Extreme Battery Drain after Nougat Update

[dirt4444]

Is anyone having serious battery drain after the nougat update? My phone went from great battery life to awful. I am charging at least twice a day if not more now. I have tried the below steps to troubleshoot and nothing has helped. Even with the phone in Max power saving mode the battery still drains in my pocket.

-Wiping cache partition
-Installing Package Disabler Pro to disable bloatware
-Factory reset

I took it to a Samsung rep at Best Buy and his only suggestion was "wait for a patch, or upgrade to an S8". Below is a screenshot, took it off the charger less than two hours ago with very light use only on Instagram and I only have 3 hours left on the battery? Any help would be appreciated!!!

 

[B. Diddy]

Wait for a patch or upgrade? Sheesh, did he also shrug so much that he dislocated his shoulders?

There have been quite a number of posts complaining of decreased battery life after Nougat on Samsung phones, and not just on the S7, but it's still hard to tell what about the update might be causing this. Check your Location settings -- is GPS turned on? Or Wi-fi Scanning (which is in the Improve Location Accuracy menu)?

 

[dirt4444]

Wait for a patch or upgrade? Sheesh, did he also shrug so much that he dislocated his shoulders?

There have been quite a number of posts complaining of decreased battery life after Nougat on Samsung phones, and not just on the S7, but it's still hard to tell what about the update might be causing this. Check your Location settings -- is GPS turned on? Or Wi-fi Scanning (which is in the Improve Location Accuracy menu)?

My "Location Method" is set to High Accuracy. I do keep my location on because I use Waze everyday for my commute. Should this be on Battery Saving or Phone Only?

My Wi-fi and Bluetooth Scanning are both on, I just switched them to off.

 

[B. Diddy]

High Accuracy and wi-fi scanning can certainly contribute to battery drain, but if this is always how you've had it set, then the battery usage shouldn't have changed this much.

I typically keep my Location to Battery Saving unless I need it to be more precise, like when I'm using the phone for navigation. I've always wondered how much Waze contributes to battery drain as well. I'm sure there's an option to turn off its constant location and speed reporting, but maybe it's still doing a lot of things in the background.

 

[Ca_lvn]

Hi Accuracy can also be limited to sertin apps to limit battery usage

 

[dirt4444]

High Accuracy and wi-fi scanning can certainly contribute to battery drain, but if this is always how you've had it set, then the battery usage shouldn't have changed this much.

I typically keep my Location to Battery Saving unless I need it to be more precise, like when I'm using the phone for navigation. I've always wondered how much Waze contributes to battery drain as well. I'm sure there's an option to turn off its constant location and speed reporting, but maybe it's still doing a lot of things in the background.

That is how I always had it set. I will have to see if helps but so far it is still draining. Is it possible my battery has gone bad? I'd hate to tough it out until they send out a patch and my battery still be this awful.

 

[B. Diddy]

There's always a chance a battery will fail without notice. But it'd be an odd coincidence for it to suddenly start being poor right after a system update.

 

[dirt4444]

There's always a chance a battery will fail without notice. But it'd be an odd coincidence for it to suddenly start being poor right after a system update.

Any other suggestions? It's to the point where I can't even use the phone when I go anywhere for more than a few hours.

 

[B. Diddy]

If you can get by without Snapchat for a few days, see what happens if you uninstall it.

 

[Chalanthorn Chanmathikornkul]

My device too on the April Security Update. The devices always get warm.

 

[dirt4444]

If you can get by without Snapchat for a few days, see what happens if you uninstall it.

Has Snapchat been brought up as an battery drainer after Nougat? I have always had it installed but I only check it maybe twice a day. Don't see that it is taking up battery under "battery usage".

 

[B. Diddy]

I did just see it as the #1 app in this list: Android Battery Killers: 10 Worst Apps That Drain Phone Battery. But there's no mention that it's particularly worse on Nougat than on Marshmallow.

 

[dirt4444]

I did just see it as the #1 app in this list: Android Battery Killers: 10 Worst Apps That Drain Phone Battery. But there's no mention that it's particularly worse on Nougat than on Marshmallow.

I'll give it a try. I have noticed a slight difference after turning off Wifi and Btooth scanning off. But phone is still draining pretty fast.

One issue with Power Saving mode when turned on, my videos on Instagram load extremely slow and most of the time not at all. Is that because it turns Background Network Usage, or Speed Limiter off?

 

[B. Diddy]

Not sure about that. If you have Instagram open in the foreground while you're trying to load videos, Restrict Background Data shouldn't matter, since it's not in the background.

 

[kct1975]

Just my 'Two Cents'...I actually have a Nexus 6 and ever since downloading the Android 7.0, I too have experienced massive Battery Drain too.

So far I have tried everything and it doesn't seem to get better for me either.

So far the only thing that seems to help some is the Battery Saver Mode (which of course somewhat cripples the phone).

So far I haven't tried completely shutting off the WiFi and Bluetooth, since I need both, but I might tey that in certain extreme circumstances.

 

[B. Diddy]

@kct1975, you already tried a cache partition wipe, right? Is Wi-fi Scanning turned off?

 

[dirt4444]

Just my 'Two Cents'...I actually have a Nexus 6 and ever since downloading the Android 7.0, I too have experienced massive Battery Drain too.

So far I have tried everything and it doesn't seem to get better for me either.

So far the only thing that seems to help some is the Battery Saver Mode (which of course somewhat cripples the phone).

So far I haven't tried completely shutting off the WiFi and Bluetooth, since I need both, but I might tey that in certain extreme circumstances.

Turning off Wifi and Bluetooth scanning has made a noticeable difference. I don't believe this turns it off, it just keeps it from constantly scanning or "searching" for wifi and bluetooth connections. I'm still only getting 13 hours on the battery with very minimal use but it's better than it was before turning off those settings.

 

[kct1975]

@kct1975, you already tried a cache partition wipe, right? Is Wi-fi Scanning turned off?

Yes, I did do that, and it did seem to help for awhile. However a couple of weeks later the Battery started draining fast again.

Turning off Wifi and Bluetooth scanning has made a noticeable difference. I don't believe this turns it off, it just keeps it from constantly scanning or "searching" for wifi and bluetooth connections. I'm still only getting 13 hours on the battery with very minimal use but it's better than it was before turning off those settings.

I will give it a shot. I just need to find out how to get to the option for shutting off the WiFi and Bluetooth scanning.

I am sure that I will eventually find it, but any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[B. Diddy]

On Nexus devices, Wi-fi Scanning is in Settings>Location​, then tap Menu>Scanning.

 

[kct1975]

On Nexus devices, Wi-fi Scanning is in Settings>Location​, then tap Menu>Scanning.

Thank you B. Diddy!

I don't think that I would have found it without your help!