6 Hour Battery Life Since KitKat. Please Help!

[Murphy5150]

Everything worked fine on 4.3. 4.4.2 has destroyed my battery life. I made sure that it wasn't an issue of background apps running, so I did a battery warranty exchange. No help. Performed a factory reset and cache wipe. Still, no help. Ordered a replacement model, and STILL, no help. I've tried everything! From a 100% charge to a 10% charge takes six hours, with NO use. I spent 3 hrs 14 min on the phone with Verizon and they sent me to 4 different departments and of course none of the reps were familiar with the battery issue. So we had a conference call with Samsung, and they suggested two things: 1) Send the phone to Samsung for repair or 2) Visit a Best Buy Samsung kiosk and have them wipe and replace the ROM with Samsung direct software; not OTA. I'm doubtful this will work and I'm wondering if anyone has gone through this and discovered a fix. I need my phone to work properly until the LG G3 is released. Please share any ideas or fixes. Thanks!

 

[Jeffrey]

Looks like you covered the bases. Just try one more thing. Pull the battery for a full 10 minutes and see if anything improves. It's a long shot but ya never know.

 

[Murphy5150]

Looks like you covered the bases. Just try one more thing. Pull the battery for a full 10 minutes and see if anything improves. It's a long shot but ya never know.

A soft reset was the first thing I did in the process. I've read in many Android forums that S4 battery life is very common but Verizon is arguing that it's an infrequent complaint.

 

[Jeffrey]

A soft reset was the first thing I did in the process. I've read in many Android forums that S4 battery life is very common but Verizon is arguing that it's an infrequent complaint.

Most just accept it and never report the issue when they should. I see this complaint all the time. Even prior to the KK update.

 

[Jeffrey]

We have a dedicated S4 Forum. You may get additional info there. Check it out..

Samsung Galaxy S4 Forum - Active Topics

 

[Bluesman2008]

Never had that problem with mine before or after the upgrade. It's good for well past a full day. I'd keep exchanging it until you get one that works properly. The only thing that comes to mind is the possibility you might have downloaded a corrupted version of 4.4.2. Is it possible to wipe that and start all over?

 

[Jeffrey]

There would most likely be other signs if the OS was corrupt.

 

[KaosMaster]

There would most likely be other signs if the OS was corrupt.

Actually...this is a battery calibration issue from inside the bootloader or wherever it is stored. If you have rooted your phone...then you will lose the root. Back up all your data...And reflash yourself using the verizon repair assistant software...or take it to the Samsung kiosk. This will fix your issue...I have done this before. Just charge to 100% then flash on the computer. And then let it die completely! Before your next charge

 

[Murphy5150]

Actually...this is a battery calibration issue from inside the bootloader or wherever it is stored. If you have rooted your phone...then you will lose the root. Back up all your data...And reflash yourself using the verizon repair assistant software...or take it to the Samsung kiosk. This will fix your issue...I have done this before. Just charge to 100% then flash on the computer. And then let it die completely! Before your next charge

Thanks for all of your thoughts and suggestions. My final attempt was ^ this. I went to the Samsung kiosk and they wiped and reloaded the latest 4.4.2 version via USB from Samsung's portal. The Samsung rep then witnessed a sharp decline in battery percentage. Yesterday, I clocked in a 3 hour, 17 min call to Verizon that was just leading me in circles. Last night, at the Samsung kiosk, call #2 was made. Samsung told Verizon that there is no identifiable reason for my symptoms. I also figured my 15 year relationship with Verizon would encourage them to be flexible - but they wouldn't or couldn't due that because their system restricted that ability.

I'm the Operations Manager at GE Aviation where 90% of my staff, or about 500 people, use Verizon and take advantage of the 20% corporate discount. I told their top tier rep that they are stealing from me by billing me for a service I can't use that's not my fault. Being off contract I used that as leverage to try and get a different model until the G3 is released, but Verizon again refused and reiterated their inability to process exchanges. So, around the 2 hour marker of my conversation (the previous call was 3 hours 17 min) I told Verizon that I would transition 500 Verizon customers to AT&T, receive their 25% corporate discount, and I would reimburse my staff 25% of their bill, pre-tax. So consider 500 lines, paying an average of $150/month between family and independent plans, then multiply. That would be a revenue loss of over $150,000. At the risk of losing $150,000+ revenue due to a phone swap refusal, I told him he's probably ending his career by suffering a $150,000+ loss due to a simple, stupid, like-model exchange. I'll write Verizon corporate a letter about all events chronologically and tell them one man's indifference gave AT&T 500 new customers. Being the Operations Manager, I could pull this off, so I wasn't lying. And I said I'll absorb any cancelation fees.

So here I stand. By the time I get the plant transitioned to AT&T, the LG G3 will likely be released. The 32GB storage and 3GB RAM variant will be my upgrade. The question is, will I upgrade through Verizon, or give AT&T 500 new customers? I'm sure when the Verizon VP's catch wind of my plan at reducing Verizon's revenue by $150,000 - $200,000 they won't be happy. And this all could have been avoided by giving me a working phone; even a cheaper phone would have been fine. Apparently Verizon employees all skipped microeconomics which looks at a cost/benefit ratio. The math speaks for itself, and I have a decision to make. I'm simply blown away by their indifference.

 

[Bluesman2008]

I'm sure we'd all love to know how that's worked out. I left Verizon several months ago when they refused me the upgrade they promised when they promised it and, on top of that, told me for the first time that, if I did upgrade, I'd lose my unlimited. I told them to stick it and I'd switch to ATT and get the phone I want now. They didn't care so neither did I. They sent me one letter trying to collect their disconnect penalty. I told them I was a litigation attorney with over 40 years experience and if they wanted to sue me for the disconnect fees, to bring it on. That was months ago and I've never heard from them since. Screw Verizon.

 

[rustydog]

Check for an app causing your battery drain. Just this AM my fully charged Note 3 was down below 60% 3 hours later. My phone was physically warm in my pocket. My GSam battery app showed 1 app TapTu used 76% of my battery. I was not using the app or the display during this time. I was working in a marginal signal area at the time. I had no problem with this app prior to kitkat.

 

[Murphy5150]

Check for an app causing your battery drain. Just this AM my fully charged Note 3 was down below 60% 3 hours later. My phone was physically warm in my pocket. My GSam battery app showed 1 app TapTu used 76% of my battery. I was not using the app or the display during this time. I was working in a marginal signal area at the time. I had no problem with this app prior to kitkat.

There is no parasitic drain. New S4, factory reset, bootloader cache wipe, and no apps downloaded except for what comes stock.

I finally spoke to a software engineer at Verizon and he said that it is a problem that cannot be fixed until the OTA patch comes out, no ETA, and engineering/top tier tech support are aware that the Galaxy S4 suffered heavily due to this update.

Verizon is blaming Samsung for the issue, Samsung is blaming Google for the issue, and I'm stuck with three tech giants finger-pointing. No one is claiming responsibility. The concession I was offered was to purchase a 7500 mAh battery from Amazon and Verizon would reimburse me the cost. Now my Mophie case won't fit. Monday I'm calling my Verizon account representative and telling him that I'm prepared to move my plant over to AT&T, eat the cancelation fees, and offer all of my staff a 25% additional kickback that will reflect in their paycheck. I'm done playing games.

 

[tankdog03]

Turn off Google now.. helped mine alot!

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