Question Z Fold 3 battery life discussion

[Nsoo]

Hello guys,

First of all, I hope everyone is well here I really need your assistance with most probably a battery drain issue I have with my device.. In case I'm in the wrong thread I want to apologize in advance and please prompt me to the correct one or to open a new thread.

My issue is called Google Play Services.. This is what I got last night: https://ibb.co/tc98RyK and almost most of my days end like this, especially when I'm not using WiFi so much.

I have already tried and done what I've researched over the net like:
Clear cache on Google Play Services, Google Play Store etc
Turn off 5G
Turn off location accuracy for Bluetooth and Wifi.
Restarted the device about 15 times

Also, I tried to install AccuBattery but I've uninstalled it as my device was vibrating every 5 seconds. It is really my next step Factory reset or do you have any other solution? Highly appreciated all the help.

 

[killahhops]

Hello guys,

First of all, I hope everyone is well here I really need your assistance with most probably a battery drain issue I have with my device.. In case I'm in the wrong thread I want to apologize in advance and please prompt me to the correct one or to open a new thread.

My issue is called Google Play Services.. This is what I got last night: https://ibb.co/tc98RyK and almost most of my days end like this, especially when I'm not using WiFi so much.

I have already tried and done what I've researched over the net like:
Clear cache on Google Play Services, Google Play Store etc
Turn off 5G
Turn off location accuracy for Bluetooth and Wifi.
Restarted the device about 15 times

Also, I tried to install AccuBattery but I've uninstalled it as my device was vibrating every 5 seconds. It is really my next step Factory reset or do you have any other solution? Highly appreciated all the help.

What I've done outside of the steps in the thread was:

Put majority of my apps to sleep and use tasker to turn on Power Save once the screen is off and then turn it off once I turn the screen(s) back on. That has dramatically improved my battery life.

 

[Nsoo]

What I've done outside of the steps in the thread was:

Put most of my apps to sleep and use tasker to turn on Power Save once the screen is off and then turn it off once I turn the screen(s) back on. That has dramatically improved my battery life.

Thanks a lot for your reply! It is highly appreciated. All these actions you did because you had the same issue with me with Google play services? Also, if I use power save with screen off, how is it performing in terms of notifications?

 

[chetly968]

There are 2 batteries. It's still pretty awesome what they've put in this bad boy, though. One side has 4 cameras, 3 mics and a screen, the other has a camera 3 speakers (very good ones too) a mic and 2 screens.

I honestly think that this is the best overall phone made, if you want the really big screen. I also think it'll be the best until the Fold 4.

But yeah, we're difficult. I too want more, but I'm ok to wait

This is without a doubt the best phone ever made in my opinion. I wish they could've added macro capabilities and better zoom to the cameras but I wouldn't give up that large screen for them. I get more use out if that than I ever do with a camera of any kind. I take like 5 pictures a month. For more camera.focised users, this may not work out.

 

[Cyrax-001]

Are you really not near power outlet all day long?
I charge twice a day (drain from 85% to 20% to prolong battery longevity ). But I use my phone a lot...coming to 11hrs SOT per day.

11 hours in two charges for sure?

 

[dezborders]

Battery life (or sot) is ok for me. Usually 5.5 hours for a day of about 15 hours.

"OK" is a fair assessment of battery life / SOT on Fold3 .... however I cant shake the thought i consistently had 30% better on my Fold2.

 

[jeromepearce]

"OK" is a fair assessment of battery life / SOT on Fold3 .... however I cant shake the thought i consistently had 30% better on my Fold2.

Is that a product of 120Hz screens and 5g, perhaps? Does limiting to 4g and 60 Hz give 30% more SoT?

Turning off 'vivid' displays seems to help too.

 

[blackhawk]

Hello guys,

First of all, I hope everyone is well here I really need your assistance with most probably a battery drain issue I have with my device.. In case I'm in the wrong thread I want to apologize in advance and please prompt me to the correct one or to open a new thread.

My issue is called Google Play Services.. This is what I got last night: https://ibb.co/tc98RyK and almost most of my days end like this, especially when I'm not using WiFi so much.

I have already tried and done what I've researched over the net like:
Clear cache on Google Play Services, Google Play Store etc
Turn off 5G
Turn off location accuracy for Bluetooth and Wifi.
Restarted the device about 15 times

Also, I tried to install AccuBattery but I've uninstalled it as my device was vibrating every 5 seconds. It is really my next step Factory reset or do you have any other solution? Highly appreciated all the help.

Disable all power management in Device Care.
Clear logs in Device Care>storage as needed.
Clear data in Google play Services
Clear system cache
You can package disable Playstore when not needed.
You can temporarily Google play Services but Gmail needs it to open. Disable Find my Device as Administrator in Security if Google play Services disable button is greyed out.

A factory reset will likely solve nothing unless you did a recent major firmware upgrade. Find the root cause(s) or they will just reoccur after the reset.

 

[dezborders]

Is that a product of 120Hz screens and 5g, perhaps? Does limiting to 4g and 60 Hz give 30% more SoT?

Turning off 'vivid' displays seems to help too.

All of the above will help yes

In my case , I disable 5g and GPS accuracy improvement (WiFi and Bluetooth scanning )

My point is though the Fold2 had all of Fold3's functions enabled by default and with 30% longer battery life

It's kind of like buying a sportscar and pulling it along the road tied to a donkey

If we have to disable all the advanced functionality of the Fold3 to get a whole day on a full charge then what's the point of the F3?

 

[blackhawk]

All of the above will help yes

In my case , I disable 5g and GPS accuracy improvement (WiFi and Bluetooth scanning )

My point is though the Fold2 had all of Fold3's functions enabled by default and with 30% longer battery life

It's kind of like buying a sportscar and pulling it along the road tied to a donkey

If we have to disable all the advanced functionality of the Fold3 to get a whole day on a full charge then what's the point of the F3?

Depends if you need it or not.

I routinely keep Google play Services disabled unless I need it on my N10+.
Playstore and about 87 packages are disabled unless needed which is rare.
It nets me about 7-10+%@hr more SOT. It's not a trivial amount. At night instead of using 10+% it uses 3%.
The phone does everything I need it to do well.

I deliberately avoided a 5G and variable refresh rate device because they are still problematic.
So again if you choose to enble or disable them it depends entirely what you want and if the trade offs/advantages warrant doing so.
You're in control... not the phone.

 

[dezborders]

Depends if you need it or not.

I routinely keep Google play Services disabled unless I need it on my N10+.
Playstore and about 87 packages are disabled unless needed which is rare.
It nets me about 7-10+%@hr more SOT. It's not a trivial amount. At night instead of using 10+% it uses 3%.
The phone does everything I need it to do well.

I deliberately avoided a 5G and variable refresh rate device because they are still problematic.
So again if you choose to enble or disable them it depends entirely what you want and if the trade offs/advantages warrant doing so.
You're in control..

My question and point was why is F3 25% worse battery life than F2...

F3 has SD888 which is supposed to be more power efficient over previous Snapdragon CPUs
F3 has LTPO screens which are supposed to use less power compared with older screen tech
All other functions (5G, GPS, etc are identical) between F2 and F3.

So why does a 10% smaller battery give 25-30% less SOT?
Its a source of frustration on an otherwise awesome device..

I am split 50/50 between selling my S21 Ultra and keeping my new F3... or selling F3 and getting a whole day (and more) from the S21U

 

[blackhawk]

My question and point was why is F3 25% worse battery life than F2...

F3 has SD888 which is supposed to be more power efficient over previous Snapdragon CPUs
F3 has LTPO screens which are supposed to use less power compared with older screen tech
All other functions (5G, GPS, etc are identical) between F2 and F3.

So why does a 10% smaller battery give 25-30% less SOT?
Its a source of frustration on an otherwise awesome device..

I am split 50/50 between selling my S21 Ultra and keeping my new F3... or selling F3 and getting a whole day (and more) from the S21U

Base your decision on display repair. Both of those phones have had display issues... you know the deal with the Fold displays by now so I won't bore you. If you go past a year or two the batteries will need replacement too which probably isn't that bad

Samsung's can be a handful, but their UI is great. You can sort out the battery drain, eventually. Both my N10+'s were hot running battery hogs out of the box

One is a factory variant, the oldest a AT&T carrier phone, both stock. I carbon copied my optimizations for the older phone to the newest one and they worked near perfectly with only a few new packages needing disabled. On the N10+ Android 9 and 10 are behave very similarly.
Would this hold true with other models and higher OS's? Likely so, probably to a greater than lesser extent.

Nonetheless occasionally I need to track down a power hog every now and then even now. It's not one single cause or solution.
I've been on the browser today and you can see the phone is running clean right now at about 7% SOT@hr, 40% brightness;



On the Fold your screen off power consumption will give you an idea what's mucking it up in the background. Tap on AOD* runs at about .5%@hr, always on at 1%@hr. That's with internet/phone connection on, Google play Services off and all cloud apps disabled. If you're using much more battery usage than that, you got background apps running that don't need to be.

*analog clock, self adjusting brightness. The newer phone's hardware should be more efficient than my 10+'s with screen off. Since the Fold has 2 batteries, they likely have separate power controllers. This may impact battery usage slightly as can more display pixel usage.

 

[dezborders]

On the Fold your screen off power consumption will give you an idea what's mucking it up in the background. Tap on AOD* runs at about .5%@hr, always on at 1%@hr. That's with internet/phone connection on, Google play Services off and all cloud apps disabled. If you're using much more battery usage than that, you got background apps running that don't need to be.

*analog clock, self adjusting brightness. The newer phone's hardware should be more efficient than my 10+'s with screen off. Since the Fold has 2 batteries, they likely have separate power controllers. This may impact battery usage slightly as can more display pixel usage.

Thanks for all the great advice on power saving tips and I have zero doubt all of them will help extend battery life. However I bought my £1600 Fold3 as a natural upgrade to my Fold2. I bought it to use fully not to disable lots of features. My Fold2 ran fine with all functionality enabled and got a full day easily from a full charge . That's not the case with Fold3 which has a 10% smaller battery but a 30,% less SOT . As I am beyond the returns period With Samsung I have 2 options available... 1. Get used to charging twice a day or 2. Sell it . I will wait until Android 12 comes out later this month then decide in the new year.

 

[blackhawk]

Thanks for all the great advice on power saving tips and I have zero doubt all of them will help extend battery life. However I bought my £1600 Fold3 as a natural upgrade to my Fold2. I bought it to use fully not to disable lots of features. My Fold2 ran fine with all functionality enabled and got a full day easily from a full charge . That's not the case with Fold3 which has a 10% smaller battery but a 30,% less SOT . As I am beyond the returns period With Samsung I have 2 options available... 1. Get used to charging twice a day or 2. Sell it . I will wait until Android 12 comes out later this month then decide in the new year.

I would leave it on Android 11 unless 12 is proven to be better.
First thing I do is disable OTA updates... they break things.

I hear what you're saying about functionality. I enable Google play Services when I need to look at Gmail which is once or twice a day. It's drain is about 1-2%@hr. Of course it all adds up.
Try using manual brightness control, that can help battery drain a lot and your eyes too.
Try disabling ARcore.

Playing with it is the way you track these issues down. It's likely just one or a few apps (and/or settings) causing it.
Almost impossible to crash a stock Android... so look around and play with it.

 

[dezborders]

I would leave it on Android 11 unless 12 is proven to be better.
First thing I do is disable OTA updates... they break things.

I hear what you're saying about functionality. I enable Google play Services when I need to look at Gmail which is once or twice a day. It's drain is about 1-2%@hr. Of course it all adds up.
Try using manual brightness control, that can help battery drain a lot and your eyes too.
Try disabling ARcore.

Playing with it is the way you track these issues down. It's likely just one or a few apps (and/or settings) causing it.
Almost impossible to crash a stock Android... so look around and play with it.

Point is tho I didn't pay £1600 to disable and re enable functions several times a day - or to spend the time changing dozens of settings on my new phone just to get to bedtime without running out of battery on an average day.

As for OTA I agree first release of a major OS upgrade will have some bugs and maybe non optimal battery drain. However these bugs get fixed (eventually) and I'd rather have latest Google security from OTA on day of release than risk being hacked

(I work on the IT industry by the way)

So yes don't he a beta tester if you dont want to run with a buggy OS as your daily driver ... But always ALWAYS always leave automatic updates enabled on your phone or PC ... That's my advice to all XDA users!

 

[ShaKki]

While my Battery is fairly good (8-9h SOT) i couldnt care less in todays world tbh. I go to work? wireless charge while i dont use it. im at home? wireless charge. so i would never run out of battery anyway.

 

[blackhawk]

Point is tho I didn't pay £1600 to disable and re enable functions several times a day - or to spend the time changing dozens of settings on my new phone just to get to bedtime without running out of battery on an average day.

As for OTA I agree first release of a major OS upgrade will have some bugs and maybe non optimal battery drain. However these bugs get fixed (eventually) and I'd rather have latest Google security from OTA on day of release than risk being hacked

(I work on the IT industry by the way)

So yes don't he a beta tester if you dont want to run with a buggy OS as your daily driver ... But always ALWAYS always leave automatic updates enabled on your phone or PC ... That's my advice to all XDA users!

Having a fast, stable platform that fulfills its mission is far more important than having the latest updates.
My current OS load is over 1.5 years old, still fast and stable with minimum maintenance.
Last update was over 2 years ago. Never any malware forced reloads and all data is redundantly backed up anyway.

Every time you update you introduce new variables. If you have a good load updates can only break it.
Any bugs they create will require time to find solutions or work arounds for*. Meanwhile my dinosaur OS just keeps on working predictably.
More play time... less troubleshooting time.


*if they exist, sometimes broke is broke.

 

[Talderon]

I'm lucky I guess as I work remote and everywhere I go, I have easy access to power and have a Battery Bank that I keep nearby in case (I carry a backpack normally when I am not at home) and in all honesty, I have not run into many issues where I have needed to use my Battery Bank. I get plenty of usage out of my phone in a day and not have to fear the battery at all.

 

[blackhawk]

While my Battery is fairly good (8-9h SOT) i couldnt care less in todays world tbh. I go to work? wireless charge while i dont use it. im at home? wireless charge. so i would never run out of battery anyway.

That's good SOT.
Li's like frequent midrange power cycling roughly 40-80%. Using them like this can greatly extend their usable lifespan by hundreds of full charge cycles. High cell voltage, high temperature and fast discharge rates can cause rapid or accelerated decline.

I just accept the fact that the battery will need replaced every 1-2 years in a heavily used device.
There's only so much you can reasonably do while preserving usability. After a Li is losses 80% of its original capacity, it is degraded and has reached the end of its usable service life.
It needs needs to be replaced.
Degraded Li's are more likely to fail which can destroy the phone.

 

[dezborders]

Having a fast, stable platform that fulfills its mission is far more important than having the latest updates.
My current OS load is over 1.5 years old, still fast and stable with minimum maintenance.
Last update was over 2 years ago. Never any malware forced reloads and all data is redundantly backed up anyway.

Every time you update you introduce new variables. If you have a good load updates can only break it.
Any bugs they create will require time to find solutions or work arounds for*. Meanwhile my dinosaur OS just keeps on working predictably.
More play time... less troubleshooting time.


*if they exist, sometimes broke is broke.

Each to there own mate ... We live in a democracy so patch or run on outdated os your choice

Life is moving faster and faster paced all the time and hacks and vulnerability are being exploited more and more each day

It's no longer a question of WILL I be hacked it's WHEN will I be hacked

Nobody on this forum will thank you for advising them to disable OTA when their bank account is emptied because they didn't apply security updates regularly

Back to the OP topic tho battery life is poor on the Fold3 and for me it's bad ebought that I might give up on Samsung's foldables and go back to candy bar fornat. I am old school, my first phones were Nokia 3xxx range with 5 to 7 days battery. I need 1 full days usage from my smartphone - and using out of the box settings - nothing else is acceptable for the huge money manufacturers charge these days .

Let's agree to disagree mate