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Galaxy watch 4 and WearOS fast battery drain causes and solutions

(Topic created on: 25-10-2021 05:21 PM)
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abc_34
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Update 27/12/21:

Using watch for more than 2 months. Swicthed to classic bt model after 3 weeks of using 44mm bt model. Must say that battery little bit improves on latest update and after using watch for a few days when battery calibration thing has finished. With ligth usage it gives 2-2.5 days of battery life. imo, Its still far from good. The watch at least should offer a software based lite mode (instead of watch only mode) that users can get basic notifications, exercise step counting etc like a regular fitness band with about 7 days of battery life. 

 

First Post on 10/21:

As noted by many users Galaxy watch 4 series have some battery life issues. I'm trying to figure out root cause (with limited tools, not much help from Wearapp's battery menu). I did some tests on GW4 44mm BT model. 2-4% per hour battery drain when watch is idle is too much for a smart watch really. Even when airplane and power saving modes enabled at the same time (no BT, no Wifi, no AOD, no SPO2, screen brigtness on 15%, only 10 mins heart rate on (runs once or twice an hour), sleep tracking and workout detection is on) while watch is idle in this state without any screen activity it drains battery around 1.2-1.5% per hour during day and around 1.5-2% over night during sleep. All this suggests something in the background drain battery fast. Battery menu on wear app doesnt give much clue since list of apps there (samsung health services, screen activity, ui etc.) all combined shows only about 1/3 of total battery drain. So what does drain battery the most, about remaining 2/3 of total battery drain, when watch is idle? Is it WearOS itself? Is there a tool application that shows more battery info than Samsung's Wear app, like Gsam battery on phones? 

I think most likely root cause of battery drains are software based, Wearos and/or Samsung side, and they can be improved by devs. For instance; maybe some process/services (wifi, BT, notifications, gps, google services, health services etc. ) are running  too frequently in the background which use cpu/memory power even if sensors/features are disabled and watch is inactive. There might be bugs and/or just bad implementations. No matter what, they should be found and solved by WearOS/Samsung devs. Maybe solution is as simple as changing the frequency of one service/process call that cause the most battery drain. Letting users change/tweak those settings that affect battery life would be better idea in fact.

Much cheaper watches or fitness bands last couple weeks even a month with like 2/3 battery capacity of GW4. They provide similar workout and health stuff, basic notifications, remote media control etc. With all features on they give much better battery life than GW4 with all smart features off (no notifications, no wifi, no BT, power saving on etc.) even much better than when Galaxy watch 4 is waiting idle doing nothing. Definitely WearOS is not battery optimised and buggy. Samsung apps might be making it worse as well.

42 REPLIES 42
abc_34
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BUGS:

- Battery drain about 1.3-1.8% per hour when watch is idle/inactive with most features/sensors off (no AOD, no screen activity etc., airplane and power saving on) which suggests WearOS and/or Samsung's software are buggy. Currently the most critical problem with this watch is battery performance; 40 hours advertised battery life is not acceptable for a smart watch with 361mah battery anyway. Even worse, many users have reported watch cant last even a day. Google and Samsung devs must solve the bugs and optimize OS for longer battery life. Much cheaper watches or bands last couple weeks even a month with like 2/3 battery capacity of GW4. They provide similar workout and health stuff, basic notifications, remote media control etc. With all features on they give much better battery life than GW4 with all smart features off (no notifications, no wifi, no BT, power saving on etc.) even much better than when Galaxy watch 4 is waiting idle doing nothing. Definitely WearOS is not battery optimised and buggy. Samsung apps might be making it worse as well.

- Occasional inconsistent sleep tracking; Once, I slept around 3am, got up around 7am, was active for a while then went back to sleep around 8:30am then i woke up again after a few hours. Watch and Samsung health app only saved/showed sleep time from my first sleep between 3-7am. Another day, the watch didnt save any sleep data at all while power saving and airplane mode was on over night.

- Watch doesnt record gps route when walking workout started automatically.

- In Wear app under battery settings usage time since full charge is reset to 0 mins after turning back from watch only mode.

 

REQUESTS:

* Lite/Esential mode for lite users and battery saving purpose where watch shows basic data like time/date, steps/distance, maybe basic notifications if BT on etc just like fitness bands. Those simple cheap bands last few weeks even a month with those features on with a 200-300mah battery.

* Auto workout detection time interval should be shorter or users should be able to change time intervals for auto workout detection like 1mins, 5mins 10mins, so not only 10mins. Some people do a specific workout for 4-7 mins and take some rest then start again for another 4-7mins or so.

* Automatically turn on bed time mode couple minutes after falling sleep.

* Google voice assistant

* Double tap option for touch screen to wake feature. When watch screen touch legs/arms etc. by accident especially during sleep, screen keep turning on. Double tap is better than single tap for screen wake.

* Users should be able to change time intervals for heart rate monitoring like every 10mins, 30mins, 60mins etc. Longer intervals can boost battery life too?

* For power saving purpose there must be customization settings for time intervals of auto syncing of various applications/services which cause fast battery drain like Samsung health service, BT connections, auto updates and some WearOS specific services, so users can choose longer time intervals to save battery.

Bliss
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This "smartwatch " is useless if you can't even turn on the smart features. If I just needed the time, I could use my phone for that. Nothing smart about this. How do I go about returning this piece of junk
aud45
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Agreed!  I bought on Amazon and if there is not an update to fix this Im sending it back.  If I have to turn everything off in order to keep it running for less than 24 hours its not worth it at all!

aud45
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seriously I can buy a cheaper watch without wifi etc anyway because I have have those extra features on with the galaxy4 I cannot even get through the day without charging it!

Bliss
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Seriously...wtf is going on. Samsung not reading these community forums? 65% gone in 2 hrs
brettz
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Did you install that health platform app in samsung health i did and battery life was terrible draining really fast so uninstalled it and battery life good againScreenshot_20211026-023803_Samsung Health_9647.jpgScreenshot_20210914-000727_Galaxy Watch4 Plugin_9156.jpg
aud45
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will try if I can find it---I remember being asked to install and I did.  I found a place in the sleep app to turn off "touch screen on"..that helped a little tiny bit lol

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brettz
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Its in health app press 3 dots then go to connected services its in there hope you get it sorted 👍 great watch when everything working ok I'm getting about 40 hrs before charge
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abc_34
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agree, good watch but not that good. 

do you think 40h good? i get even 50 hours with occasional smart feature use mostly notifications, power saving always on, airplane mode on during sleep and half of the day. normally it should serve at least for a week when smart features not used. samsung and google devs should work on software side at least bring a lite/essential mode whatevever its called which will turn off everything except time/date, weather, step counting, hr monitoring, workouts, basic notifications, music player and sleep tracking. some people dont use other smart features everyday but its good to have them when necessary. there are many smartwatches and bands out there giving like 10 days battery life with those features on with similar battery specs. some people dont use other smart features everyday but its good to have them when necessary.

 

 

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