Battery Life Sucks... Literally

**miconis** · 08-08-2012, 01:27 PM

7 hours of it sitting on my desk at work and I am at 31%. I think I checked email on it a couple of times. Power saving turned ON. Screen WAY down. Wifi off, even when sleep. All the typical settings people recommend. Sync set to 15 minutes on my Exchange email and Gmail.

I have disabled all of the bloat I could via the App Info menu. It still just drains and drains.

Even though the screenshot shows it is mostly cell standby, I know there is the bug that incorrectly calculates the percentage. So what else could it be???

**Hovik818** · 08-08-2012, 01:56 PM

Download a battery manager and see what is causing the most wakes.

**mikesmith** · 08-08-2012, 02:34 PM

Android System shouldn't be at 17% so some program is running amuck.

Try GSam Battery Monitor. It will narrow down which program is causing the drain.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

**miconis** · 08-08-2012, 03:22 PM

Thanks guys. OK go GSam tells me this, which is odd. It shows Android services still taking up a lot, but the Exchange numbers number match to the one in my first screenshot. But I am wondering what MEDIA is. If I click through, it goes to something called DOWNLOADS, which I can disable. But no clue what it is.

**miconis** · 08-08-2012, 03:33 PM

Did some digging on the android.process.media process.

Sounds like maybe a corrupt FAT32 filesystem on my SD card. I have had this one SD card moved from my last 2 phones. GOing to back it up. Run a chkdsk after mounting in Windows. And see if that does the trick. I will report back tomorrow.

Thanks for the tip though. GSam is GREAT!

**miconis** · 08-09-2012, 09:15 AM

Ok so I changed Exchange to check hourly. That has helped just a bit. Now it still looks like system processes.

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**miconis** · 08-09-2012, 09:17 AM

I am at 72% and I unplugged at 100% 2.5hrs ago. Here is the detail of the system processes from GSam:

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**mikesmith** · 08-09-2012, 09:41 AM

Hmmmm. I'm not sure. I still think your Android system is high. I've been unplugged for a little over 3 hours with a screen on time of about 1hr 21mins and I'm at 77%.

I have all sync turned off and even have the CPU limited.

Here is mine:

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**miconis** · 08-09-2012, 01:48 PM

So I had to plug in. I got down to 10% after just 6.5 hours unplugged. And maybe 30-45 minutes actually ON Screen. This is the same as the stock Sammy battery. This new one is an Anker battery, conditioned 5 times per their instructions. I am so pissed I got this phone. It flies and is awesome. As long as I carry an extra battery and chargers.

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**dpham00** · 08-09-2012, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by miconis

So I had to plug in. I got down to 10% after just 6.5 hours unplugged. And maybe 30-45 minutes actually ON Screen. This is the same as the stock Sammy battery. This new one is an Anker battery, conditioned 5 times per their instructions. I am so pissed I got this phone. It flies and is awesome. As long as I carry an extra battery and chargers.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Something is wrong with you phone and or you are in a fringe signal area.

**jaz0305** · 08-09-2012, 01:53 PM

do a factory data reset & clear the cache in the recovery mode. When i got the phone the battery really sucked, i almost took it back. Did some search & found this method & the battery improved by a milestone.

**jneusch** · 08-09-2012, 04:28 PM

I was really worried about battery life coming from my iPhone4s. I had a Droid Charge last year and the battery life was horrible. I love the screen size and customization of the GS3/Android, which is what brought be back. I must say though, that I am pleasantly surprised ath the battery life. Mine is almost 9 hours off charger and at 60% with moderate use today. I surfed the web for about 30 - 45 minutes at lunch, emails, several calls, other light surfing.

I would try the reset and clearing the cache. If you are not in a fringe area and that doesn't work I would exchange it for a properly working one. Good Luck!

**Johnly** · 08-09-2012, 09:45 PM

Using mine at full stock settings, GPS, LTE, several sync apps...last "almost" as long as the 4s. Finally a LTE device that has decent battery life. 12 hours at work and I got home with 51% without power saver apps.

**Bob61** · 08-10-2012, 08:59 AM

Pretty high cell stand by %. Click that and see what your time without signal is. My guess is your device has problems with signal loss.

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**Sentrix** · 08-10-2012, 06:51 PM

I would opt for a replacement.
Mine lasts an entire day with ease.

**richdarula** · 09-19-2012, 03:34 PM

Wow thanks jaz0305!!! I was having the same issue with my battery drain. Would maybe go 8-10 hours and would be down to 20-30% with moderate usage. I tried your suggestion of factory reset and clear cache and now WOW!!! 8 hours with wifi on and moderate use and still at 85%. Thanks for this!!!

**HalizDad** · 09-19-2012, 03:50 PM

I'm going on 6hrs unplugged, and 77%...I used the hell out of my phone for 2hrs straight.

**Bond32** · 09-19-2012, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by richdarula

Wow thanks jaz0305!!! I was having the same issue with my battery drain. Would maybe go 8-10 hours and would be down to 20-30% with moderate usage. I tried your suggestion of factory reset and clear cache and now WOW!!! 8 hours with wifi on and moderate use and still at 85%. Thanks for this!!!

Glad you got this fixed. That drain you were having, very strange. Heck now I don't even use juicedefender or powersaver mode and I still get a full day including tethering.

**worldsoutro** · 09-20-2012, 09:13 PM

I ve had my S3 since release and today was my true real life use.

I went to Boston to go to a conference(it was on a boat that later cruised around the harbor at the end). I took an extra spare battery just in case.

As of now, 10:15pm my phone has been off the charger for 16hrs and 23mins. Today I was constantly on my phone throughout the conference browsing the web, made a few quick phone calls, took a bunch of photos and a video, uploaded both to facebook and used GPS a bit for directions when in Boston

Still have 20% left. I love the battery

**leroybrute** · 09-21-2012, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by worldsoutro

I ve had my S3 since release and today was my true real life use.

I went to Boston to go to a conference(it was on a boat that later cruised around the harbor at the end). I took an extra spare battery just in case.

As of now, 10:15pm my phone has been off the charger for 16hrs and 23mins. Today I was constantly on my phone throughout the conference browsing the web, made a few quick phone calls, took a bunch of photos and a video, uploaded both to facebook and used GPS a bit for directions when in Boston

Still have 20% left. I love the battery

Solar powered battery or 4400mah battery?

**worldsoutro** · 09-22-2012, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by leroybrute

Solar powered battery or 4400mah battery?

Stock..

**leroybrute** · 09-23-2012, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by worldsoutro

Stock..

Oh Ok... Hell with my Maxx and especially my GS3, I want yours..
Bravo I am happy for you, especially with everything you put your GS3 through in one day and still get 16+ hrs.
Not being sarcastic either, I swear.

**yenyob** · 09-23-2012, 12:22 PM

Just wanted to chime in...I came from a Galaxy Nexus and the S3 is so much better in battery life(and everything else). After about 2 hours off of charge, I'm at 79%, however my screen has been at it's highest level(as I'm home and can charge whenever I want). I notice my wifi is constantly working and I'm not sure why. I did just turn off GPS as I forgot I left it on and Google Maps used 13% so that goes hand in hand I'm sure.

**anthony2558** · 09-23-2012, 10:32 PM

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**worldsoutro** · 09-23-2012, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by leroybrute

Oh Ok... Hell with my Maxx and especially my GS3, I want yours..
Bravo I am happy for you, especially with everything you put your GS3 through in one day and still get 16+ hrs.
Not being sarcastic either, I swear.

What I consider heavy usage might be light/moderate for others