New Samsung Update (Feb-2017) is sucking battery - Can I change it back?

[AC Question]

Downloaded a new update to S7 (27-Feb-2017) which changed many of the themes, fonts, etc. Not only do I not like the new interface but it's MASSIVELY increased battery usage. My fully charged phone was down 63% after my commute this morning when usually it is at like 86% or so. How can I fix this or change it back? I notice one problem is that it has turned all the notification backgrounds to black on white (instead of white on black), which is increasing screen energy use.

 

[Mike Dee]

Welcome to AC. Have you checked to see what services are using the battery?

 

[Eugene Carroll]

I noticed the same thing. I switched it to a "medium" power saving mode to see if that helps, but it comes at a performance cost. So, now I paid for all this performance that I cannot use because the battery goes dead too fast. To get there go to SETTINGS and type in "Battery" then press the word "Battery" and a screen opens up and toward the bottom there are 3 buttons for the power mode: "Off", "Mid", and "Max". Max is pretty useless, unless you want to go back in time to 2006 with your phone. You can't use most modern apps in Max mode. Try "Mid" and see if that helps.

 

[anon(19759)]

New updates will always be tough on battery until it can cycle a couple times and calibrate the battery usage and meter. Give it more than a day to see how battery life will be.

 

[recDNA]

I read Note 3 has same issue after new security update.

 

[Andrewtude]

Which variant of S7 do you have?

 

[pankaj981]

Since the OP mentioned about the interface changing, it's probably the Nougat update with the February security patch. Nougat in general is hard on battery during the initial few weeks until the Doze plan starts settling in.