# CM5 Power Consumption / Runtimes **URL:** \ **Category:** uConsole\ **Tags:** hardware, battery, power-saving\ **Created:** [June 25, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244 "2025-06-25T20:17:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![null](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@null](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/null)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244/1 "2025-06-25T20:17:31Z")
I guess the question that was on my mind, it might be on other people’s as well. If didn’t get your uConsole yet: What can I expect the battery life to be? If you got your uConsole: Am I having the same experience as everybody else? I was in the same boat, so I made a battery monitor script, and have been running it for a few days, in different use cases. It monitors the battery state of charge every 2min, and logs it to a file. With date stamp, state (charging / discharging), voltage, mah, % of charge, etc… The uconsole usually dies, with the final logged %, at 2%. Also, it takes a long while to go from 99% to 100%, so I just measure from 2% until the first time it hits 99%. Below are the first batch of results. (more coming). Relevant Software / Hardware: OS: Rex’s Bookworm image Batteries: NEW Samsung 35E (18650 - 3500mAh) Core: CM5 8GB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, SD Card (no Under / overClocking) USB: RTL-SDR Charger: 140W MacbookPRO Type-C power adapter SDR++ (full brightness) 97%-4% - 106min (1h 46min) 3% - 99% - 440min (7h 20min) Youtube (1/2 brightness) 99% - 4% - 220min (3h 40min) 2% - 99% - 258min (4h 18min) Idle (1/2 brightness) 99%-2% - 310min (5h 10min) 2% -99% - 198min (3h 18min) I am curious if anybody else is close to my numbers. ---
**Author:** ![mterencelao](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/mterencelao/32/9066_2.png) [@mterencelao](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/mterencelao)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244/2 "2025-06-26T03:09:58Z")
…No handicap? Like, did you underclock or overclock? Sounds par for the performance (relative to my 8GB CM4 setup). Crackles on mid-to-low power don’t sound reassuring, though. ---
**Author:** ![null](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@null](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/null)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244/3 "2025-06-26T03:43:47Z")
No under / over clocking. The crackles do happen, but not always. And when they do, i’s not that bad. ---
**Author:** ![mterencelao](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/mterencelao/32/9066_2.png) [@mterencelao](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/mterencelao)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 3:55am UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244/4 "2025-06-26T03:55:38Z")
I can only suppose, if I underclock that to CM4’s speed, I’ll get way better battery life? (P.S.: I’m getting long uptimes with my NCR18650GA’s with no DE/WM running. That’s with some YouTube audio over `mpv` with screen timeout, and only command line/terminal.) ---
**Author:** ![null](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@null](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/null)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 5:28am UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244/5 "2025-06-26T05:28:56Z")
I’m not sure under clocking would significantly increase battery life… Because the procesor is not running at 100%. And the reason I went for the cm5 vs cm4, was because of the cpu performance (when needed). People report a “sluggish” experience with the cm4. ---
**Author:** ![wtsh](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/wtsh/32/13825_2.png) [@wtsh](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/wtsh)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244/6 "2025-12-09T22:52:10Z")
I think it possible to use 21700 vapcell f60 liion battery (21.6Wh) and some undervolting to double battery life. 😁 With 2p to 2s and step up to step down conversion it`s about 2.2X of battery life. ---
**Author:** ![white-round-square](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/white-round-square/32/10385_2.png) [@white-round-square](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/white-round-square)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/cm5-power-consumption-runtimes/18244/7 "2025-12-09T23:01:05Z")
> [@Increasing run-time](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/increasing-run-time/11316/23): > > i did my own take on this, but made it in bash #!/bin/bash brightness=$(cat /sys/class/backlight/backlight@0/brightness) maxBrightness=$(cat /sys/class/backlight/backlight@0/max\_brightness) if (( $1 \> 0 )) then if (($brightness+$1 \< $maxBrightness)) then echo $(($brightness+$1)) \> /sys/class/backlight/backlight@0/brightness; else echo $maxBrightness \> /sys/class/backlight/backlight@0/brightness fi; else if (($brightness \> … > [@Battery Compartment Clearance?](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/battery-compartment-clearance/13891/11): > > Uconsole is set to land Tuesday. I’m going to get it and take some measurements and see how my 21700 battery holder fits. If I do not have any luck, I will definitely pay for shipping from Australia. Right now I’m a little torn. I love the Aluminum back because I have some ideas for heat sinking the CM4 but then I have the issue of the bigger batteries fitting and the poor wireless performance. Best case scenario, my heatsink idea can be implemented as I have it in my head and the 21700 batter…