Smartphone batteries are designed to eventually drain. That’s how batteries work in the first place. The larger the battery capacity, the longer it would take the device to completely run out of power. This therefore allows you to maximize device usage. But for some reasons, even high-powered devices that are packed with high-capacity batteries can drain so quickly. And when it comes to Android battery issues like quick draining, Samsung’s Galaxy series phones appeared to be among the affected devices.
What causes the battery to drain so rapidly and what means can be done in order to preserve or slow down power consumption on the Galaxy A3 smartphone? The answers to these questions are highlighted below. Read on to find out.
Before anything else, if you are experiencing a different kind of problem with your phone, visit our Galaxy A3 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this phone. Find problems that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you still need our help after that, then feel free to contact us by filling up our questionnaire.
Common factors that can cause quick battery drain issues on your Galaxy A3 smartphone
There are actually a lot of factors that can trigger the battery to drain quickly. Just think of the fact that everything in your device consumes certain amount of power when used. And if you happen to use all of them, then expect your phone to just turn dead in a few hours of usage. To make things quick, here’s a list of the most common culprits for you to consider when troubleshooting battery issues on your Galaxy A3:
- Rogue apps – these are misbehaving apps, mostly free downloadable apps. Majority of these apps are not power-efficient compared to premium (paid) apps. Keeping these apps running in the background can use up all power sooner than expected.
- Faulty updates – apps and software updates also contain bugs that may tend to affect certain functions and services on the device after implementation. Faulty updates often require follow-up fixes or system restore as remedy.
- Display Settings – a brighter screen display can use up power quickly than setting the screen brightness to a lower level. It takes much power to lit the screen up to the desired brightness. So the dimmer the screen, the slower it uses power on the device.
- Corrupt SD cards – bad sectors on the SD card can cause the phone to constantly attempt to get data from the SD card which can drain the battery in time. Most people don’t think of it as a possible trigger but SD card can also be the underlying cause of battery problem in mobile devices. Removing the SD card when not in use can be considered as remedy to this issue.
- Network/connectivity problems – it’s when the device is unable to get a good signal or has no service or network coverage. During this state, the device will work harder to try to re-establish a signal or connection with the network tower so as to keep your device connected.
- Bad battery – this can be the worst among the possible causes. You may consider getting the battery replaced or repaired especially when there were previous instances of your device being dropped or get wet.
Majority of the cases are software-related though so you’ve got a higher chance of fixing the problem on your end. But if all else fails, you always have to option to seek further assistance from the right people on the right department.
Potential solutions and workarounds to preserve battery life on your Galaxy A3 smartphone
Highlighted below are standard procedures and workarounds to deal with battery problems on your Galaxy A3 and conserve power as much as possible. Feel free to give any of the subsequent solutions a try when needed.
Determine which apps are draining the most of your battery
As explicated earlier, bad apps can be the trigger. To rule this out from the possible causes, check the battery usage and dig further on the details.
- To do so, navigate to Settings-> Device-> Battery or Settings-> Power-> Battery Usage menu (in other variants) then view the list of all apps along with the amount of power they are using. If you see something unusual like if certain apps seems to take up a disproportionate amount of power, then consider removing that app.
Uninstall unnecessary apps
Apps use up battery when opened or not. Any app that is no longer in use should be removed from your device so as to lessen consumption of power by apps.
- To do so, head over to Settings-> Apps-> All menu then tap on each app and hit Uninstall to remove it along with any data it has created.
Be sure to delete unwanted apps that constantly show ads because these ads can use up much power.
Remove unused widgets from the Home screen
Display components like widgets on the Home screen can also use up battery on your device. Several Android apps like weather apps, news apps, and social networks come with widgets that are placed on the Home screen for real-time updates. Because of their constant syncing and animations, these widgets can cause the battery to drain faster. You always have the Apps drawer to access any of these apps when needed anyway.
Enable Airplane mode
When using your Galaxy A3 in areas with low signal or no network coverage, turn on Airplane mode because if you don’t your device will constantly try to look for a strong signal and attempt to connect to any available networks nearby. Putting your device in Airplane mode during bed time can also help you save lots and lots of power.
- To access this option, go to Settings-> Airplane mode-> then toggle the switch to turn the feature on.
Connectivity features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS location services will be disabled in this mode.
Turn off notifications when not necessary
Getting real-time notification updates is not really that necessary unless for calls or text messages. Other things like email or social media, you can turn notification off for them because that are much less useful.
- To do so, head over to Settings-> Apps-> then remove the check from the Show notifications box for an app. In Android 7.0, go to Settings-> Device-> Notifications-> then manually adjust notification levels for each app.
You can also select the option to never show notifications or show silently without waking the screen, vibrating or pinging.
Disable connectivity features and location services when not in use
GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi also consume power on your device when enabled as it forces the device to remain connected to the server, maps, or other devices they are connected to (Bluetooth). Alternatively, you can do all these at once using the previous method which is to enable Airplane mode on the phone.
Reduce screen brightness.
Again, the brighter the screen, the more power it requires and uses up. Hence, setting it lower down to an appropriate level can help preserve the battery.
Enable Power Saver Mode
Android devices like the Galaxy A3 have this feature that helps maximize battery life and extend power down to the last few minutes. When enabled, other features like screen animations, background syncing, and location services are disabled, thus lessening workload of your phone. Alternatively, you can manually configure Power saver options by going to Settings-> Power-> then make necessary power configurations based on your preferences. You can set it not to conserve CPU power, screen brightness, or vibration feedback and select whether or not to disable data connection when the phone is idle.
Update software
Marshmallow and Nougat have a default mode called Doze which lessens the amount of battery used in standby mode by stopping most apps from getting online or preventing the phone from waking with notifications. The updated Doze version in Android Nougat already has tighter restrictions on which apps are allowed to sync for updates while the device screen is off and how often these apps can wake the phone up.
To get started, head over to your phone’s Settings-> General-> Software update. Usually you will see a notification if an update is available. If there is then follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the new update file for your device software.
Calibrate your battery once in awhile
Battery calibration mainly involves fully discharging and then re-charging the phone’s battery. It is recommended to calibrate the battery once every 3 months to help it maintain its charge capacity. So if you haven’t already, give it a try then see the good things it offers.
Seek more help
If you think that the problem is associated with a bad battery or caused by a software update bug, contact Samsung Support or your carrier to escalate the problem and other recommendations. Don’t forget to avail for warranty if your device is still covered.
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