My battery drains too fast

Step 1: Measure actual power draw

Use a USB inline power meter to measure real current draw. This immediately shows whether you have a software config problem or a hardware issue.

Expected draw by hardware

Power drain checklist

• Screen on? Set timeout to 0.
• Bluetooth enabled? Disable if not needed.
• GPS polling? Disable or set a long interval.
• WiFi enabled (ESP32)? Disable.
• Position broadcast interval too short? Set to 30+ minutes on battery.

Battery sizing

Battery (mAh) divided by draw (mA) = hours of runtime. 1000 mAh at 40 mA = 25 hours; at 10 mA = 100 hours. Switching from ESP32 to nRF52840 hardware typically gives 4x longer life on the same battery.