Help Battery Draining Quickly

[AZgl1500]

I agree, it is NOT the motherboard.
something is keeping the DATA awake, or you have a very weak cell site and the phone's radio is having to pump up the TX power a lot to keep it connected.

 

[benemirel]

Hello and welcome to Android Forums benemirel

I doubt that the problem lies with your motherboard.

Just a few questions to try and resolve your issue.

1. What is your model of Galaxy S5 as per #1.2 of 41 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide

2. As well as the Factory Data Reset, have you tried a cache partition wipe as per #1.3 of S5 Lollipop Update Problems - Dummies Guide

3. Are you running any of the following apps...

Apps that auto start or run in the background

1. Facebook

2. BlackBerry Messenger

3. 8 Ball Pool

4. Instagram

5. Messenger

6. WeChat

7. Facebook Pages Manager

8. Oovoo Video Call Text & Voice

9. KakaoTalk Free Calls & Text

10. Vine


Apps that are initiated by the user

1. Spotify

2. Amazon Kindle

3. Line Free Calls & Messages

4. Samsung WatchOn Video

5. Snapchat

6. Netflix

7. SoundCloud Music & Audio

8. CleanMaster Speed Booster

9. Tumblr

10. Picsart Photo Studio

The model is SM-G900A. I did the last factory reset yesterday and i haven't installed any apps to see if there will be any differences. Here is the battery usage. I haven't tried the cache partition wipe

 

[ironass]

Which Romanian carrier are you connected to?

 

[benemirel]

Which Romanian carrier are you connected to?

Orange

 

[ironass]

Orange

Your phone, G900A, is the carrier model for the AT&T network, U.S.A.. It is designed specifically for that network and does not always function well on all worldwide networks. In your case, unless you have an excellent 4G/LTE signal, your phone will struggle on the Orange, 3G network for data. See, Will My Phone Work? This inability to maintain a 3G connection could be causing your battery drain as it will constantly be seeking for a signal. 2G for calls and texts should be OK.

 

[benemirel]

Your phone, G900A, is the carrier model for the AT&T network, U.S.A.. It is designed specifically for that network and does not always function well on all worldwide networks. In your case, unless you have an excellent 4G/LTE signal, your phone will struggle on the Orange, 3G network for data. See, Will My Phone Work? This inability to maintain a 3G connection could be causing your battery drain as it will constantly be seeking for a signal. 2G for calls and texts should be OK.

If the mobile data is off, the phone is still looking for 3G and 4G connection? Today I only had for 30 min the mobile data on.

 

[ironass]

If the mobile data is off, the phone is still looking for 3G and 4G connection? Today I only had for 30 min the mobile data on.

It will always seek for the strongest signal. On the international model, G900F, you can go to...

Settings > More networks > mobile networks > Network mode

Here you can select LTE/WCDMA/GSM or WCDMA/GSM or WCDMA only or just GSM only. Do you have that feature on the G900A? If so, try setting it to GSM only. See if that helps.

 

[benemirel]

It will always seek for the strongest signal. On the international model, G900F, you can go to...

Settings > More networks > mobile networks > Network mode

Here you can select LTE/WCDMA/GSM or WCDMA/GSM or WCDMA only or just GSM only. Do you have that feature on the G900A? If so, try setting it to GSM only. See if that helps.

I don't have the feature but I dialed *#*#43... number and changed the network mode. I'll check if it helps.
Thank you!

 

[benemirel]

It will always seek for the strongest signal. On the international model, G900F, you can go to...

Settings > More networks > mobile networks > Network mode

Here you can select LTE/WCDMA/GSM or WCDMA/GSM or WCDMA only or just GSM only. Do you have that feature on the G900A? If so, try setting it to GSM only. See if that helps.

No change with only GSM mode on. Any other idea? Are there any chances to be the motherboard? The guy from the service told me that the phone could have been open before beacause is not the original samsung seal.

 

[haynsoljah58]

Thanks for everyone's advice on this thread!

I have a question about Macrodroid, do I have to be rooted to create a macro that turns off data when the screen is off? The reason I'm asking is because that's what it says below the choice. [Mobile Data On/Off (Root Only)]

 

[Voss36]

Hey all,

Lots of threads here on battery issues. I picked this one since it was active just last week.

I'm running a Galaxy S5 with the lolipop thingie which just force-updated itself a few weeks ago. For about 2 days I had crappy battery life then miraculously it turned incredible. I could go 2-3 days with lots of texting and some decent game playing and the battery was good to go. I couldn't shut up about how great the battery life was.

Fast forward to Thursday. I've had a sales rep tell me that at least once a month i should let the battery drain completely. I'm sure I've did it before and had no averse issues. Well on Thursday I did that and immediately noticed a difference in the battery. Where as previously I would loose 20% a day with significant use now I'm loosing 20% over night when the phone isn't in use (wifi off). I have only basic aps, none of the redflagged ones and 3 games (Walking dead, herald of oblivion and space wolf).

Did i just trash my battery by letting it drain completely? The battery life now is like night and day difference wise.

Thanks

 

[AZgl1500]

that sales rep is full of BS... do not listen to her/him.

Lithion-Ion batteries will last forever if you treat them right.
The engineers recommend that we "try to" recharge them at about 40%. That is not always possible of course, so you do the best you can.

I installed a Qi Wireless charger in my S5 and if I'm close to a charger pad, I put the phone on it...
I have 3 of them scattered around the house. All in places where I deposit myself for extended periods.

If the battery should happen to get down to 10% or worse..... had it happen a very few times...
I let it charge to about 40-50 percent and take it off to let the phone cool down.

then I put it back on charge to finish up.

do that, and you will never need to replace the OEM battery.

If, on the other hand, you persist in running the battery down to 10% or worse on every charge, you better lay in a supply of replacements.... in fact, buy the replacements now, and change out the battery when it gets down to 30%... please don't try to use it all up. that will eventually kill it.

You can install MacroDroid to lay in the background, and have it "Talk to you" and it will say "BATTERY LOW" at the percentage point that you select. I selected 40% as that alerts me that it is time to think about finding a charger if I can. Or, I am just plunking on a keyboard as I am now and I hear that, and I pick it up and put it on charge... it should have been already, as I'm not going anywhere..... but... mice and men..........

MacroDroid is extremely frugal of battery use... install it, enjoy it, 5 macros are free. If all you use is the battery alert, that is worth the price of admission.

* MacroDroid - Device Automation - Android Apps on Google Play

.

 

[Voss36]

Thanks I'll try it out. I just ordered a new battery too, $55 with shipping. Ouch.

Thing is I'm sure I've had the battery drop down to 1%-10% on a few occasions and I'm sure it's even dropped to 0% a couple times in the last year I've had it and it's never been an issue

 

[AZgl1500]

Thanks I'll try it out. I just ordered a new battery too, $55 with shipping. Ouch.

Thing is I'm sure I've had the battery drop down to 1%-10% on a few occasions and I'm sure it's even dropped to 0% a couple times in the last year I've had it and it's never been an issue

an occasional discharge like that is not going to sink the bank.... the battery did get a tiny ding to its' life span, but not enough with the occasional occurrence for you to notice the "decreased discharge time available". What will kill the battery in short order is to make it a habit, every time you use that battery and run it into "the ground" until the phone dies.... I can guarantee you that you will be replacing the battery permanently if you make that a habit.

The way we use our phones varies so much, every day, that it is impossible to say that you will get exactly " X hours, YY minutes " of use for every discharge cycle.

We use different apps, and each of those has different demands on the CPU and the Display Graphics might be static, or very busy as in a game... I never worry about what happened today, versus what happened "yesterday"....

today, I went to town to push the wife thru the stores ( wheelchair ).... I get bored really fast while she is shopping.... so out comes the S5 and I start surfing.... when I got home, I just dropped it on the Qi Charger Pad and went on about my business.

 

[PitCarver]

Thanks for everyone's advice on this thread!

I have a question about Macrodroid, do I have to be rooted to create a macro that turns off data when the screen is off? The reason I'm asking is because that's what it says below the choice. [Mobile Data On/Off (Root Only)]

Yep. Data control is a feature that does require root. However, even if you're not rooted MacroDroid still offers battery saving benefits.

 

[Dagonus]

I am at wit's end here.

S5, on Verizon running 5.0

At this point I'm debating going back to my s4 or rooting this and crossing my fingers. I have read a a few dozen threads. I have done all the usual things: black background, switch to nova launcher, greenify, kill radios when not in use, no syncing, brightness down so low it causes eye strain, killed bloatware ad nauseum, killed animations, killed apps I didn't use frequently, killed apps that I did use frequently, factory reset the phone, and probably a few more things I've forgotten.

When the phone is not in use, battery is amazingly stable. It can sit four hours and only drop a percentage or two. Trouble is I'd I go to use my phone, battery dies and fast. If I text, email, browse web, normal activities, the battery just drops. Android system is using all the power, only one process is gong on and my searches into what it is have only yielded other people asking what the process is without anyone finding out.

Any idea guys? In the course of writing this post, my battery dropped from 64 down to 58. I don't Swype slowly. I think I'm rather on the quicker side actually. This isn't usable.

 

[ironass]

If your Verizon model, G900V, is on either of the latest Lollipop firmwares, OE1 or OG5, you will not be able to downgrade or root your phone, ever. See, here.

Are you running any of the apps shown in post #233 above?

 

[Dagonus]

If your Verizon model, G900V, is on either of the latest Lollipop firmwares, OE1 or OG5, you will not be able to downgrade or root your phone, ever. See, here.

See, that just irritates me. Even if I had decided to not root, taking options away from me just pushes my buttons all wrong. I was already planning on just buying my next phone outright from a 3rd party, but that grinds all my gears wrong. Wish I had known that before this version got pushed at me. Hate having options taken away. So what happens when I walk my Verizon model S5 over to someone like T-Mobile? I'm only still on Verizon because I have a discount but that's going to expire probably come summer.

Are you running any of the apps shown in post #233 above?

None of the background apps installed.

Spotify and Tumblr off the user initiated list, but that should only be an issue when those are actually running, right? Both are under Greenify.

 

[ironass]

See, that just irritates me. Even if I had decided to not root, taking options away from me just pushes my buttons all wrong. I was already planning on just buying my next phone outright from a 3rd party, but that grinds all my gears wrong. Wish I had known that before this version got pushed at me. Hate having options taken away. So what happens when I walk my Verizon model S5 over to someone like T-Mobile? I'm only still on Verizon because I have a discount but that's going to expire probably come summer.

The G900V should work OK on the T-Mobile (USA), GSM, network but you will need to keep the Verizon firmware which, if you are not on the Verizon network, will never receive an update for security, bugfixes or Marshmallow. See #1.6 of 41 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide and Will My Phone Work?

None of the background apps installed.

Spotify and Tumblr off the user initiated list, but that should only be an issue when those are actually running, right? Both are under Greenify.

This would account for your battery improvement when the phone is resting. Try running the phone for, say, 24 hours with Spotify, Tumblr and Greenify disabled and see how your battery fairs.

 

[Dagonus]

The G900V should work OK on the T-Mobile (USA), GSM, network but you will need to keep the Verizon firmware which, if you are not on the Verizon network, will never receive an update for security, bugfixes or Marshmallow. See #1.6 of 41 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide and Will My Phone Work?

Well they still haven't gotten past 5.0 anyway. Might just tough it out to summer, buy something new and go from there. hopefully T-Mobile doesn't try to take my options away if I go that route.

This would account for your battery improvement when the phone is resting. Try running the phone for, say, 24 hours with Spotify, Tumblr and Greenify disabled and see how your battery fairs.

Even with those not actually running they're still doing it you think? I took "user initiated" to mean actively running them. I'll uninstall the 3 and let you know how things look tomorrow. Thanks for the help so far.

 

[jtimm2121]

turning off data and wifi will just about stop battery drain.

I use MacroDroid to turn it off when the screen locks,

and then turn them ON when the screen is unlocked.

my phone right now is showing 88% and has been off charger for 18 hours.
Moderate use, forums, telco, lots of messages, emails, reading the newspapers.... but when i put it down, everything goes off.

When you do this can you receive phone calls or texts? Also do I need root my phone? Currently my S5 is not rooted.

 

[AZgl1500]

turning off data and wifi will just about stop battery drain.

I use MacroDroid to turn it off when the screen locks,

and then turn them ON when the screen is unlocked.

my phone right now is showing 88% and has been off charger for 18 hours.
Moderate use, forums, telco, lots of messages, emails, reading the newspapers.... but when i put it down, everything goes off.


When you do this can you receive phone calls or texts? Also do I need root my phone? Currently my S5 is not rooted.

DATA and WiFi have absolutely nothing to do with making/receiving phone calls, or sending/receiving SMS text messages.

Now, MMS is a different story, DATA must be turned ON. Back when I had 4.4.4 and left DATA off all the time, I had Textra programmed to turn ON data and send out the MMS msg w/picture, and then it turned data OFF again. Worked slicker 'n snot.

but, after 5.0 was pushed onto my phone, I have had to resort back to physically turning off DATA manually.
to me, it is not a big deal.... it lets my phones ( S5 and Note 4 ) go for days and days in between a recharge...
and I don't have to mess with Airplane Mode..... on my S5 I tried out Airplane Mode and it screwed up a lot of settings on my phone. That was the 1st and only time I ever did that.... I moved Airplane Mode down to the bottom of the stack where it will not ever be activated by mistake again.

____________________________________
Verizon: Galaxy S5, Note 4, HTC One M9, VZW MiFi

 

[jtimm2121]

DATA and WiFi have absolutely nothing to do with making/receiving phone calls, or sending/receiving SMS text messages.

Now, MMS is a different story, DATA must be turned ON. Back when I had 4.4.4 and left DATA off all the time, I had Textra programmed to turn ON data and send out the MMS msg w/picture, and then it turned data OFF again. Worked slicker 'n snot.

but, after 5.0 was pushed onto my phone, I have had to resort back to physically turning off DATA manually.
to me, it is not a big deal.... it lets my phones ( S5 and Note 4 ) go for days and days in between a recharge...
and I don't have to mess with Airplane Mode..... on my S5 I tried out Airplane Mode and it screwed up a lot of settings on my phone. That was the 1st and only time I ever did that.... I moved Airplane Mode down to the bottom of the stack where it will not ever be activated by mistake again.

____________________________________
Verizon: Galaxy S5, Note 4, HTC One M9, VZW MiFi

Awesome I just wanted to make sure about that. So to turn off data on Macrodroid I will need to root my phone right? I have not done this ever in the past and I am somewhat nervous about doing it. If you know of a easy way to do this I would appreciate it.

If I do not need to root my phone what settings in Macrodroid would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

 

[AZgl1500]

On a stock phone ( not rooted ), No app can turn DATA on/off with 5.0 or later versions of Android.

If you want to root the phone, make sure it does not have Lollipop on it, or is not on AT&T or Verizon.
they have blocked root....

If you do root the phone, yes, MacroDroid or other app, can turn DATA on/off.
When I had 4.4.4 on my phone, MacroDroid turned DATA/WiFi on/off in sync with me Unlocking the screen, or the screen being locked.

it was nice.... until Verizon forced 5.0 onto my phone and then that stopped.
WiFi is still switchable on/off, but DATA is not.

so, I leave DATA off all the time... I don't need it unless I leave home, and then it is only needed for a brief amount of time to find something. When I reach my new destination, I turn DATA off again.

 

[jtimm2121]

On a stock phone ( not rooted ), No app can turn DATA on/off with 5.0 or later versions of Android.

If you want to root the phone, make sure it does not have Lollipop on it, or is not on AT&T or Verizon.
they have blocked root....

If you do root the phone, yes, MacroDroid or other app, can turn DATA on/off.
When I had 4.4.4 on my phone, MacroDroid turned DATA/WiFi on/off in sync with me Unlocking the screen, or the screen being locked.

it was nice.... until Verizon forced 5.0 onto my phone and then that stopped.
WiFi is still switchable on/off, but DATA is not.

so, I leave DATA off all the time... I don't need it unless I leave home, and then it is only needed for a brief amount of time to find something. When I reach my new destination, I turn DATA off again.

Yeah I have 5.0. I will definitely try your suggestions. Thanks!