Want To Improve Battery Life? -- Here's How

[PsychDoc]

So I have been pretty happy overall with my S5 since I got it but I was finding that I was getting maybe 14-16 hours of use on a full charge. I thought the phone and power supply should be somewhat better than this. So I started doing a lot of research, reading through multiple threads on the topic on this and other forums and played around with different settings in my phone. I think I've found a pretty optimal group of settings such that I can recommend them without hesitation. Right now I'm at 79% with almost eight hours off charger.


So, in no particular order here's what I did to improve battery life to the point that I'm now on track to get almost double the battery life of what I had been getting prior:

(1) Disabled all animations in Developers settings (for those of you who don't know how to activate Developers settings, go to "About Phone" and tap 7-8x on "build number." This will activate the hidden Developers settings)
(2) Installed Nova launcher and made it default
(3) Installed 'Opera for Android' browser and made it my default browser
(4) Disabled wifi when out and about
(5) Disabled bluetooth except for when I'm in the car (this was a big battery drain BTW)
(6) Uninstalled all unused and needless apps
(7) Bloatware that cannot be uninstalled I disabled and stopped. These include: Amazon (huge battery drain, BTW), Amazon app suite, Amazon Kindle, [Amazon] Appstore, Audible, caller name ID, Flipboard, Google Play Games, Hangouts, Isis mobile wallet, Message+, NFL mobile, S Health and S Voice
(8) Disabled mobile data when connected to wifi (great app from Play Store to do this: Mobile Data Connection beta)
(9) Leave Location on "Power Saving" which works fine for everything except for navigation
(10) Screen brightness on "Auto"
(11) Unchecked Synch in the full pull-down menu (the one you access by using two fingers to swipe down)
(12) Disabled the native email app that came with the phone and downloaded the MyMail app from the Play Store (amazingly good app BTW)
(13) Set screen timeout to 30" and two softtouch keys to 1.5"

I suspect I may have forgotten one or two things and if I remember something I'll add it later but these few things have really made a very dramatic difference in my battery life.

I hope this helps any of you who may be struggling with this issue.

If I've missed something that anyone else can recommend, fire away.

 

[AZgl1500]

You have just posted what I finally did to my S5 to a "T"...

It has taken me this long to also come to the same conclusions as to what is draining the battery. I have in many posts stated that the phone is to me, a Communications Device, not a game toy to play with. No point in me repeating your post.

I will just say that I concur with each and every point you made.
Last night at bedtime my S5 had 51%, and at 0500 leaving for work it still had 49%. That is only 2% idle consumption for 7 hours.

Turning off Sync is very important as is adjusting Location like you said.

I just got off of a 4 hour long phone call with a trucker friend of mine, helping him pass the time clicking off the miles. Battery loss was 19% during that period of time.
Not bad....

One thing that I did you did not mention is: Battery Doctor
This one app can greatly extend battery life.
In the upper right hand corner is the 3 dots. Go thru that and set Whitelist to kill off everything except for Go SMS Pro, Clean Master, Alarm Clock Plus

Oh, I am still using TouchWiz.... Battery as of right now is 70%, will report back tomorrow night.

Great post...

 

[alexander2020]

I found my phone battery with the battery doctor is bit more effective. Last longer but still not so much convincing as expected.

 

[Sandroidfan]

Agreed on uninstalling/disabling all unnecessary apps, bloats. This is good for any phone.

For disabling WiFi, you need to also make sure to uncheck "always scanning WiFi points" under advanced WiFi setting. Otherwise phone is still searching for WiFi sources for location service. This came with KitKat.

I don't turn off Sync or mobile data entirely. I'm usually in decent to good signal areas, so I don't see much benefit of doing that making phone to dumb flip phone. I only unchecked syncing some google apps like google+.

 

[AZgl1500]

Oh, I am still using TouchWiz.... Battery as of right now is 70%, will report back tomorrow night.

Great post...

I forgot to return to this thread. Last night my battery was at 34% when I put it on the charger and hit the pillow at 10 PM (work demands you sleep ya know )

I am quite pleased with being able to eke out the battery life. No more worries about "will it last through today?"

It will and tomorrow too if need be even without going to the Power Saving grey screen Mode.

 

[jack58]

You have just posted what I finally did to my S5 to a "T"...

It has taken me this long to also come to the same conclusions as to what is draining the battery. I have in many posts stated that the phone is to me, a Communications Device, not a game toy to play with. No point in me repeating your post.

I will just say that I concur with each and every point you made.
Last night at bedtime my S5 had 51%, and at 0500 leaving for work it still had 49%. That is only 2% idle consumption for 7 hours.

Turning off Sync is very important as is adjusting Location like you said.

I just got off of a 4 hour long phone call with a trucker friend of mine, helping him pass the time clicking off the miles. Battery loss was 19% during that period of time.
Not bad....

One thing that I did you did not mention is: Battery Doctor
This one app can greatly extend battery life.
In the upper right hand corner is the 3 dots. Go thru that and set Whitelist to kill off everything except for Go SMS Pro, Clean Master, Alarm Clock Plus

Oh, I am still using TouchWiz.... Battery as of right now is 70%, will report back tomorrow night.

Great post...

Yep... you already had a similar post before this one.
I see you both complain about Amazon? It is nowhere in sight on my S5? Maybe it is a Verizon thing? I have AT&T.

 

[PainFX]

[Guide] Battery Saving Tips - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

 

[jack58]

@ PainFX
I don't think your suppose to link to another competition forum?
Besides I don't like Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com and why I'm here instead.

 

[AZgl1500]

Can't link outside this forum?
Hmmmm, I am a moderator on the biggest Goldwing Forum in the world and we link to all of the other Goldwing Forums.

Why? Because sometimes that is where the best tips are...

 

[PainFX]

@ PainFX
I don't think your suppose to link to another competition forum?
Besides I don't like Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com and why I'm here instead.

Information is information. I don't see how is that against the forum rules.

 

[Brian706]

The link is fine, let's not get too far off topic!! :thumbup:

 

[AZgl1500]

Another day, another dollar made, 3rd day of use and after arriving home battery showing 58%.... something ate up a lot of juice today.

A little hint arrived when I heard a notification tone that was different than any I have set up. Pulled down Notification bar and Hangouts had 4 messages waiting for me.

Next step? Disabled Hangouts....

Then I looked some more for things that "used to be" turned OFF.
Damn, Amazon Suites got itself back on my phone !@#$%^&^*

Got rid of that damn thing as well. P I S S on amazon, I have a desktop computer for that kind of stuff.

found a couple of Google services that I don't want Sync for one, Contacts for the other, and Calendar for the 3rd. Disabled all of them.

Battery is now back to my happy mode. Just sipping the juice.

 

[Blade of 3]

-turn off auto sync for all apps.
-turn off mobile data when not in use (especially if you have Sprint like me)
-put brightness to as low as you are comfortable with, not auto.
-turn off GPS (almost a must if you want your battery to last)
-leave phone on silent if you do not need to be notified
-run on power saver mode

 

[jack58]

-turn off GPS (almost a must if you want your battery to last)

Since I like using GPS fairly often, is there a way I can have it on my homepage to turn it on and off so I don't have to go in settings every time?

 

[Mittar]

to me, a Communications Device, not a game toy to play with.

You might have too much phone for your needs... to me my phone is primarily a computer/communications device and that includes all the fun stuff that goes with it. I spend hours in the evening playing games, browsing facebook, etc.

I know that I can eke out two to three days battery life if I don't do much with the phone, or I can use it hard all day like the fun phone it is and plug it in when I go to bed (it's my alarm clock, so plugging it in is just part of my bed time ritual). Other than the gee whiz bragging rights of "I got 3 days of charge on this sucker" I'll always go with the hard use option.

 

[jack58]

You might have too much phone for your needs... to me my phone is primarily a computer/communications device and that includes all the fun stuff that goes with it. I spend hours in the evening playing games, browsing facebook, etc.

I know that I can eke out two to three days battery life if I don't do much with the phone, or I can use it hard all day like the fun phone it is and plug it in when I go to bed (it's my alarm clock, so plugging it in is just part of my bed time ritual). Other than the gee whiz bragging rights of "I got 3 days of charge on this sucker" I'll always go with the hard use option.

I use my phone hard all day. I keep GPS on, Brightness to full stuff like that, yet get about 22 hours out of the phone... seems great to me.
I do turn off things I don't need, such as always syncing (for email just hit refresh) turning off all apps I don't need etc.

BTW Mittar, you probably don't like my Avatar! 43-8 LOL

 

[Mittar]

BTW Mittar, you probably don't like my Avatar! 43-8 LOL

Yeah, I'm over it. Manning has at least 1-2 good years left and we've made some good moves on D.

 

[Sandroidfan]

Since I like using GPS fairly often, is there a way I can have it on my homepage to turn it on and off so I don't have to go in settings every time?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc

Try power toggles widget above. It's very handy for toggling many things.

 

[AZgl1500]

You might have too much phone for your needs... to me my phone is primarily a computer/communications device and that includes all the fun stuff that goes with it. I spend hours in the evening playing games, browsing facebook, etc.

I know that I can eke out two to three days battery life if I don't do much with the phone, or I can use it hard all day like the fun phone it is and plug it in when I go to bed (it's my alarm clock, so plugging it in is just part of my bed time ritual). Other than the gee whiz bragging rights of "I got 3 days of charge on this sucker" I'll always go with the hard use option.

No, you have not read my posts thoroughly enough.

I use everything on it that is of good value to me.

I switch the stuff on/off at my command. It is a great phone and the larger size gives me fonts I can read w/o using eyeglasses. You cannot determine what someone else's needs are....

I have commented many times that the games, NFL apps, Social Networking stuff are NOT my cup of tea, but if they are yours, then go for it. Turn that stuff ON and the battery use will show the effect.

I use Battery Doctor's Widget to turn the major functions ON/OFF as needed. There is NO NEED to go to Power Saving Mode.... that is a PITA and way too slow for normal use of the phone.

The BD Widget will let you turn DATA, SYNC, GPS, BLUETOOTH, WIFI on/off in a heart beat. No need to use Samsung's Power changing modes. It accomplishes the same thing without the hassle.

If I want the GPS to know where I am for apps that use it, I just use Low Power GPS instead of High Resolution.

If I am driving down the road and want navigation, it is there, turn on High Resolution. This phone will do anything anybody wants, just pick and choose what you want.

But don't tell me it is too much phone for me, you don't have a clue.

 

[Mittar]

But don't tell me it is too much phone for me, you don't have a clue.

Easy there, Tiger, I said "might". No need to get offended.

 

[AZgl1500]

sorry... itchy fingers outrun the clutch.

 

[jmatteis]

Okay, wait, you guys are getting 3 days on a battery charge? Are you not using the phone at all??? I said in the other battery thread, battery doctor was doing better things for me, but the last few days, within minutes off the charger I am down 1%. Then within 15 minutes, checking a few emails, etc, down to 94 or 95%. Today, took it off the charge, 100%, with trickle charge plus from battery doctor... went for a one hour motorcycle cruise, phone in pocket, GPS on, Wifi regular setting, BT on, but screen off, and nothing running... an hour later, take it out of my pocket and I am down to 89%, doing NOTHING! Can't figure this out, check running apps, and there is nothing really going on there, either.
I wouldn't dream of getting 30 hours out of my battery, let alone 48 or 72...
I just checked and it is plugged in, running battery doctor and it says 24 hrs and 45 minutes... no programs running, just GPS on. That would only add 2 hours... I am confused... is my battery no good??? What do other people's batteries show that they will be getting (if you're running battery doctor)

 

[PsychDoc]

Okay, wait, you guys are getting 3 days on a battery charge? Are you not using the phone at all??? I said in the other battery thread, battery doctor was doing better things for me, but the last few days, within minutes off the charger I am down 1%. Then within 15 minutes, checking a few emails, etc, down to 94 or 95%. Today, took it off the charge, 100%, with trickle charge plus from battery doctor... went for a one hour motorcycle cruise, phone in pocket, GPS on, Wifi regular setting, BT on, but screen off, and nothing running... an hour later, take it out of my pocket and I am down to 89%, doing NOTHING! Can't figure this out, check running apps, and there is nothing really going on there, either.
I wouldn't dream of getting 30 hours out of my battery, let alone 48 or 72...
I just checked and it is plugged in, running battery doctor and it says 24 hrs and 45 minutes... no programs running, just GPS on. That would only add 2 hours... I am confused... is my battery no good??? What do other people's batteries show that they will be getting (if you're running battery doctor)

I tried Battery Doctor for a day or two and uninstalled it as I didn't see that it was doing anything and I even wondered if it might be screwing up my battery life. Since the uninstall my battery life has been much much better and I'm now getting almost 24 hours of moderate use on one charge. I don't know if it was Battery Doctor or not but I know it's now functioning much better without it.

YMMV

 

[jack58]

I tried Battery Doctor for a day or two and uninstalled it as I didn't see that it was doing anything and I even wondered if it might be screwing up my battery life. Since the uninstall my battery life has been much much better and I'm now getting almost 24 hours of moderate use on one charge. I don't know if it was Battery Doctor or not but I know it's now functioning much better without it.

YMMV

Obviously didn't have the correct settings. Wrong settings can make it worse.
Read what others have done and the FAQ's.

 

[AZgl1500]

... went for a one hour motorcycle cruise, phone in pocket, GPS on, Wifi regular setting, BT on, but screen off, and nothing running... an hour later, take it out of my pocket and I am down to 89%, doing NOTHING! Can't figure this out, check running apps, and there is nothing really going on there, either.
I wouldn't dream of getting 30 hours out of my battery, let alone 48 or 72...
I just checked and it is plugged in, running battery doctor and it says 24 hrs and 45 minutes... no programs running, just GPS on. That would only add 2 hours... I am confused... is my battery no good??? What do other people's batteries show that they will be getting (if you're running battery doctor)

GPS is a heavy user of battery power, and so is WiFi when it can't find a signal it keeps searching and searching. You need to turn those off when out of range or not needed. Be sure GPS is set to Lower Power Mode.

I'm using Battery Doctor and it does a very good job by turning off things not needed when the screen is locked. But you must program it properly to get the results that you want. There are several different menus that must all be correctly configured or you will get poor results from it.

I said elsewhere that the top few percent of the battery, any battery, fall off faster than the reported % points later down the scale. That is called "surface charge" and you should not get worried over the top 10%, it is not as meaningful as the upper middle to lower middle values. The true test is how many hours you can get on your battery between charges.

Each of us have different requirements for what we want a phone to do. I for one, don't need to have notifications that someone on Facebook made a post, I can read that later when I get home and use the desktop PC that does not need battery power. My life is not hung up on Ms. jane's baby showers, etc... Emails I can read at home, that is what message systems are about, to hold stuff until "you are ready"... This new world order of having to be in constant contact is nerve racking.

I worked 40 years tied to a damn pager that directed my life in the Emergency Services field, no more, I am tired of instant contact.

But for you, you have to make a choice as to what apps you leave active. I also ride a m/c and enjoy it very much, but while riding the phone is not needed to be in contact with anything other than the telephone system. Text messages can be put on hold until you have time to read them. The GPS does not need to be on if you are not using the phone as a Navigation device. I have my GPS turned off most of the time, and let the cell towers triangulate my position. That is close enough for weather reports for tornadoes and Amber Alerts.

I can get 3 days from the battery sometimes, I get 2 days from it all the time, unless I sit down and start using the phone heavy surfing the web instead of using my home computer.

It is very difficult to compare our stats against another's stats. Lots of background apps running that we aren't aware of. Indeed, I downloaded a couple of new apps to try out and along came that darn Amazon Suites again and it is a big power user. I had to uninstall it again for the 3rd time.

I just took my phone off the Wireless Charger for my first full work day to see how it does after being topped off at 100% charge. I checked a few things to see how the world is, and the battery dropped to 99% immediately.... Those percentage points are approximations... it is now at 98% and will most likely hold at that level for a hour or so, but I won't be looking at the screen at 3 AM to see how it is doing. Nope, won't use the phone until lunch time and then it will get some heavy use for a half hour.

During the day there will be occasional calls from the work crew coordinating our jobs, but no social networks will be running on the phone. So my stats will be different than someone who has Facebook, Twitter, etc... running all the time.

I love the S5, it has a lot of power to do things when I need them. That "when" part is most important to me. When I want accurate GPS locations I turn it on and it knows where I am within a few feet, that is great, but not needed 99% of the day.

Wish you the best with your phone.