Galaxy S8 poor battery performance: fast battery drain issue after Android update

Many Samsung Galaxy owners ask us for help regarding their devices performing poorly after an update. In today’s troubleshooting episode, we’ll answer another common problem about a #GalaxyS8 with fast battery drain issue after installing an update. If you’re looking for ideas what to do in this situation, keep reading.

Problem #1: Galaxy S8 poor battery performance: fast battery drain issue after Android update

I recently updated to the latest version of your software as of July 5th 2018. Since the update, my battery doesn’t make it through the day. Normally i can keep wifi and bluetooth on while my fitbit versa syncs throughout the day, use my wireless samsung headphones, listen to music, talk and text and my batter would last almost 2 days… Since the update i have had to turn off wifi and bluetooth and be frugal with my screen time and i can barely make it to 2pm. I can’t be carrying around my charger everywhere to charge it every 4-6 hours when i want to use my phone a normal amount. i don’t even use my phone that much. before the update i could sometimes get 3 days out of a charge. this is ridiculous. I very much hope you can sort it out on your end and offer a new update soon where this issue is solved, otherwise i may just have to switch devices. and i have been very much loyal to samsung for many many years!

Solution: Given you have a Galaxy S8, which is relatively young for a smartphone at this time, the cause of fast battery drain problem you’re having must have something to do with one or a combination of the following items:

Apps
software (operating system configuration)
usage habits

To fix your battery drain issue, below are the things that you can try:

Clear the cache partition

This should be the first thing that you must do. It’s a highly recommended solution for those experiencing issues following an update. System updates may sometimes corrupt the system cache resulting to general system performance. This can impact battery performance as well. To ensure that your S8 has good system cache, try wiping its cache partition. Here’s how:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key to highlight “wipe cache partition.”
Press the Power key to select.
Press the Volume down key to highlight “yes” and press the Power key to select.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Recalibrate the battery and OS

Battery and OS recalibration may sometimes be necessary if a device experiences power or charging problems. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
2. Charge the phone until it reaches 100%. Be sure to use original charging equipment for your device and let it charge up completely. Do not unplug your device for at least two more hours and also don’t use it while charging.

After the elapsed time, unplug your device.

Restart the device.

Use your phone until it completely runs out of power again.
Repeat steps 1-5.

After the recalibration, use your phone for a couple of days and observe its battery performance. If nothing changes, do the rest of the troubleshooting steps below.

Update apps

Apps may be the lifeblood of Android devices but they can also be some of the common sources of bugs. You don’t just install apps and expect them to work. There’s wisdom why developers constantly update their products.

Updating apps is an important step in this situation as there’s a possibility that one of them may be the main reason for poor battery performance. Make sure that all your apps are up-to-date by checking for updates in Google Play Store.

If you installed apps from outside the Play Store, make sure to check if they are still compatible with the current operating system version on the device.

To minimize bugs from apps, try to stick to official ones. Apps from least known publishers may not receive regular updates and may not be debugged thoroughly to make them compatible with new Android version. Developing and maintaining an app is an expensive enterprise so cash-strapped developers may find it difficult to keep their apps up-to-date. Popular apps from known companies may not have this as much problems though as they can allocate resources to keep their apps running and bug-free. Be reminded that even well-maintained apps like Facebook and Instagram can still succumb to bugs, as millions of Android users have experienced during the last few weeks. Needless to say, installing updates is as necessary as installing Android updates. It’s free and not that difficult to do so make sure not to skip it.

Check battery usage

One of the most straightforward way to know what app, service, or functionality is affecting battery performance is by checking the built-in battery usage tracker feature under Settings. You don’t need to install third party apps to do this action. If you have a third party app that functions similarly to Battery Usage app, remove it from the system. It’s totally useless and redundant.

To check Battery Usage app, follow these steps:

Open Settings app.
Tap Device Maintenance.
Tap Battery.
Tap BATTERY USAGE button.
Check the list to see what app is on top.

Use your own judgement in managing your apps based on Battery usage result. For instance, if Facebook is one of the top apps in that list, it’s high time that you probably put a brake on its usage.

Uninstall apps

Installed apps, whether you’re actively using them or not, affects the battery and storage of your device. If you have apps that have lay dormant for weeks now, uninstall them. Not only will it help the battery perform longer in the short and long term but it can also save you a MBs in the process and help declutter the phone’s internal storage.

Social media apps like Facebook and Twitter are some of the top reasons why smartphone batteries drain faster than expected. Such apps are designed to constantly talk to remote servers constantly to get new contents. If you have a lot of similar apps installed, decide which ones you want to keep and get rid of less important ones.

Lower screen brightness

This is self-explanatory. The brighter and more colorful your screen is, the hungrier for battery power the system becomes. Lower your screen brightness to the lowest comfortable level for you to save power. You can also change the resolution of the screen to a lower one.

Minimize usage

One of the most common reasons why users usually find their device’s battery drain faster after a major operating system update is the fact that they can’t seem to help themselves to constantly check what’s new. That constant unlocking, browsing for contents or new features, locking the device, and unlocking again can put pressure on the battery. Thus, it’s expected for a lot of users to notice that their battery appears to have shorter lifespan in the next few days or so. Once the novelty of the new operating system wears off and a user stops tinkering with the device as often as before, battery performance may also return back to normal.

Factory reset

Major Android updates can sometimes change configurations that may cause the system to run inefficiently. If you followed all our suggestions above and the issue still remains, do a factory reset to return everything back to their defaults.

To factory reset your S8:

Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Problem #2: What to do if your Galaxy S8 was bricked after flashing

Hello, Thank you for your time and this service. hope you can help. Sprint Galaxy S8 out of the box. Flashed it with Oreo 8 via Odin 3.13.1 and it’s been bricked ever since. I am unable to boot to recovery mode unless I’m doing it wrong somehow and also did try flashing sprint factory software again but no change. Here are pics of phone error upon turning it on and when put into download mode: https://ibb.co/hpG7eJ https://ibb.co/nj1Jmy https://ibb.co/fqRUtd I think I’m going to have to take it in but if there’s anything else you know of or I could try that would be huge. Thanks again.

Solution: If you flashed a brand new and expensive device straight out of the box, we assume you’re aware of the risks involved. There’s a number of factors that can mess up a flashing process on top of the common ones. For instance, if a computer you’re using encounters an error during the actual flashing process, or if its USB port has a corrupted driver, that can potentially cause Odin to crash and mess up your phone’s partition. Using an incorrect firmware version of course is one of the most effective way in messing up the software. Sometimes, restoring a device’s stock firmware fixes the problem so be sure to try that. The error shown on the picture is a generic one and usually comes up if a flashing procedure has gone wrong. It doesn’t really pinpoint where, in your flashing process, you committed a mistake. If you’ve already tried flashing the stock firmware without apparent success, the best thing that you can do is to return the phone and have it replaced.c