Battery draining very fast after UI update on 26th January 2024

[Nitesh1]

Samsung mobile phone battery is draining very fast after the UI update of 26th January. This is pathetic. From last two days, when I go to sleep I have around 50% battery and when I wake up my mobile is switched off due to low battery. 

Kindly resolve this pathetic issue soon else I need to switch to iphone in next 2 days.

Samsung sucks. 

I need to restore my software to the older version immediately. 

[FP16]

This has been happening to me too but I also have an iPhone for work and it is worse. I still prefer the Samsung A14 especially when it is a 1000 dollars cheaper ! This issue is a drag though...

[FP16]

How do you wipe the cache?

[Sams30]

Same for me as well Samsung has to fix the issue of battery drain if battery life and health has to improve.

[Sams30]

Me too facing the same issue as well Samsung will fix this I believe. 

[inetbas]

Hello Ryan,

Yepp, I assume also some silent update solved it. Till now my A71 went back to more normal operations and the battery usage is back to what is considered normal.

[Sams30]

I agree with you Samsung has to resolve issues immediately at the earliest.

[Members_ZvlYQ5p]

• What I found that helped but didn't solve the problem completely 

(1) reduce screen brightness to black

(2) remove permissions to all software to access WiFi etc only when app is opened or ask permission, this includes the Android AI feature which I turned off completely

(3) delete unwanted apps or turn off their WiFi and location access

(4) put on battery saving mode

(5) turn off location services when not in use and turn off WiFi when not in use, turn on airport mode

(6) avoid you tube, twitter, tik tok, Facebook and Instagram and other social media apps, it seems to restart the draining after you use these apps, mainly you tube, Facebook and Instagram.. Not sure why

(7) turn off 'locate nearby devices' permissions, and 'sharing' permissions... The UI AI seems to drain the battery when location services and WiFi is on, since the update and AI introduced

Granted the above should get you through 14-20 hrs provided you do not use your phone other than for call and mags, and odd email or access to banking apps.... But sadly having a flagship phone, I am left to turning it into a non smart phone and most of it's features cannot be used... Don't think it's a Samsung issue more android, as tablets are affected as well... However my old Huawei phone still goes 3 days with recharge though it's a simple P10....

No issues reported for Huwaei or Xiamio phones.. Not investigated iphones.. Can't believe Samsung would do this deliberately..

What this has shown me is that the hardware as fantastic as it is, is too far ahead of the battery technology, which can't keep up. My next phone won't be a flagship one, I will avoid high spec hardware as I like good battery life, and now. Good screens and cameras are nice to haves, but if the battery lasts 4-6 hrs, then it makes the device impractical as you need to constantly charge it... And by definition it's not a mobile...

I hope the above works for you... But for your next phone, avoid high end hardware, go for battery life and also wait until the phone is out for few months..... I avoid phones because of what apple did, slowing down their customers phone to force them to update. Considered how widespread this issue is on Samsung phones and tablets, can't belive it's deliberate

Update : my phone battery lost 1% charge over 1 hr with above, but when typing this msg, it lost 2% in 10 minutes, might be due to keyboard.... Oh my friend has a S24, he's reporting same issue, battery drain..... 

[Sams30]

Same here

[Members_ZvlYQ5p]

Sorry to hear that... There is also wiping the partition on the phone, which is abit more involved, but not very difficult 

The UK 6.1 and AI is the main change, and security update... Didnt add any new apps etc... So it's definitely something to do with the UI 6.1 update and or security update..... My advice buy a phone withput hi resolution screens, don't buy flagship phones, aim for more simple phones.

. 

Anything that requires more cpu or memory or WiFi usage on your phone will drain your battery fast.... So avoid AI stuff and avoid automatic updates, wait a month or two until people find out if it works or not... A necessary evil for the complexity of phones... But they have reached their limit at moment 

[Members_ZvlYQ5p]

What I found helped but did not completely address the drain issue since update, it did slow it down

(1) Reduce your screen resolution down to minimum, turn background to black, use adaptive display and reduce brightness to 25%, reduce screen refresh to 60 Hz, turn on battery mode after charging it to 100%, turn off permissions for ALL apps including location and WiFi until you open the app and put it to sleep. Do not use you tube, Facebook or Instagram. X and Tik tok seem to be fine for some reason. Minimise using email and WhatsApp. Turn off WiFi when not using the phone (note switching off phone completely does stop battery drain......but then you are just carrying around a $1000 paperweight...

(2) Doing a cache wipe didnt work for me in any great deal. It was when the WiFi was on, I use the keyboard, then the battery drain is about 1% for 15 min with all above done

(3) Get an old huwaei or xiamio phone, and use that. They work great for you tube etc and battery drain isn't significant. You can pick them up for $150-250. This is for emergency if you are travelling. I dug out my old P10, more than 6 years old, battery lasts 3 days on standby with WiFi on, I can certainly get 16-20 hrs of continuous use with it

(4) Since the drain is affecting all Samsung users, even S24 and including tablets, can't believe it's deliberate. If it was intentional, it would affect 4-5 Yr old Samsung devices only, like Apple did to there loyal customers a while back (I was one, but left the brand after that)

(5) For me, turning off the WiFi with all above stems the drain significantly... But as soon as I turn on the WiFi or use the keyboard, bthe drain starts

My next phone won't be a flagship phone, it won't have high res screens or high refresh rates... Loved my huawei phone, and perhaps it's time to look at that, even without Google play... Because the desk issue makes the modern phones UN unsable

Hooe the above helps..... Factory reset is a last resort. It is also possible to go back to the UI version 5 or 6, but it's a abit involved.... For now not using my smart phone as a smart phone and limiting use to 1-2 hrs a day, is the only other option until it's resolved