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Battery life is plunging from 80% to zero

Hey all,
About three weeks ago I had a strange problem. I noticed that in two straight charge cycles, my battery life plummeted from about 80% to zero in just a few hours. I'm not sure what the issue was. I hadn't changed settings, installed new apps, etc. My first screenshot shows an example of what happened. 4G and data were off during the entire time.
Since then, things have been okay. I typically get 3 days standby with 4G on and light use, or 4 days with 4G off. That's mostly standby with maybe an hour or so of talking and minimal use.
After those strange battery plummets, I installed and used GSam Battery Monitor to get more details about what processes were running on my phone in case I noticed the sharp drop happening again. Everything had been fine for over two weeks, with me getting expected battery life before this issue and not experiencing any odd, sudden drops (maybe 5 or 6 charge cycles). This lends me to conclude that my battery's charge capacity is okay, and calibration also shouldn't be an issue.
However, the problem arose once again a couple days ago. Went from 75% to nothing in just a few hours. 4G was off during that time. The third and fourth screenshots show the same issue. Charged my phone, and this morning the same thing happened yet again. At about 90% the plummet began, and within an hour or so I was at 75%. At this point I took screenshots of Android's battery status, and I also did the same for GSam to show what apps and processes were running. The phone's temperature seemed fine.
The GSam screenshots taken when the phone was at 75% and dropping are in the next post, since I'm limited to four images in this one. I have no idea what's causing this massive, sudden battery drain. The only thing I can think of is that I've done Verizon's OTA updates, but otherwise pretty much all my settings, apps, and usage are the same. Plus, for two weeks I had normal battery behavior, so I'm completely baffled.
I also know that cell standby is incorrectly reported in the GS3 battery screen, and I'm getting a good signal where I live so that shouldn't be a problem. I forgot to get screen time for the first case (first two images), but it shouldn't be more than 10-15 min there since most of the charge was lost due to the freak plummet.
If anyone may have an idea of what's going on, or if there are some tools/tests I may use to figure this out, I'd really appreciate it. I turned off my phone after taking the screenshots at 75%, so if I need to turn it on and check something for you I can probably do that. Thanks a lot.

FYI, here are GSam screenshots from when the battery was in the process of plummeting this morning.

i think you built in battery status settings are off. i barely get 12 hrs with medium use, so what i think it happens is that the battery monitor is not showing the proper discharge, and then all of a sudden it catches up to the discharge rate.
are you on stock rom, rooted, unlocked bootloader?

wizzardeel said:
i think you built in battery status settings are off. i barely get 12 hrs with medium use, so what i think it happens is that the battery monitor is not showing the proper discharge, and then all of a sudden it catches up to the discharge rate.
are you on stock rom, rooted, unlocked bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am stock rom. No rooting, no unlocking.
These plunges are definitely an anomaly. Truly, with me barely using the phone and turning off mobile data, I get a few days of standby. I've had the phone since July, and the aberration in battery behavior has been the steep plunges I've shown.
In between these instance of steep plunges, I've had normal use. I really don't think it's an issue of calibration. Please believe me when I say that my normal, light use during the past four months gets me anywhere from 3-5 days with me barely using the phone. When I say barely using it, I mean not even touching it for an entire day if nobody calls me. But now, a sudden plunge in battery life is happening at 80% with no apparent reason.
I think it might be some kind of software or hardware glitch, but it's impossible for this to be normal given the battery life I typically get. Just looking at that steep drop, it's crazy and just happens out of nowhere.
But please trust me when I say that these sudden plunges that have happened a total of 4 or 5 times, causing the battery to drain completely in a few hours when I'm not touching it, are quite a drastic aberration from the normal standby life I get. Something is definitely wrong here, I just don't know what.
And one more thing to add is that after this sudden plunge and rapid drain, charging the battery still takes the normal time it does when I'm not having this issue. That is, about 2.5-3 hours to reach a full charge (and I charge with the phone 'off'). The battery is being completely drained. But this happened twice, then didn't happen for maybe 5-6 charge cycles, then happened again twice.
Before the first instance, I remember an OTA Verizon update around 10/5. My phone was okay for 2-3 charge cycles after that. Then two rapid drains. Then 5-6 normal cycles. Then two more rapid drains. There was a second Verizon OTA update somewhere in there but I can't remember.

and you said it only started once you did the OTA update from verizon right? well you could either try to go back to the stock verizon rom pre-update and see what happens there, or contact verizon and let them know what happens with the new OTA update. they could replace your phone, or it could be a bug of the new OTA update. i am on stock rom and rooted and deleted the apk that kept on trying to push the update. just unlocked by bootloader and so far my battery life has improved compared to previous locked bootloader.

i would take it to a verizon store and show them. They might give you a new battery.

I may have to do that. I'm just not really sure what the issue is.
- The battery can still hold a full charge.
- Based on running services, nothing is causing high CPU usage.
- The sudden plummet almost seems kind of random.
- Since there have been normal charge cycles, it's not an issue of calibration.
I'm not sure if this is a hardware issue or software issue. I'm trying to wrap my brain around what could cause the battery to drain so suddenly and sharply. Could the charge somehow be "leaking"? But in that case I'd expect it to happen all the time. If there's an underlying software issue, is there any other tool I might be able to use to figure it out?

Does the phone get hot?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

jhoutz said:
Does the phone get hot?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not from what I can tell. Note that the first couple plummet drains were overnight.
But today I caught it before noon. The phone wasn't hot, and the GSam screenshots show no CPU stress.

Maybe you can do a factory reset and se if that helps. They will probably do one if you bring it to verizon anyways. It sure sound like a hardware problem. You'd think if the processors are working that hard that the phone would get hot, I know mine gets pretty hot sometimes under heavy use.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Thing is, all indications show the CPU isn't working hard, and the phone wasn't hot.
I'm stumped.
This is a noobish question, but I presume the only way to go back to stock is to factory reset? One thing I might wait for is the Jelly Bean update, presuming this random drain holds off until then.
But yea, I dread going into VZW because they're just going to try to pass this off onto me doing something wrong, or me not knowing how to calibrate the battery, etc. The information I've provided in my OP and in the screenshots would fly over their heads. Maybe I can just do an online chat and tell VZ to send me another battery?
The only other thing I can think of is that sometime before these plummets happened, I went online to MyVerizon and turned off the Backup Assistant for movies/music/etc. so I wouldn't get all those notifications. I don't think this could be the issue, since the plummet happens when data is off. Plus, GSam would show that Backup Assistant is hogging the CPU or forcing a signal.
I doubt swapping batteries will fix it, though. I'm thinking my internal hardware might have a serious problem.

inm8num2 said:
Thing is, all indications show the CPU isn't working hard, and the phone wasn't hot.
I'm stumped.
This is a noobish question, but I presume the only way to go back to stock is to factory reset? One thing I might wait for is the Jelly Bean update, presuming this random drain holds off until then.
But yea, I dread going into VZW because they're just going to try to pass this off onto me doing something wrong, or me not knowing how to calibrate the battery, etc. The information I've provided in my OP and in the screenshots would fly over their heads. Maybe I can just do an online chat and tell VZ to send me another battery?
The only other thing I can think of is that sometime before these plummets happened, I went online to MyVerizon and turned off the Backup Assistant for movies/music/etc. so I wouldn't get all those notifications. I don't think this could be the issue, since the plummet happens when data is off. Plus, GSam would show that Backup Assistant is hogging the CPU or forcing a signal.
I doubt swapping batteries will fix it, though. I'm thinking my internal hardware might have a serious problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before the update, was everything normal?
Is the update with the HE base/baseband?
It probably isn't a hardware problem, just a bad base.
I've noticed after updating my GS3 to the HE base and the battery life was just horrid.
It's said that the new HE baseband uses up more battery also

emckai said:
Before the update, was everything normal?
Is the update with the HE base/baseband?
It probably isn't a hardware problem, just a bad base.
I've noticed after updating my GS3 to the HE base and the battery life was just horrid.
It's said that the new HE baseband uses up more battery also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "HE" base/baseband.
But yea, this problem didn't come up until after an OTA update.

Check your baseband version under Settings -> About and paste it here
Sent from my rooted Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII

It's I535VRLHE
Kernel version: 3.0.8-1092717
Build number IMM76D.I535VRALHE
I turned on the phone and within 10 min or so the battery life went down by 2-3% without me doing anything. As a test I've put it into Airplane mode, and it's decreased by about 2% in 45 min.
Now I'm wondering if I have a faulty antenna or something.

Yup ive had it drain 90% overnight many times for no reason. Called verizon and my new battery should be here today.

1+ day on battery and only 11 minutes of screen time?!?

inm8num2 said:
It's I535VRLHE
Kernel version: 3.0.8-1092717
Build number IMM76D.I535VRALHE
I turned on the phone and within 10 min or so the battery life went down by 2-3% without me doing anything. As a test I've put it into Airplane mode, and it's decreased by about 2% in 45 min.
Now I'm wondering if I have a faulty antenna or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HE is the baseband version and the build number. For example I have: Android Version: 4.0.4
Baseband: I535VRLG7
Build: IM76D.I535VRALG7
which is the version before the update.
Like everybody else said, call Verizon or go to a store and let them know about the battery issues and they should send you a new one. Or even call Samsung and tell them you bought an S3 through Verizon and you are having battery hardware issues.

sonser said:
1+ day on battery and only 11 minutes of screen time?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, no calls made or received during that time. No data being used.
So, wasn't really using the phone during that time...

[Q] Sudden battery drain problem

I have an Infuse that I got a little over two years ago. It started out with Froyo and I installed the official Gingerbread update after using the phone for a while. Long story short, I will need to keep it for a while yet so I can't just upgrade through my carrier (AT&T).
Here's my problem. A few months ago, I very abruptly had a battery problem. One day I had a normal recharge/discharge cycle in terms of how long the battery lasted (usually around 60% remaining when I plugged it in at night), and the next day the entire battery was drained in less than 14 hours. I typically leave it plugged in at work now, whereas before I could go for almost two days without needing to charge. Nothing changed in how much I used it. I had not installed any new programs.
I want to try to fix this phone before forking over money for a new one. Does anyone have an idea of what is going on here? Looking at my battery usage stats, "cell standby" seems to be in 1st or 2nd place for battery drain, depending on how much the screen has been on (with typical use for me, "display" is usually #1, but if I've not checked my messages or email much, that drops down to 2nd-4th place with cell standby at the top). I'm not sure if that info is of any help.
Someone told me recently that he had a similar problem with a (different) older phone, and someone had told him that some of the older technology in the towers was being phased out and the phone was draining its battery looking for a signal that wasn't as strong anymore due to there being fewer towers it could get a signal from. Is that true?
Thanks to whoever can give me any assistance. If you need more info please ask.

QuantaFille said:
I have an Infuse that I got a little over two years ago. It started out with Froyo and I installed the official Gingerbread update after using the phone for a while. Long story short, I will need to keep it for a while yet so I can't just upgrade through my carrier (AT&T).
Here's my problem. A few months ago, I very abruptly had a battery problem. One day I had a normal recharge/discharge cycle in terms of how long the battery lasted (usually around 60% remaining when I plugged it in at night), and the next day the entire battery was drained in less than 14 hours. I typically leave it plugged in at work now, whereas before I could go for almost two days without needing to charge. Nothing changed in how much I used it. I had not installed any new programs.
I want to try to fix this phone before forking over money for a new one. Does anyone have an idea of what is going on here? Looking at my battery usage stats, "cell standby" seems to be in 1st or 2nd place for battery drain, depending on how much the screen has been on (with typical use for me, "display" is usually #1, but if I've not checked my messages or email much, that drops down to 2nd-4th place with cell standby at the top). I'm not sure if that info is of any help.
Someone told me recently that he had a similar problem with a (different) older phone, and someone had told him that some of the older technology in the towers was being phased out and the phone was draining its battery looking for a signal that wasn't as strong anymore due to there being fewer towers it could get a signal from. Is that true?
Thanks to whoever can give me any assistance. If you need more info please ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lets rule out any obvious culprit by installing Wakelock Detector, and letting it run until the battery becomes low (then post the stats). There may be an app that stands out.
I have a similar issue with my current phone. It is sporadic, and I think it is a process within Android Services that came with Fly-On Mod (once a week I have bad battery but a reboot fixes it, only discovered it after installing Fly-On). Haven't bothered removing it yet because a latest ROM update seems imminent and I would rather wait for that if I'm wiping everything.

Battery Drain on Android Pie?

Hi All--
I've been on the Android P Beta for a while.
However, starting with the final beta that was released (and now on the final version of pie) I've been experiencing really quick battery drain.
Tried a total wipe and restore, and the same thing. My wife (also the pixel) isn't having those issues at all.
Thoughts?
(nothing shows up in the battery section)

Yes, I had great battery life. Then once Android Pie was released, jumped on the beta to get 9 sooner. Then got the upgrade from beta to final and battery life is horrible. I did not factory reset, I have battery saver on and it doesn'tseem to matter. If I leave on standby, no issues. If I use the phone, it can bleed as much as 10% per hour! Unacceptable. I may try factory resetting, but idk...

have you allocated sufficient time for app battery optimization?

I also have a pixel, Android 9.0/Pie (bought it brand new three days ago) and think battery is draining very (!) quick.
Yesterday I had roughly 2.5 SOT (with battery saver enabled) and this seems consistent with what I can expect typically. I did factory reset and have tried restricting "background activity" for my frequent apps - seems to make no difference. Obviously it had not time to do full battery optimization yet I guess, but I doubt it would mean a that big difference?
Saw a thread where someone mentioned it seems CPU-freq is high/inc. very rapidly when just tapping the screen (GPU-0%), and I can agree with that although I have not the prev. experience of what to expect.
My previous experience is with Xiaomi mi6/mi5 (lineage 15.1), similar usage would give 2x or 3x SOT (however with some other hw-issues.. ).

perIpIx said:
I also have a pixel, Android 9.0/Pie (bought it brand new three days ago) and think battery is draining very (!) quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reinstall factory image & see if that helps.

post-mortem said:
Reinstall factory image & see if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashed factory image without -w/"wipe". Will that do or should it be "full" factory reset to make sense?

Thank you for your information, I will stay on Oreo.

perIpIx said:
Flashed factory image without -w/"wipe". Will that do or should it be "full" factory reset to make sense?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it would make a difference. The user data is on a different partition.
You could try flashing the image again, without Magisk or any other additions.

I had used up 50% with only 21 minutes screen on time.
I noticed the app Device Health Services, was constantly active in the background.

I had the same like the OP: everything was fine until the last beta came, and battery is draining faster, phone gets hot from even the smallest usage even in the prod release of android pie.
I was thinking it has something to do with being about 36 degrees (summer time....), but it is the same even in cooler temperature rooms. It's like if the phone is constantly doing something in the background, but only if I use it.

It has been a few days since I upgraded my Pixel 2. Battery life is noticably worse, maybe 20-30% more battery drain in a day than what I saw in Oreo.

I notice the issue as well. I did factory reset after update it's been a week. I was on beta and started noticing battery issues in the first beta and throughout. I decided to install Accubattery to track my battery usage and ended up with a result.
My phone states the battery is in good condition but this app says otherwise. I guess it's time to change the battery along with cracked screen!

i'm curious if my battery is shot as well... Seems like after I purchased my used Pixel.. the battery is not as lasting as I hoped for the smaller pixel phone... I may try one of those battery testing apps to see if it will tell me its current health..

I normally welcome up updates, but this update screwed up my battery life so bad. I mean everything was perfect until the update. Now the battery drains so fast I can watch the percentage count down like a timer and now when the battery gets anywhere from 15-40% the phone will just shut down.
I would like to go back to oreo, but it's such a pain in the ass having to back everything up and flash a ROM considering I haven't done that since before I bought the pixel

I have the same problem. I hope Google can fix it.

Wow, that is not normal. Stock android 9 with root and elemental kernel.... I go back to android 8.1.0 and wait for feature releases

I think I found an Draining App/Setting
I disable the RCS Service on my Phone. It can be found under Messages >> 3 dot Menu >> Settings >> broadcast News. Disable it.
And then Bluetooth and WiFi scan disable.

Same here, crazy idle drain after pie, only 50% deep sleep, tried factory reset and no luck

Try BetterBatteryStats. People in that thread spend their free time analyzing logs to tell you what's eating up all your battery life.

jambo89liam said:
I had used up 50% with only 21 minutes screen on time.
I noticed the app Device Health Services, was constantly active in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem :crying::crying:

Why did the August update destroy my battery life?

I'm not even kidding. Everything was perfect and I had absolutely no problems until they sent out that update. Now I can watch my battery percentage dropping by the second and my phone will shut off around 30%.
Once again, I had no problems until the August update. I never even rooted this phone, so the last thing I want to do is to figure that out to downgrade to the last version. I will if I have to though

If your phone spontaneously shuts down with the battery at 30%, then I see 2 possibilities:
It's overheating, or
The battery has reached end-of-life
Use an app to determine the remaining capacity of your battery (usually displayed in mAh). The results of such apps should be taken with a grain of salt, but if it says your battery is only at 60 or 70% of original capacity, then it's definitely not normal.

magnumtripod said:
I'm not even kidding. Everything was perfect and I had absolutely no problems until they sent out that update. Now I can watch my battery percentage dropping by the second and my phone will shut off around 30%.
Once again, I had no problems until the August update. I never even rooted this phone, so the last thing I want to do is to figure that out to downgrade to the last version. I will if I have to though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try to go to recovery, wipe cache and reboot. Or, if possible, wait for the next security update and see if it gets fixed if you have a spare phone to use. These are the only two opportunities without messing around or loosing data.
A downgrade always needs a full data wipe AFAIK. If you aren't afraid of data loss, you could try a full factory reset and see if the battery drain is gone.

I noticed the same on my Pixel - i don't use it a great deal and was seeing 6 days before it'd drop to 30 to 35% battery level, now i'm seeing 2.5 to 3 days - my usage has not changed
I really don't think it's battery nearing end of life - the phone & battery are just now hitting the 2 yr mark

TheOrigRalph said:
I noticed the same on my Pixel - i don't use it a great deal and was seeing 6 days before it'd drop to 30 to 35% battery level, now i'm seeing 2.5 to 3 days - my usage has not changed
I really don't think it's battery nearing end of life - the phone & battery are just now hitting the 2 yr mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's end of life either. Like I said, everything was great until the update. My GF got the same phone around the same time and I told her not to update. So she's still running the last version and her phone is still perfect.

Is the battery life still abysmal when running in safe mode? if so, it may be a rogue 3rd party app.
my battery life was crap with the kernel and android system after i updated to August as well. I assumed it was a Magisk update or module that was the issue. Once I moved to Android Pie my battery life has returned.

mruno said:
Is the battery life still abysmal when running in safe mode? if so, it may be a rogue 3rd party app.
my battery life was crap with the kernel and android system after i updated to August as well. I assumed it was a Magisk update or module that was the issue. Once I moved to Android Pie my battery life has returned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried safe mode - my battery was surprising decent under Android 8. the day it updated to Android 9 it went south in a handbasket. And i noticed "battery saver" selection is no longer available
i'm trying to read up and re-learn installing a custom rom, and which rom to choose - i last did a custom rom in 2010 and haven't been near the forums since then, but this issue and the more i learn about google's surveillance collection, i want to go custom

Since you're willing to install a custom ROM, why not try to reinstall the full stock ROM first?

appreciate the suggestion - that's what i originally wanted to do and posted here a few weeks back asking how to revert to android 8 and was told it couldn't be done but i could do a custom rom
and now, with the privacy issues i've been reading about, i think i'd prefer to limit my services as googles' "product". It kind of alarmed me how sensitive the phone's microphone was - i actually wrapped the phone in a heavy towel and left it 5 feet away, and said "OK google" in a normal voice - and bam, it was opened when i unwrapped the phone. There's no reason for the microphone to be that sensitive, imho
but i'm an old fart, and the younger generations don't seem to relish their privacy like i do - that's fine for them, no judgment on my part, i just like my privacy

S7 Qualcomm bettery drain after recent updates

Has anyone been able to remedy battery drain after March and June OTA updates? Any method to revert back to earlier firmware, I tried and got slapped with "binary 10 > 8 error." Has anyone had success with FDR? Safemode has no effect so far.
Admittedly I was a sleep at the wheel with this issue I allowed OTA update to G90UUESACSF1. After update, my battery life is about half. Can watch it drop while browsing. Been up for about an hour now and down 13% from a full charge under minor use. To boot, all of the progs listed "battery use" don't account for 30% of total use so far. Ahhh, good ole planned obsolescence.
Thanks in advance.

Sigma47 said:
Has anyone been able to remedy battery drain after March and June OTA updates? Any method to revert back to earlier firmware, I tried and got slapped with "binary 10 > 8 error." Has anyone had success with FDR? Safemode has no effect so far.
Admittedly I was a sleep at the wheel with this issue I allowed OTA update to G90UUESACSF1. After update, my battery life is about half. Can watch it drop while browsing. Been up for about an hour now and down 13% from a full charge under minor use. To boot, all of the progs listed "battery use" don't account for 30% of total use so far. Ahhh, good ole planned obsolescence.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing I could think of is re seating the battery.
But you would have to take apart the phone to do that

Sigma47 said:
Has anyone been able to remedy battery drain after March and June OTA updates? Any method to revert back to earlier firmware, I tried and got slapped with "binary 10 > 8 error." Has anyone had success with FDR? Safemode has no effect so far.
Admittedly I was a sleep at the wheel with this issue I allowed OTA update to G90UUESACSF1. After update, my battery life is about half. Can watch it drop while browsing. Been up for about an hour now and down 13% from a full charge under minor use. To boot, all of the progs listed "battery use" don't account for 30% of total use so far. Ahhh, good ole planned obsolescence.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I repair these S7's daily, and it's not necessarily the firmware update but the age of the battery causing the quicker drain. Since they are about 4 years old now, the chemicals inside the cells has started to deteriorate, therefore the only solution is to replace it with a good quality battery (not a cheap $5 Ebay bootleg ones, but a $20 original!)