Take photo with screen off possible workaround?

[FBMinis]

I programmed an old phone to take a photo and store it in GDrive every 30min during daytime, nothing else. It works for 6 days with a 1500mAh battery.

The phone never Locks, the screen goes off after 15sec until I push the power button and if shows the Home screen. Looking at the discharge pattern, Screen is consuming the most of the battery, even if every 30min it's only ON for 15 seconds.

Is it possible to take a photo with the screen off somehow? Or another way to reduce the battery consumed by the screen?

Battery Saver, Airplane Mode and Sync OFF considerably extend battery life, that's why I only allow these modes when I need the photo to be uploaded to GDrive and an email sent to me with battery life, time sent and wifi signal. I use Open Camera because it allows me to set some photo parameters.

Any other suggestion regarding extending battery life would be greatly appreciated.

Phone: Doogee X5, Lineage OS 14

 

[Dimlos]

It is not possible to turn off the screen completely, but if the automatic brightness adjustment is stopped and the value of [System]Screen_brightness is set to 1 in the System Setting Action, the screen will be darkened considerably and some power saving will be possible.

 

[Dimlos]

What exactly are they filming? I don't think it's voyeurism, but...

 

[Snurre]

Yeah that's right what @Dimlos said, there could be a few other things to consider
Screen resolution
Dark mode
Refresh rate
Location service
Some phones has Simple mode

 

[Jacob L]

You may be able to Debloat it: https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater. You could also use the screen off action once the photo is taken. Alsoyou could reduce the frequency of photo taking down to 1/hour or maybe there's a lighter ROM to use

 

[FBMinis]

Thanks guys, I've looked through your suggestions and it seems I wont be able to squeeze much more from this battery.

I'll probably add a timer to one of those powerbanks that take like 6x18650 batteries and have it charge the phone everyday during a small interval.

I don't think it's voyeurism, but...

I think questions about photos with screen off don't have to default to this. If it was the case, the OP most likely wouldnt acknowledge it anyway.
In my case, I'm using it for timelapse photography, while also discovering Macrodroid.

You may be able to Debloat it: https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater. You could also use the screen off action once the photo is taken. Alsoyou could reduce the frequency of photo taking down to 1/hour or maybe there's a lighter ROM to use

I found this ROM here: https://4pda.to/forum/index.php?showtopic=753464
I know what you're talking about, the stock ROM really drains the battery compared to this one. But in both ROMs, it's the screen that consumes the most power - and quickly . I've read it's one of the shortcomings of the phone, although the image quality is very good, even compared to Xiaomi and Samsung.
Regarding screen off after taking the photo, since I already set the Display to turn off after 15 seconds, this happens just after the photo is taken.