The Samsung Galaxy S24
samcham's profile

Scholar

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130 Messages

Thursday, June 20th, 2013 1:35 PM

Galaxy S4 Battery Drain

I love my Galaxy S4, except for a battery drain issue.  Last night, I went to bed with about 80% battery remaining.  6 hours later, it was down to 32%.  That's unacceptable, as the phone wasn't really doing anything while I was asleep.

 

I have all of the "cool" features - GPS, Bluetooth, multi-window, NFC, Air View, etc. - turned off.  The only things on were WiFi, Mobile Data, Blocking Mode, Sync (Google account only) and Power Saving.

 

What in the world is causing my phone to lose 50% of the battery life overnight, with the screen off?

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Professor

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1.9K Messages

11 years ago

No, when your phone's screen is off (or asleep) or actively using other apps, those apps will continue to run in the background. You can turn this feature off by going to Settings > Connections > Data Usage > Tap the menu key > Tap the Restrict Background data box.

The lower brightness option was just another way for you to save battery life, I know it doesn't apply to your phone being asleep. 😛

Professor

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1.9K Messages

11 years ago

Hello there!

Sorry to hear about your battery usage.

One thing that could be the cause is the applications using background data. Try turning background data off and see if that makes any difference in battery life. 🙂

Another thing it could be might be the brightness of the screen. The brighter it is, the more power it can consume. Try lowering it down to something low bit yet comfy for your eyes and see if the battery life improves.

Scholar

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130 Messages

11 years ago


@Evandela wrote:
Hello there!

Sorry to hear about your battery usage.

One thing that could be the cause is the applications using background data. Try turning background data off and see if that makes any difference in battery life. 🙂

Another thing it could be might be the brightness of the screen. The brighter it is, the more power it can consume. Try lowering it down to something low bit yet comfy for your eyes and see if the battery life improves.

Screen brightness is irrelevant.  This happens overnight, when I'm not using the phone, so the screen is not on.

By "background data", do you mean the "Mobile data" toggle?

Scholar

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130 Messages

11 years ago

Thanks, turning off Background Data did the trick.  It only dropped 6% overnight.

 

Now, is there an easier way to turn it on and off?  I don't see a toggle on the notification page.

Professor

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1.9K Messages

11 years ago

I'm afraid I'm not aware of any ways to have like some sort of shortcut button to turn it off and on faster. 😞 Perhaps there is an app in the Google Play Store that might help?

Scholar

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130 Messages

11 years ago

I must have spoken too soon.  Turning off background data worked for a week or two.  It's still off, and my phone went from 82% to 40% overnight.

 

Any other ideas?

Contributor

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1 Message

11 years ago

My phone did the same exact thing, I did all these little tweeks like setting the theme to black, disabling push notiifcations and it still didn't do much... I ended up caving in and purchasing an extended battery. it lasts like 2 days now.

 

http://www.accessoryswamp.com/galaxy-s4-battery.html

Tutor

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2 Messages

11 years ago

My battery was getting excellent life, until the 4.2.2 OTA update a few weeks ago. I posted a lenghty description of the issue in a separate post, but have gotten no responses. 

 

Same settings, same use, everything. Not sure if that is what is affecting yours, but I'm certain the last update has done something that is absolutely destroying my battery life. I couldn't believe how good it was before the update, now it is garbage.

Teacher

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16 Messages

10 years ago

I use Juice Defender.  There is a free version available from Google Play, but I use the Ultimate.  Under customize, you can turn off connectivity automatically.  You just set what hours you don't want it to connect.  It also tells you how much it has extended your battery life.  It says that it has extended mine 2.16 X over the last 48 hours.

 

Hope this helps!

Scholar

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374 Messages

10 years ago


@Lizmacq wrote:

 It says that it has extended mine 2.16 X over the last 48 hours.

 

Hope this helps!


That's quite a bit to say the least.. If I could double my battery life I would absolutely buy that app but honestly I'm a bit suspect to those kinds of numbers..  May I ask how many hours you get between charges and importantly how many hours does it say your screen was on during that period??  Also what do you keep your brightness at? Auto/20%/30%/50% ect.. 

I use GSam Battery Monitor to gauge whats eating battery life and the constants are Screen and App Usage/Android Systems..

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