S3 Battery Life

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pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#110626 12-Oct-2012 17:09

I bought my wife an S3 recently. She uses her phone probably 25% as much as I use my iPhone 4 and yet her battery is dying within 24 hours.

I'm assuming its a battery issue and will see if Vodafone will give me a new battery under warranty - but after exhausting software efforts to conserve battery life have had no luck.

Was wondering if anybody else had any tips that might explain why this is chewing through so much power.

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5052 posts

Uber Geek

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#700297 12-Oct-2012 17:12

Mine settled after a few weeks. I'm a pretty heavy user tho, but still get about 80% of the life I used to get out of my iPhone 4 (on a bad day).

My S3 has a bigger screen and I do run VoIP (which I couldn't on the iPhone) so that will naturally use a bit more battery.

The reality is tho that most modern smart phones are going to require a daily charge. I've been in the habit of charging my phone overnight for years now, and 99% of the time, that gets me through to the next nightly charge.

Twitter: ajobbins

Finch

2851 posts

Uber Geek

#700298 12-Oct-2012 17:12

Settings > Battery is your first step

You will see what is using up the most battery.

pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#700307 12-Oct-2012 17:14

Yes - we are pretty clued on with mobile phones in general but this one is baffling us.

I've been into battery and it said 'IDLE' or 'SLEEP' (or what ever that was) - was consuming 40% of battery life.

With that said I turned off the WIFI radio when the phones asleep - yet today somehow its died even faster.

ajobbins

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#700308 12-Oct-2012 17:15

Also, if she doesn't use NFC, bluetooth etc make sure they are off. I turned off the facial tracking and 'motion' stuff because I think that can use a bit of battery too. Turn off live wallpaper. Go through the 'accounts' settings and make sure you're only 'syncing' stuff you actually need to sync e.g. I think by default Facebook updates in the background which I turned off - I see get notifications of activity, but the app isn't always preloading stuff in the background.

Twitter: ajobbins

ajobbins

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#700309 12-Oct-2012 17:16

Also, I assume you are using on Vodafone if you purchased from them? If not, this could be causing an issue as different providers have different network optimisations in the firmware.

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pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#700310 12-Oct-2012 17:16

NFC and Bluetooth both turned off. She doesnt use facebook on her phone.

Good idea about the account settings - will try that tonight.

pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#700311 12-Oct-2012 17:18

Its from Vodafone and on Vodafone.

Interesting theory though! I thought the manufacturer handles firmware? Surely they couldnt have different firmware for every provider?

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ajobbins

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#700315 12-Oct-2012 17:24

pcheroes: Its from Vodafone and on Vodafone.

Interesting theory though! I thought the manufacturer handles firmware? Surely they couldnt have different firmware for every provider?

They certainly do. Vodafone, 2degrees and Telecom all have unique firmware on the S3 (and most Android) handsets they sell. This allows them to customise not only network optimisation settings (like fast dormancy) but also preload operator applications and branding. (Eg, when the phone boots, does it have a Vodafone logo animation? The VFAU ones certainly do).

This is why people often complain about the delay of getting android updated to their handset - Once Google release a new version, the handset manufacturer then needs to adapt it to the phone, and then they hand it off to the operators for customisation and testing (Some never bother).

There are of course unbranded or generic devices in some markets too. My S3, purchased through JB Hifi in Australia is not carrier specific - and thus I am likely to get updates (Like the hopefully not too far away Jelly Bean update) before any of the operator specific phones.

Twitter: ajobbins

pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#700320 12-Oct-2012 17:29

But the firmware is the same right? Its only the customizations and settings that differ?

Our S3 is not Vodafone customized - although was setup for the vodafone network.

ajobbins

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#700341 12-Oct-2012 17:47

pcheroes: But the firmware is the same right? Its only the customizations and settings that differ?

Our S3 is not Vodafone customized - although was setup for the vodafone network.

For the most part yes, there will be some differences. For example, the 2degrees firmware has some specific stuff loaded that allows the NFC to be used (in conjunction with a compatible 2degrees SIM card) to emulate a Snapper card.

You cannot do this with the Vodafone or Telecom version of the phone, even if you loaded up the Snapper app and got the right SIM card.

Twitter: ajobbins

pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#700348 12-Oct-2012 18:00

Oh well then. You learn something new everyday :).

pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#700349 12-Oct-2012 18:01

We fix them - but only really handle the hardware issues. Repacing, Reflowing, reballing etc.

Am yet to do an unlock or firmware upgrade that hasn't come through the usual channels.

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#700367 12-Oct-2012 19:03

Screen brightness, set to max it is a battery hog, use auto or keep the slider around 30~40% and I am sure you will see a noticeable improvement

pcheroes

52 posts

Master Geek

#700583 13-Oct-2012 11:41

Yes I reduced screen brightness and turned on power save features and it's only lasting half as long now.

I've seen this sort of rapidly worsening discharge before with a bad main board or battery.

Thank god it's under warranty still.

garvani

1873 posts

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#700586 13-Oct-2012 11:55

I doubled my S3 battery life by turning off mobile data and wifi overnight. I use a app called automateit to automatically switch off them off at 10:30pm and back on again at 7:30am.

i was only getting a day myself, now getting 2 -2 1/2 days between charges.

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