Why does my S4 battery life last under 4 hours?

[AC Question]

S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

I've read posts here for months here looking for a solution. I've followed all the advice but nothing has helped. I've seen posts where people were "only" getting 24 hours on their battery.

I tossed my S2 because of battery problems (I could watch the battery counting down). I get the S4 a month before my AT&T contract expired so I had to pay full price AND sign for 2 more years. The battery seemed fine at first.

It's gotten worse. I can't travel at all unless it's plugged in.

Today I got up and it was at 2%. I charged it from 8 am to noon and took it off at 100%. By 3:15 I was at 18%. Nothing was running at all.

My battery indicator told me a mail program was running (must have been a mistake).

I frequently run Battery Doctor and am told tons of programs are running (some I've NEVER run) and I let Battery Doctor kill them. I also clear programs a few times a day.

I don't want to have to carry 5 spare batteries like my S2 but it's getting really old.

Any ideas? Do you all think I need to replace the battery (about 2 years old)?

 

[spectrumdata]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

My post. Here are some screens. During this time I did NOT use the phone at all. It was just sitting on my desk.

 

[oneeyecarpenter]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

Hi,do you know anyone with the same phone you could swap batteries with for a couple hours? A two year old battery that has been recharged from low levels on daily basis could very well be worn out. Have you rebooted,cleared all cashes,and in some cases clear data,but very selectively.

 

[belodion]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

Yes. Also, forget the task killer apps.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[spectrumdata]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

I'll try a new battery. I removed Battery Doctor and Startup Mgr. Let's see.

 

[ItsBond007]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

What I have learned is that app killers and cache cleaners used on a continual basis will cause the "andriod system" to hog the battery at a more rapid pace. because rather than rely on a cached process, the the Android system has to restart a process which is CPU intensive. so until I feel the phone is bogging down with a large cash only then will I use an app like crap cleaner or clean master. and then restart. Because clean master is always running I install it use it uninstall then reboot. Also maybe others can answer but my samsung appears to have built in antivirus. So running an antivirus app on top of native antivirus will surely slow the phone down. but I can't answer that for sure not knowing your config

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[spectrumdata]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

What I have learned is that app killers and cache cleaners used on a continual basis will cause the "andriod system" to hog the battery at a more rapid pace.

And right you are ItsBond007. I uninstalled Battery Doctor last night. Charged overnight. Now, after 8 hours, I'm sitting at 86%. The best I've EVER seen. Google Play Services is #1 at 18% and Android System is a puny 17%. I'm overjoyed.

Let's mark this thread SOLVED and thanks.

 

[spectrumdata]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

Follow-up. After sitting all night without the charger I see this. The best I've EVER seen on either of my two Galaxy phones.

Thinking it through it seems obvious. With my Old Galaxy, the battery life started getting bad so I installed Battery Doctor. Things got worse and worse until I got the new S4. To keep ahead of this new one, the first app I installed was Battery Doctor. Slowly but surely battery life started downhill again.

Now that I think about it, I was the one who killed that battery. Yippee and Thank You everyone.

 

[anon8380037]

Re: S4 Battery Life under 4 hours! Yep. Hours!

Check your sync settings in Accounts - Google, and Samsung occasionally. You don't need to have them checked to sync all the time. There can be sync errors showing in red occasionally and you just need to uncheck them. Picasa / Photos can be a culprit, if you use it. Worse is Google + and it's camera backups.

All app killers / cleaners and ram restorers are aimed at novice Windows users. GSam however is a useful extra battery monitor tool, much recommended here. Nova Launcher improved battery life for me, though I just use it at a basic level to put more icons on a Homescreen. Again this been proven to work very well and make transitions faster.

Glad your life was turned around .

Pop through @Rukbat's battery guide and join in the forums.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=479461

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=500054

There are more Ambassadors guides in Android Central Community - General Help and How To.