Teacher
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13 Messages
Galaxy S6 Battery Life Reduced by Over 50% Since 5.1.1 Update
Greetings!
I installed the 5.1.1 update on my Galaxy S6 shortly after it became available. I immediately noticed a significant decrease in the battery life, but wanted to quantify it before posting. After a week of use, I can report that I have experienced at least a 50% reduction in the battery life since the update. Prior to the update I could work all day and still have approximately 60% battery life remaining at the end of the day- approximately 16 hours later. I now often need to connect my phone to the charger in the evening.
Below is the process I have followed to date:
1. Prior to installing the update I performed a factory reset on the phone. I then installed the update on the "clean" device.
2. Following the installation I performed another factory reset prior to setting up the phone.
3. I then installed exactly the same apps and configured the phone exactly as it had been previously. I did this manually, not using any backup / restore operation.
Following various posts, I have also done the following:
1. Performed yet another factory reset and reinstalled apps / reconfigured the device manually.
2. Wiped the cache partition from the Recovery Console.
3. Disabled the Enhanced 4G LTE services.
4. Performed the battery calibration process.
I am using the device in exactly the same manner as I was prior to the update: syncing three email accounts, less than 25 texts per day, and a few short telephone calls. As others have reported, the top three culprits consuming the battery are Cell Standby, Android System, and Screen with Cell Standby consuming twice as much as Android System and over four times as much as Screen.
I am at a loss for a solution- any hints would be appreciated. This dramatic reduction in battery life has made the phone significantly less useful than it was prior to the update.
Thanks very much!
GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
9 years ago
@Kenw99
we both know that you cant compair stock android to samsungs touchwiz LOL.....
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BigJamoke
Tutor
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6 Messages
9 years ago
Now, until AT&T offers a solution, any time I'm going to be away from a charger for more than 3-4 hours amd I plan on actually using this expensive and now almost useless device, I carry an external battery and cord. If people ask me about the cord running into my pocket, I gladly tell them that Samsung and AT&T "dehanced" my device with the latest update and now I'm screwed until I can switch my whole family to Verizon.
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Kenw99
Teacher
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13 Messages
9 years ago
Just in case anyone from AT&T happens to read this string, I would like to express my utter frustration with the lack of service I have received from them in this situation. I contacted the AT&T Support team and initially was told that I would receive an RMA to return the device for repair or replacement. When I called several days later I was informed that they had determined that my issue was "environmental" and they would not be issuing an RMA. (They made this determination without ever seeing the device, mind you)
This is one of their flagship devices and they have rendered it essentially useless with their update.
I have been with AT&T forever- we currently have four AT&T flagship devices in the family. I would have expected better service. This will certainly be a consideration moving forward.
Extremely frustrated and disappointed...
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GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
9 years ago
look for carriers to stop offering to swap devices in the next few years
and make us go thru the manufacture. Now it's speculation but then again
it would not surprise me.
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Kenw99
Teacher
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13 Messages
9 years ago
I already contacted Samsung support and they directed me back to AT&T. Apparently there is a ninety day "sweet spot" after the initial purchase where I am beyond the thirty day return period but within some other window where the carrier is still "supposed" to provide support for the device. I have it on my calendar to contact Samsung again once I am beyond the ninety day period and see if they will assist me.
I will wait a bit and watch both the AT&T and Samsung forums. I am obviously not the only person experiencing the issue, nor is is impacting all devices. I am anticipating more information as the 5.1.1 roll-out continues.
Washington State also has a law of implied merchantability which may apply if the device can be deemed to be "grossly different than described". Based on the specifications posted on the AT&T website for the Galaxy S6, I would have no difficulty showing that the performance of my device is grossly different than their advertising. These cases can be filed in small claims court for $25.00 and I am only 15 minutes from the county courthouse. I did this once with a Nextel device and they shipped me a new, upgraded device immediately when they were served with the papers. All it cost me was the filing fee and the fee to mail the summons. I have already started taking screenshots of the battery meter at regular intervals should I choose to go this route.
I love the phone- I just want it to function as it did prior to the update!
Again, I will update this posting whenever I have additional information.
Thanks again to all- have a great weekend!
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BigJamoke
Tutor
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6 Messages
8 years ago
So...after much consternation, I finally did the factory reset this last weekend with the hope that going through that pain would alleviate the battery drain pain I’d been enduring for several weeks.
So far, after roughly 24 hours (and much of those waking hours spent reconfiguring system and applications), it appears that battery life is considerably better. Although I would say that it is still too early say that it is as good as it was before the 5.1.1 update.
As part of the app reinstalls, I am being very careful to only reinstall those which I frequently use. I have also (more carefully than before) disabled every bloatware app I could find.
The battery usage has changed to where the “Android System” and “Android OS” are no longer at the top (but they’re still close).
Current top 6 are:
It may be important to note that one of the apps which was previously on that list was Outlook and which I have not yet reinstalled. I’m trying to use Gmail as my email app….we’ll see how that goes.
I did the reset about noon Sunday (11/1) when the phone was 100% changed and plugged in. Once complete, I unplugged and ran on battery the rest of the day until I went to bed around 10pm. It was at 22% when I plugged it in overnight. I awoke about 2:300am and unplugged it (I don’t sleep much these days) and it has been on battery since and is currently at 49%. Use has been intermittent and pretty typical of a workday.
I’ll try to update after a few more days.
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Kenw99
Teacher
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13 Messages
8 years ago
Greetings-
Just a quick update: I was eventually directed back to AT&T support by Samsung and the next person I spoke with at AT&T immediately shipped a replacement device after "logging in" to my phone and looking around a bit. It arrived last Thursday and I set it up Thursday evening. I installed the 5.1.1 update before doing anything else, then reset the device again before setting it up.
I can now state without hesitation that there was definitely something not right with the first device following the 5.1.1 update. The replacement behaves totally differently! I used it at home all weekend and at work yesterday and without exception I have had 50%+ battery remaining when I put it on the charger as I head off to bed in the evening. It is typically in use for approximately 16 hours at that point. This is exactly how the original phone functioned prior to the 5.1.1 update.
Thanks to all for your thoughts and comments- I appreciate it very much!
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GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
8 years ago
it amazes me how samsungs quality control works.
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Bhabha
Contributor
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1 Message
8 years ago
My conclusion: companies like at&t should start giving a D A M N and let the users decide what they want on their devices.
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