Nexus 5: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

onthecouchagain

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2010
967
17
0
Visit site
I've posted this before in a more general battery thread but got little response, so I'm trying again in its own thread. I notice my Nexus 5, under the same usage conditions, can get very inconsistent battery.

On certain days, doing the exact same routine, getting the exact same poor reception in my office, I typically get this sort of battery life (which, I think, is pretty good):

raTfJzZ.jpg

You can tell the culprit that's taxing the batteries the most is cell standby because of the weak reception in my building. All fine.

qI4p9wX.jpg



However, on certain "bad days," this is the result:

WkeSWcb.jpg

3FE7Iws.jpg

Again, this is with more or less the same reception, same routine, and with even less time off battery, yet the drainage is much faster. What gives?



You'll notice also, on one of the "bad days," I rebooted, and you can tell almost immediately that the battery drainage is leveling out in the graph after where I rebooted the phone:

oluEntg.jpg


As far as I know, I am not installing weird new apps or running apps I don't normally run on a near daily basis. Yet the battery results vary by a noticeable amount.

Anyone know what's going on here?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

I think it's Facebook and or location services. Try turning off location services and see.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2
 

onthecouchagain

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2010
967
17
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

I think it's Facebook and or location services. Try turning off location services and see.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2

I don't allow FB to run my location or to even sync (I don't use FB much so I manually sync when I open the app).

Here is my location settings:

orCJFBB.jpg

I don't ever change these settings, so it doesn't explain why on the "good days" the battery drainage is fine and minimal under the same exact location settings and why on the "bad days" the battery is suddenly draining much quicker.

For what it's worth, I also have Google Now hot word listening off, and Google Now off (just don't use it). But again, I want to stress that these settings stay the same during the "good" and "bad" battery days. This leads me to believe these aren't the variables that are causing the battery drain.

I'm pretty stumped. And this reminds me of The Verge's review where they point out that the battery is very inconsistent.
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Humor me and temporarily uninstall Facebook and turn off location services. I almost guarantee you'll see the battery surge consistently.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2
 

onthecouchagain

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2010
967
17
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Humor me and temporarily uninstall Facebook and turn off location services. I almost guarantee you'll see the battery surge consistently.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2


I'll give it a shot. When you say and Turn Off Location services, do you mean outside of Facebook? Like Yahoo Weather and Google Location Report, etc?

Also, if it is Facebook, why doesn't it show on my list of things draining the battery?

I'll report back if the "bad" day happens again without Facebook... Could take some time as it doesn't occur often (maybe once every week or two?).
 

onthecouchagain

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2010
967
17
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

I've uninstalled Facebook.

In theory, the graph should now level out, correct? Like in the example when I rebooted...
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

It should except Google services may still do some battery draining. In Settings, find location services and turn it off. See if this gives a consistently better battery. I'm pretty sure it will. Then, try turning location back on.

I think using Facebook is a tradeoff for good battery. I never got involved with fb so I just don't use it. I do have location services on, with battery saving mode.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2
 

jj14x

Well-known member
Jan 9, 2011
995
24
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Can you check the Google Play Services version in your apps? Is it 4.1? or pre 4.1? If pre 4.1, that may be the cause. 4.1 is being pushed out now to address unexpected battery drain like you described.
You can read more here
 

onthecouchagain

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2010
967
17
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Can you check the Google Play Services version in your apps? Is it 4.1? or pre 4.1? If pre 4.1, that may be the cause. 4.1 is being pushed out now to address unexpected battery drain like you described.
You can read more here


I have 4.1.32, the latest one, I think.

- - - Updated - - -

It should except Google services may still do some battery draining. In Settings, find location services and turn it off. See if this gives a consistently better battery. I'm pretty sure it will. Then, try turning location back on.

I think using Facebook is a tradeoff for good battery. I never got involved with fb so I just don't use it. I do have location services on, with battery saving mode.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2

I see. Thanks. Like I said, I'll give it a shot, but it still baffles me why the battery can do well on most days (the "good days") without any of these settings changing.
 

anon(8256055)

Well-known member
Nov 17, 2013
326
0
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

I think using Facebook is a tradeoff for good battery. I never got involved with fb so I just don't use it. I do have location services on, with battery saving mode.

Exactly what I do (unless I need to use nav). FB is the downfall of society. Hey, wanna see a pic of my food? 💩

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Exactly what I do (unless I need to use nav). FB is the downfall of society. Hey, wanna see a pic of my food? 💩

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Haha! As a matter of fact, sure! It might get me in the mood to eat. :)

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2
 

onthecouchagain

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2010
967
17
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Not a fan or big user of FB either myself, but it doesn't change the bizarre fact that the battery results are so inconsistent even while the Facebook settings (any settings, really) remain the same. It should mean it's not the settings, per se, causing the drain. No?

In other words, if say Facebook is the culprit, how come most days I get great battery life? Whilst once in a while, I don't? There's no indication of any particular app or condition causing the faster drain on those "bad" days. What is causing that steep drop rate in the "bad" day graph?

=T
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Possibly it's "listening" to posts from your friends? The more posts the faster the battery drains? That's my guess anyway.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

I should say listening for. The apps monitor activity even when you don't have them open.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2
 

onthecouchagain

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2010
967
17
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

Possibly it's "listening" to posts from your friends? The more posts the faster the battery drains? That's my guess anyway.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2


What triggers it, though? My FB sync and location reporter are all turned off. What causes FB to start listening on those bad days, but not on the good days?

You know what I mean? I'm not trying to be contentious -- just perplexed and trying to get to the bottom of it.
 

mrsmumbles

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2013
4,283
6
38
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

What triggers it, though? My FB sync and location reporter are all turned off.

I don't know but I'm pretty sure it's doing something like that or the battery wouldn't drain. Maybe it just "wakes up" every few minutes and tries to do something.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2
 

fauxreal

Well-known member
Nov 2, 2013
55
0
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

every now and then an app will run rampant. I normally have excellent battery. But at some point google services w.e was killing my battery. Restart fixed it. Other day I had yelp killing my battery. Back to normal now, I usually dont have issues with fb and i use it all the time.
 

gmhotch

Well-known member
Mar 5, 2013
45
0
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

I would agree that my battery life is disappointing when FB is installed. One of there processes (katana?) is always churning in the background and loves to eat your battery. If you must use FB use it in Chrome and uninstall that POS. My .02 cents...

Two other things that you may look for...Wallet has it's own location service that looks for "local" offers and seems to keep working in the background. Tapatalk's Forum Reader also seems to like to run all the time looking for forum updates you have in your profile.
 

oskar1995

Well-known member
Aug 9, 2011
341
20
0
Visit site
Re: Battery Very Inconsistent - What's the culprit?

I've seen something similar to the OP, although I will say its gotten better in recent days. I have a nearly identical usage pattern with the phone, in the same areas with the same signal on a day to day basis. Some days the battery life is great, other days its not as great. It makes very little sense to me. When I look through the battery stats there isn't anything that pops up. At first it was absoultely tied into the Google Play Services that seems to be improved with the update there. It's not as drastic as it was, but I still notice some variations day to day.

What I have noticed is that a periodic update will improve the consistency, however there is still a variance day to day. I'm sure the answer lies somewhere in the nature of modern day electronics and the billions of things they do. It's not so terrible that I'm concerned about life, but it is certainly piques my curiosity.
 

Trending Posts

Forum statistics

Threads
942,402
Messages
6,913,889
Members
3,158,397
Latest member
maximusdebois