Help Battery Draining Quickly

[bIOforger]

bIOforger
Junior Member



Think what you like, but I have years of proof that turning off the internet just about stops battery drain. I have been doing this on my previous smart phone, the Galaxy S.

I used to have some social apps installed, Facebook was the worst of the lot. But, even with them installed, IF they cannot access the internet, then they are done.

The Galaxy S phone used to require being charged about 3 times a day, then I happened across Battery Doctor (tried others) and manually turned off the internet when I'm done with the phone.

That Galaxy S phone magically went from needing a charge 3 times a day to two days of use on a charge.

lol being a member on here longer than me doesn't mean you have any more experience than i do with regards to smartphone usage, probably the opposite in fact, as i work in the marketplace, i've just not used these forums for very long.

I guess the point im trying to make is that pretty much all these battery saving apps are basically a waste of time.

 

[mountainfisher]

After a few days of using macro Droid I have formed my opinion that if I keep turning on and off my phone with the settings of turn off data and sync that the battery drains quicker.. Pretty obvious why. But if i use the phone very rarely the app helps preserve the battery, again pretty obvious why. Just my opinion, I kept the app just have it turned off some of the time

 

[CTerrian]

My new S5 is horrible battery life. I'm on my second phone with the same result. AT&T hasn't helped much, other than replacing my brand new phone with a refurbished one.
Here's an example. I woke up, disconnected my S5 from the charger, looked at the battery icon and it's 100%. Went to make some coffee and breakfast, and sat down and opened my phone settings. Scrolled to battery and it reports 30 minutes left. WTF?

 

[bIOforger]

My new S5 is horrible battery life. I'm on my second phone with the same result. AT&T hasn't helped much, other than replacing my brand new phone with a refurbished one.
Here's an example. I woke up, disconnected my S5 from the charger, looked at the battery icon and it's 100%. Went to make some coffee and breakfast, and sat down and opened my phone settings. Scrolled to battery and it reports 30 minutes left. WTF?

lol eh? it's been on for 30mins with 92% charge left. Mine uses about 1% when idle per hour, so your power saving techniques and settings could do with a tweak as its used 8% in 30mins.

Having bluetooth on all the time will drain the battery. Also try turning off your wifi when its not in use will help a little as well.

 

[AZgl1500]

lol eh? it's been on for 30mins with 92% charge left. Mine uses about 1% when idle per hour, so your power saving techniques and settings could do with a tweak as its used 8% in 30mins.

Having bluetooth on all the time will drain the battery. Also try turning off your wifi when its not in use will help a little as well.

Oh my, you say that me turning off the internet won't save the battery,

and yet, right here you say that turning off "the internet", ergo the WiFi, will save the battery.

tch tch....
I've had Android phones ever since they came out....worked in the industry since 1958 professionally... were you even alive then?

I'm done.... think or talk as you wish, I am done with this nonsense.

 

[blackthorne]

I'm also having short battery life on my S5. I get up in the morning and head to work around 6:30 AM. I'll read the news on my phone at lunch and break. Occasionally check email and use the calculator. By about 6 pm my phone is ready to die. Not very impressive. I'm used to the iPhone which would last 1.5 to 2 days between charges with push notifications, location services, wi-fi, and Blu tooth always on. The phone is nice, but this needing charged twice a day is ridiculous.

My wife's S5 is the same. I highly doubt we both got phones with a bad battery.

I went on a trip last weekend and used the GPS and had the phone charger plugged in. The phone was still loosing power while it was charging. This happened on both mine and my wife's S5.

 

[Drunder40]

If you have to turn off various things on your phone to get normal battery usage means you have a problem and needs to be fixed.

I have BT, WiFi, location services ... everything. .. and i can go 2 days before charging.

Turning services off doesn't fix the root cause.

 

[bIOforger]

Oh my, you say that me turning off the internet won't save the battery,

and yet, right here you say that turning off "the internet", ergo the WiFi, will save the battery.

tch tch....
I've had Android phones ever since they came out....worked in the industry since 1958 professionally... were you even alive then?

I'm done.... think or talk as you wish, I am done with this nonsense.

No, i said it will help a little. Turning off the data/internet will not stop the radio cell from draining the battery if there is poor reception, that is what alot of users suffer from. Again having data on or off is not the biggest issue here, KitKat is, everyone knows this. 4.4.3 is supposed to address the battery drain issues that a lot of people have.

lol good for you I also have had smartphones since they were introduced, so what. Am i supposed to respect your opinions and knowledge even if it sometimes not accurate, because yes you are older than me? what a load of horsesh1t!

Ok bye bye

 

[nycutie85]

K so i have had my galaxy s5 since June 1. I love my phone n all but the battery drains quick. When i go to settings n to battery to check it,it says that an app called gsiff_daemon is using 40% of my battery. Does anybody know what that is n does anyone have that problem also???

 

[spicaalex]

If you have to turn off various things on your phone to get normal battery usage means you have a problem and needs to be fixed.

I have BT, WiFi, location services ... everything. .. and i can go 2 days before charging.

Turning services off doesn't fix the root cause.

LOL PFF try to disable 'em and see how LONGER your sammy will last!

to OP: try to lower screen brightness to 20%, put it to max only in direct sunlight, also i believe there are energy saving options - tick reduce cpu speed - this+turned off data, bt, location, rotation and wifi helps to keep my express 2 on KK pretty long-lasting (frequent calls, sms, plenty music listening on max vol in headphones, sometimes web surfing)

 

[ChrisEvo]

I've been having very similar issues with my S5 Active. I charge it over night and when I leave my house in the morning, it is at 100%. 15-20 minutes later, it is at 85%. If I'm lucky, I'll get 8 hours on a charge without using the phone (it sits on my desk at work all day and hardly gets touched.

Something REALLY odd just happened, which may shed some light to someone more knowledgable than me. In reading this forum, I shut off and uninstalled some apps, namely The Weather Channel app, which seemed to be one of the culprits. To play it safe, I did a battery pull. When I pulled the battery, the phone was charging and read 21%. When I put the battery back in, it read a charge of 49%. I did nothing other than pull the battery and I gained 28%??

 

[AZgl1500]

chrisevo
The Wx Channel and some other apps, are syncing with their webhost periodically and that uses quite a bit of battery.

I have AccuWeather and Wx Channel both installed, but I don't have poor battery life. Actually, I get about 3 days per charge and it is because of the way I control the internet.

If the screen is locked, so is the internet.

If the screen is unlocked, so is the internet.

I use MacroDroid to monitor screen status and it runs macros that control both WiFi and Data.

You can do the same manually to see if that is what is eating up your battery.
Try this: when not using the phone, turn off WiFi and Data.
Do not turn them back on unless you actually need the internet for something.
Text messages do not use the internet, they ride the 1x basic carrier service

I get MMS pictures all the time with the internet "turned off". Actually, I receive the MMS message and then when I open the screen, the Data is turned on and the pictures download when I view that message.

Give it a try, I predict that it will help you a lot.

 

[Devendra95]

Get a free app called Wakelock Detector from the Play Store. It will show you if something is preventing the phone from sleeping.

tried that but kitkat restricts the app from getting the information. im having the same issue and i have a feeling its 4.4.2 because i have tmobile and they havent pushed that update yet. Oddly enough the galaxy s4 already has 4.4.4

 

[staceybessmer]

I've been having very similar issues with my S5 Active. I charge it over night and when I leave my house in the morning, it is at 100%. 15-20 minutes later, it is at 85%. If I'm lucky, I'll get 8 hours on a charge without using the phone (it sits on my desk at work all day and hardly gets touched.

Something REALLY odd just happened, which may shed some light to someone more knowledgable than me. In reading this forum, I shut off and uninstalled some apps, namely The Weather Channel app, which seemed to be one of the culprits. To play it safe, I did a battery pull. When I pulled the battery, the phone was charging and read 21%. When I put the battery back in, it read a charge of 49%. I did nothing other than pull the battery and I gained 28%??

Good point!

 

[dstuart2014]

I was having all sorts of battery issues after the 09/26 update. Hot phone, 8-10 hours to 5%, checked thru the forums, tried various battery xxx apps, and so on. Lots of pruning and sniffing got it somewhat better. Didn't see much change dumping Google or Amazon stuff, tho there was a Samsung push-type app for something I never used/needed that was eating up 20%, sometimes. (Can't remember it's exact stats. It's gone, good riddance!)

After lots of attempts, app shut downs, setting tweaks and all that, it got better, but was still way off what it used to be. (Got up to 14-16 hrs, to 20% or so.)

Then saw someone mention Macrodroid and shutting down the radios. Picked up the paid app, wrote a few macros and gave it a try. Just shutting down Wi-fi and data radios when the screen's off has worked wonders. (Phone's at 98% now, afterr 2 hours on battery, couple Email (When on charge it leaves wifi on, so the email updates, not a big deal, but figured why not leave radio on if powered?) and text msg checks, BT is on and attached. Built a macro so my navigation app will keep the data modem on for updates, but nothing else is annoyed, and I can go all day with several calls, Email checks and general quicky Web lookups, and be over 80, maybe even up to 90% of batt life remaining after 12 hours. Much better. Takes a couple secs to connect wifi when the screen's up, but doesn't impede my usage at all.

Once in a while, there'll be some app that goes wonky or such, and will keep the phone awake, sucking the juice. (Message app, email app, navigation app, couple others over the past month.) If I see something happening, shut it down. Might experiment with macros to shut down background things as well. The biggest change was definitely Macrodroid, which also helped my brother's Moto mini with drain issues. Nice stuff. Bluetooth was designed from the ground up to be miserly, and I use it several hours daily. WiFi, OTOH, wasn't designed with battery miser in mind. Even if I'm within 30 feet of the router, 95% of the time, it still is thirsty.

At least I can depend on my phone again, and actually use all the features I like.

Thanks to whomever mentioned MacroDroid!

Good luck, people. The S5 is a great phone, it's been serving me well.

Yours, Stu. (Electronic tech, been working on tubes, transistors and microprocessors for decades. First wireless phones I repaired were RCC (Radio Common Carrier), used an operator, were trunk mounted and had tubes...)

 

[AZgl1500]

I sometimes feel like I should be a paid advertiser for MacroDroid.

I have been able to use it to cure just about every ill that needed fixing.
Before this forum revamped and destroyed our ability to write a decent Signature, I had that in my signature lines.
I am going to start adding my signature inside the post from now on.

Stu, I have been in electronics since 1958, that's when I acquired my first FCC license to go to work in the field. I only retired about 4 years ago, so that gives me a lot of years to learn our job

I'm glad that talking about MacroDroid helped you out. I get 3 days per charge on my S5 and that is with pretty decent usage too. There is absolutely no justification for the radios being ON when the screen is locked. It only takes about 2 seconds for the radios to wake up and all of my notifications, emails, etc... to do their thing.

Telco calls and SMS both use the basic 1x telco service, and therefore do not require DATA in any form. Especially 3g/4g data.

* MacroDroid how to post by AZgl1500

Verizon Galaxy S5 since Launch Day using ART
Nova Prime, Textra, Blue Mail
MacroDroid senses Scrn off=Wifi Data OFF
sense Scrn on=WiFi Data ON

 

[dstuart2014]

I definitely appreciate the advice, and when seeing some of the other options, and trying many of them, wanted to put in my own push for the program. Just checked my phone, 14 hrs, 89%, BT on all day, edited a few contacts, checked the local weather, some phone calls. Much better, no functionality lost, no messing with settings and apps all of the time.

You've got me beat by quite a bit, got my 2nd class 'phone in '75 as a teenager, after several years as a two-way radio tech. (Hence the 6V, dynamotor powered GE RCC rig I worked on in the trunk of a Checker cab! (Early 70's, it was rather retro, but functional. Wanna talk about battery life? Shoulda seen the lights on that cab dim when you hit the PTT!) Always been a tech geek. Always looking for ways to squeeze more out of a circuit, battery, flashlight, whatever.. As you say, lots of years to learn the biz, and, as a hobbyist, to never stop learning.

Keep on S5ing. Yours, Stu

 

[bIOforger]

I find Macrodroid makes hardly any difference when it turns off data and wifi and i'm a pretty heavy user of social media etc. I get 2+ days of uptime regardless of whether its used or not. Thats with the original battery. Now my backup battery is a different story and only lasts 1 day max, turn on macrodroid and it lasts a few hours more, but not the 2 days i get from the original battery. Go figure

 

[AZgl1500]

some batteries are just better than others. I am still with the OEM Samsung branded battery which after 8 months seems to be holding up fairly well. I have not made any effort to quantify the discharge rate versus percent status.

I do notice that when I get rambunctious and do a lot of surfing on the phone, and have a lot of screen time, watch videos on YouTube, Facebook sometimes (not crazy about FB) it seems to pull the battery down in the 50+ to 60+ percent range by the end of day. If I want to push it all the way down to 10%, I can easily go 2+ days.

but since it has a Qi wireless charger in it, when it gets down into the 40-55 percent range, I just toss it onto the Qi charging pad when I go to bed.

On the weekends, and recently as of this week, my summer job has ended.... I can easily go 3 or 4 days because I am on the desktop computer most of the time. About all the phone gets used for now for the winter months, is to check my emails and to actually talk to someone.
I've been retired for 4+ years now, and got bored stiff. Found a summer job driving a weed spray truck for the County Highway Department... not physically hard, just keeps me moving about.

I've read a lot of discussions on how well Li-ion batteries should be treated. One heavy proponent insists that we should never pull the battery down below 40%, as lower drain levels are hazardous to battery health. Could be, don't know for sure. I flunked Chemistry in college, I can trace electrons thru a radio but chemical mixtures? nah....

* MacroDroid how to post by AZgl1500

Verizon Galaxy S5 since Launch Day using ART
Nova Prime, Textra, Blue Mail
MacroDroid senses Scrn off=Wifi Data OFF
sense Scrn on=WiFi Data ON

 

[bIOforger]

Yep that's kinda right, its healthier for a Li-ion battery to be recharged when it reaches ~30-40% and now and again (once a month) let it discharge to ~10% before recharging. I wouldn't say it's hazardous to its life if you didn't follow that "rule" but it may let the battery life last a little bit longer.

 

[0xZero0swe]

Does this seems good or bad?
http://imgur.com/a/7Owp4

 

[xtrempickup]

i was having a battery draining issue also. finally its sorted out. i did a factory rest and its finally back to acting like when it was new. this battery easily can go a day before a recharge with a good amount of use. power saving mode and slightly dimed screen and not many things running. i always check task manager. i seem to get the best battery on data, on wifi it doesnt improve if anything it drains faster i find

 

[0xZero0swe]

i was having a battery draining issue also. finally its sorted out. i did a factory rest and its finally back to acting like when it was new. this battery easily can go a day before a recharge with a good amount of use. power saving mode and slightly dimed screen and not many things running. i always check task manager. i seem to get the best battery on data, on wifi it doesnt improve if anything it drains faster i find

Do you know if it could be the same issue even if it's new?..
Because I haven't recived any updates or anything.

On the S2 when I updated Android, it drained alot battery too.
But I fixed it with a factory reset.

So I wounder if it will work now anyway? Even if I haven't got any updates for the S5.

 

[xtrempickup]

Worth a try. some apps are constantly looking trying to access your location eating up battery. I have my location set to power saving. I have my cpu limited. Anything power saving related ive done. 8 -10 hrs is about the life. From new it was about that. I'm on 4.4.4 and honestly the battery isnt terrible. My S4 sucked from new. My S3 had decent life. Poor service causes the phone to work harder. Battery did start becoming like 4 hr max until i reset the phone. My drain was app related

 

[JeepGuy25]

Im going to give MacroDroid a try. Havent looked into how complicated that is yet...but hopefully its not as bad as Tasker haha.

Im 100% disappointed with the battery life of this phone. I came from a Nokia Lumia 920. It had a short period of quick draining battery, but there was (within a month) an update that fixed it. That phone was fantastic, and the battery was at 40%+ every night when I got home from work. And I used it...a lot.

This phone, I get into the battery saver before bedtime. So down to 20% or less. And the part that really irritates me, is that EVERYTHING IS OFF. The phone is crippled. My nokia pushed all my emails, facebook notifications, etc. The only thing I toggled was bluetooth. And it was fine. The S5...I have almost everything turned off. The beautiful screen is as far down as I can stand it. All the neat features are off. Its not a smart phone anymore. I had a flip phone that was more connected than this.

Ive read that its a problem with Kit-kat, and that there was supposed to be a 4.4.3 udpate to fix this. But that was MONTHS AND MONTHS AGO!!! Still no update to fix what is obviously a problem with the OS. If your Android System is taking up 10% or less...or around that, you seem to be fine. 20%+ and your battery is toast. I had the SAME problem on my Nexus tablet for a while. Its now rooted running CM and battery is crazy good. Even on that old device.

So frustrating. Between that, not having a quick button for hotspot, and the WiFi reception seeming to be worse, Im slightly regretting my switch. Im going to stick it out until 5.0 comes around, whenever that will happen. If it doesnt get better, Im going back to WP. Even with the horrible app development, at least Nokia makes a solid phone and WP OS handles its business.

Thanks for all the advice!

Justin