S9/9 plus (Exynos) battery - Can it be fixed?

neil74

Well-known member
Mar 12, 2016
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I am really not impressed with the battery life on my 9 plus (exynos). It is poor both in terms of standby when idle and also in use where for even basic stuff like surfing on my short commute sees it drop pretty rapidly. Noticeably worse than the 8+ and also other phones I have used over the last year which are the Pixel 2xl, Pixel 2, LG V30, OP5T iPhone X, iPhone 8+ and the LG G6.

Articles starting to come out now re the exynos model and it seems (in layman’s terms) that Samsung did poor job in balancing performance over battery when they tuned it. I am wondering if this something that can be fixed via firmware or not? If not I am seriously considering returning
 
Battery life is abit strange on my exynos version. Heavy usage screen on time for me is 5-6 hours which is as good as most new phones ne I've had in the past but it is stand by time when the phone is idle which is draining much more than expected. Hopefully something can be done in a firmware update.
 
Mine seems to get quite warm too, just sitting here at lunch a bit of Flipboard some AC and my phone feels pretty warm, not excessively so but enough to be noticeable.
 
Mine seems to get quite warm too, just sitting here at lunch a bit of Flipboard some AC and my phone feels pretty warm, not excessively so but enough to be noticeable.
Wondering if the thermals is the reason for the odd governor management that Anandtech pointed out. Seems the 9810 though would make a kick a$$ tablet SoC, since then more space for heat solutions.
 
I read through the articles and it's the proc having exponentially higher power consumption on a single core task that asks it to run at more than 2.3Ghz (maxes out at 2.7Ghz single core speed). Basically the best solution RIGHT NOW is to use mid power saving. The CPU throttle on that option limits the CPU to 70% max capacity, so it doesn't go above the 2.3Ghz ceiling. This isn't TOO MUCH of an issue considering the new CPU is 30% faster than the S8's so you'll basically get S8 performance plus the 30% more battery efficient at speeds below 2.3Ghz. This seems to be the best and easiest temporary fix until a software update comes for the power management protocols.
 
I've done that, ta. Went with mid and custom.

Still wondering if a fw/SW fix can resolve or if it is something baked in at the factory?
 
Seems it can at least be mitigated. The problem apparently is thermals, based on Anandtech reviews. The 9810 throttles quickly as a result. Seems though it would be a displacement curve due to thermals.
 
I went from 2.5hrs SOT with 10% left to 2.5hrs SOT with 50% left today by getting VoLTE turned off.

Phone has been running hot and battery life was abysmal by my standards. I'd updated firmwares and reset it 5 times in total trying to figure it out. Ran a test overnight monitoring the battery and found the radio draining it. Suspected it might be VoLTE so had it switched off through my provider in the morning. Instantly noticed the phone ran cool for a change so I knew I'd have a good battery day, which I have.

I used GSAM to monitor the battery and to be fair, comparing each days screenshots I take of it, it was hard to find the culprit on my phone. Radio usage didn't really show up until I monitored straight after taking it off charge and without using my phone. If I use it, the radio drain % shows as minimal because all the apps I would use take up even more battery.

That said, this doesn't discount the fact there is still an inherent flaw in the exynos model. Getting an estimated 5hrs SOT is about what I would be able to get on my Note 8 which has a smaller battery. When I first bought the S9+ I expected it to have better battery life than what I'm getting now. Really hoping Samsung sort this out, but I'm afraid it really depends on how much noise we make about it.
 
So just got my S9, and first thing it does is download a 400mb update. You guys received one? So not sure if this has a battery fix or not. I got a dual sim Exynos version.
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I think that is the update from a week or 2 back so does not improve battery
 
It's likely going to require Samsung engineers to manipulate the instruction decoder to try to improve efficiencies. Give it time, this is somewhat equivalent to microcode in other architectures such as x86.