Battery Concern - What do you think?

[philliplavelle]

Hi All,

Wondered if I could ask some advice please. (Sorry this is long but I want to give as much detail as possible.)

I'm new to the Note 8 and absolutely love it. Flirted with Android over the years but always ended up returning within the 14 days and sticking to my trusty iPhone because of various shortcomings.

Not this time - I've been using this Note 8 for days now and I absolutely love it. I'm finding that I'm continuously blown away by it. So much so that I've packed up my iPhone and my Apple Watch to sell. I'm taken in now by my Note 8 and Android Wear watch.

Except for one thing that is proving to be a real sore - battery life. I know it's highly subjective on Android and you'll probably never actually find the root cause, but I kinda feel that what I'm getting can’t be normal. I tried to install GSam (I used to use that on my older devices) in the hope that that would provide some analysis, but it no longer seems to work with newer Android versions unless you root (don't want to do that) or jump through hoops which I feel nervous about doing. I've had to rely on the inbuilt battery statistics app in the settings.

For reference, I am using an unlocked U.S. version which I purchased from BestBuy and am running it on T-Mobile here in Los Angeles. I am coming from an iPhone X, and before that, an iPhone 7 Plus, both of which had stellar battery life, so my initial fear was that maybe I was just seeing the effects of what is just a smaller battery. But I don't think that's the case as I've heard others say the Note battery actually performs really quite well.

My problem is that battery life seems to disappear very, very quickly. In some cases, right before my eyes.

For example, this morning, I got up and took it off the charger at 100%. It was down to 99% within about a minute, but I get that Samsung phones do that (my iPhone would often stay at 100% for a good while.) But I then proceeded to lose 6% of battery life in about 10 mins. I was merely browsing. I installed one fairly small Google app and that was it.

Within an hour (with only about 20 mins usage), I was down to about 86%. Again, just browsing and over a strong wifi connection.

I hit 50% of the battery gone by just under 5 hours. That can’t be right. The screen hadn't been on the whole time. When the screen is on, the battery seems to go down really quickly.. Like maybe 1% every 1-2 mins. It's on low to medium brightness and set to automatic.

I've not downloaded any really intensive apps or dodgy ones.

I do stream music in my car. Normally, this is via Google and when the car is running Android Auto so charging, but today, I did it with the screen off over Bluetooth. I lost some energy but it really went down when the screen went on.

All apps are up to date.

It's not tied to my home wifi or cellular signal as it happens all over the place.

When the phone is idle, it doesn't seem to go down a huge amount.

I've uninstalled all of the Samsung apps I don't use (the Gear Manager and S Health)

I have AOD on and I know that that has a tiny impact, but I can't imagine it being to this extent.

I have T-Mobile Wifi-Calling enabled. Could that perhaps be a culprit?

It is linked to a Huawei Watch 2 on Android Wear. Could that be the issue?

Google Fit is enabled on my phone and my watch. I do seem to remember years ago when the
iPhone introduced an app (I think it was called Moments) that monitored your movement to try to calculate your steps over the course of the day, that seemed to impact battery life. I think Google Fit does the same with the phone - I'm sure I stupidly hit 'accept' when I installed it on my phone as well, but maybe I imagined it because I can't see a settings option to disable it.

When I first got the phone a week and a half ago, I didn't want to put my sim in until I had managed to get everything set up. So I took three or four days to (slowly) download all of my music from Google Play, install all the apps I wanted etc and get it set up right. During that time, it was being plonked on and off the charger. I seem to remember somebody saying once that Android stabilises as it 'learns' your usage patterns. Could I have somehow 'taught' it a bad habit?

I've attached some screenshots of battery usage (there is a very short spike where I plugged it in in my car for 15-20 mins to allow me use Android Auto - it boosted the charge by about 5%.)
I'm wondering if anybody who knows more about these things than me may be able to identify if there is anything there that looks particularly unusual please?

I know there is always the option of a wipe and fresh install, but having had this phone only a week (and being mad busy with work), I'm loathe to do that unless I have to because it's going to take up a chunk of time. Same with returning and swapping the phone. It has my Whitestone Dome Protector on, so unless this is definitely a fault, it's not something I'd really like to do.

I could also uninstall apps one by one, I know that. But it's a cumbersome process, so again, I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anything looks particularly suspicious to you.

So I guess first step is to just ask - is there anything in there that looks odd? (I've also screenshotted my entire app drawer in case there is a particular app in there that is a notorious battery drainer that I've missed.)

It's not the end of the world - I'm never far from a charger so if this is just a case of the battery is generally rubbish, then I'll work with it. But I want to just clarify there is no issue here.

Thanks in advance - and sorry this is sooooo long.

Thanks

 

[Tim1954]

So in 8 hours you used 70% battery, 20%if that was the screen. They are the heaviest users of battery. The only other thing jumps out at me is the location being on, GPS are very heavy battery suckers, I'd try running one cycle with that off to compare.
Try that for a start, wiping the phone would not be something I'd even consider except in extreme duress, it's an act of desperation and a royal pain in the butt to set up again..
The phone is telling you that you have 12hours in total which is pretty good for a power user - you have all your radios on, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS. And I see a bit of mobile data moving there too. If you are in marginal reception area, that also will drain your battery fast!
Worth having a peek in developers options for aggressive WiFi, that will switch between WiFi and mobile networks aggressively and again, use power data.
I have my data saver on, I don't allow auto synch or running in background, power saving mode is on also.. No auto updates either. I update, check mail etc when I want to.
A few tips to calm down battery use. Android has a multitude of options, settings, not as automated as Apple devices, so you have to go through the settings and have a more granular control over what the phone is doing.

 

[philliplavelle]

I need GPS to be on though, surely. If I want to use things that need access to Location, it's going to mean that I have to physically go in and turn it on every time, right? I know it's simply down to a pulldown, but seems like an extra step.

Just so I'm clear, are you saying I SHOULD enable Aggressive Wifi or just check that it's not on? Right now, it's turned off.

Although I'd like to turn my data saver on, fact is that I use a lot of data functions.. whatsapp, Google Assistant etc when I'm driving and it's not really feasible for me to keep turning it on and off..

I know it's comparing Apples (pun intended) to oranges.. but (and I am not saying this as a criticism of Android), it seems that the battery on the Note 8 is nowhere near as good. I'm not trying to do anything on this that I didn't do on my iPhone as daily routine

 

[Dodgeviper12003]

Hi All,

Wondered if I could ask some advice please. (Sorry this is long but I want to give as much detail as possible.)

I'm new to the Note 8 and absolutely love it. Flirted with Android over the years but always ended up returning within the 14 days and sticking to my trusty iPhone because of various shortcomings.

Not this time - I've been using this Note 8 for days now and I absolutely love it. I'm finding that I'm continuously blown away by it. So much so that I've packed up my iPhone and my Apple Watch to sell. I'm taken in now by my Note 8 and Android Wear watch.

Except for one thing that is proving to be a real sore - battery life. I know it's highly subjective on Android and you'll probably never actually find the root cause, but I kinda feel that what I'm getting can’t be normal. I tried to install GSam (I used to use that on my older devices) in the hope that that would provide some analysis, but it no longer seems to work with newer Android versions unless you root (don't want to do that) or jump through hoops which I feel nervous about doing. I've had to rely on the inbuilt battery statistics app in the settings.

For reference, I am using an unlocked U.S. version which I purchased from BestBuy and am running it on T-Mobile here in Los Angeles. I am coming from an iPhone X, and before that, an iPhone 7 Plus, both of which had stellar battery life, so my initial fear was that maybe I was just seeing the effects of what is just a smaller battery. But I don't think that's the case as I've heard others say the Note battery actually performs really quite well.

My problem is that battery life seems to disappear very, very quickly. In some cases, right before my eyes.

For example, this morning, I got up and took it off the charger at 100%. It was down to 99% within about a minute, but I get that Samsung phones do that (my iPhone would often stay at 100% for a good while.) But I then proceeded to lose 6% of battery life in about 10 mins. I was merely browsing. I installed one fairly small Google app and that was it.

Within an hour (with only about 20 mins usage), I was down to about 86%. Again, just browsing and over a strong wifi connection.

I hit 50% of the battery gone by just under 5 hours. That can’t be right. The screen hadn't been on the whole time. When the screen is on, the battery seems to go down really quickly.. Like maybe 1% every 1-2 mins. It's on low to medium brightness and set to automatic.

I've not downloaded any really intensive apps or dodgy ones.

I do stream music in my car. Normally, this is via Google and when the car is running Android Auto so charging, but today, I did it with the screen off over Bluetooth. I lost some energy but it really went down when the screen went on.

All apps are up to date.

It's not tied to my home wifi or cellular signal as it happens all over the place.

When the phone is idle, it doesn't seem to go down a huge amount.

I've uninstalled all of the Samsung apps I don't use (the Gear Manager and S Health)

I have AOD on and I know that that has a tiny impact, but I can't imagine it being to this extent.

I have T-Mobile Wifi-Calling enabled. Could that perhaps be a culprit?

It is linked to a Huawei Watch 2 on Android Wear. Could that be the issue?

Google Fit is enabled on my phone and my watch. I do seem to remember years ago when the
iPhone introduced an app (I think it was called Moments) that monitored your movement to try to calculate your steps over the course of the day, that seemed to impact battery life. I think Google Fit does the same with the phone - I'm sure I stupidly hit 'accept' when I installed it on my phone as well, but maybe I imagined it because I can't see a settings option to disable it.

When I first got the phone a week and a half ago, I didn't want to put my sim in until I had managed to get everything set up. So I took three or four days to (slowly) download all of my music from Google Play, install all the apps I wanted etc and get it set up right. During that time, it was being plonked on and off the charger. I seem to remember somebody saying once that Android stabilises as it 'learns' your usage patterns. Could I have somehow 'taught' it a bad habit?

I've attached some screenshots of battery usage (there is a very short spike where I plugged it in in my car for 15-20 mins to allow me use Android Auto - it boosted the charge by about 5%.)
I'm wondering if anybody who knows more about these things than me may be able to identify if there is anything there that looks particularly unusual please?

I know there is always the option of a wipe and fresh install, but having had this phone only a week (and being mad busy with work), I'm loathe to do that unless I have to because it's going to take up a chunk of time. Same with returning and swapping the phone. It has my Whitestone Dome Protector on, so unless this is definitely a fault, it's not something I'd really like to do.

I could also uninstall apps one by one, I know that. But it's a cumbersome process, so again, I thought I'd throw it out there and see if anything looks particularly suspicious to you.

So I guess first step is to just ask - is there anything in there that looks odd? (I've also screenshotted my entire app drawer in case there is a particular app in there that is a notorious battery drainer that I've missed.)

It's not the end of the world - I'm never far from a charger so if this is just a case of the battery is generally rubbish, then I'll work with it. But I want to just clarify there is no issue here.

Thanks in advance - and sorry this is sooooo long.

Thanks

I see you have facebook and messenger. I would turn off location services and uncheck run in background for them. You will probably double your battery life. I had a similar issue. If you go under apps and go to the, they will probably have a lot of hours running in the background. You may also want to check your other apps. They usage percentage won't go up for battery but the hours background will.

 

[Madam ImAdam]

battery performance does not meet my expectations either. big disappointment. though, the poor performance is partly due to how much more I'm using the phone - I just accept it. the past that sucks is that even when I'm not using it, the battery drains too quickly. overnight, all running apps are closed, then I stop all sleeping apps. doesn't make a difference.

 

[magichoward]

Also change to a black theme that will help a little... Also run the phone in safe mode just to check its not the phone itself

 

[Dodgeviper12003]

battery performance does not meet my expectations either. big disappointment. though, the poor performance is partly due to how much more I'm using the phone - I just accept it. the past that sucks is that even when I'm not using it, the battery drains too quickly. overnight, all running apps are closed, then I stop all sleeping apps. doesn't make a difference.

Something has to be causing it. Most common issue is apps running in the background. You can close the and they will still run. You have to turn off run in background.

 

[philliplavelle]

I see you have facebook and messenger. I would turn off location services and uncheck run in background for them. You will probably double your battery life. I had a similar issue. If you go under apps and go to the, they will probably have a lot of hours running in the background. You may also want to check your other apps. They usage percentage won't go up for battery but the hours background will.

If I do this, will I still get push notifications fire both of those Facebook apps? Especially messenger. Because if I don't and have to go in and check manually, then I'm negating three point in having it. Thanks

 

[Dodgeviper12003]

If I do this, will I still get push notifications fire both of those Facebook apps? Especially messenger. Because if I don't and have to go in and check manually, then I'm negating three point in having it. Thanks

You will still get them. I also switched to the "debull****ified" versions over at xda. That's the exact name. They are stripped down versions and are pretty amazing, and very light weight.

 

[philliplavelle]

You will still get them. I also switched to the "debull****ified" versions over at xda. That's the exact name. They are stripped down versions and are pretty amazing, and very light weight.

Oh Wow, Thanks for this. This is really interesting. I'll definitely give this a try.

Sorry to ask what is probably an obvious question but.. how do I turn this run in background feature off? And do I do this first, then delete both FB and Messenger and the install the debullified versions? Or do I just delete them, install those versions, then do it?

Sorry to be a pain

EDIT - Actually. Looking at the instructions on XDA, this looks super complex. Having to sideload 'signing apps' Eeeek

 

[Baby_Doc]

Turn off Bluetooth. It uses much more juice than GPS. Also be sure your brightness is turned down. That suck juice very quickly. I had T mobile years ago. At one time their signal didn't penetrate commercial buildings well. A poor signal can be a big battery user. So see if you get better battery life at home than at work.

 

[Dooki]

Need to stop telling him to turn stuff he uses off. GPS and bluetooth take battery, but that is not the issue. He is having bad battery drain on top of that.

the note 8 has good, not great battery life, if someone says they are getting two days of battery life they have it in ultra power saving mode, airplane mode, or have so much turned off it has made a smartphone a basic phone.

you should be getting about 12 hours with average use and nothing turned off. delete Facebook, it's one of the biggest offenders, use the web browser, you can get notifications from that. TuneIn radio is really had as well, but I still use it. Go through your apps and remove backup data usage for whatever apps you don't need always on data usage. I would recommend downloading datally from Google. It looks like you have a lot of high data and battery usage apps downloaded, that might be a problem. But really, over 12 hours estimated time does not seem out of line.

Resetting your phone is no big deal, takes about 30 minutes, most people that is logging on and downloading the apps.

 

[Dodgeviper12003]

Oh Wow, Thanks for this. This is really interesting. I'll definitely give this a try.

Sorry to ask what is probably an obvious question but.. how do I turn this run in background feature off? And do I do this first, then delete both FB and Messenger and the install the debullified versions? Or do I just delete them, install those versions, then do it?

Sorry to be a pain

EDIT - Actually. Looking at the instructions on XDA, this looks super complex. Having to sideload 'signing apps' Eeeek

I'm root d so u didn't have an issue. I delete the stock apps and installed them. But to disable background usage go to app settings like this.

 

[Nubwy]

Apple's way of displaying battery life is misleading. It will show 100% for a good while but after it's below that it will drop significantly.

 

[Gayle Lynn]

Enabling Developer Opptions does give access to some features.
Limiting background apps.
Device Maintenance in Battery section lets you set apps to always/never sleep or unmonitored.
iPhone has smaller battery, screen, and can be aggressive in killing BG apps running.
Note has 6GB RAM and Apple has half, read that was in part as a way to limit battery use oddly.
Note and Android when it comes to auto and watch can be iffy.
Check out MacRumors and iOS 11 and iPhone X or 7 Plus have their critics on battery.

Fab is a resource hog. Wants to take over. Very aggressive. I refuse to enable it anymore. I thought there is an official Fb Lit in the works.

Either geek urban legend lots of positives, even a new phone will run better by doing a full erase first. Maybe gremlins or cobwebs in the build burned to phone. Works. Also, you should in the days you’ve had it gotten 2-3 security updates and patches. So now has newer firmware.

Samsung cloud backup is going to stop with supporting 3rd party apps soon, so good time now. And Google Drive. I wish OneDrive was better supported and integrated as I have 100’s GB.

HUAWEI phone 4000 mAh battery is an all day phone.

 

[BB_PP]

I need GPS to be on though, surely. If I want to use things that need access to Location, it's going to mean that I have to physically go in and turn it on every time, right? I know it's simply down to a pulldown, but seems like an extra step.

Just so I'm clear, are you saying I SHOULD enable Aggressive Wifi or just check that it's not on? Right now, it's turned off.

Although I'd like to turn my data saver on, fact is that I use a lot of data functions.. whatsapp, Google Assistant etc when I'm driving and it's not really feasible for me to keep turning it on and off..

I know it's comparing Apples (pun intended) to oranges.. but (and I am not saying this as a criticism of Android), it seems that the battery on the Note 8 is nowhere near as good. I'm not trying to do anything on this that I didn't do on my iPhone as daily routine

Do a factoryreset!

 

[Morty2264]

Also change to a black theme that will help a little... Also run the phone in safe mode just to check its not the phone itself

I agree with this method. Your battery shouldn't be depleting that quickly - especially not within a few minutes of merely browsing the Internet. Keep us posted!

 

[philliplavelle]

Need to stop telling him to turn stuff he uses off. GPS and bluetooth take battery, but that is not the issue. He is having bad battery drain on top of that.

the note 8 has good, not great battery life, if someone says they are getting two days of battery life they have it in ultra power saving mode, airplane mode, or have so much turned off it has made a smartphone a basic phone.

you should be getting about 12 hours with average use and nothing turned off. delete Facebook, it's one of the biggest offenders, use the web browser, you can get notifications from that. TuneIn radio is really had as well, but I still use it. Go through your apps and remove backup data usage for whatever apps you don't need always on data usage. I would recommend downloading datally from Google. It looks like you have a lot of high data and battery usage apps downloaded, that might be a problem. But really, over 12 hours estimated time does not seem out of line.

Resetting your phone is no big deal, takes about 30 minutes, most people that is logging on and downloading the apps.

Surely it takes a lot longer than that? Resetting, reinstalling everything from backup, configuring tones etc and all app settings.

 

[Jay Sacks]

Btw.. You can get GSam to work without root. They give a lengthy process that requires use of a computer to give additional permissions. It. Takes about 15 minutes but well worth the effort.
I too was pretty disappointed when GSam did not work on my sparkling new note8.

 

[Dooki]

Surely it takes a lot longer than that? Resetting, reinstalling everything from backup, configuring tones etc and all app settings.

Samsung backs up all home screen settings and apps, plus the settings menu, that includes ringtones. Outside of specific security related apps pretty much everything is backed up. Not as efficient as how iPhone does it but it's fairly good. Samsung only backs up Samsung home screen not other launchers, but they have their own. Smart switch is another simple way to do it.

This is not ice cream sandwich anymore.

And don't call me surely.