Battery life after update to Gingerbread on Samsung Fascinate - Problem and FIX

[cjnokr19]

I have to be honest here, I am getting really sick of the Verizon tech's always resorting to a "factory reset" to fix issues like this because the bottom line is, they don't always work, and I do not believe that this battery issue is a problem that can be solved by a factory reset. 

I bought the Fascinate a year ago and it was the best phone I've ever had.  I've absolutely loved it up until I got the Gingerbread update earlier this month.  Not only am I having the same battery life issues after the update that I'm seeing here in these posts, but my GPS had also stopped working right after the upgrade. 

I had a factory reset done at my local store, which didn't work, so Verizon replaced the phone.   I had the same issues with the new phone when I got it last week.  Verizon tech support was no help (they offered to switch me again, to an HTC phone), and they referred me to Samsung Tech support directly if I wanted to troubleshoot some more. Samsung did a reset on the phone through the "backdoor" to actually reinstall the droid 2.3.5 operating system and it did resolve the GPS issue, however I am still having major battery issues. 

My phone comes off the charger in the morning when the "100%" icon shows in my status bar and instantly when I unplug it, it drops to 91% (this i've noticed is pretty standard as I've monitored this over the past week).  I also stream radio.com or tunein radio while im at work with my phone plugged in and ever since the upgrade, my battery is not staying charged while im streaming.  The interesting part is that the "100%" icon is on my status bar, but I will unplug my phone to go to lunch after streaming for about 4 hrs and the battery will be anywhere from 40-60% full (a couple days ago it was only at 10%!!!). 

I called Samsung directly again a couple of nights ago and they actually tried to tell me that the streaming applications were using more energy on the battery than it was taking in.  REALLY????  Does that make sense to anyone??  There is a contstant flow of electricity going into this battery....its just not charging it.  What the tech told me would basically equate to not being able to use a laptop thats plugged in after a few hours because working on it would take up the battery faster than electricity could charge it.  It just doesn't make sense.  So anyway, i had been using a generic charger at work, and my Samsung charger at home.  He suggested I use the Samsung charger when I'm streaming because a generic charger may not be charging the battery as efficiently.  Ok, I can buy that, so I brought my Samsung cord to work and the generic cord home.  Since i'm not using my phone overnight it doesn't matter how long it takes the generic cord to charge the phone, but Tuesday was my first day using the Samsung cord at work.

On Tuesday, I actually thought this idea just might have worked, when I unplugged my phone after streaming for about 4 hrs, it was at the usual 91%.  But yesterday and today, that hope vanished.  When I've unplugged the phone the past 2 days after the same amt of time streaming, my battery was between 70-75%, yes, better than before, but still, this just doesn't make any sense, NOT TO MENTION THAT BEFORE I GOT THIS UPDATE, I NEVER HAD 1 BATTERY CHARGING ISSUE WHILE STREAMING with either charging cord.  I have not changed any apps i've been using, and in fact, I have less apps installed on this phone than I did on the previous one.  I just don't think they should've forced this update onto the Fascinate because either its not compatible with it, or there is a MAJOR software glitch that needs to be repaired. 

After talking with both Verizon and Samsung tech support, i'm being told that they have no reports of any major battery issues after this update, which I find hard to believe so I'm happy to see i'm not the only one experiencing this frustration.  The only fix options that I am being given are use a different streaming app, or that I can send in my phone in for 2 weeks for them to check the software. 

The bottom line is that this update has cause a MAJOR battery problem on this particular device and seems like Verizon and Samsung are either ignoring it, or not doing enough to address it and get it fixed.  As I said, when I got this phone, it was the best phone I've ever had and now i'm getting to the point where I just want to get rid of it becasue I can no longer rely on it working properly since the upgrade.  If anyone has found any other ways that might help with this battery issues, i'd appreciate any suggestions!!

[stonent]

After about 3 or 4 pulls, I'm getting 1500+ on Quadrant.

[NuDroidUsrr]

---

stonent wrote:

After about 3 or 4 pulls, I'm getting 1500+ on Quadrant.

---

  What app are you using to get the Quadrant scrore?

[A_name_noone_else_use]

This is a trickle charge issue that the Verizon EH03 kernel has (they broke it). I have flashed a different kernel I got off the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1364912 and that fixed the problem.

Warning this I am certain will void any warranty you have on the phone!  I didn't care at this point because Verizon bricked my phone and said too bad (https://community.verizonwireless.com/message/794746#794746)

[wardcst24]

What warranty

They broke it in December of 2011 and will not fix it,

After 3 months of not receiving calls and now this I have put VZW and the fascinate behind me .

I gave and gave and finely I gave up and realized they do not care about customers .

Take me once shame on you

Take me twice shame on me

Never Again Samsung and Verizon