How can i make my samsung galaxy S3 battery life last longer?

[JohnAce2]

This is my very first android phone that i got 3 days ago and i noticed the battery has been draining alot and i cannot go a full day (10-12 hours) with heavy use unless i charge it. This is what is displayed at the battery section.
Screen 31 %
Subway Surf 27 %
Android system 12 %
Android OS 7%
Cell standby 6%
Device idle 6%
Internet 5%
Media server 2%
Temple run 2 %
Google play store 2%

I tried force stopping temple run, google play store, media server, subway surfers, and internet but they still show up in the battery section. I closed them in the task manager and force stopped but it seems they still are open, can someone help me? Seems like subway surfers is taking up alot of juice, i play it all day aswell but when i dont i close it but it still appears there?

 

[meyerweb#CB]

OK, a couple of things:

First, the battery section shows historical usage, since the last time you charged to 100%. So killing an app won't change what is displayed until you fully charge to 100% and disconnect from the charger. So Subway Surfers will show up even if it's not running, if you played it since the last full charge.

From what you posted above it looks like you've been playing the game a lot. That means a lot of screen on time, and the screen uses a lot of battery, especially if the brightness is turned up quite a bit. There's really nothing you can do about that but turn the brightness down as low as you can manage. I find that indoors, I can generally accept a much dimmer screen than what the auto brightness setting chooses. You say you play it "all day." How many hours is that?

Everything else looks pretty normal. Take some screen captures, and post them here, so we can see some more detail. Take a capture of the battery stats page (the one that shows the data above), then tap on the line that says "Screen." Take a screen capture there. . Then go back to the battery stats page, tap on the graph, and take a capture of that screen. Post all three here.

I don't think there's anything wrong other than the amount of screen on time and maybe screen brightness. That big, bright screen needs a lot of power, unfortunately.

Oh, btw, click the link in my sig. You'll learn a lot about your new toy.

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=262531
7000 Mah Samsung Galaxy s3 battery for $31

Why worry about battery life

Sent from my SPH-L710 running Liquid Smooth RC2 4.2.2

 

[AxlMyk]

Buy an external battery to plug in when the main gets low.

--Tapatalk on SGS3.

 

[JohnAce2]

I havent used the phone until now and when i do its at 79%? How come if i havent even touched it since yesterday night?
Also i managed to take a screenie before i posted this but i only got the battery page

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

It's been running 16 hours off of a charge... What were u expecting? 100%?

Sent from my SPH-L710 running Liquid Smooth RC2 4.2.2

 

[Cattails_r_Edible]

Buy a one when it comes out! Your s3 battery life will get better with non use!

Remember what the doormouse said, feed your head!

 

[meyerweb#CB]

John, even though you haven't "used" the phone, there are still things using battery power. That's true of any phone, unless you actually turn it completely off. RAM needs power to retain data, otherwise everything stops. The operating system is always running, waiting in case it is asked to do something, and checking various processes to see if any requests for services have been made. Apps like email, messaging, and more need to stay active in the background so they can receive emails and texts, and notify you that you got something. It's a computer, and just like your desktop or laptop, if it's on it using power, even if the screen is turned off.

Then there are the radios. Unless you set airplane mode, the cellular radio is always on, always using power, in case it receives a call. If the radio were completely off, it wouldn't know a call was coming in. Unless you've turned off mobile data, the 3g or 4g radio, or the WiFi radio, is on, using power. You've got a voicemail, so the phone used power to receive the call, open the voicemail app, and record the message.

For the bottom image, that still doesn't show how much the screen was on, unfortunately, but I'd bet it was at least three or four hours, maybe more, which is a lot. The screen is going to use a lot of battery when on. As I said in my earlier post, the only thing you can do about that is to turn the brightness down.

If you're going to use the phone that heavily, and can't easily recharge the battery during the course of a day, you've got a couple of options:

1. Buy an extended battery. There are many available, with capacities up to 3 times the OEM battery. Of course, they're physically bigger and heavier, too. And you won't find many options for cases that will fit a phone with a bigger battery and back. That may or may not matter to you.

2. Buy a couple of spare batteries and an external charger, and change batteries when the first one runs low.

3. Buy an external battery pack or battery / case to recharge your phone on the go.

4. Spend less time playing games.

I really don't think there's anything wrong with your phone at all. You maybe need to reset your expectations a bit, though.

 

[JohnAce2]

John, even though you haven't "used" the phone, there are still things using battery power. That's true of any phone, unless you actually turn it completely off. RAM needs power to retain data, otherwise everything stops. The operating system is always running, waiting in case it is asked to do something, and checking various processes to see if any requests for services have been made. Apps like email, messaging, and more need to stay active in the background so they can receive emails and texts, and notify you that you got something. It's a computer, and just like your desktop or laptop, if it's on it using power, even if the screen is turned off.

Then there are the radios. Unless you set airplane mode, the cellular radio is always on, always using power, in case it receives a call. If the radio were completely off, it wouldn't know a call was coming in. Unless you've turned off mobile data, the 3g or 4g radio, or the WiFi radio, is on, using power. You've got a voicemail, so the phone used power to receive the call, open the voicemail app, and record the message.

For the bottom image, that still doesn't show how much the screen was on, unfortunately, but I'd bet it was at least three or four hours, maybe more, which is a lot. The screen is going to use a lot of battery when on. As I said in my earlier post, the only thing you can do about that is to turn the brightness down.

If you're going to use the phone that heavily, and can't easily recharge the battery during the course of a day, you've got a couple of options:

1. Buy an extended battery. There are many available, with capacities up to 3 times the OEM battery. Of course, they're physically bigger and heavier, too. And you won't find many options for cases that will fit a phone with a bigger battery and back. That may or may not matter to you.

2. Buy a couple of spare batteries and an external charger, and change batteries when the first one runs low.

3. Buy an external battery pack or battery / case to recharge your phone on the go.

4. Spend less time playing games.

I really don't think there's anything wrong with your phone at all. You maybe need to reset your expectations a bit, though.

Thanks a bunch ^__^! I guess i expected a bit TOO much from my new phone, hehe.
Your S3 guide is also extremely helpful, thanks again .

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Glad to be able to help. And thank you, but it's not really "my" guide. All I did was consolidate a bunch of things other people created. Those people did all the heavy lifting.

 

[Shawn Magm]

This is my very first android phone that i got 3 days ago and i noticed the battery has been draining alot and i cannot go a full day (10-12 hours) with heavy use unless i charge it. This is what is displayed at the battery section.
Screen 31 %
Subway Surf 27 %
Android system 12 %
Android OS 7%
Cell standby 6%
Device idle 6%
Internet 5%
Media server 2%
Temple run 2 %
Google play store 2%

I tried force stopping temple run, google play store, media server, subway surfers, and internet but they still show up in the battery section. I closed them in the task manager and force stopped but it seems they still are open, can someone help me? Seems like subway surfers is taking up alot of juice, i play it all day aswell but when i dont i close it but it still appears there?

Had I known about the battery plummet issue, I would have waited for another phone to come out or ponied up some more $ for the Note 2. I still like my phone, but the battery issue takes some of the luster out of the phone. Not sure if Samsung cares to address this issue.

 

[Aquila]

Had I known about the battery plummet issue, I would have waited for another phone to come out or ponied up some more $ for the Note 2. I still like my phone, but the battery issue takes some of the luster out of the phone. Not sure if Samsung cares to address this issue.

Losing 21% over 17 hours isn't really what most consider to be a plummet... that's far less than the 2% per hour that seems to be pretty standard in 2012/2013 devices. At that current pace the device would last approximately 3.5 days without a charge.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Had I known about the battery plummet issue, I would have waited for another phone to come out or ponied up some more $ for the Note 2. I still like my phone, but the battery issue takes some of the luster out of the phone. Not sure if Samsung cares to address this issue.

If you're talking about the real "plummet" that's discussed in another thread, that seems to be an AT&T firmware problem when the phone is switching between LTE and other modes. That's probably not something Samsung has control over. But if you, personally, are actually having battery issues, provide some details and maybe we can help.

 

[1Certified_Oreo]

I also have an issue where my battery percentage decreases 1% every 3 mins and it's becoming annoying. My friends say it can be the auto feature from the data network and others saying the smart stay and auto brightness is the issue. I have a SGH-T999 samsung galaxy s3 from tmobile

 

[Shawn Magm]

If you're talking about the real "plummet" that's discussed in another thread, that seems to be an AT&T firmware problem when the phone is switching between LTE and other modes. That's probably not something Samsung has control over. But if you, personally, are actually having battery issues, provide some details and maybe we can help.

Thanks. I've already tried many things, but rather than spend an inordinate time trying to troubleshoot, which I have, I simply do a soft reset when I get home from work.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Thanks. I've already tried many things, but rather than spend an inordinate time trying to troubleshoot, which I have, I simply do a soft reset when I get home from work.

That seems to be the only "solution" for the plummet.

 

[Aquila]

It's not smart stay. Lots of people, including me, have that enabled, and it doesn't impact battery life. If you have apps that are doing frequent background updates (e.g., facebook syncing every 15 minutes) that can eat up a lot of battery. So can some of the Google location settings. For data syncing, you'll need to go into each app that updates in the background and check, and maybe change the sync intervals. That includes not only facebook, but things like Twitter, email, Google +, and maybe others. For Google, go into settings / Accounts and tap Google, then tap on your google account (email address). Uncheck the sync on things you don't use or care about. Then tap Maps and Lattitude (still within your google account), and unless you know you have a reason for enabling them uncheck Report from this device, Enable location sharing, Automatic check-ins and Check-in notifications.

If you're still having issues after that, charge the battery to 100%, let it discharge to about 50%, then do some screen captures:
+ Go to Settings / Battery, and capture that screen.
+ Tap the line that says "Screen", and capture what that displays
+ Go back to the Battery display, and tap on the graph. Capture that screen, too.

Then post all three of them here.

Another huge impact can be the radios, as you stated for losing while it's sleeping, but low signal areas or switching between LTE and 3G. I turn off my mobile data a lot while I'm at work and when I'm sleeping and that helps substantially because the signal is terrible in my office (I use the PC for most of my services during that time) and keep it on Wifi when I'm at home.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

I also have an issue where my battery percentage decreases 1% every 3 mins and it's becoming annoying. My friends say it can be the auto feature from the data network and others saying the smart stay and auto brightness is the issue. I have a SGH-T999 samsung galaxy s3 from tmobile

It's not smart stay. Lots of people, including me, have that enabled, and it doesn't impact battery life. If you have apps that are doing frequent background updates (e.g., facebook syncing every 15 minutes) that can eat up a lot of battery. So can some of the Google location settings. For data syncing, you'll need to go into each app that updates in the background and check, and maybe change the sync intervals. That includes not only facebook, but things like Twitter, email, Google +, and maybe others. For Google, go into settings / Accounts and tap Google, then tap on your google account (email address). Uncheck the sync on things you don't use or care about. Then tap Maps and Lattitude (still within your google account), and unless you know you have a reason for enabling them uncheck Report from this device, Enable location sharing, Automatic check-ins and Check-in notifications.

If you're still having issues after that, charge the battery to 100%, let it discharge to about 50%, then do some screen captures:
+ Go to Settings / Battery, and capture that screen.
+ Tap the line that says "Screen", and capture what that displays
+ Go back to the Battery display, and tap on the graph. Capture that screen, too.

Then post all three of them here.

 

[ForcefulFighter]

I had the same problem but I found to make my phone stretch an extra 5 or so hours I turned off my wifi and mobile data when I didn't need it. I know it's a chew on but if you can cope at work or school with it off when your busy you will notice the difference I promise you as there are so many applications talking to the Internet even the ones you don't know about.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Turning off radios will certainly improve your battery life, at the expense of turning your smartphone into a pretty dumb one. I got a phone like this so I could get email and other information while mobile, and turning off data pretty much defeats the purpose. But, to each his (or her) own. If getting more battery life is more important than getting email, this approach will certainly work.