) OS feature...
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 09:45
Kuron	New (for me) OS feature... When I am using my wireless ear buds or headphones or speaker or any other Bluetooth device, Chrome OS shows the battery life of the accessory I am using. So incredibly useful. If Windows 10 does this, I have NEVER been able to find it anywhere. Am I missing it in Windows?
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 09:57
Jayenkai	MacOS will do it for AirPods, but I haven't noticed it for Bluetooth speakers. I'll check later, I've a couple lying around. Not sure about Windows, but I imagine if it's anywhere, it'd probably be hidden away in the Bluetooth connection dialogue. (I'd rename this topic to something that says "Bluetooth Battery Remaining" or something, but then it sounds like on-device, not on-external device. My head's too frazzled to come up with anything short and snappy to say what Brice is asking about. I imagine that's why the title is what it is!!) -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 10:03
Kuron	Not really sure how it manages this, but when using my wireless audio devices with Chrome OS, I get several hours more life out of them. This really makes no sense.
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 10:20
Jayenkai	You can increase the bandwidth of Bluetooth. I found this out during the Apple event the other day. They mentioned that Game Mode will increase bandwidth to reduce lag. Could it be that Windows is on "use loads" mode whilst the Chromebook is preserving battery, so defaulting to low power mode? If I were an audiophile I'd try to find out, but.. I'm happy with any audio as long as I can hear it -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 14:12
Jayenkai	Can't get my Virtual Windows to connect to anything via Bluetooth! Sorry. But, yeah, bluetooth speakers will do that, too, or at least on Mac they do. Anyone with Windows have anything to test it with!? -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 14:28
Kuron	Hmm... I can get the same distance from both OSes before it cuts out. Thought also maybe the Chromebook had a newer version that may be more energy efficient. Wifey and I have a wonderful lil speaker that sounds awesome, but with Windows we were lucky to get two movies watched before it needed charging, now it can last the whole day streaming movies and music with the Chromebook. Same for my earbuds and headphones. Literally getting two days of listening to radio shows/interviews on YT without having to put my earbuds in the case to charge them. Like you, as long as it sounds good I am not overly worried about it. Just was curious about, and very pleased with, the increased performance. With the battery indicator, I was literally watching it barely move all day and thinking it had to be "off kilter", but it is dead on and just the performance is so much better now. Not sure if it isn't something to do with the different CPU, too. The MediaTek Kompanio 1380 has been extremely impressive. I can be unplugged and just watching videos on YT (listening more than watching) and regularly get over 12 hours of battery life from the laptop itself.
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 18:22
Pakz	There are several settings for energy modes in the Windows config menu. On my laptops there are keyboard shortcuts for the different modes. I would think the most energy efficient setting would enable every energy saving technique on the device?
Thu, 08 Jun 2023, 23:17
Kuron	While in TN for those 7 years, I really did not keep up with new tech and specs, as much as I used to. Found this. Is what I guessed before. The older laptop I am on now has an older version of Bluetooth (4.2). The new Chromebook is rocking Bluetooth 5.2. Major power savings in the newer version. Earlier Bluetooth versions were big power consumers simply because they were always “on.” As one would expect, this didn’t bode well for battery life. And this was especially true for Bluetooth 3, as it was the first to provide high-speed data transfers. Everything changed with the introduction of Bluetooth Low Energy. The new technology comes with several low-power and sleep modes. As such, it’s possible for smaller devices to save power by going to sleep and waking up as needed. Despite these changes, Bluetooth 4’s performance still falls in the mid-high range. Bluetooth 5 further improved this by boosting its data transmission rate and range. As a result, devices require even less power to send and receive data, thus prolonging battery life.
Fri, 09 Jun 2023, 02:39
spinal	I've been using a tool from https://www.bluetoothgoodies.com/ for a few years now, it shows the current devices battery in the system tray and if you hover over it, it shows a list of bt devices and their battery percentage. -=-=- Check out my excellent homepage!
Fri, 09 Jun 2023, 11:22
Dan	Windows 10 - if you open settings, devices, bluetooth & other devices down, where the connected device are, there is an capacity indicator, but i do not know if that is accurate.
Fri, 09 Jun 2023, 12:54
Kuron	@Spinal Thank You. Awesome solution and should be very handy. Will eventually buy a license for each of my Windows systems, but for now I will just get it for my main Windows system. @Dan This is all I see (below). Part of the issues with so many versions of Windows 10 out there.
Fri, 09 Jun 2023, 14:43
Dan	This is what i see on my windows 10 home version, but while i was preparing the picture for upload, the voice said "Low battery" ...
Fri, 09 Jun 2023, 17:12
Kuron	Well, at least the one icon is the same. That's pretty good for Windows.
Fri, 09 Jun 2023, 19:09
Kuron	Here is what ChromeOS shows. Spinal's little tool seems to work great and is well-worth the meager price.
Sat, 10 Jun 2023, 01:29
spinal	I think if it's not reigisterd it only shows one divce, can't remember though, been reigistered for a long time. Some sort of pougin for rainmeter would be cool though. -=-=- Check out my excellent homepage!