Hello everyone,
I would like some advice from you guys as I think you know what you're talking about (and I don't in this area )
Situation:
* not an IT'er, hence not informed about these things
* Current phone = Nokia E51
* Has a long battery life and hence very reliable
* I have a long commute to work every day
Lots of time (waiting) on the train
Would like a phone to mitigate the boredom
Expectations for a new cell phone:
* Battery life of minimally 24 hours
I want to be able to take it off the power grid at 7am on a friday only to have to plug it back in again around 7am on saturday with quite some power (20-25%-ish) to spare
* After having done the following:
some texting and a few minutes of calls throughout the day and evening
browsing/using youtube/watching some movies or listening to music for +-2hours
being able to go out with it at night and google some random stuff (i.e. checking which movies they're playing etc.)
without having to worry in any degree whatsoever that I'll be left with a dead phone in case something unexpected happens during the night (car breakdowns or other accidents, hospital visits, friends or family who urgently need to contact me, etc.)
* Other points of interest:
Budget doesn't matter too much, can be cheap and can be expensive
Screen needs to be fit for reading on the internet/some pdf's etc
No physical keyboard
I do not care about the camera functions
Already took a look at:
* Windowsphone / blackberry (Not my cup of tea)
* HTC (Have only heard bad things about this, and all the people I know who had one got rid of it)
* Iphone (Itunes annoys me, and so do the apple people who freak out about their cell phones)
* Samsung Galaxy S2
Was blown away when I saw this phone
Went to order it yesterday after having read unanimously positive reviews (techradar and such)
Then read about the battery life span which renders it useless to me (had no idea that people can live with that kind of thing in this day and age)
Cancelled it about 2 hours ago and got my money back, thankfully.
* Nokia 5800
link to phone
My brother has this and is happy about it
I can't imagine there's nothing better on the market than a 3 year old phone
So long story short:
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you guys might have for a phone that would suit me. Perhaps I'm too demanding for current technology?
Thanks guys.
When I got the Galaxy S the Battery life was maybe 8 hours. After rooting the phone deleting all the bloatware and installing a custom rom, Well.......... 30 hours +/-.
The point is battery life is soley contingent on how you set up the phone and what you do with it. Frankly, out of the box, Samsung sets the phone up poorly. That is how forums like these got started, They saw great hardware and sucky software.
Now, The S2 is awesome hardware, and the development on it is just beginning. I would recommend you read the S2 forum general and development sections. You are going to find that people have addressed the battery problem.
My Galaxy-S Phone I bought 2 batteries so I would never have to worry about battery...... now, I do not know where the spares are it has been so long since I have needed them.
I would be using the S2 if it was available here in the USA NOW. But we still have to wait 45 days more.
Read up on that forum here is the link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1055
Right Now the best phone out there is the S2
Stick with the Android Format it is way more flexible Win-7 is decent but not enough support, and win7 and Iphone do not make it easy to modify the phone.
Other than the email syncing advantage on the Blackberry it offers nothing else. Android long term is the way to go.
Hope that helps
Yes I followed that forum for a while, which is what made me cancel my order for the S2.
People are getting horrible battery life out of it that is nowhere near the 24hour minimum range I'm requiring, and I doubt they'll be adding 50% to the battery life it currently has.
On a different forum where I posted the same question, one advice that has come in by now is this:
Motorola Defy with Cyanogenmod that puts the latest android OS on it.
I'd like to have a few options though so suggestions are still more than welcome.
I would still go for the GS2 despite the battery issues it will be a great phone
schmeather said:
I would still go for the GS2 despite the battery issues it will be a great phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no "despite" the battery issue I'm not buying a phone to babysit it.
Dear amazing XDA android developers,
I need your help. You have an opportunity to help someone in need and at the same time do something fun and challenging.
But first a little backstory.
Over the last two years, my car has been broken into numerous times. I've had an old smartphone stolen(my treo 650 which I repurposed for gps nav), a stereo stolen, car chargers stolen. My car dash ripped open. I got another stereo from my grandma for christmas which was stolen a month later, even without the faceplate on it. I've also had my garage door beaten in(not to gain access, just to beat it, I suppose). I lock my car at night, but I also have clinically verifiable ADD, and I can never remember for absolutely sure every single night if I locked it - or if they're getting in some other way.
So you're probably wondering why I'm posting this on the Android hacking forum. I need your help catching the hoodlum who is doing this. I bought a new android phone, the thunderbolt, and it replaced my very aging Droid Eris.
What I want to do is activate the Eris on a second line for a month, and use a rom with specially cooked features to make sure it works flawlessly. I need a rom that can do a fake shutdown, where if you hold the power button and choose shutdown from the menu, it'll do a throbber or some other indicator and then shut off the screen, but continue to run. I plan on supergluing the battery case to the phone. I need the tracking apps to never quit from memory no matter what, and I need the GPS to be accurate and the phone to be stable. I plan on running multiple tracking apps(in case one fails). I have a 3500mah battery for the phone so I'm not terribly concerned with battery life. I need the indicator light blinking fairly often to attract attention. Since the Eris has that nice big white light under the trackball I thought that would help more. I also need to hide the tracking apps from the phone home launcher as well.
I'd leave this specially prepared phone on the dash of my car at night, and when it gets stolen(which I bet will take less than a month to happen), I will be able to call the police and find the neighborhood hoodlums and restore order. I've already talked with the police and they've said if I got them the GPS coordinates they can take action to retrieve the phone.
Can you help me with these features and fight crime in the process?
I wasn't sure if this was the right forum to post this in. I know there's a lot of Eris specifics, but I also know this could be a useful project for others with other phones as well who suffer from vandalism and regular thievery.
I will reward the forum with the story of what happens and the result.
Hi everyone, I am a pretty technically savvy person, but a newbie to the world of smartphones. I just got a MT4GS this week and have been getting used to it for the past few days. My main concern is the battery life - understandably, compared to my old feature phone, the smartphone is going to use a lot more juice. I just wasn't expecting to charge it overnight, have it plugged most of the day at work, and still be down to ~70% power by the time I get home. I'm not even doing anything that intense with it. It worries me to think that my phone might die on me if I'm out somewhere for the day. And what is the point of having a phone that can run programs and do all these great things, if you're afraid to use it?
After reading around here, I've already picked up a lot of great tips: I ordered a set of the Anker batteries (my phone was purchased used, and while it is physically in great condition, who knows about the battery), and I installed the 2x Battery app. I've reduced my screen brightness; turned off background data; turned off GPS; and when I'm on WiFi, I have 4G off, and vice versa.
A couple of questions:
1) Without doing anything crazy to the phone or default OS, is there anything else you recommend doing to conserve battery life?
2) In 2x Battery, there is a setting "Pause when WiFi on." The description here is kind of confusing, and I can't tell if it's working or not. If I want the mobile data connection off when connected to WiFi, do I want this option checked or unchecked? Right now I'm connected to WiFi, but it appears that mobile data is on whether this box is checked or not.
Thank you so much for all the great info so far, and for any advice you can offer me )
Well, firstly, good call on the anker batteries. I have one, and it's changed my life with this device. I went from being exactly as you described (scared to go somewhere without knowing exactly where my next source of power was) to not paying it much mind.
Secondly, if you are unrooted stock - then you have a whole lot of apps working in the background and conspiring together to drain your battery. ...and there's nothing you can do about it because both T-Mobile and HTC saw fit to place them there, running around the clock and beyond your control.
This is known as bloat, and on this phone it's beyond out of control. It's out of control on other phones, but they took it to a special place of exasperation on this one.
I am not sure about this 2x battery app you're speaking of, i've never used it. Consider this, though, it's one MORE app running on your device and draining your battery - and if you are stock this may be something you can ill afford.
As far as the wifi/data dance, this is nothing more then a feel-good measure that really isn't doing anything for you except adding to your interaction with the device. The time your screen is on to make that change takes more battery use then you would save on several hours of having one or the other switched off.
Check this link below (another XDA post):
Everything you wanted to know about Li-Ion batteries but were afraid to ask!
...and it may help you out with battery care.
For me, running my custom ROM with an anker battery and all the apps/widgets I prefer to use I can get 6-8 hours out of a charge on the anker battery with semi-steady usage.
This is with both wifi, mobile data and background data on, and the screen on but at mostly dim brightness for 4-5 of those 6-8.
If I overclock the processor to 1.7Ghz (stock it stops at 1.2Ghz) and hook it up to a television using a playstation (game console) emulator...running flat out at full speed I can drain the (anker) battery in as little as 3 hours.
Something that may interest you as time wears on and you get used to having the anker batteries and using them is what is mentioned in this thread:
external battery pack! Awesome!
...and there are many out there and good deals to be had on some, poke around a bit and you'll find one suitable if such is your desire.
One last thing to consider - make sure you are using the proper charging port.
Most USB ports on computers only push half an amp, as well as nearly every single secondary port on chargers (think car chargers with an 'extra' USB port). Half an amp is not enough current to charge the device if being used, and barely enough to see positive battery increase if not.
Make sure whatever you plug into is pushing 5volts 1amp, or you'll see your battery level continue to drop as you are charging.
(oh, and GPS is something you WILL see more battery life from turning off if not using - so having something like a soundhound app widget on your home screen with location on will eat your battery before you know it's gone by activating the GPS.)
Dimming the screen if possible will see you the greatest gains in battery life, and then getting rid of any apps you can that are running in the background is the next biggest step - but again, if stock and unrooted there is only so much you can do on app management.
DON'T USE TASK KILLERS - EVER. (they do much, much more harm then any falsely perceived good you may think you are getting from them.)
Recap:
Screen = biggest battery drain.
GPS chip/use = second biggest drain.
Apps in background = third biggest drain.
Wifi/mobile data = negligable drain.
Hope this helps a bit.
Edit:
Oh, and welcome to XDA!
Blue pretty much covered everything that I was going to say. I also have the Anker battery, and I also have the Anker 5600 mah external battery, and I no longer have battery worries. I choose the Anker external battery over the other ones because of its small portable size, even though some of the other ones have more capacity. I find that I can get about two full charges of my phone with it, and it is small enough to fit in my pocket or purse with no problem. I highly recommend an external battery just for piece of mind, knowing that I no longer have to be searching every place I go for an outlet. I love that I can charge my phone while it is in my pocket or purse. Also the price isn't too bad, I bought mine for about $40, but I see Amazon now has it for $33. I bought it from a company called Laptop Mate on Amazon, and it was shipped amazingly fast even though I just got standard shipping. Laptop Mate then said if I wrote a review I could choose a free gift. The gifts were not anything spectacular, but the gesture was nice. At the time I could choose between a usb powered reading light, a card reader, and I forget what the other one was. Again nothing great, but it was just a nice bonus, I will definitely buy from that company again. So with my Anker internal battery, and my external battery, I could reasonably not have to plug my phone into the wall for at least two days, I could stretch it more if I was camping or something. I really like keeping my screen at full brightness, so that is where most of my drain comes from. Well, sorry for the long winded response, and welcome to XDA. I bet that in a month you will wonder what you ever did with out a smart phone.
http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Externa...on/dp/B005K7192G/ref=pd_rhf_gw_cpp_tab0_p_t_1
Thank you so much for your very thorough responses! I am happy to report that since making a few little changes (turning down my screen brightness, turning off the background data sync), performance is already noticeably better. Yesterday I was on battery power for close to 14 hours, was on and off WiFi, talked on the phone probably a couple hours total, and used it what I would consider a "normal" amount (e-mail, photos, some social networking)... and still had ~50% power left by the time I went to bed. That is much more reassuring to me, and I can only assume performance would get even better once I get those new batteries.
I understand about the "bloat" and having all these extra things running, but I think doing anything with the ROM is a little above my expertise at this point. For now, things seem to be working reasonably, so we'll see...
I like the external charger idea, but I am going to hold off for now. I ordered the 2-pack of Anker batteries, so once I get those, I'll have 3 batteries. One should be fine for a normal day, and if I'm really going to be out for a while and not have any opportunity to recharge, or will be using the phone a lot, I could just bring along a spare or two. (Good thing I am a lady with a purse - what do guys do?! Carry a man bag? My husband is considering getting the same phone, so this is a valid concern.)
I'm apparently too new to post a link to 2x Battery, which I've seen mentioned elsewhere on this board, but that's the name if you want to look it up in the Android Market. Even if it is using a little more battery power, I think it's worth it. It puts controls for things that use battery power all in one place, and it makes it very easy to monitor the current battery status. I think I'll stick with it, at least until I get a better sense of how my use affects the battery.
Per the question of a man hauling batteries, I just carry a spare battery or two I'm my front pocket. If I am carrying keys I will slap a piece of tape accross the terminals to prevent a short. One or two guys carry their spare gear in a camera case. I can haul most all I need in a corner of my Levi's front pocket.
I also used to run Juice Defender, it got irritating waiting for the data connection to spin up and the benefits were outweighed (IMHO) by the downsides. Killing data every time the screen turns off was grim.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement
I have a zipper case I keep the phone in, and it's not much larger then the device itself. Above and beyond keeping dust out ( primary function ) it also has a small pocket on the outside I keep a few knick-knacks in, like a retractable micro-usb cable, backup memory card ( recovery purposes) mini flash drive and spare battery.
I highly recommend some kind of small zipper case for the device to keep out the dust, best $10 investment I've made for the phone.
Not in a position to link pics at the moment, but I'll do so over the next few days when I get the chance - especially floating loose in a potentially dusty purse it's something to consider.
I wish the video cable was something I could cram in to it as well, but that presents too much bulk for it to work, I have a mini camera case I carry sometimes with the A/V cable, AC adapter, another micro-usb cable and some memory cards and flash drives - something to consider for yourself for carrying cables and such since you most likely have room in your purse for a mini camera case with such things.
Sent from a digital distance.
Thanks for all the carrying tips!
Blue6IX said:
I highly recommend some kind of small zipper case for the device to keep out the dust, best $10 investment I've made for the phone.
Not in a position to link pics at the moment, but I'll do so over the next few days when I get the chance - especially floating loose in a potentially dusty purse it's something to consider.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really worried about my own phone, it has its own little pocket inside my purse, and I don't know what kind of ladies you hang out with, but my purse is not dusty...
Please forgive - I meant no offense by it.
I threw in the word potentially because while I have seen some pristine purses, i've also seen some which haven't been vacuumed out in a long time, if ever. The very fine dust that gets in during the course of normal travel is what our enemy is here. (...and yours may be vacuumed out on a consistent basis, really only you can know.)
This need not just be dirt, even the fibers of the material wearing off in tiny fractions of an amount from simply carrying it around (material rubbing against material as it's shape stretches, bends and contorts) is enough to be a hazard to the device. Over time this adds up.
(though, saying it has it's own pocket/pouch within the purse itself lends a good deal more protection and paints a much better picture then the previous blanket statement of 'in my purse')
Due to the slide mechanism and the exposed back of the LCD screen it is very easy to get dust under the screen, in between the layers of it.
Slide it open with the screen at max brightness, then flip it over. Look at the very end of the slide channels on the screen side, from an angle on the side. You will be able to clearly see the light shining through opposite the T-Mobile branding on the backside of where the genius button is. Look past the greenish tint and see the whitish light, noticing how it extends inwards.
You can now look at the other side, right by the T-Mobile branding in the same spot and though you can't see the light shining through, you can see how very fine dust can work it's way in between the digitizer and screen.
'Dust under screen' is something that people who post here at XDA have made warranty exchanges over, as well as who knows how many who don't post have done. It's a valid exchange gripe that is in fact covered under warranty from what the people who have posted about it have led us to believe. There are also plenty of 'dust under screen' doubleshots on reduced price on ebay that you could look up this very moment.
Again, I meant no offense, but was simply trying to use the situation presented to illustrate a potential hazard your new device could fall victim of. Hopefully by bringing it to your attention you can take steps to minimize any damage, or at least present you with the opportunity to later be in a situation of:
'Oh well, at least I knew it was coming'
...as opposed to:
'Wow, I wish I knew that could have happened'
We only wish you to get the best experience possible from your Android, and while there is a lot of important info here...'tis easy to become overwhelmed by it all and miss some of the important things that could help you immediately, or should be known immediately.
Glad to hear you are already in better straights over the management of your available power!
By the way - thanks for endeavoring to clarify the app you were using for battery management, i'll definitely scope it out when I get a chance.
Blue6IX said:
Please forgive - I meant no offense by it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None taken, I just thought it was funny
Thanks for the tips about dust, though. That wasn't something I had really considered, though I'm hoping to get a bit more life out of this phone than my last few (cheap, and switched on a whim), so I'll be sure to keep things clean. Is it ok to spray the back of the slide-out with some compressed air, or could that cause other problems?
Little update:
I did use a little compressed air to clean out the back of the phone, so hopefully I didn't hurt anything.
Two different cases are on their way to me - I'll see which I like more and return the other.
I've had the Anker battery in for just a couple hours, and it's already amazing! I've been using the phone a decent amount, turned on notifications and everything I'd switched off, and it's still at 100%! Also feels much cooler than the other battery. It was a tight fit, like everyone said, but I did get it in and fit the back cover over it.
But, weird thing: when I turn the phone sideways, the screen no longer rotates. It will still rotate if I slide the keyboard up, but otherwise it's like it doesn't recognize that the orientation changed. Did the battery mess something up?
The screen didn't rotate on it's own unless you slid the keyboard out if you are using the stock launcher - you may have made the same mistake I did in thinking it was so, but it wasn't.
Home screens, in the app drawer...etc... not made to auto-rotate.
You just happened to finally realize it - same thing happened to me.
I even argued against it, and couldn't figure out why it was changed.
A while later while I was going through the code that comprises Rosie (sense launcher) I actually saw that it wasn't made to do so.
So no, the battery didn't mess this up, it's the way it was supposed to be.
The reason for it is there is an alignment issue with some widgets when it switches from portrait to landscape in Rosie. I'm not sure how to fix it the way they have it coded, i've been scratching my head on this one for a while and tried a few things with no success.
HTC could learn a few things from some aftermarket app designers ( like the team that made GO launcher, for instance)
The way they built it, I don't think it's possible to fix their mistake, it's too interwoven and embedded in the design of the code.
Edit - it still and always has, autorotated while you are in apps themselves if they support it.
Oh you're right! That's funny, I never noticed before. In other apps, the screen does rotate normally, so I guess all is good...
Going on 12 hours with this battery, with all notifications, synching, etc. turned on, and I'm still at 67% ... And this is right out of the box, without the 4-5 cycles they recommend. I'm very happy with it so far!
Hey guys,
for a few weeks now, my phone has been randomly shutting off at the slightest increase of load. Whether it be loading a YouTube video, playing the casual session of Cut the Rope (Does it count as casual when you complete all three parts with perfects everywhere in about two weeks?) and maybe Plants vs Zombies.
I've not seen similar symptoms on XDA, but who knows when it will hit the next person?
Now, I've searched quite a few forums, such as Android Central, but haven't found a thread similar to this.
I created this thread, in the hopes that it'll help some more people.
Read on if you think you have a bad battery.
Likely symptoms of a bad battery
Serial number starts with BD (Could it be short for BAD? Illuminati! Just kidding )
Phone randomly shuts off completely at the slightest increase of load
Phone refuses to power on again for a few minutes (Turning it back on usually causes it to shut off before/during boot)
The phone constantly looses signal
The phone gets extremely hot when not being used
I've had all of these symptoms and I can promise you it's a known problem.
What will happen if I don't change the battery?
Several things might happen if you don't change the battery:
The battery may explode (Leaving you with either a really big hole in your leg, or worse you might loose some bits and pieces.
The battery may leak and damage your phone irreparably.
The battery may leak and corrode your legs, clothes or what ever encloses the phone.
What can I do?
You can either go to a Samsung Repair Centre or go to your local retailer/provider.
They should cover this under warranty, no matter if the device is rooted or not.
If they don't, you CAN press charges/sue the company/provider.
Why? If they do not replace your battery, they may lead you to harm either by explosion or corrosion.
But that's a last-resort.
What I did, is following:
I called my provider (German Telekom, call them for free from your mobile in Germany under
Code:
2202
) and told them what is going on. They asked me what exactly is happening and got following response:
German Telekom Call Centre Agent said:
Oh, f*ck. Get to your nearest store and get that replaced immediately!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which is what I'm doing tomorrow.
You can always use this as a good excuse to buy one of those extended batteries, but why should you? The stock battery is pretty decent.
I'll update this thread when I'm back or on my way back home and let you guys know what exactly happened.
I hope this can help someone with these issues and I can help prevent loosing a leg, or worse, different bits and bobs.
If you're experiencing this problem, and you've done something similar, let others know below!
Edit: I had a Galaxy S III lying around. It's battery fits more or less snug and works as long as you have the back panel on the phone. I'm using it until I get to the store tomorrow.
Yeah....I had the battery problem on S4 about two months ago and Samsung confirm that it was a known issue and that about 30% of S4 battery might be affected. They replaced my battery without any question asked.
See link below as well:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/...lems-samsung-offers-free-battery-replacements
Part of the symptoms include swollen battery as well. My battery got swollen to a point that it started pushing my battery cover and the screen out. If you want to know that you have a swollen battery, put it on a desk and give it a spin. If it rolls (with the middle of the battery touching the desk) , then you have a defective battery and you should get it replaced at no cost.
Another symptom is that your battery could go from 100% charged to 0% (phone won't be able to start unless you connect a charger) during a reboot. It will then jumped to about 80% full after connecting your phone to a charger.
Beatsleigher said:
Hey guys,
Edit: I had a Galaxy S III lying around. It's battery fits more or less snug and works as long as you have the back panel on the phone. I'm using it until I get to the store tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May I propose you to use the SEARCH button BEFORE you will start another thread?
I know it is painful, as you just have discovered America... sadly, you're the 1492nd person who did it in last week only.
possible search result, if you'd not be too lazy...
May I propose to read the thread?
It contains solutions and symptoms of a bad battery. And I was giving my personal experiences
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Beatsleigher said:
May I propose to read the thread?
It contains solutions and symptoms of a bad battery. And I was giving my personal experiences
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Symptoms: serial number of faulty batch; swithing off while showing different load state, heating, swollen battery.
Remedy: replace the battery. By purchasing, visiting the Samsung centre or calling the Samsung Customer Help in ANY country.
So, please, read the linked thread again. Take special attention on the posts: 1; 2; 9; 12; 17; 18; 28; 29; 33; 34; 36.
So far, you were unable to find the linked in my previous post thread, what gives some interesting picture about the ... ability of searching.
Symptoms: wrong as well, because typical for DB bad battery case symptom is that you cannot turn the phone on back again, no matter how long you would wait, without putting the phone to the charger. As well, phone was not going hot (above normal level) no matter, used or not.
Finally, the phone wasn't loosing signal more frequently than normal.
"What will happen section" :, your statement that bad BD series battery will leak, explode, cause the nuclear blast or whatever is unjustified, because the battery is swelling so badly that it would damage the screen much faster. ( further info here and here - I hope you will be able to find the appropriate posts by yourself. If not - please ask, I will help you if your parents are too busy).
Furthermore, so called solutions you tried to provide are ridiculous, as Samsung knows the problem with BD batteries and replaces it without single word, worldwide (examples from threads: Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe).
Last but not least: on the XDA, there is simple set of rules, where one of them states: DO NOT REPLICATE the posts and threads, USE the search button before posting and add your comment to the existing thread before starting a new one if the similar thread exists.
so far, your thread is the 4th related with officially called back by Samsung faulty BD series of batteries.
I don't see anything wrong with this thread and am leaving it open. It provides useful information, which is clearly outlined in the OP, and may cut down on future threads being opened about it.
Towle
Forum Moderator
All right. Let me start by saying I've had this phone since it first came out and until very recently it's been a great device for me. Yes I have the T-Mobile US version with a locked bootloader, which sucks as far as ROMS etc. go. Yes its GPS can be less than reliable occasionally thanks to issues with Lollipop, which we're stuck with. But everything else it did just great. The battery life was one of my favorite things about it- if I started a day with 60% it would be just fine.
Until about a month ago. About a month ago, the phone developed this <sarcasm>neat trick</sarcasm> where it would get really hot and burn through about ten percent of its battery or more in ten minutes or less.
My initial thought is that I'd have to wipe the phone and start from scratch (followed closely by rooting and loading up an Android Nougat ROM, but we all know how that's worked out for the D6616 ). But I'd really like to avoid wiping if at all possible.
Here are my working theories, let me know what you think I should do to further diagnose:
Some New App is Responsible- The obvious candidate. I installed GSam Battery Monitor to look into this, hoping to find an obvious culprit to delete. Sadly the only apps using more than 2% are whatever app I've been actively using with the screen on, Android System, Kernel (Android OS), and Google Services. I uninstalled a bunch of unneccesary apps anyway, but it didn't improve things very much.
The New York Subway System - Stay with me here, it's not entirely a joke. I live in New York City and recently all of the stations had cell service and wifi activated on underground platforms, but not between stations. So when I ride the train (a significant chunk of my day as I freelance work in clients' homes) I'm going in and out of service constantly. And things do tend to improve when I turn on airplane mode when I get on a train. But not a lot. And the overheating and battery sucking behavior does happen sometimes when I'm aboveground.
The Battery Itself- This is the one I'm most worried about because the fix just sucks. The phone is now over three years old, and I do use it pretty much every day, only turning it off at night or when I'm traveling abroad. That's a long time for a lithium battery. My understanding is that near the end of their lives, they do overheat and lose charge quickly after a while. Since this is a waterproof phone and I'm in the US, I'd have to ship it to Sony for 2-3 weeks a repair if I want to keep it's waterproofing abilites (I do). I'm betting that's not cheap. My real hesistation with this one though, is that my phone is about as old as most other people's on here, so if this were the case, I'd expect a ton of users here or on T-Mobile's forum to be complaining about the same problems. I haven't looked closely but I haven't seen many people with this problem.
So that's where I am. Any ideas? Things I should try out to get more info? I'd really like to solve this, and I'd bet figuring out on here would help others in a similar position. Thanks!
Managed to get some relief by wiping the phone. Didn't restore it to the good old days of 60%-in-the-morning-no-problem-all-day, but was decent. But now it's come up again. I can and will wipe the phone again if I have to but if there's a more elegant solution someone has found over the past 10 months or so, I'd love to hear about it.
Thought I'd solved it when the sd card died and I wiped/replaced that. But then it started having the same problems a few weeks later on a new card. I wiped the phone and the SD next and I'm still having issues. Heck, I've even had it heat up while in TWRP recovery mode, so I'm pretty sure we're looking at a hardware issue.
My first instinct would be the battery but according to the internal temp sensors, the battery isn't that hot (39 or so C). The CPU on the other hand is getting very, very hot (spikes to 72 degrees C). This tallies with what I feel on the phone looking at diagrams of the innards: the hot part is about a third of the way down from the top of the phone, where the CPU is.
Any idea what bit would have to be replaced to fix this?