Help Galaxy S2: "Android OS" battery usage 85%

[Randy]

Hi all,
My battery lasts only for around 15hrs! mostly used up by 'display' I'm talking 70% here! the device is relatively new, bought only a few days ago. This is with WiFi used 30~40% of the time SG2 was on, email synch every 15min. GPS off, 3G network

Mine lasts nearly 2 days.. that`s with GPS, Wi-fi, Syncs, Push always on..

 

[loony]

Hi all,
My battery lasts only for around 15hrs! mostly used up by 'display' I'm talking 70% here! the device is relatively new, bought only a few days ago. This is with WiFi used 30~40% of the time SG2 was on, email synch every 15min. GPS off, 3G network

i had the same thing. samsung tested and i had a faulty battery...it was deemed "drawing higher voltage than normal".
take note the life DOES improve over time. its better "display" is used more than "OS" because it shows the bright screen is squeezing the juoose when its on, if it was the OS then something sus is always running in the background (even when the display if off).
take it to a dealer and ask them to test it, its easy and fast bringing peace of mind.

 

[kld]

Thanks for the quick feedback...
Hmmm....battery issue then, I was afraid it would be something with the screen itself (faulty unit as a whole). What was your experience with the new battery?? i.e. what was the performance change when you checked the battery status? I checked the battery status on mine, and I confirm *dramatic* battery drain occurs when the phone is 'awake' and 'display/screen' is on! it is indeed very strange!

 

[loony]

new battery = 1 days life straight away.

i play alot of games on the phone (night shifts) but i only picked it up about 1 week ago....they said if it continued to take it back and they will look at the phone as the problem more-so then the battery.
at this point i have friends whos phone lasts for 2 days easy and really, if i use it like a phone more than constantly playing games and messing with it i think i could do the same. ill test again soon....ITS JUST SO DAM PRETTY TO LOOK AT!!!!!!!!!

 

[kld]

Check attached, notice the dramatic battery charge decrease when the screen is on!

 

[kld]

Another display battery drain graph from the other day...

 

[planetf1]

I've managed up to 13 hours, which is ok, but the "android OS" thing is bugging me, mostly because this happens even when phone is seemingly idle - it can take many minutes (say 40m) in a little over 2 hours which seems ludicrous.

I'm in the process of deselecting various options around sync/updates & removing unused apps to see if the usage subsides so at least I can then make informed decisions as to which sw & configuration to use.

So far I've removed all widgets, and today have turned off autosync to see how that affects battery life.

wifi vs 3G makes relatively little difference

If autosync off helps I may consider unconfiguring samsung social hub - if only because that's one diff between say nexus s/new gsII and mine ..

As a sw engineer I'd really like to get a more detailed trace of usage. App specific stats are interesting bt don't seem to really tell the story

 

[loony]

KLD....thats what mine was like...some old screenies =
(as much as sometimes i was on angry birds, still had quick drain)
only reason i got that time length was because i left it on overnight where it was doing nothing








NOW....this is what i get with the new battery....alot more even over all.

 

[planetf1]

My latest test -- and only done for a few hours is with
- 2/3G active
- wifi active
- about 50% of time on each as was changing location
- email (push) via social hub still comes through
- "background updates" in accounts menu all set to disabled.

Power loss running at 1% ph approx with very low use.

Android OS still showing 10 mins or CPU out of > 2 hours total which is higher than one might think, but bottom line is battery looking strong.

I was surprised the push emails are still arriving, though push facebook/twitter are not (app not running).

Will confirm for a few more hours then looking at selectively enabling background updates - probably starting with twitter (if I can, just exploring).

Not bothered about lots of apps updating in background -- but hope I can get the control --otherwise will get juicedefender or similar to add selectivity.

May just be co-incidence too

 

[Deleted User]

My battery page never really tells me much, like now it has android system 58%, dialer 37% cell standby 3% and wifi 2%, but it never says anything about angry birds (even if i play a lot).

I've noticed bad battery life though, yesterday i took it off charge at 8am and by 11.40 it was at 52%, this was with BT and GPS off but 3G data on. Is it normal to lose that much charge with about 40 minutes of facebook/twitter, uploaded one photo, and 4 email accounts syncing? Later in the day i made 2 calls and saw my battery go from 18% to 14% in about 5 minutes.

 

[Wullie]

Thanks for the quick feedback...
Hmmm....battery issue then, I was afraid it would be something with the screen itself (faulty unit as a whole). What was your experience with the new battery?? i.e. what was the performance change when you checked the battery status? I checked the battery status on mine, and I confirm *dramatic* battery drain occurs when the phone is 'awake' and 'display/screen' is on! it is indeed very strange!

If I didn't know better I'd say you were being sarcastic!

Of course the battery drains more when the screen is on because a) the screen is the biggest drain on the battery regardless and b) it means the phone is in use! To be honest, the more screen drain you have the better (unless your phone is draining ridiculously quickly I suppose, which yours isn't) because it means stuff in the background like AOS, sync, wifi-sharing etc isn't being too much of a drain on your resources and hogging your battery even when you're not using it.

It's like being surprised that your car has used more petrol when you drove it than it did when you sat on the drive with the engine on.

 

[lankunit]

I suggest you download android assistant. It will tell you whatever process in the background is using up all the CPU in real time. I had a very quick drainage of the battery from about 40% to 0% in about 3hours or less. I have found using android assistant that it was the facebook app widget burning up all the CPU running at 30-40% CONSTANTLY even when idle which also made the phone hot. After removing widget I could easily (even with gaming and wifi) achieve 24Hour battery life. I highly recommend android assistant and its free from the android market.

 

[kld]

KLD....thats what mine was like...some old screenies =
(as much as sometimes i was on angry birds, still had quick drain)
only reason i got that time length was because i left it on overnight where it was doing nothing...

Interesting improvement, that's a day more than the current battery... hmmm.. I can see that you haven't used the phone much on the 'after' screenshots (screen is off) though, but still that's good, now it looks like the battery needs to change

Btw, you mentioned that the battery gets better by time, how long is that 'time' ?

 

[kld]

If I didn't know better I'd say you were being sarcastic!

Of course the battery drains more when the screen is on because a) the screen is the biggest drain on the battery regardless and b) it means the phone is in use! To be honest, the more screen drain you have the better (unless your phone is draining ridiculously quickly I suppose, which yours isn't) because it means stuff in the background like AOS, sync, wifi-sharing etc isn't being too much of a drain on your resources and hogging your battery even when you're not using it.

It's like being surprised that your car has used more petrol when you drove it than it did when you sat on the drive with the engine on.

Hi Wullie,
I think at this rate it qualifies as "ridiculously quickly", we're talking around 20% battery drain per hour here! I don't mind an increase in battery usage when screen is on of course, but, I believe a phone should at least get you through the day...a complete day that is, not half one
I have checked on various forums, and I can see many have mentioned that the battery is actually good! some last for almost 2 days, imo something is definatly not right with the one I have

 

[loony]

"time" as in after serveral recharged cycles.....a couple of weeks.
personaly i think you have a dud battery like mine and it would be better to go get it tested, get another one. if they give you a hole new phone then great.
im still waiting to see if mine goes downhill with life again, samsung have suggested if it does happen then they will look at the phone more-so than the battery.

remember its a very powerful phone with a hungry display, im happy if i get a days life out of it with general use
leaving the display on alot, playing games and having it do net updates constantly WILL chew the juice.

 

[ironass]

When all said and done, the Galaxy SII is a mini laptop.

Most laptops battery life is measured in a few hours, mine is about 3 or 4 with use.

I am a heavy user of the SGSII (dozen calls, 100 texts, web browsing, WiFi connected, live widgets but no gaming to speak of) and get, on firmware 2.3.4 (firmware XXKG3), about 12-15 hours. Average use, 5/6 calls, 18-20 hours. Light use (mostly on standby), about 30+ hours.

Here are some alternative solutions that may help...

A second battery (beware of so-called extended batteries as one melted a Nokia N95 of mine!)

Samsung Standard Battery - EB-F1A2GBUCSTD

A Samsung extended battery.

Genuine Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 Extended Battery Case

A desktop charger for home or office.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Desktop Charging Cradle

An emergency charger (I carry one in my briefcase just in case. OK for giving you some extra standby time using an AA battery).

Charge Tube 2 - Universal Emergency Charger

Hope this helps.

 

[Wullie]

Hi Wullie,
I think at this rate it qualifies as "ridiculously quickly", we're talking around 20% battery drain per hour here! I don't mind an increase in battery usage when screen is on of course, but, I believe a phone should at least get you through the day...a complete day that is, not half one
I have checked on various forums, and I can see many have mentioned that the battery is actually good! some last for almost 2 days, imo something is definatly not right with the one I have

I really think 20% drain per hour with screen on (which of course includes whatever you're doing on the phone at the time, browsing, media, games etc) is about standard. That's about what I get. The chance of getting through a complete day with the screen on with any smartphone is absolutely nil.

Don't put too much emphasis on what other people say because good battery for one person is poor for another and it can depend entirely on the way your phone is set up.

 

[loony]

for the love of god.....take it to samsung, ask them to test the voltage drain as you think it high. tell them your battery life is poor.....and get the peace of mind.

it takes less than 5 mins and was free for me. it is WAY more quicker and accurate than posting screenies and talking about it here.

 

[manishjain]

Hi, I recently bought Samsung Galaxy S2. I read this has quite a strong battery. But somehow mine last less than 8 hours, if I use it fully for calls, browsing, google maps, latitude, downloading/installing apps from market.

Android OS - 37%
Display - 22%
Maps - 8%
Voice Calls - 8%
Android System - 7%
Cell Standby - 6%

Can you please suggest me something to enhance the battery life as well as maximum use of the phone

 

[Twinn]

I want to share my battery life cause i`m really impressed with it on Litening rom 6.1 I didn`t use my phone much, mostly listening to music... Thats my record for the moment... (stock battery!)

 

[Hawker]

Regarding the figures in the above example
3d 1h 36m 42s on battery represents the time the phone has been off charge
what does the 3d 1h 26m 50s represent?

 

[Twinn]

what does the 3d 1h 26m 50s represent?

good question, i was wondering about that too. maybe its last time it refreshed stats ? hmm... any ideas anyone ?

 

[d8beat]

Don't panic!

Lets put this in perspective.

I think we can all agree that Android OS needs to be running 100% of the time, 24/7, to make the phone work.

Therefore, if nothing else whatsoever was running on the phone, the Android OS figure would be 100% as it would be the only thing consuming battery.

However, as other processes are run and consume battery, in tandem with the Android OS, they too will be consuming a percentage and the Android OS percentage in relation to total battery consumption would decrease from 100% (since, contrary to popular belief, you cannot have more than 100% of anything).

So, the more things that are running and sharing battery power, the smaller your Android OS percentage will be.

You may notice that in the mornings, when the phone has been quiet all night (unless you schedule backups with Titanium, etc.) the Android OS will be showing that it consumed a large percentage chunk.

However, as the day goes on and texts are sent, calls received and made, GPS/Maps used, web browsing, screen on, display, etc. the percentage of Android OS for battery use will decrease in relation to overall battery usage.

Looking at your screenshots AmitX123 I can see that in the period shown... about 2 days... you hardly used your phone at all.

You charged it 8 times.

You were connected to WiFi for about 95% of the time (indicating that you did not move away from your WiFi source and that your phone signal as a consequence was rock solid and steady... so, no searching for WiFi and phone signal much in that period). This is where your battery drain comes in because although your phone was only Awake about 20% of the time, your WiFi was on 95% of the time... thus draining your battery. I would suggest changing your WiFi sleep policy in Advanced settings.

Your phone was Awake for only about 20% of the time.

Your screen was on for about the same amount.

You probably made one, maybe two, short calls in that period.

So, the only thing running all the time would have to be the Android OS and this is reflected in the 85% usage.

This does not mean that you have a problem with Android OS, apart from WiFi. It simply means that you did very little with your phone and so the lions share of battery consumption would obviously be Android OS.

If you don't believe me... try charging your phone to 100%... make a note of the Android OS usage and then browse the web for 15 min's whilst playing music in the background and check your location on Google Maps and then see what percentage your Android OS shows.

I hope this helps.

just to add, if u are not going to switch off data, you are better off on wifi den on mobile data as it drains the battery less. hence, just leave the advanced settings to "never" and toggle it manually

 

[loony]

good question, i was wondering about that too. maybe its last time it refreshed stats ? hmm... any ideas anyone ?

you photoshopped your duration times and didnt do it evenly? LOL (jks dude)

Just a guess....but is it like a graph? top figure is for the "side" and bottom figure is for "length".
So....for an example of a screenie i have below....the phone was last on %100 CHARGE 9hr 51min secs ago and the last point it was AWAY from %100 (full)was 6hr 58min 30secs?
It sat on %100 for 3 hrs, THEN decreased....makes sense as most screenies ive seen are USUALLY around 10min difference showing it hung onto %100 for that long.

seems a bit pointless, but the way the figures are topleft and bottom middle looks like a graph anyway....

 

[Twinn]

loony believe me or not but this is TRUE screenshot ! as a confirmation heres 2nd part