Android 8.1 Beta - Major Battery Drain?

[SRFast]

Installed the OTA Android 8.1 beta and everything works fine. I do notice that the battery is draining much faster than with 7.1.1. The biggest battery drain is with "Phone Idle." This accounts for over 50% of the battery usage in 12 hous. That doesn't seem right. BTW, I checked the battery usage on my Pixel XL and the "Phone Idle" usage was zero! Any ideas? TIA

 

[anon(9918034)]

Report it to essential, so they are aware, you might have to side load the 8.1 it's not uncommon for issue to arise after an OTA update.

 

[SRFast]

Thanks. I have already sent my feedback to Essential. The battery has drained 83% in 12.5 hours. The phone sat unused for 12 hours. BTW, if I do a factory reset, will I revert back to 7.1.1? Thanks for your input.

 

[tech_head]

Thanks. I have already sent my feedback to Essential. The battery has drained 83% in 12.5 hours. The phone sat unused for 12 hours. BTW, if I do a factory reset, will I revert back to 7.1.1? Thanks for your input.

View attachment 279593

Factory reset only clears data.

 

[anon(10268214)]

Running 8.1 Beta on Telus variant here. No battery drain issues to report. Perhaps a network / carrier issue?

 

[mogelijk]

I'm on Sprint, did the 8.1 OTA from 7.1.1 a couple of days ago, and have 1d 12h since last charge (with very light use) and the battery is still at 70%. Obviously, Phone Idle is not an issue on my phone.

 

[SRFast]

Thanks. I am going to monitor the situation and do a factory reset if the issue continues. The Essential is my back up phone so I can afford to reset it.

 

[anon(9918034)]

Thanks. I am going to monitor the situation and do a factory reset if the issue continues. The Essential is my back up phone so I can afford to reset it.

Did a factory reset do the trick? I installed the 8.1 beta yesterday. My phone has been off the charger for 19 hours and I still have 56% battery.

 

[messypotamia]

Please conduct the same test with mobile data disabled but WiFi left on, and post your findings? Help to rule out a carriers' meddling. Thanks.

 

[SRFast]

There was very little difference in the battery performance with mobile data turned off. I also did a factory reset and that did not do much either. Thankfully Essential has put an "Opt Out" option on their beta enrollment page. If I get too frustrated, I will revert back to 7.1.1. Fortunately this phone is my back up so I have the luxury of testing as long as I want. The battery life of my Pixel XL on 8.1 has been stellar.

 

[anon(10268214)]

There was very little difference in the battery performance with mobile data turned off. I also did a factory reset and that did not do much either. Thankfully Essential has put an "Opt Out" option on their beta enrollment page. If I get too frustrated, I will revert back to 7.1.1. Fortunately this phone is my back up so I have the luxury of testing as long as I want. The battery life of my Pixel XL on 8.1 has been stellar.

Don't forget the Pixel XL also has a smaller screen (5.5" vs 5.7") and a larger battery (3450 mAh vs 3040).

 

[SRFast]

That is true, but my Essential had great battery performance also before the update. It was easy to go over 24 hours without a charge and the automatic battery saver never activated. Bottom line is the 8.1 update changed that.

 

[anon(10268214)]

That is true, but my Essential had great battery performance also before the update. It was easy to go over 24 hours without a charge and the automatic battery saver never activated. Bottom line is the 8.1 update changed that.

If you are still having issues you can also request a downgrade to your previous OS be sent to you OTA via the Essential developer page.

https://www.essential.com/developer/beta-builds

 

[SRFast]

The downgrade procedure is a joke. It is just instructions on how to sideload a downloaded build.

BTW..It is a moot point now. The Essential phone just died. It had a 100% charge when i restarted it. It is completely DEAD. No charge light when the charger is plugged and will not power up at all. Any ideas on how to get the phone working again would be appreciated.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

The downgrade procedure is a joke. It is just instructions on how to sideload a downloaded build.

BTW..It is a moot point now. The Essential phone just died. It had a 100% charge when i restarted it. It is completely DEAD. No charge light when the charger is plugged and will not power up at all. Any ideas on how to get the phone working again would be appreciated.

Downgrading by flashing factory image is pretty standard. The phone might not be hard bricked. Is the bootloader unlocked and can you get to fastboot to recognize the phone? If not, then you need to try to enter recovery and adb sideload beta.

 

[SRFast]

I never attempted to downgrade because I am not sure how to sideload/flash. I was just restarting the phone. The battery was charged 100%. I press the power button and nothing happens. I really like this phone and was going to stick with the beta, but now this.

Update: Held down volume down+Power button for 20 (!) seconds and got it to start. Battery probably still drains quick, but at least the phone works.

 

[dejanh]

Idle battery drain on 8.1 is a known issue and is due to the device not going into deep sleep properly. Essential is working on a fix, though it may be related to Google's February patch as Pixel device battery life also tanked after that patch. There is no point in giving people advice to factory reset or whatnot since it does not fix anything. It just wastes time. Drain isn't consistent either and doesn't happen all the time. Usually, a reboot will stabilize the device and allow it to deep sleep again, but the problem will come back.

 

[SRFast]

Thanks for your replies. This is a little strange, but I am not complaining. Ever since I installed the OTA 8.1 beta, the "average" battery life has been 16-17 hours. The phone sits idle 95% of the day so this was very annoying, considering the 7.1.1 battery performance. I left the phone connected to the charger last night and disconnected it early this morning. it has been 8.3 hours and the battery is at 92%!!! I compared the system info from 02.23.2018 and nothing has changed. These are screen shots from 02.23.2018 and today.





Very strange. I hope this isn't a fluke. BTW, I haven't rebooted the phone since Sunday morning and the battery life was approx 16 hours after the reboot.

 

[anon(10268214)]

I'm at 64% and it says 22 hours left. Sounds almost too good but I'm not complaining, Lol.

 

[SRFast]

I have updated to the official version of 8.1 and the battery continues to drain at a high rate. Battery went from 100% to 58% in 7.5 hours.