What to do if your Galaxy S8 Plus has battery drain issue following an update

Poor battery performance (battery drain issue) is often a common issue that we encounter after each and every major Android release. Even on newer devices like the #GalaxyS8 and #GalaxyS8Plus, battery drain issue is something that occurs in a regular basis. To continually remind our community that this issue is not an issue with new Android version entirely, we bring you again this troubleshooting post.

Problem #1: What to do if your Galaxy S8 Plus has battery drain issue following an update

Hi there! I’ve been having significant battery drain problems since the last device software update arrived. I’ve tried following advice from your site and elsewhere (i.e. clearing the cache, disabling Bixby, checking screen settings, etc.) and nothing has worked to resolve it. I’ve seen other reports of similar problems on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus but I’d rather not factory reset my device and have to re-establish everything. I wondered if this is a wide-spread issue that a fix is coming for or is there any way to roll-back to the previous software version? I’m not getting more than about 3-4 hours of battery life out of my device despite not doing much with it. The Battery Usage monitor is showing that it’s the “Android System” and “com.android.systemui” that’s using the majority of battery life. Any help that you can provide would be greatly appreciated! This is very frustrating! Thanks! — Mark Mmorell

Solution: Hi Mark. When it comes to battery drain issue, there’s a lot of possible reasons for it so there’s no one-size fits all solution that we can provide. If battery usage on your Galaxy S8 Plus has spiked drastically following an update, that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s coding issue involved. In most cases, non-system apps are to blame as well.

If you’ve already tried the generic solutions to reduce battery usage such as lowering screen brightness, clearing the cache partition, etc, you should continue to do the rest of troubleshooting steps that we recommend in this case. We can only guess what stuff you did already so we’ll provide the most likely helpful ones below. Feel free to skip the ones you have already tried.

Install app updates

When dealing with battery drain issue, not a lot of users realize that lack of app updates can actually help. That’s because there’s often immediate positive result by doing it. The thing, this might very well be the solution for some app-specific battery drain issues. When updating Android, apps are not automatically updated causing potential incompatibility issues. Because new OS updates bring new features and configurations, older, outdated apps may no longer work efficiently causing a drag in terms of performance, which can then result to general system inefficiency. To minimize the chance of bugs and power drain issues after a system update, you want to also ensure that all your apps are compatible with the latest Android version you installed. Make sure to go to your Google Play Store app and update all apps from there. If you have apps from third party sources (not from the Play Store), it’s your responsibility to keep them updated.

Reset app preferences

This potential solution works with the first one in ensuring that all your apps are working as seamlessly as possible. New operating system updates may change app preferences or configurations so it’s possible that bugs can develop from apps with incorrect setup. To eliminate the chance of this issue from developing, make sure that you reset all app preferences to their defaults. By resetting app preferences, you’ll also be enabling back apps and services that may have somehow got disabled but remains important for the system to work properly.

To reset app preferences on your S8:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Tap Reset app preferences.
Restart your device and check for the bug.

Check notorious battery hog apps

This is an ever present recommendation when it comes to fixing battery power loss. More often than not, third party apps with power hogging tendencies are the main cause. Although you mentioned that the top battery hogging apps so far appears to be core Android apps and services, that doesn’t mean you’ll not address perennial apps known to be overly demanding. Social networking apps, games with online services, and apps that regularly need updates tend to be some of the common culprits. You should know that under Battery Usage menu. If possible, try to disable them for a few days and see their absence will have an impact to your phone’s overall power consumption rate.

Reset all settings

Before you commit on wiping the phone with a factory reset, you should consider resetting all settings on your device. Some Android users were able to successfully minimize the impact of battery drain issue on their device by doing it. Here’s how it’s done:

Open Settings app.
Tap General management.
Tap Reset.
Tap Reset settings.
Tap RESET SETTINGS button to confirm.
Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Factory reset

You’ll most probably need to do a factory reset in this situation so don’t hesitate if nothing comes out positive after doing all the suggestions above. Factory reset can fix all kinds of Android ills.

To factory reset your S8:

Make a backup of your personal data.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green 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.

Uninstall unused apps

If factory reset won’t resolve the issue at all, that’s probably because the cause of the problem is due to an inefficient app. To minimize the chance of apps from draining the battery faster, make sure to go over all of them and remove those you don’t use or need. The more apps you install, the higher the chance of some background services constantly running in the background. Even when you’re not opening or actively using an app, a background service for it may be running 24/7. If you have a number of such apps installed, they can take a significant toll on battery performance.

After a factory reset, make sure to uninstall apps that usually requires constant or near-constant communication with remote servers. Such apps commonly includes social networking apps (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are notorious in this sense), games (those with online services), email apps, messaging apps. In other words, you want to get rid of possible battery hogs if possible so you’ll know how the battery performs without them. If you can’t live without such apps, try to go under their settings and see if there’s a way for you prevent them from updating constantly.

Workaround: Use Power saving mode

When you think you need your phone for longer in a particular day, you can always extend battery performance by using Power Saving Mode. This is a Samsung Galaxy S feature that forces the device to run slower in terms of CPU clock speed, lower its screen brightness, use lower screen resolution, turning off Background network usage, and shutting down Always On Display. There are two options that you choose from and depending on your need, you can either pick MID or MAX.

To use Power Saving Mode:

Open Settings app.
Tap Device maintenance.
Tap Battery.
Select MID or MAX.

Unroot (optional)

If you have a rooted Galaxy S8 Plus, try unrooting it by doing a master reset (steps provided above) and see what happens. Some rooting software may not work efficiently with newer Android versions so try to see how your device works when it’s running stock firmware and without root.

Problem #2: Galaxy S8 Plus battery drops quickly and charges very fast, screen turns black when opening apps

My Samsung S8 Plus is a year old and it’s been about a month that my phone’s battery percentage drops VERY quickly. Drops 1% every 2-3 minutes. Also, charges extremely fast. When it comes down to around 60 something to 70 something percent, the screen turns black but I can still tell the phone is on because I can hear when I increase the volume.

Also turns black when I open certain apps like snapchat, screen turns black. Sometimes the phone will shut itself completely off and when i turn it back on it says it’s at 0% from 60 -80%. It does have what it seems to be a minor crack on the top left corner of the screen but it was there long before this issue started happening. (Idk if the crack might have anything to do with it).

I am currently trying the Safe Mode method and the battery still went from 69% – 60% in about 10 minutes but so far the screen hasnt turned black. — RAQUEL

Solution: Hi Raquel. It’s possble that your device’s battery just needs calibration so try to do that first. Here are the steps to do that:

Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
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.
Perform a warm restart by holding the Power and Bixby buttons simultaneously until the startup logo appears.
Use your phone until it completely runs out of power again.
Repeat steps 1-5.

Should the issues remain after you calibrate the battery and OS, do a master reset (factory reset) and see if that will fix them. If nothing changes after a factory reset, that means that the issue is most likely not within your ability to fix. In this case, you want to get professional support from Samsung.