Battery draining 8X faster....

[gloriousnumber1]

Why does my phone use 4% per hour on airplane mode instead of 0.5% per hour like it used to? According to GSAM Battery Monitor, 65 % is "App Usage". Of that, "Kernel (Android OS) takes up 35%, and "Google Services" is 12%. It says it was kept awake nearly the whole time.

I'm fresh on my 3rd refurb, 4.3 update, and factory reset after that. I want answers. Not "it's probably some app, so just factory reset and slowly add apps to see which it is", or "order another replacement". One of my favorites is "pull the battery and boot it up". I did that yesterday and after 2 hours and it down to 93%, it only dropped only 1% in the next 3 hours so it was temporarily fixed.

This is not acceptable!

 

[jaliy]

Why does my phone use 4% per hour on airplane mode instead of 0.5% per hour like it used to? According to GSAM Battery Monitor, 65 % is "App Usage". Of that, "Kernel (Android OS) takes up 35%, and "Google Services" is 12%. It says it was kept awake nearly the whole time.

I'm fresh on my 3rd refurb, 4.3 update, and factory reset after that. I want answers. Not "it's probably some app, so just factory reset and slowly add apps to see which it is", or "order another replacement". One of my favorites is "pull the battery and boot it up". I did that yesterday and after 2 hours and it down to 93%, it only dropped only 1% in the next 3 hours so it was temporarily fixed.

This is not acceptable!

4.3 is known to drain battery

 

[Goodspike]

4.3 is known to drain battery

Huh?

 

[worldgonemad]

Why does my phone use 4% per hour on airplane mode instead of 0.5% per hour like it used to? I want answers. Not "it's probably some app, so just factory reset and slowly add apps to see which it is", or "order another replacement". One of my favorites is "pull the battery and boot it up". I did that yesterday and after 2 hours and it down to 93%, it only dropped only 1% in the next 3 hours so it was temporarily fixed.

This is not acceptable!

Hi gloriousnumber1 , i'm new to these forums so don't ask me too much on the tech side. But I may be able to shed some light on the battery issue. I'm not sure if it has come up in these forums before, but I see it discussed elsewhere on the web - Battery Overheating!

Like you I was scratching my head and tried absolutely everything I could think of to get more battery life. I actually thought 4-6hours average battery life was normal. I only got the phone two months prior and every day the battery was draining faster. To the point that on the last day I switched it on and half an hour later it would power off. it would also give incorrect battery percent readings. Sometimes it would go dead when the percentage showed 50%!

So here's what I did - brought into official samsung repair centre in Dublin and the following day I went to collect it and the guy showed me my battery...... OMG! I couldn't believe what I saw.... I hadn't really looked properly at the battery before... it was double its oriignal size! It was bloated and looked like it was about to explode! He said I'm lucky it didn't leak or worse, explode in my hand! So it was still in warranty he simply just gave me a new one and now i'm getting nearly two days average use out of the battery! happy days!

If you Google it you'll see its a huge issue with this model. The numbers are very high, but according to Samsung, not quite high enough to warrant a full recall! And I think they skew the numbers to avoid the publicity! When I rang Samsung the tech support guy just said he hasn't seen any other cases!!!! and I know that's a blatant lie!

My concern is, is it a safety risk? and why Samsung haven't made it more of a priority?

At least this might help others who are at the end of their tether! (pardon the pun!)

edit: I'm on 4.3 stock rom from Sammobile and there is no difference for me in battery drain, comparing like for like.... disabling all the same bloatware..... definitely get a huge difference on any version by disabling the shocking amount of crap apps Samsung deem necessary!

 

[icedtea]

4.3 is known to drain battery

having same concerns. . .any fix so far??

 

[Digital Controller]

Posting a battery usage picture for us would be very helpful

 

[speedlever]

But even if your GS4 uses 3.5% per hour, after 20 hours, you'll still have 30% left. Is that a problem?

I don't think battery usage can be generalized very well. If you're in a fringe area, then your phone will use more power trying to keep/maintain a usable mobile data connection, than if you're in a strong signal area... and obviously that can vary.

If you turn off your mobile data and/or wifi to save battery and end the day with most of your battery remaining, then you defeat the virtues of having a smart phone. Or so it would seem to me.

Now if you have a rogue app that's eating your battery for lunch, that's another issue altogether.

What battery usage %age per hour would be acceptable?

I guess I'm not quite understanding your expectations and desired results vs what you are currently seeing.

 

[icedtea]

on my case I just use my phone for SMS. . no other wild apps.. but the ANDROID OS keeps on top of the usage. . 40-70% 2nd is the screen which is acceptable. . .

tried all the possible work around. .

reboot
battery pull out in minutes
all extra features turned OFF. . .

 

[gloriousnumber1]

But even if your GS4 uses 3.5% per hour, after 20 hours, you'll still have 30% left. Is that a problem?

I don't think battery usage can be generalized very well. If you're in a fringe area, then your phone will use more power trying to keep/maintain a usable mobile data connection, than if you're in a strong signal area... and obviously that can vary.

If you turn off your mobile data and/or wifi to save battery and end the day with most of your battery remaining, then you defeat the virtues of having a smart phone. Or so it would seem to me.

Now if you have a rogue app that's eating your battery for lunch, that's another issue altogether.

What battery usage %age per hour would be acceptable?

I guess I'm not quite understanding your expectations and desired results vs what you are currently seeing.

It is true that even this is far better than my Rezound was when I had it. I keep it on airplane mode to help keep me free from distractions at work and because the company rules state that we aren't allowed to call or text at work.

Airplane mode keeps me from worrying if I'm missing something and helps me discipline myself so I don't get addicted to using it at work when nobody can see it, which eventually spreads to doing it more openly. Of course I can get out of airplane mode easily but it does help.

I consider the 1-2% per hour drop with hardly any use when NOT in airplane mode normal. 5 - 5.5 hours at work used to drop it to 96-98% from 100%, so 78% is unacceptable. I consider 90% and under unacceptable since I don't change coverage areas or do anything that will cause a serious variable. Even listening to music won't drop it this much.

 

[Goodspike]

on my case I just use my phone for SMS. . no other wild apps.. but the ANDROID OS keeps on top of the usage. . 40-70% 2nd is the screen which is acceptable. . .

tried all the possible work around. .

reboot
battery pull out in minutes
all extra features turned OFF. . .

If you're only using your phone for something like that, then it's likely an OS function is going to use a lot of power as a percentage of power used. The list of power users will roughly equal 100%, and if you're only doing one thing, and that's a basic function, Android functions and the screen will be your top use.

BTW, the only report I've seen here of 4.3 using more power was from a user who eventually traced it to a particular program that they had installed about the same time as installing 4.3.

 

[worldgonemad]

...78% is unacceptable. I consider 90% and under unacceptable since I don't change coverage areas or do anything that will cause a serious variable. Even listening to music won't drop it this much.

Have you eliminated this as a possibility? -

Galaxy S4 swelling battery issue

Heating of the Li-ion cell directly results in battery endurance degredation by up to 90%.

 

[EzGoingKev]

Does a hard reset help?

 

[gloriousnumber1]

No battery overheating or swelling issues here.

I tried not using airplane mode during that same time today and it dropped down to 75% instead of 78% in the same time yesterday so not any significant difference.

I uninstalled the "GPS Odometer" app I got recently. Perhaps it caused the problem. Time will tell.

Not sure why another factory reset would help since my last one was less than 2 weeks ago after my 4.3 update.

 

[Goodspike]

GPS programs can cause significant drain.

 

[gloriousnumber1]

GPS programs can cause significant drain.

On airplane mode? Perhaps it was looking for a signal even without using the app? If the phone does not even stop looking for a signal in airplane mode, that's not a "smart" phone....

 

[Goodspike]

Does airplane mode turn off GPS? I don't know the answer to that, but what an app does when GPS is turned off would depend on the app, not the phone.

 

[icedtea]

If you're only using your phone for something like that, then it's likely an OS function is going to use a lot of power as a percentage of power used. The list of power users will roughly equal 100%, and if you're only doing one thing, and that's a basic function, Android functions and the screen will be your top use.

BTW, the only report I've seen here of 4.3 using more power was from a user who eventually traced it to a particular program that they had installed about the same time as installing 4.3.

if that's the case, then it's "normal" for s4 to just last less than a day? (with that single application being used every now and then---> pertaining to sms as the major app used)

 

[Goodspike]

if that's the case, then it's "normal" for s4 to just last less than a day? (with that single application being used every now and then---> pertaining to sms as the major app used)

No, that would not be normal. But with light use I would expect the OS to be one of the major users of battery, because you're not doing much of anything else.

 

[icedtea]

No, that would not be normal. But with light use I would expect the OS to be one of the major users of battery, because you're not doing much of anything else.

light use ---> OS on top..

moderate - heavy use --> depends on the application/s used currently/running . did i get this right??

when I was on 4.2 my battery reaches 2days max ++ the same use of apps. when it upgraded to 4.3 .. but now seems every time i open the phone, click some menus/apps, 1 percent is being subtracted. . my battery now lasts less than 24 hours.. lucky if it reaches 1day with the same use as 4.2

 

[Goodspike]

light use ---> OS on top..

moderate - heavy use --> depends on the application/s used currently/running . did i get this right??

Pretty much, although it might be phone idle or Google services on top. Something that is light.

This might be an area where having your carrier in your profile might help. With Verizon the 4.3 didn't result in a higher battery usage for me.

 

[gloriousnumber1]

Well I dumped the GPS Odometer app and did a battery pull, and today my battery only dropped to 95% in 5.5 hours instead of 78%. For now it seems the problem was that app.

 

[Goodspike]

Thanks for finishing the thread.

 

[Gomjaba]

Well I dumped the GPS Odometer app and did a battery pull, and today my battery only dropped to 95% in 5.5 hours instead of 78%. For now it seems the problem was that app.

Airplane mode does not prevent GPS from working. In fact, try it. Enable airplane and re-enable GPS. This is one connectivity unaffected by airplane so you can use satnav without the need of any other connectivity so any app is able to enable GPS even in airplane mode.

 

[icedtea]

i used unlimited mobile data for almost 5 days.. checked the usage, SCREEN on TOP followed by OS at 30% rate OR below. . .my phone was active then for mobile data. .. and now I am back to the OS usage on top at 40% ++