Sudden Battery Drain

[jrijr]

I have an S5, ~14 months old.

In the last 24 hours I have seen the battery drop rapidly - to the point that even while using the phone plugged into a charger, the battery power declines. I have not downloaded any new apps recently, except DU Speed Booster. The reviews for it were positive, but I'm wondering if I have been scammed.

I purchased a replacement battery today, with the hopes of the issue being a bum battery - but the new battery is barely taking the charge, from a wall outlet.

Something is definitely not right.

How can I see what is causing this dramatic power drain?

 

[can3gxw]

First thing I would do is uninstall the speed booster. It's all just snake oil and doesn't "do" anything purposeful.

Have you rebooted/restarted the phone? Try turning your phone off, and then go into recovery mode on restart and wipe the cache partition (this is NOT a factory reset and will NOT remove any apps or data).

press the VOLUME UP + HOME + POWER buttons all the same time and HOLD THEM DOWN. release only the POWER button when the device vibrates. release the other buttons when the ANDROID SYSTEM RECOVERY screen appears. using the VOLUME DOWN / UP buttons to navigate, select WIPE CACHE PARTITION.

Then just scroll to "reboot" and press POWER to restart your phone.

This will make sure that there are no runaway or lingering apps drinking all your juice.

The next thing would be to turn it completely off, charge it fully, then turn it on and check the battery usage in "settings" a few hours later if the battery drops as quickly as you say.

Report back and let us know how you make out.

 

[Tech-Newb]

Remove the du speed booster! NOW! That app is the one causing your battery drain! The positive reviews are from people that don't really know about android. It hurts and kills your phone!

As for the new battery, is it original OEM? Make sure you bought OEM batteries.

Posted with ❤Love❤

 

[jrijr]

First thing I would do is uninstall the speed booster. It's all just snake oil and doesn't "do" anything purposeful.

Have you rebooted/restarted the phone? Try turning your phone off, and then go into recovery mode on restart and wipe the cache partition (this is NOT a factory reset and will NOT remove any apps or data).

Then just scroll to "reboot" and press POWER to restart your phone.

This will make sure that there are no runaway or lingering apps drinking all your juice.

The next thing would be to turn it completely off, charge it fully, then turn it on and check the battery usage in "settings" a few hours later if the battery drops as quickly as you say.

Report back and let us know how you make out.

I have done all of this - rebooted, wiped files, etc. I downloaded an Avast app, which found that a second browser I had was supposedly a problem. I removed it, and again rebooted, wiped, etc.

My phone was plugged in last night for seven hours. It barely reached a 40% charge. As I was waking up this morning, I checked email, read some things, etc. Even with the phone plugged in, it dipped down to 22% (and this is on the new battery). Something is taking over the phone.

I think a factory reset may be needed. I have saved my pictures and videos to the SD card, and I have exported my contacts as well. When I checked the contacts, it only showed 100, but a note that more were available when I saved to my Samsung account. So, I did that (but need to confirm they all saved).

Any other suggestions, anyone?

Remove the du speed booster! NOW! That app is the one causing your battery drain! The positive reviews are from people that don't really know about android. It hurts and kills your phone!

As for the new battery, is it original OEM? Make sure you bought OEM batteries.

Posted with ❤Love❤

I removed DU... and purchased a new OEM battery from a local battery store.

 

[sdsubball23]

Download gsam battery app and open it and go to app usage area. Then look for what apps are taking up the most % of battery and let us know.

One time some Android system file was taking up a lot of my battery so I rebooted my phone and the problem was fixed. I know you rebooted and it didn't solve anything so maybe there's something else that needs to be done.

 

[jrijr]

Download gsam battery app and open it and go to app usage area. Then look for what apps are taking up the most % of battery and let us know.

One time some Android system file was taking up a lot of my battery so I rebooted my phone and the problem was fixed. I know you rebooted and it didn't solve anything so maybe there's something else that needs to be done.

Downloaded GSAM... no real details yet. It did not find any apps "that have consumed the specified resource during the last device power cycle."

I have tried two different power cords (one I keep at home and one in my Jeep). Neither one show a difference in charging speed.

Factory reset may be coming soon... ugh.

 

[jrijr]

Well, I may have discovered something.

We all know the standard Samsung S5 cord:



I have tried my different cords, different outlets, etc., and my S5 has been tremendously slow to charge (as in, going from 15-40% over seven hours).

This afternoon I tried a different cord - one that only fits in one-half of the charging area. And it fit. And it works. And my phone is charging up like crazy (aka like normal). The cord is for my portable USB charging device that I got a couple years ago. So, I'm hopeful to get a phone fully charged, and determine if there is some kind of debris in the device that prevents it from getting a good charge when connected with the traditional cord.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? How can I check/clean out the battery charging dock?

 

[Monkey God]

Try to get your software checked. because some of the cell phone batteries will effect because of cell phone software issues and rare into battery issues .

 

[jrijr]

Well, it may have been a combination of things... and although better, not perfect.

* Using the Micro-SD cable to charge the phone has been very helpful. I have been traveling, and not found someone to check the port for dirt/dust/etc. Hope to do that soon.
* With the Micro SD card, I am now able to transfer data from my phone to my computer. The previous cords I used would not be recognized by my laptop, so I think they either "wore out" or there is a port issue.
* I have a FitBit that has had a lot of connection issues. One of the suggestions I read online was to turn off BlueTooth, which I did. Immediately the battery drain nearly ceased. I think the FitBit was constantly trying to sync (even though it was turned to sync only when I manually did it), because the battery issue is nearly resolved.

I'm still not in love with my S5, and will likely (though grumpily) go back to an iPhone on my next plan. The constant frustration I have had is not worth it.