Help S5 Battery Gripe

[lavellep]

Hi All,

Just throwing this one out there but has anybody noticed the battery on their new S5 is not as great as the reviews all believe?

I got mine on Thursday morning in Switzerland. It's the European model - and I brought it home to the UK.

Charged it up fully, then let it discharge which took about 15 hours (though eight of those were in bed). Then yesterday, I charged it from 2% up to 100% at about 1pm. It was down to 20% by 10pm. Obviously, I'm using it a fair bit but no more than the other reviewers seem to imply.

I have it linked to my Gear 2 Neo and wonder if that's the cause. But I can't see how it would be as GSAM reckons Bluetooth is low usage and also my friend is using his connected to the Gear 2 and tells me yesterday, he had 90 mins of Netflix, Facebook and general playing before he got down to 90%. GSAM tells me that the kernel is the biggest user.

I vaguely seem to remember the S3 having a similar battery drain at first and not being sure what it was and it settled down eventually - but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and experiences. By the way, I have Power Saving ON here too!

As a guide, it is now down to 93% after about an hour off charge with the screen having barely been on.

 

[lavellep]

It definitely appears to be my kernel that's doing it - but what? And how can I stop? See attached screenshots I just took.. Hope someone can help

 

[lavellep]

And a few more...

 

[saltyduck]

I found the same thing....I thought it might be that I was using it A TON setting it up and all.

 

[lavellep]

Slightly different here. I set mine up on Thursday and this is still happening now

 

[mgok]

I have had my phone since Thursday 4/10 and I have kept it plugged in and charging while I setup and familiarize myself with it.

I can not keep the battery charged while in use - this morning from 100% and a sync with contacts dropped it by 15% even while plugged into the wall outlet.

Yesterday I made 2 calls average time 11 minutes each with battery power save mode on. I left home with 98% at 6 am and by noon i was down to 40%.

Seems we need an update to the OS for battery management?

 

[trophynuts]

Factory Reset....try it.

 

[mgok]

Factory reset and then restore ? or spend two days setting it all backup manually?

 

[killakumes]

sync drains a lot of juice. also it take about 5 cycles to remind the lithium battery to kick into gear.

 

[Baddawg]

I noticed last night that mine was set to Global. I changed it to LTE/CDMA. That will definitely help to drain the battery a bit more than usual.

We'll see how today goes.

 

[Hadron]

For the kernel usage, try looking at wakelocks (e.g. total time held awake). That might give more clues as to which of those many kernel processes is responsible.

 

[lavellep]

I did a full factory reset yesterday and it seems to be the same. Nor dreadful but just not add great as all the reviewers seem to say. Maybe it will settle down after a few days

 

[Kod1ak]

I have been using mine all morning and then when it got down to about 18% I put it on the charger. I pulled it off the charger about 8pm tonight and used it for about 6-7 hours and it was still around 75%. Now the last 2 hours I was watching the TV and not using the phone as much (although I did use it as the remote for my entertainment system...love that feature)...but the first 5 hours I was on it constantly. So far I think it's working as advertised.

 

[lavellep]

did you find that it took a few charge cycles to get it that way? Or was it always working perfectly out of the box?

 

[Kod1ak]

When I first got the phone it only had about 30-40% charge and it quickly went down to about 20% in just about 2 hours. After I charged it back to full...it seemed to do great. I will keep an eye on it and see if anything changes after a few days of use.

 

[lavellep]

Would you mind installing GSAM and seeing if you have the big kernel usage I do please? Only if you don't mind. It is a free app. Thanks a lot

 

[saltyduck]

I'm on day 3 of my GS5 and it's doing better. The first day it was at 56% when I got it and it sucked down quick. I charged it to 90 something and it sucked down quick but not all the way. Yesterday I used it about my normal amount and it did fine - I think it only went down to 70-something. Today I plan to use it my normal amount PLUS link it up to my gopro and possibly a map tracking app so it'll be put to the test. We'll see

 

[CRS1]

I think the battery on the S5 is weak!

Drains fast...however, it does charge very fast.

I'm hopping this battery improves over time. I got the phone yesterday from BB. So only had it for a day. Carrier is Sprint.

Good phone overall. I'm coming from the S2.

 

[saltyduck]

Okay today I used it my "normal" amount - texting, music, phone, etc. I am not a big phone talker but I am a big texter and web browser and photo taker. I also used my GoPro and I connect it to my phone so I can see the screen. Had the phone disconnected since 8am and it's now 6:30pm. It's down to 79%. I'd say that's pretty good..........

 

[EzGoingKev]

I got mine Friday afternoon and ran the battery completely dead.

I plugged it in at night and unplugged it Saturday morning once I was up and around. I have been using it - setting it up, looking around, browsing the internet, texting, calling, Flipboard, downloading new apps, etc - and as of right now I am at 56%.

For me that is great. WAY better than my S4. I do not think I will have to plug it in until sometime Monday.

 

[saltyduck]

I'm actually having the opposite "problem" - I need the battery to die down so it could "condition" - I think I will not charge it tonight and go tomorrow and see how it does. I can't remember the last time a single charge lasted me 2 days....

 

[catpowrd]

Between the wife and I we have had about 10 android phones, the early ones were bad but this new S5 is about the worst. I set up this S5 the exact same apps and widgets that I had on my S4. With the S4 I could run 21 hours and be sitting on about 50-60%. This S5 is down to 8% in under 16 hours, I did no web browsing, only 5 two minute phone calls. I sure hope this gets better or they find a fix because this is not going to work with this much power drain.

 

[mountainfisher]

Well my battery is awesome. You must have a defective one or something.

 

[saltyduck]

I didn't charge mine overnight...as I was down to just 70% yesterday after my normal usage - connecting via BT in car, texting, phone call, connecting to my GOPRO, pictures, etc. Today I used it the same - car BT, texting, photos, etc. (no gopro). It went down to 16% so I will be charging tonight.

 

[catpowrd]

Well it sounds like some are getting good batteries and some are getting bad ones or some phones have a bad draw. Mine just seems to burn through the battery twice as fast as my S4. Other than bad battery drain no other complaints on the S5.