Software Update on 12/1

[Jude526]

Now my battery life is horrible. It was decent prior

 

[B. Diddy]

Can you give us a bit more information? Show us some battery stats. Charge up to 100%, then let it drain to 20-30% with normal usage, without charging in between. Then show us:

1. The main Settings>Battery screen.
2. The fullscreen battery graph screen (which shows Awake time and Cell Signal Strength).
3. The Screen category (to see total Screen On time).
4. The Cell Standby category, if present (to see Time Without Signal).


You might have to install a 3rd party battery monitor, like GSam Battery Monitor, to get the Cell Signal Strength graph.

Also, have you also tried wiping the cache partition? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-27659

 

[Jude526]

I was commenting to see if anyone else else experiencing. I did wipe cache and no charging in between. I at 22%by 2:00when I would be at 45% by 9pm.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ok. The reason why I often ask for those battery stats is that different people may experience different battery life, depending on various factors.

 

[Jude526]

No worries Thx

 

[bassplayrguy]

Similar problem here but found that it was the facebook app. For some reason after the latest update it kills battery in the background so I deleted the app and problem solved.

 

[Trees]

Didn't realize an update was available (on Verizon). Was not notified. Manually checked just now and am updating. Battery life has been poor the past week or so as I mention here http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...ifi-turning-off-repeatedly-2.html#post5591223

Maybe the bug fixes listed in the update will solve some of what I've been experiencing.

 

[Jude526]

My battery life was good prior to this update. I did check my FB app as recommended. 5%: battery use... That's just NUTS... Disabled it. Can use on my tablet. Other uses more important to me.

 

[Climb14er]

Update seems to be running well on VZ with Note 5. I'm not on FB so no concerns there.

 

[imarek3]

I have noticed with this update that once the phone has moderate use, the battery will plummet. I always wipe the cache partition after an update. I also click on the Recent Apps button and "Close All" apps before I turn off my screen, (I know this is contrary to popular opinion) but I have found that if I leave some apps running in the background they tend to drain the battery quicker.

This morning I tried Android Auto in the car (since you can now run it without an Android Auto head unit), the phone was plugged into a charger and was at 100% when I got out of the car. With less little or no use, the battery had dropped from 100% to 57% hours. I made sure that Android Auto was not running in the background.

 

[Darth Mo]

It's so bad that I just did a factory reset, restoring apps now. Yesterday the phone with little use was down to 15% within two hours. However, it would charge back to 100% in 30-45 minutes. It's like the battery calibration is off. Hopefully the factory reset fixes it, or I guess we'll have to wait for another update.

 

[imarek3]

Okay, second day in a row where my battery level dropped like a rock. 15 to 17% per hour!!!!! I also noticed that during this time my battery level on my ASUS Zenwatch 2 was dropping pretty fast. I usually can go 3-4 days on my watch between charges, but yesterday the problem with the phone caused my watch to use about 45% battery life.

Yesterday I thought that it might have been Android Auto, so today on the way to work I did not use Android Auto on the way into work today, but the battery level was in free fall. I thought maybe it was a Bluetooth issue (connect both watch and car with Bluetooth and it is always on for the watch). I turned off Bluetooth, but the battery level still plummeted. I opened up GSAM Battery Monitor and noticed that Android System was taking about 40% off my battery life (WAY TOO HIGH).

The only thing that I found so far to stop the plummeting battery level is to reboot the phone and then it goes back to normal. Here are some screenshots for your amusement.

 

[B. Diddy]

Your cell signal looks really poor in that screenshot -- if that's how it is for most of the day, that can be a big cause of battery drain. It's helpful to see those same battery stats after you've used the phone normally from a full 100% charge down to a charge of about 20-30%, just so we have a good idea of what's been contributing to battery usage for almost an entire charge.

 

[imarek3]

B. Daddy,

I agree with you that the cell signal is really poor. I am blocks away from an AT&T (my carrier) call tower but I am on the opposite side of our building and it is really poor in my office.

That being said, I have had the Note 5 since it came out and have not had a problem making it through the day with the battery even with 8 hours of poor cell service each weekday.

The Note 5 is probably the best phone I have used and it checks off almost all of the boxes, but it is going to be disappointing if I have to reboot it everyday to keep it from gobbling up the battery life.

On that note, I am giving the Note 5 a rest and using a backup phone for a while.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ok -- but it would still be useful to see those battery stats over an entire battery charge (and not just down to 87%), so that we can get a better sense of what might be causing the drain.

 

[imarek3]

Called AT&T and they were really of no help and their ultimate solution was to do a Factory Data Reset, which really did not help.

I figured out what the problem was, at least in my case. I was leaving on the GPS so I would get Google Rewards Surveys. Before the update this did not seem to be a problem, however after the update it would kill my battery life if the phone could not get a GPS lock, such as at work or inside the Mall, etc. Even when I got to a location where I should get a good GPS signal, my battery would still plummet until I rebooted my phone.

So, there is probably some code change in the November update that affects this and as a result I am going to keep my GPS off until I need it.

Thanks B. Diddy for trying to bring some sanity into all of this. It is easy to jump to conclusions and point fingers when something doesn't work. I know this because this is what our end-users at work do when something craps out and there was a recent software change. They blame the software change, which sometimes is not the problem.

 

[veggie59]

My update is draining my battery more than usual. I usually average 4-5% loss per hour....now I am averaging 8% hour.

 

[imarek3]

My update is draining my battery more than usual. I usually average 4-5% loss per hour....now I am averaging 8% hour.

Do you keep services like GPS on all the time? That was what was causing mine to drain 10-15% per hour because it could not get a fix at some poinr.

 

[veggie59]

No I leave the GPS and location off unless I'm going to use it. I do keep Wi-Fi on but I always have. I use power saving except when I use Bluetooth I shut it off or it won't work well with Pandora. When I'm done with that I turn Bluetooth off and put power saving back on. I haven't changed the way I use the phone.