Mysterious Battery Drain

[MaccaBird]

Right to the point: my galaxy seems to be having a little excessive battery drain. When I first got it in May 2013 it would last all day no problem. Occasionally there would be random days where it would die early (usually some random rogue app that I could fix).

However this time, the battery drain is constistent. I've done everything I could think of, other than complete factory reset.

Some background:
Recently I have been getting 1.5 hours on screen time, maybe 2 if I'm lucky.
I've turned off google now.
Turned off location services.
Uninstalled apps, and reinstalled.
Turned off a lot of apps.
On Verizon running stock, up to date (this problem was also around before the most recent update that came out like a week ago)


Android System and Android OS is usually always above Display in battery. Also have a lot of wake ups when the screen is off.

I'm guessing there's something in Android System that keeps waking my device and draining the battery. I've tried that one GSM battery app thing, and the app itself killed my battery so I uninstalled it.

Any ideas? I really hate dragging my charger everywhere I go now.

Edit: I've also googled everything I could for the past month and have found no solutions :s

 

[B. Diddy]

Your phone is 1.5 years old, so it's possible the battery is starting to **** out. Have you tried a new battery?

It would also help to do the following: 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).

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...ide-how-post-screenshots-android-central.html

 

[MaccaBird]

Here are some quick stats from this morning.

I woke up, made some breakfast, and then went to my university for an exam. These were taken about when I got on campus. I think I answered a few texts in between and googled something or two for a total of like 12 minutes of screen on (so essentially nothing), yet my battery still drains. I have wifi and mobile data on.

I'm most concerned with the immense amount of wake ups my phone does while the screen is off.

Hmm

I've always had android phones and I love them. I tried an iPhone 5 once for like two weeks. I hated the operating system, but damn the battery life while idling was amazing. That would probably still be at 100% or 99% with the same usage as this morning.

 

[B. Diddy]

Try turning off Location Reporting in Settings>Location. This can cause frequent wakelocks. See this guide for more battery saving tips: http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...how-tos/298919-guide-battery-saving-tips.html

 

[MaccaBird]

The location reporting is off, and I've also turned off Google Now.

I'll just have to buy a new battery and hope that works. I shouldn't have to turn off all the features of a smartphone in order to use it. Might as well buy a flip phone or use my old enV brick.

 

[extraclass]

I have a couple apps that are set to STAY ON. These apps do not cut off automatically after 2 minutes. They will drain my battery and I can feel my phone is warm if these apps are left running. I make it a habit to hit the HOME button before turning my S4 off! This stops those apps and saves the battery!

 

[MaccaBird]

So quick update:

Today my phone seems to be running almost normally. Been on for 9.25 hours, down to 54%, with 1.5 hours on screen time. The android system is much lower, and there aren't many wake ups while my phone is off.

I can't be certain that anything is linked, but I recently turned off the Samsung WatchOn thing (the remote control feature). I never use it and thought I had turned it off a while ago but I guess I hadn't.

We'll see if things stay normal.