Need some sage advice on whether to exchange my S6

[RynotheDyno]

Hello all,

I bought the S6 about a week ago, and have been happy with it, except for one major issue: battery drain, while I am at school in the building I spend most of my time. Now, after talking to a couple of other Verizon users with Android phones in my department, I have determined that this is not a problem unique to the S6, as they experience the same sort of battery drain. My battery today, for example, was full when I left the house at 10am, but it was at 11% by 5pm, with light usage, mobile data and wifi scanning turned off, and airplane mode turned on for about 2 hours. Most of that time was spent in the same building with crappy cell reception. My battery life seems to be fairly normal in other situations, although I haven't gotten to test it much in those settings yet.

So my question is twofold: can anyone speculate if the iPhone 6+ would have the same battery drain issues? Also, if any smartphone on Verizon is just as prone to the battery draining, do I need a phone with a removable battery (since all the extra charge cycles will kill the battery sooner)?

I want to make the right decision on this before my 14 day window is up, and would really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

P.S. If the mods think this should be in the S6 thread instead of its own thread, please feel free to move it there.

 

[MRU]

Hello all,

I bought the S6 about a week ago, and have been happy with it, except for one major issue: battery drain, while I am at school in the building I spend most of my time. Now, after talking to a couple of other Verizon users with Android phones in my department, I have determined that this is not a problem unique to the S6, as they experience the same sort of battery drain. My battery today, for example, was full when I left the house at 10am, but it was at 11% by 5pm, with light usage, mobile data and wifi scanning turned off, and airplane mode turned on for about 2 hours. Most of that time was spent in the same building with crappy cell reception. My battery life seems to be fairly normal in other situations, although I haven't gotten to test it much in those settings yet.

So my question is twofold: can anyone speculate if the iPhone 6+ would have the same battery drain issues? Also, if any smartphone on Verizon is just as prone to the battery draining, do I need a phone with a removable battery (since all the extra charge cycles will kill the battery sooner)?

I want to make the right decision on this before my 14 day window is up, and would really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

P.S. If the mods think this should be in the S6 thread instead of its own thread, please feel free to move it there.

Reset to factory and start afresh and see if it improves. You should do that before you return it just in case something is going array system wise.

 

[RynotheDyno]

Reset to factory and start afresh and see if it improves. You should do that before you return it just in case something is going array system wise.

Thanks for the advice! Just reset the phone. I will see if it makes a difference tomorrow while I am at school.

If the same problem persists, what course of action would you suggest?

 

[MRU]

Thanks for the advice! Just reset the phone. I will see if it makes a difference tomorrow while I am at school.

If the same problem persists, what course of action would you suggest?

If it's happening after a fresh reset and from what you describe you are pretty much going everything to get good battery I honestly wouldn't know where to go next.

Some folks here are getting 20 hours on battery with 5-6 hours Screen on time. I'm not getting that with my edge but I have screen brightness on auto full and not power saving anything either. But yeah I'm only averaging maybe 2.5 SOT tops.

 

[RynotheDyno]

If it's happening after a fresh reset and from what you describe you are pretty much going everything to get good battery I honestly wouldn't know where to go next.

Some folks here are getting 20 hours on battery with 5-6 hours Screen on time. I'm not getting that with my edge but I have screen brightness on auto full and not power saving anything either. But yeah I'm only averaging maybe 2.5 SOT tops.

I think my battery life while not at school will end up being fine. I am sort of resigned to the fact that this particular phone will never get good battery life at school...

I guess my question is whether an iPhone would avoid that sort of drain in a building with bad/nonexistent reception. If not, will my battery taking this sort of abuse mean that I should look at getting a phone with a removable battery? I ask more because I don't want to have a phone where the battery became crippled in a year and a half because of all the extra charge cycles...

 

[MRU]

Just a thought, do make sure in wifi you turn off allow always on wifi scanning.

The iPhone 6+ on airport mode with wifi on would in my experience give amazing battery life & SOT.

 

[maflynn]

Its probably due to poor cell phone reception in your building and the phone keeps searching for a cell tower, which is draining the battery.

Drop it out of LTE, or put it in airplane mode with just the wifi on. My wife had this issue with her iPhone 5 in her building, the battery would drain very quickly.

 

[jamezr]

Its probably due to poor cell phone reception in your building and the phone keeps searching for a cell tower, which is draining the battery.

Drop it out of LTE, or put it in airplane mode with just the wifi on. My wife had this issue with her iPhone 5 in her building, the battery would drain very quickly.

That is a great point. What carrier are you with RynotheDyno?

 

[RynotheDyno]

That is a great point. What carrier are you with RynotheDyno?

I am on Verizon. And yes, I am almost sure that the problem is the poor reception, since other Verizon users in my building have reported the same issue with their Android phones. It is just extremely annoying that my old basic phone was able to send and receive texts in the same building no issue (except in the basement where there really is no reception...it would go to sleep there), while for this one to do the same it has to drain the battery at a ridiculous rate. I understand that it isn't an apples to apples comparison, but for my purposes it kind of is...

 

[hallux]

Did you get this app update installed yet?
http://www.androidcentral.com/galaxy-s6-battery-life-bad-update-might-help

 

[MRU]

The Samsung push service update has improved my battery.

 

[RynotheDyno]

I don't see Samsung Push anywhere on my phone...

 

[epicrayban]

I don't see Samsung Push anywhere on my phone...

Go to Google Play Store. If the update is ready for you, it'll be there.

 

[mel823]

I don't see Samsung Push anywhere on my phone...

Restart your phone.

 

[RynotheDyno]

Ok, I have done the factory reset, updated Samsung Push, restarted, kept mobile data off except when needed, turned off wifi scanning, etc... And the performance is still the same (left the house with ~90% this morning at 8), and I am now at 43%, despite very light usage.

I guess my question is, would an iPhone have the same issues? My sister works somewhere where the cell reception is poor, and has no such problems with her iPhone 4s.

Otherwise it is back to the flip phone.

 

[Fernandez21]

Ok, I have done the factory reset, updated Samsung Push, restarted, kept mobile data off except when needed, turned off wifi scanning, etc... And the performance is still the same (left the house with ~90% this morning at 8), and I am now at 43%, despite very light usage.

I guess my question is, would an iPhone have the same issues? My sister works somewhere where the cell reception is poor, and has no such problems with her iPhone 4s.

Otherwise it is back to the flip phone.

What happened around 10am where battery drain leveled off for a bit? Also, you have wifi scanning off, but is there wifi available? And if there is, are you connected to it?

 

[MasterRyu2011]

Ok, I have done the factory reset, updated Samsung Push, restarted, kept mobile data off except when needed, turned off wifi scanning, etc... And the performance is still the same (left the house with ~90% this morning at 8), and I am now at 43%, despite very light usage.

I guess my question is, would an iPhone have the same issues? My sister works somewhere where the cell reception is poor, and has no such problems with her iPhone 4s.

Otherwise it is back to the flip phone.

I don't get it. It appears that your battery usage is saying 14 hours on battery with 9 hours to go. Isn't that considered good battery life??? Or am I just reading this wrong (very likely)

 

[RynotheDyno]

What happened around 10am where battery drain leveled off for a bit? Also, you have wifi scanning off, but is there wifi available? And if there is, are you connected to it?

At around 10:20, I turned airport mode on... at 10:50 or so, I turned the wifi only on. At 11:20, I turned airport mode off.

(10:30-11:20 I have a class in the basement where there is no service)

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I don't get it. It appears that your battery usage is saying 14 hours on battery with 9 hours to go. Isn't that considered good battery life??? Or am I just reading this wrong (very likely)

I think it might be saying that since I didn't quite have time to fully charge it this morning before I left the house.

 

[Fernandez21]

At around 10:20, I turned airport mode on... at 10:50 or so, I turned the wifi only on. At 11:20, I turned airport mode off.

(10:30-11:20 I have a class in the basement where there is no service)

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I think it might be saying that since I didn't quite have time to fully charge it this morning before I left the house.

Ok. Well, try this. Go to settings/data usage/ then tap "more" on the upper right hand corner and select "restrict background data", then turn off location in the Privacy and Securty settings and see if that helps. If not, here some some other ideas.

Set up google voice and set your number to forward to google voice. Then set your phone into airplane mode and turn wifi on. As long as you have wifi, you should still be able to get your calls without having to hunt for a cellular reception.

You can also do this with an iPhone, and use FaceTime audio, iMessage over wifi. Of course the other would also need an iPhone.

Get a battery case. Their a bit expensive, but will double your battery life.

Switch over the a Note 4, iPhone 6 Plus, or droid turbo. Though if your worried about battery longevity the Note may be best since that's replaceable, followed by the iPhone since that's just a quick trip to the Apple Store and they'll replace it for about $100.

Go back to a dumbphone and pick up an iPad mini.

 

[Savor]

Download WakeLock Detector or GSam Battery Monitor to check for wakelocks.

My advice is to ROOT your phone. Then use Greenify with auto-hibernation turned on and Disable Services (mandatory root) works wonders for standby time. You can also use All In One Toolbox which is an app that helps what app to auto-start or not. Titanium Backup is great too for eliminating bloatware. Android is basically a pool of background services like Google Play Services waking up.

 

[Conquest]

Hello all,

I bought the S6 about a week ago, and have been happy with it, except for one major issue: battery drain, while I am at school in the building I spend most of my time. Now, after talking to a couple of other Verizon users with Android phones in my department, I have determined that this is not a problem unique to the S6, as they experience the same sort of battery drain. My battery today, for example, was full when I left the house at 10am, but it was at 11% by 5pm, with light usage, mobile data and wifi scanning turned off, and airplane mode turned on for about 2 hours. Most of that time was spent in the same building with crappy cell reception. My battery life seems to be fairly normal in other situations, although I haven't gotten to test it much in those settings yet.

So my question is twofold: can anyone speculate if the iPhone 6+ would have the same battery drain issues? Also, if any smartphone on Verizon is just as prone to the battery draining, do I need a phone with a removable battery (since all the extra charge cycles will kill the battery sooner)?

I want to make the right decision on this before my 14 day window is up, and would really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

P.S. If the mods think this should be in the S6 thread instead of its own thread, please feel free to move it there.

Phones. They're horrible now. If you aren't using it much, turn off cellular data. If the battery is draining whole you're not using it then for my experience with android it is more than likely an app.

My iPhone experience before is that iPhone battery life is notorious for being bad, but there aren't any surprises like I expeienced with Android. 1 app, 1 update (especially from Google and chat apps) and you're phone goes crazy. Google themselves are the worst offender.

6+ is said to have the best battery life.

I can pretty much guarantee you that if you like the 6+ and you buy it (it is a giant phone), that you'll have MUCH better battery life. I can guarantee it.

My advice. Do not update the iPhone. Leave it alone. If it isn't broken don't fix it.

If you're constantly on the phone and on the internet then you need to get an external battery. If you use a backpack get a 10,000mAh.

 

[Technarchy]

Certain locations are harder on better life if the phone has to waste power trying to maintain a connection to weak signals.

I get that at work, battery burn down is a little higher.

Bring your charger and top off, turn off wifi scanning and blue too, put your phone in power saving mode.

And more importantly I find people start panicking just because their battery is under 50%. Don't do that. Your S6 will surpise you. I had 5% last me another 40 minutes with pretty normal use.

 

[RynotheDyno]

Certain locations are harder on better life if the phone has to waste power trying to maintain a connection to weak signals.

I get that at work, battery burn down is a little higher.

Bring your charger and top off, turn off wifi scanning and blue too, put your phone in power saving mode.

And more importantly I find people start panicking just because their battery is under 50%. Don't do that. Your S6 will surpise you. I had 5% last me another 40 minutes with pretty normal use.

Yeah absolutely. Part of the issue is that this happens to be the one place I spend most of my time. If it just happened to be a place I visit every once in a while, it would be different. Today at home for example, I have gotten great battery life (pulled it off the charger at 8, and I am currently at 84% over 7 hours later...light usage obviously, but still).

 

[Interstellar]

Download WakeLock Detector or GSam Battery Monitor to check for wakelocks.

My advice is to ROOT your phone. Then use Greenify with auto-hibernation turned on and Disable Services (mandatory root) works wonders for standby time. You can also use All In One Toolbox which is an app that helps what app to auto-start or not. Titanium Backup is great too for eliminating bloatware. Android is basically a pool of background services like Google Play Services waking up.

Honestly I feel as though you shouldn't be advising people to root their Samsung phones without making it clear that it permanently voids their warranty and potentially makes it so that they can't even return it. And a lot of people on XDA believe that tripped Knox will make Samsung Pay void as well.

Samsung still uses Knox, guys.

 

[Truefan31]

To answer your question the 6 plus should last substantially longer

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Honestly I feel as though you shouldn't be advising people to root their Samsung phones without making it clear that it permanently voids their warranty and potentially makes it so that they can't even return it. And a lot of people on XDA believe that tripped Knox will make Samsung Pay void as well.



Samsung still uses Knox, guys.

That's the worst thing really. Samsung gets in their own way.