Galaxy s4 battery life

[imattacus]

Hey, I just got my galaxy s4 quad core yesterday and I've been using it and I really do love the phone. However, one issue I'm having is battery life. It is absolutely shocking. As in the battery goes down one percent every 5 minutes, even if I'm just browsing the Web or reading messages. I don't know if this is normal or if I've got a faulty device that I should get replaced.
Here are some relevant images
Of what settings I have enabled
http://imgur.com/PKwPfQ9.png
And of my battery usage
http://imgur.com/3jAwRwt.png

If this is normal, is there anything I can do to help this issue?

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[onick]

Dropping one percent for every 5 minutes of usage is pretty good. Stop worryin about battery usage and enjoy your new phone.

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[imattacus]

Maybe it is okay for battery life, but are there any more settings to change?

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[sejgiul]

I've only just managed to get my battery under control on my note 2, mostly through settings. I'm on 90% after 2 1/2 hours and 45 minutes screen on time.

Try disabling location settings if you don't need them. I've disabled everything else too excepting wifi or data. I also turned off Google now, disabled s suggest, not using motion (more of a novelty) signed out of Google+ because I don't use it and also signed out of hangouts. Turned off automatic uploads with Dropbox.

That's about all I can think of now. I'd be happy to attach pictures of my settings I'd that'd help you?

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[sejgiul]

There you go anyway lol.

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[Gator352]

What do you have enabled in your power saving function? Honestly, no one should have to disable "most" of the features just to get their phone to last a day. There's one thing when your on it constantly and your bat doesn't last, but there's another thing when you barely use it and make a few calls for a total of 10 minutes and then looking for the spare battery in your bag only after 3 hours.

I have everything turned off but Bluetooth cause I have to have it for work. Just having it connected with barely any use I can make it 12 hours and that's without ANY web surfing...heck...without even looking at the screen. The S4 is one battery eating power hog.

 

[j510]

#1. If atleast 1 Smart screen feature is on it'll drain the battery whether you're using the phone or not. It causes wake locks. This drained my battery 2-3% when I want even using it.
#2. Google maps causes wake locks. What you do is clear data clear cache for that app. Then reopen the app.
#3. If you have a memory card it's possible media server could cause wake locks (scanning for media on the card). What you do is format the card through the s4 storage settings.
#4. Reboot the phone

I get 3 - 4 hrs on screen and lasts for 1day + on average now.

I found out wake locks from bbs

 

[j510]

 

[j510]

 

[j510]

No power saving enabled. Auto brightness all day.

 

[imattacus]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies! I'll definitely fiddle with a few things to see what I can do. Moving from a HTC phone to this Samsung has changed where a lot of the settings are on the device - so I will need to have a look. Also, what are 'wake locks'?

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[hobbsave]

I'm think the S4 battery is pretty good. In my opinion if I'm going to use this as a smartphone then I keeping everything I use on. GPS gestures etc. I toggle wifi and bluetooth when I won't be using them for a long enough time. Basically I change setting at work wifi off in the car bluetooth on and at home wifi on. I'm getting 20+ hours and I have a back up battery I have yet to need. Screen is always on auto

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[jneusch]

I was getting terrible battery life, but I was unwilling to give up on all of the features that make this phone. I downloaded CPU Spy and GSM battery. CPU Spy allows me to see how much the phone goes into deep sleep and GSM battery shows what apps use the most battery and what apps wake up the phone.

I found that Maps was my biggest offender with all of the location reporting and history turned on. Like mentioned already, I cleared the cache after disabling those settings and it made a big difference. I also found that the app Locale, which is an add on to Astrid was keeping my phone awake a lot. Google Now now does most of what Locale did, so it's gone.

I can now go all day on a charge. 2-3 hours of screen time, an hour of calls, Web surfing, music player, etc. Off charger at 6:30 and on around 11:00 and I still have some battery left. GSM tells me my average battery life is 20.51 hours.

I also factory reset after the latest ATT update.

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[blade22222]

A wake lock is when a app or the system runs in the background with the screen off and phone locked.

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[jaxterzz]

Where do you clear the cache?

 

[bruizer31]

One thing that I think drains my batt that I cant figure out how to turn off is the vibration alert when i get a text message. If I dont answer the the text it just periodically keeps vibrating as if i dont put on charger at night i wake up with a low batt. Any suggestions on how to turn off this vibration alert

 

[clintw22]

One thing that I think drains my batt that I cant figure out how to turn off is the vibration alert when i get a text message. If I dont answer the the text it just periodically keeps vibrating as if i dont put on charger at night i wake up with a low batt. Any suggestions on how to turn off this vibration alert

Settings, my device, motions and gestures, motion, then smart alert.

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[bruizer31]

Settings, my device, motions and gestures, motion, then smart alert.

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Thanks alot Clint...I've been trying to figure that one out for 2 days!!

 

[remedemic]

#2. Google maps causes wake locks. What you do is clear data clear cache for that app. Then reopen the app.

Could you expand on this? What is this doing exactly and why does it help battery life? Thanks.

 

[return_0]

Losing 1% every 5 minutes of usage is actually REALLY good. That would result in 8 hours of screen time. That's amazing. Nothing wrong at all.