[Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plummet"

[anon(832122)]

Re: [Help][Updated] LTE = heavy battery drain...occurs randomly

UPDATE/CONFIRMED:

The plummet is back.

After 10 days of plummet-free use with LTE disabled, it has returned after less than 48 hours uptime following my re-enabling of LTE.

For me, I am quite convinced that some LTE bug - perhaps with switching back and forth to HSPA+ - is causing the plummet. Unless some very knowledgeable devs join this discussion and help to find the root cause, I only see two options to avoid this problem:

1) Disable LTE and live with HSPA+ speeds
2) Wait for an OTA update with a fix, assuming Samsung/AT&T know about it

Personally I am sick and tired of wasting my time diagnosing this. I have lost time and enjoyment of my device trying to keep a stable testing environment. I now know the general cause and solution and am satisfied with that.

Thanks to anyone and everyone who helped.

Again, here is the link to my method for disabling LTE:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-...isable-lte-t-s3-you-can-disable-hspa-too.html
It's unfortunate that using HSPA+ only also disables 2G, but that's not really a problem for me in Miami.

SCREENSHOTS:
1) Yesterday's usage with the plummet showing up out of nowhere.
2) Charged to full last night, no reboot, plummet continues this morning. > 10% drop with no use in 1 hour. I then did a reboot to show the battery life leveling out, as expected, until the next plummet (which won't happen since I'm about to disable LTE again!).

I have this issue also, was wondering if you could try something for me as I am not convinced that this is signal related....the next time you get the rapid drain (I am assuming that it is going to happen to you again regardless if you are on LTE or HSPA+, if it doesn't then I am wrong), could you verify if you have App updates waiting for you in the play store. When the drain occurs for me, as soon as I execute an update the drain stops and my usage returns to normal. This would also make it appear to be signal/data connetion related (in my opinion).

 

[534n]

Re: [Help][Updated] LTE = heavy battery drain...occurs randomly

I have this issue also, was wondering if you could try something for me as I am not convinced that this is signal related....the next time you get the rapid drain (I am assuming that it is going to happen to you again regardless if you are on LTE or HSPA+, if it doesn't then I am wrong), could you verify if you have App updates waiting for you in the play store. When the drain occurs for me, as soon as I execute an update the drain stops and my usage returns to normal. This would also make it appear to be signal/data connetion related (in my opinion).

Interesting thought. This would make it more Google transport service/backbone related. I would never notice that because I install the updates or remove the notification as soon as I get it. But removing the notification would technically mean the updates were still waiting, however I never have had it drop.

 

[jeffreii]

Re: [Help][Updated] LTE = heavy battery drain...occurs randomly

Does the phone get fairly hot during the plummet?
What does your signal strength usually look like during the plummet?
Sometimes android phones have issues with signal switching when leaving WiFi coverage.

Reading several of the posts makes it sound like a general coverage issue with data retries and signal switching. Not necessarily just radio type but frequency band and signal strength. If you are in an area of low strength and the phone is trying to send a lot of data, I believe that it will ramp up the antenna power to hold long enough to send/receive. If you remain with low service long enough this will kill your battery - with old phones it was the "Searching for service..." issue.

Are there any apps that let you log your service? With at least signal strength and maybe (not as important) radio frequency? Also counting send/receive failures would be awesome. Maybe this would be a neat idea to develop if no one has one. I will run it by a programming friend to make a phone diagnostics app if I cannot find one.

It is certainly an interesting problem. My battery drop, with no steeings disabled but power saving mode on, is about 1% per 10-15 minutes with average use on Wifi + 2 bars signal.

Most of this is answered in post #1.

As you can see from the mobile network signal bar in the graphs, it does not correctly display my signal. I can be in 5 bars LTE coverage and it still shows black. I don't know why sometimes it is black and sometimes it is green...but I am rarely anywhere in Miami that doesn't have STRONG signal. GSAM Battery Monitor also does not log the mobile network connection status correctly - I assume it just feeds off the system stats, which are wrong.

My average battery % drop per HOUR is about 1-2% when not used. Spikes to 10-15% with the plummet happens.

I have this issue also, was wondering if you could try something for me as I am not convinced that this is signal related....the next time you get the rapid drain (I am assuming that it is going to happen to you again regardless if you are on LTE or HSPA+, if it doesn't then I am wrong), could you verify if you have App updates waiting for you in the play store. When the drain occurs for me, as soon as I execute an update the drain stops and my usage returns to normal. This would also make it appear to be signal/data connetion related (in my opinion).

The quote you posted was saying that I had found the plummet did NOT happen when connected to HSPA+ (with LTE disabled).

I have left LTE on for the moment, however. I will check if it gets warm or not. I have seen no correlation with app updates and the plummet.

I think a lot of this data talk is moot considering the plummet continues with mobile data disabled.

 

[534n]

Re: [Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plum

Gotcha, yea my battery drain is almost nonexistent when I am completely not using the phone, but with average use it is that. That error in displaying your signal could also cause an issue, if it keeps trying to redetermine. Malfunctioning tracking services can consume battery and cpu time quite effectively.

 

[jeffreii]

Re: [Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plum

Gotcha, yea my battery drain is almost nonexistent when I am completely not using the phone, but with average use it is that. That error in displaying your signal could also cause an issue, if it keeps trying to redetermine. Malfunctioning tracking services can consume battery and cpu time quite effectively.

See here, I'm not the only one:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii/192136-how-read-battery-graph.html

Also I have already exchanged my device, so I doubt I have two units that are effective in the same random/rare way.

 

[534n]

Re: [Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plum

I think the black is signal standby and is a power saving when there is no active transfer. I will see what I can dig up.

 

[Vengeful]

4 weeks with no plummet and it just happen yesterday. Never turned lte off during the 4 weeks it was fine.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

 

[jeffreii]

Re: [Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plum

4 weeks with no plummet and it just happen yesterday. Never turned lte off during the 4 weeks it was fine.

If only we knew what specifically causes it...at this point we just know it's LTE but not what conditions with LTE trigger it. The longest I have gone without the plummet is 4 days (with LTE enabled).

I just got the plummet again, only 12 hours since reboot. See screenshots.

My device does not seem to be warm...

EDIT: Also I have no Google Play updates waiting for me.

 

[eleeezy]

This plummet happened to me once from what i believe to be due to Gun Bros. Ever since i deleted" never had the problem again

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[cyanogen-man]

Sigh LTE IS A DIFFERANT RADIO ENTIRELY SO CHANCES ARE THAT THE LTE RADIO IS GOBBLI G UP THE JUICE LTE IS A BATTERY KILLER ON ANY PHONE PERIOD YOU WANT THE SPEEDS PAY THE PRICE THE WEAKER THE LTE SIGNAL THE MORE ITS GONNA EAT AN ALL YOU CAN EAT BATTERY LIFE BUFFET!!
INSPIRE AOKP ICE COLD SANDWICH ROM

 

[jeffreii]

Re: [Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plum

Sigh LTE IS A DIFFERANT RADIO ENTIRELY SO CHANCES ARE THAT THE LTE RADIO IS GOBBLI G UP THE JUICE LTE IS A BATTERY KILLER ON ANY PHONE PERIOD YOU WANT THE SPEEDS PAY THE PRICE THE WEAKER THE LTE SIGNAL THE MORE ITS GONNA EAT AN ALL YOU CAN EAT BATTERY LIFE BUFFET!!
INSPIRE AOKP ICE COLD SANDWICH ROM

Caps lock, no punctuation? It only emphasized that you TOTALLY missed the point. Sounds like you read the thread title but not the first post.

Anyways you are totally wrong, even if you were in the right thread for your rant. I see very little (if any) battery life difference when comparing LTE on/off. The only real factor is that LTE off prevents the "radio bug" (if I can call it that) from causing the plummet.

 

[beavo451]

Re: [Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plum

Just throwing my 2 cents in. I just experienced the problem as well. I've had the phone for a little over a month without any problems. When it first happened, I had the phone charged fully. I took it off the charger and went to sleep. It woke me up by making the "plug me in" sound. It went from 100% to 14% in about 7 hours.

The graph shows that the phone was "awake" at certain points.

 

[jeffreii]

Re: [Help][50% SOLVED] LTE = random heavy battery drain aka "plum

Just throwing my 2 cents in. I just experienced the problem as well. I've had the phone for a little over a month without any problems. When it first happened, I had the phone charged fully. I took it off the charger and went to sleep. It woke me up by making the "plug me in" sound. It went from 100% to 14% in about 7 hours.

The graph shows that the phone was "awake" at certain points.

Click to view quoted image

If I were going to leave it unplugged (no reason to though) and go to sleep I would definitely do a reboot before bed to forestall any future/current "plummets".

 

[wowpaw]

Re: [Help] Unexplained heavy battery drain...occurs randomly

I wonder if it's the same issue considering mine is NOT fixed by charging. I can charge to full and as soon as I take it off, the plummet continues.

Anyways - small update on my LTE-disabled test. It's been 57 hours and no plummet. Honestly it means nothing. I'll want to make it through this week without reboot/plummet before I blame the whole thing on LTE. I will report back either way.

I'm definitely sure it is the same issue. Basically, we both have the issue where we'll leave our phones alone for a while(lets say at 100% charged), and few hours later we're in the red without any use whatsoever (and I know it isn't any background apps as this is not my first Android and am quite familiar with how to set things up). Going to the battery graph shows basically a straight diagonal line going downwards - with almost no "screen on" bars nor "awake" bars at the bottom bar chart. I have no clue why charging for me stops it, but either way I'm glad since I am unable to use your solution of disabling LTE. Well, not unable, but prefer not to as we (VZW users) do not have HSPA+ and 3G is basically torture and I refuse to use it if I have LTE.

 

[adrdfanwannab]

Re: [Help] Unexplained heavy battery drain...occurs randomly

hopefully OP and others are still following this thread.

I have been having this issue since I bought the phone a month ago and have been trying to find a fix or an explanation, and finally found a thread that isnt telling me to "why not plug it in" or "close and delete apps", or any other thing suggesting I deal with the problem instead of fixing it.

The LTE bug sounds like a very viable explanation for this annoyance, but i was wondering if I am seeing the same problem as OP or others experiencing the same thing.
My question is: are you guys only seeing the drop when the network switches to LTE radio and stops draining when the network switches back to HSPA?
Because for me, I am experiencing these drops but every time I check the system info (whether it is draining or not) it is on LTE:14. I have never seen the network switch to HSPA.

 

[jeffreii]

Once the "plummet" starts, it does not stop until I reboot. I suspect that the switching between HSPA and LTE is the cause...but that's just amateur speculation. In Miami we have strong LTE coverage but definite pockets of HSPA+ where LTE signal does not reach. When I drive through those areas that could cause switching. Also, when you receive a phone call, it switches to HSPA+ automatically as LTE cannot do voice (as it is now, on our S3s).

The only evidence I have to back up my speculation is the fact that the plummet never starts (as opposed to "it stops") when I disable LTE. To be honest I decided I can't even handle giving up LTE speeds so I've turned it back on. I now reboot my phone in the morning when I take it off the charger...and then again some time after lunch. That generally prevents the plummet from happening.

 

[adrdfanwannab]

Once the "plummet" starts, it does not stop until I reboot. I suspect that the switching between HSPA and LTE is the cause...but that's just amateur speculation. In Miami we have strong LTE coverage but definite pockets of HSPA+ where LTE signal does not reach. When I drive through those areas that could cause switching. Also, when you receive a phone call, it switches to HSPA+ automatically as LTE cannot do voice (as it is now, on our S3s).

The only evidence I have to back up my speculation is the fact that the plummet never starts (as opposed to "it stops") when I disable LTE. To be honest I decided I can't even handle giving up LTE speeds so I've turned it back on. I now reboot my phone in the morning when I take it off the charger...and then again some time after lunch. That generally prevents the plummet from happening.

Ah, I see.
From what I am reading from you guys, if I am not misunderstanding, seems like you guys experience the plummet WHENEVER the phone switches network to LTE. Then were your phones always on HSPA even in good LTE coverage areas (before you guys manually disabled LTE)? And therefore, when the phone switches to LTE it starts to dive.
That might have been worded weird, i guess what I'm trying to ask is; before you guys manually disabled LTE, was your phones actively switching between HSPA and LTE? Because my phone seems to always be on LTE but has stable battery most of the time when it's not nosediving.

If thats similar to you guys I have a couple theories.
I live and work in the Silicone Valley area, so I doubt there are any areas with weak LTE coverage, therefore always connected to the "LTE:11" network. So when the phone plummets (in my case commonly at home during the night), the ATT towers are having trouble transmitting the LTE signal or there is interference of said signal around the area where you keep your phone. If the phone is suppose to switch to HSPA when LTE signal is weak then my guess is that there is a bug where if you have good coverage (3-5 bars) when LTE signal weakens then the phone does not automatically switch to HSPA and continues to struggle for LTE causing drain.
If it is not the ATT tower and indeed a interference around where you place your phone, then perphaps you can try to keep your phone somewhere else in the house and inform is of your findings. I cannot do this for I use my phone as my alarm and moving it defeats the purpose (although it would be great incentive to get out of bed to turn it off ).

One problem debunks the above theory. I have already exchanged my first S3 due to this drainage problem with no effect, and I also live with my sister and brother who also upgraded to the S3 at the same time as I did. And they have never experienced this problem. Unless there is really significant interference only in my room, then my second theory is a model specific defect. I have the white S3 whereas my sister and brother have the blue and red. Can you guys verify?

 

[jeffreii]

Ah, I see.
From what I am reading from you guys, if I am not misunderstanding, seems like you guys experience the plummet WHENEVER the phone switches network to LTE. Then were your phones always on HSPA even in good LTE coverage areas (before you guys manually disabled LTE)? And therefore, when the phone switches to LTE it starts to dive.
That might have been worded weird, i guess what I'm trying to ask is; before you guys manually disabled LTE, was your phones actively switching between HSPA and LTE? Because my phone seems to always be on LTE but has stable battery most of the time when it's not nosediving.

If thats similar to you guys I have a couple theories.
I live and work in the Silicone Valley area, so I doubt there are any areas with weak LTE coverage, therefore always connected to the "LTE:11" network. So when the phone plummets (in my case commonly at home during the night), the ATT towers are having trouble transmitting the LTE signal or there is interference of said signal around the area where you keep your phone. If the phone is suppose to switch to HSPA when LTE signal is weak then my guess is that there is a bug where if you have good coverage (3-5 bars) when LTE signal weakens then the phone does not automatically switch to HSPA and continues to struggle for LTE causing drain.
If it is not the ATT tower and indeed a interference around where you place your phone, then perphaps you can try to keep your phone somewhere else in the house and inform is of your findings. I cannot do this for I use my phone as my alarm and moving it defeats the purpose (although it would be great incentive to get out of bed to turn it off ).

One problem debunks the above theory. I have already exchanged my first S3 due to this drainage problem with no effect, and I also live with my sister and brother who also upgraded to the S3 at the same time as I did. And they have never experienced this problem. Unless there is really significant interference only in my room, then my second theory is a model specific defect. I have the white S3 whereas my sister and brother have the blue and red. Can you guys verify?

The plummet definitely does not happen every time it switches. I have gone days without the plummet and then suddenly it happens. It's seemingly random...but that's only because I haven't identified the exact scenario that starts it.

My phone does not frequently switch between LTE and HSPA+. Only when driving and leaving LTE areas or when receiving/making a phone call.

The plummet occurs sometimes at my apartment...where I have 4 or 5 bars of LTE signal at all times.

 

[Barenjager]

I have just read through this whole thread hoping to find an explanation other than what I thought it was.
I live near Detroit, and AT&T just activated LTE for my area...well, my work area at least, I don't get it at home. It was activated on Sept. 19th and so when I got to work the next day, I had an LTE signal! Joy! So I did a bunch of speed tests and stuff and downloaded a bunch of crap, played with Google Earth..etc, just to test out the speed...45Mbps downloads. I used my phone a lot more than usual, but I noticed a large battery drop, had about 10% or so by the time I was leaving work and that was with plugging it in on my breaks/lunch..

So, today, I use my phone like I would have normally since I've had it. And the same thing happens. I was at work for only 6 hours and by the time i was leaving it was down to 21%, so seems on par with the plummet...I didn't charge my phone at all today. Since I've been home (so, 7.5 hrs on battery) and on HSPA+, my battery is at 19%.

This is with average use. Before LTE was turned on I was getting 15+ hours on a single charge from being at work and home. I am disappoint. :'(

So, question, sorry if I just didn't notice this answered before.. What's your top battery drain app on the battery screen? Mine is always "Screen" ...ALWAYS.. but since LTE it is "Android System" using 48%

Also disappointing is there was just an OTA update a day or two ago for the AT&T S3 that probably should have fixed this...I'm still going to do some testing tomorrow at work to confirm that I'm getting the LTE plummet but damn.. what the hell?

btw, first post. been lurking for a long time but when I read this I'd figure I would throw my two cents in, considering I went from zero LTE since July and now 2 days of LTE and I see a HUGE difference on my battery life. Love the speed tho...

 

[jeffreii]

I have just read through this whole thread hoping to find an explanation other than what I thought it was.
I live near Detroit, and AT&T just activated LTE for my area...well, my work area at least, I don't get it at home. It was activated on Sept. 19th and so when I got to work the next day, I had an LTE signal! Joy! So I did a bunch of speed tests and stuff and downloaded a bunch of crap, played with Google Earth..etc, just to test out the speed...45Mbps downloads. I used my phone a lot more than usual, but I noticed a large battery drop, had about 10% or so by the time I was leaving work and that was with plugging it in on my breaks/lunch..

So, today, I use my phone like I would have normally since I've had it. And the same thing happens. I was at work for only 6 hours and by the time i was leaving it was down to 21%, so seems on par with the plummet...I didn't charge my phone at all today. Since I've been home (so, 7.5 hrs on battery) and on HSPA+, my battery is at 19%.

This is with average use. Before LTE was turned on I was getting 15+ hours on a single charge from being at work and home. I am disappoint. :'(

So, question, sorry if I just didn't notice this answered before.. What's your top battery drain app on the battery screen? Mine is always "Screen" ...ALWAYS.. but since LTE it is "Android System" using 48%

Also disappointing is there was just an OTA update a day or two ago for the AT&T S3 that probably should have fixed this...I'm still going to do some testing tomorrow at work to confirm that I'm getting the LTE plummet but damn.. what the hell?

btw, first post. been lurking for a long time but when I read this I'd figure I would throw my two cents in, considering I went from zero LTE since July and now 2 days of LTE and I see a HUGE difference on my battery life. Love the speed tho...

First thing: I upgraded to LH9 yesterday and am waiting to see if the "plummet" returns or if they've fixed the issue...fingers crossed.

Secondly, you're not really describing your battery issue to a degree that confirms it's the same as I've mentioned in this thread. Does it normalize after a reboot? Do you see good battery life then suddenly it just starts plummeting for no obvious reason?

Is your battery life just bad 100% of the time? If so I'd try GSAM Battery Monitor to try and pinpoint what's causing it.