Galaxy S21: overheating, disastrous battery life, terrible cameras - another Not

[Raph06]

I got my S21 Ultra (Exynos) on Thursday 28 Jan. Today is Sunday 31 Jan. 
I noticed, from day 1, that the phone was getting hot quite quickly, although I was only transferring data, setting things up, etc.

Then I noticed the battery life was not great, but I know that the phone learns about my usagé pattern and adapts to it, so I waited. Today, the phone has allegedly finished learning and predicted a battery life of 18 hours. Not great.

As I was using the phone for basic tasks, I noticed the battery was declining rapidly.

Then I started using the camera, I noticed thé overheating. I only took a few shots and a few short videos, and the phone became too hot to hold comfortably. I put it in my pocket, and I could feel the heat through the fabric!!!🤔

Now, the 18 hours predicted battery’s life has turned to 13 hours, and going down fast.

Tha Camera app was active for 34 minutes, with 1 h 10 mins in the background, for a battery usage of 13%.

On top of that, the quality of the photos is appalling. Highlights are blown, low contrast, etc. But that will be the subject of another post, if I’m still the owner of this inferior piece of hardware.

I’m thinking of going back to my Galaxy S10+.

Update 1: I installed CPU monitor. I picked up the phone from idle to shoot some video. The CPU temperature went from 29C to 41C in 2 minutes. 

I put the phone to charge. The CPU temperature is 41C, with high CPU usage, when I was actually doing nothing.

[mermii]

I've had it for 7 days. have updated twice. batterynkeeps on improving so all good. have you updated twice

[Gionike]

Well i received my 1st one on 29th. and the update was 3.1 firmware. but that was it. this is my 3rd phone now (2nd replacement) which I received today and its the same update. what firmware version do you have?

[Gionike]

hmm that's interesting @jaro76 cos that's exactly what I thought so I didn't use switch, instead I used Samsung account n Google to restore backups but still had problems with heat. specially when camera app is used. also if YouTube or netflix

[jaro76]

i reinstalled from the playstore and my one account. then used my sign in passwords. if your issue still persists, i would recommend a fresh start with manual installs. just back your contacts up, redownload apps from store etc. i know its a pain, but you will only have to do it once. fingers crossed that will do the trick.

[Gionike]

thank you, appreciate it. 🙏

[John19691969]

I tried reset and made no difference and manual down load still burning hot

[Gionike]

watch this https://youtu.be/rsLJLk3nx8k

[Raph06]

UPDATE: for the first time, I tried to play a game. I chose something very light: 2048 on Instant Play.
The phone got HOT (not just warm) to the touch and the battery drain was very quick.
The camera update that came with the February security update looks like it is not quite resolving the issue with the camera (overheating, battery drain).
I have kept a close eye on apps and their battery life.
I have of course disabled Chrome.

I'm doing research to establish whether doing a factory reset and reinstalling everything without using SmartSwitch really helps. I need a big enough sample to go through that pain.
Any pointers?

[Raph06]

UPDATE. I took the plunge. I performed a factory reset, avoided using Smart Switch, and ....

THE OVER HEATING GOT WORSE. 😫

2 days after resetting the phone, reinstalling the apps, etc, I got the message: "The phone is running too hot....", for the first time

Terribly disappointing.  I will be returning the phone, and find a better use for my cash

[jussiaav]

Working day is over, and so is my battery! Went from 100% down to 15% in about 8h. I can't use this as my daily driver, because I need a phone for the afternoon and evening too!