Battery Stats don't make sense - Please help!

[Carterman32]

I've spent hours researching this issue online, but haven't found a clear and accurate response. Here's the deal: I have a Nexus 6p with Marshmallow and a 3450mah battery.

I cannot for the life of me understand the stats in the Android battery settings, particularly when compared to gsam. I've attached photos of my gsam, Android battery settings usage, and screen time usage. These were all taken simultaneously for comparison purposes.

As you can see, per gsam, I had the screen on for 4hrs and 5 mins, which as you'd expect, would eat a ton of battery. In fact, it took up 79% of the 70% of battery that I'd used up to that point (note: phone still had 30% charge remaining). Doing the math, .79 * 70, means that, draining from 100 with 30 left, 55 came from the screen. Sounds right.

Okay, cut to the Android Battery stats. First off, it says the screen represents 12% of the battery drain. And sure enough, when I click on the "screen" descriptor, it shows that the screen has used 424 mah. The battery is 3450 mah. 424/3450=~12%

This makes no sense. I had the screen on for 4 hours and it only accounted for 12% drain. What's more confusing is that all the listed items on the battery screen don't come close to adding up to 100%. I understand this changed at some point in Lollipop, I believe. But again, I have no idea what these numbers reflect now. What in the world is 12% supposed to represent?

I'm asking because, first, I want to understand, but second, I returned a s7e because of the well documented high android system drain listed under Android Battery Settings. I'm starting to question whether that's even a real issue since these stats seem meaningless compared to reality. There is zero chance that my screen only used 12% of the battery (or 12% of 70?). Just using simple logic, GSams output seems more appropriate.

So I know what you're going to say... Use gsam. Yes, but, I want to understand what the native battery settings actually mean. If it's completely misreporting usage, it means people are making decisions on phones and changes to enhance battery life based on completely worthless information.

Please help! Not knowing is eating at me.

 

[N4Newbie]

Without commenting on every issue you raised, I will just say this: the 6P's screen seems to use far less juice than the Nexus 6, 5, or 4 - all of which I have previously owned.

I start my day with a full charge and then spend 90 minutes at the gym each morning listening to music via Bluetooth earbuds while monitoring my heart rate via a Bluetooth chest strap, screen on the entire 90 minutes and the minimal battery consumption never ceases to amaze me. I keep my screen at about 40% brightness with adaptive brightness turned on.

FWIW, battery monitors/savers in general do not have the best overall reputation among knowledgeable users and I see many reports of GSAM results not matching those generated by the OS, especially since the release of Marshmallow.

 

[Carterman32]

I need a specific answer.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[N4Newbie]

Specific answer to what?

I told you, in a nice way, not to trust GSAM and I also said that the 6P's screen is remarkably energy efficient.

What else do you want to hear?

 

[Carterman32]

As I said, imo, the Android Stats are inaccurate, not gsam. There's no way the screen only used 12%. And none of those percentages on Android stats make sense.

I was asking for specific answer to the questions I put in my OP, not a one line answer not to trust gsam.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[N4Newbie]

The screen DOES only use 12%.

I can't help it if you choose not to believe that.

 

[Carterman32]

What are you talking about? I had the phone on for four hours and the battery drained 70%. Screen is the highest battery drain. How did it drain so much if the screen only used 13%. And for that matter, all the items on the battery stats page combined only add up to 28%.

On the galaxy s7, which also uses MM, the battery usage stats add up to an absolute number. So when it drains down to 30% , that phone would show the combination of apps, screen, OS, etc adding up to 70% (screen, apps, etc). 6p is also using MM, so why would the reporting be different?

Putting that aside, how Gsam clearly shows screen used 79%, and that just logically makes sense.

I believe your answer is incorrect, but maybe others can chime in.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Rukbat]

How did it drain so much if the screen only used 13%.

13% of what? Total battery use? Then I'd say your battery calibration file is messed up. (You can only recalibrate it on a rooted phone.) You can't use both 13% and 70% of the total use.

Have you conditioned the battery at least 3 times? Has it been running at least 6 charge cycles? New batteries can give very strange - and contradictory - reports.

 

[Carterman32]

Yes, I've done those things. And if you look at the output for all 6p phones in the battery stats, they look similar to mine. They don't add up.

If you look at the Galaxy s7e, you'll see that the battery stats add up to an absolute number (e.g 80% battery left means that the stats like screen, apps, etc will add up to 20%). They're both on Marshmallow, but I suspect Samsung does something w TouchWiz that makes the outlook look different than AOSP.

But still, I have no idea what the battery stats mean on the 6p.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[N4Newbie]

Here is what I think:

Based on several articles such as this one, Android Marshmallow demands devices show ALL battery info - SlashGear , I believe that a lot of battery use which used to fall into the generic "screen on" category has now been shifted into other categories. Also, based on other things I have read (yes, Google is your friend), the battery stats page does not display the possibly hundreds of "under 1%" entries. That is why the total of the displayed entries does not equal the total battery usage.

And, yes, the 6P's screen is very energy efficient.

GSAM is outdated - check the user feedback and you will find many complaints.

But, hey, believe what you want. It's a free country.

 

[Carterman32]

I've read all of that, however, the battery stats on the s7e look completely different than the 6p. They show absolute values equating to the amount of drain.

If your theory is correct, both phones should display stats that reflect it. But they don't...

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[N4Newbie]

Samsung uses their own skinned version of the OS. You cannot compare Samsung phones to "pure" phones like the Nexus lineup.

 

[KKB03kkb]

I have several phones including Samsung, Huawei, Lenovo, Nexus. All of them show different and highly confusing stats. They are totally meaningless to me or to any of my friends (we are all engineers). Carterman's comments were spot-on.