Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
joonhyuk
Contributor - Level 1

Is your phone still under warranty? If so, Samsung will 'repair' your battery. You will have to create a ticket number after contacting their customer service but they can send you another battery for free. They determined my battery was defective after troubleshooting with them. It's worth a shot.

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Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
Nostalgic-Link
Enthusiast - Level 2

This is fucking ridiculous... how many weeks have passed since this update ruined our S4's and we're still having problems?  It's been 5 hours since I took my phone (BRAND NEW S4 THAT WAS REPLACED BECAUSE OF THE FIRST NG6 UPDATE THAT BROKE MY ORIGINAL S4) off the charger, and the OS has used 60% of the battery just sitting here on my desk, locked, with the screen off, GPS disabled, wifi on.

If I actually use the phone, it has a battery life of an Atari Linx!  FIX YOUR SHIT!  I GIVE YOU $90 A MONTH FOR THIS CRAP.  Verizon Wireless Customer Support

Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
joonhyuk
Contributor - Level 1

Sounds like you have wakelock issues with certain apps that keep your CPU running in the background. Have you tried to look at your battery stats to see what is eating up the most?

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Re: Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
jrh4054
Specialist - Level 3

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Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
Adam007
Enthusiast - Level 1

I finally took the plunge and did a factory reset via Kies.  Five days out now, and the battery performance seems better - not mind-blowingly better, but better.

One note: I use Knox and, this time around, I denied the "Security Updates" that it offers me every 24-48 hours.  I believe these updates encrypt the SD card and cause unnecessary media searching every time Knox is used as well as several times throughout the day.

Overall, my guess is that Verizon and Samsung have moved on from fixing this and are focused on the next thing.  Very disappointing.  I'll be looking at other carriers and phone brands when my contract is up in May.

Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Adam007, thanks for keeping us posted on the performance of your device. It's our goal to ensure that you have the best wireless experience possible on your device. The manufacturer software updates are implemented to ensure that this happens. We hope that you reconsider your decision to leave and allow us to continue as your wireless provider.

LasinaH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
Zudnic
Enthusiast - Level 3

@LasinaH_VZW, and anyone else who's listening -

I, too, am going to seriously consider leaving Verizon after being a customer since June 2000.

I have a lot of reasons:

I hope those of us on this thread who are predisposed to be angry at Verizon take this into account and think hard before committing to another contract.

I welcome responses from anyone at Verizon who wants to respond to this meaningfully.

Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
ferno1188
Enthusiast - Level 3

LasinaH_VZW,

Concerning what you said in your posting, based on the lack of response from Verizon on this battery drain issue that has clearly affected many customers, Verizon is not at all interested in ensuring that we, the customer, "have the best wireless experience possible on your device." If this were true, Verizon 1.) would never have let such a broken update be released into the wild and 2.) would have promptly either addressed the issue(s) created and/or, at the very least, had the decency to alert the affected customers that a mistake was made and Verizon is working closely with Samsung on a fix.

The lack of communication is bothersome and downright disrespectful - and ever worse, though there is this forum, nobody at Verizon has been able to offer tangible, long term solutions to this significant issue. Customer service does not start with being a leader in the telecommunications industry, it begins by respecting the little guy and answering/addressing his concerns.

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Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
asarge
Newbie

My S4 had the same issues as everyone else's. Based on Steveeeee's entry (#166 on page 17 of this thread), I took my phone to Best Buy yesterday and asked the Samsung sales rep to re-flash it. It took about 10 minutes for him to connect it to his laptop and run the program. No data was lost.

Today, after 8 hours of normal usage, the phone still has 60% battery life remaining, which means it could go another 12 hours before recharging! Admittedly, it's a small sample size (one day) but this is a major improvement. If the phone reverts to its previous behavior, I will post again and let you know so you don't waste your time.

It makes sense that if the OTA update was corrupted on some phones, then they could exhibit strange behaviors like the krtccd process running wild and consuming the battery. This bug would be difficult to catch in the QA process, especially if it didn't happen every time.

If re-flashing the phone from a computer fixes the issue, then perhaps Verizon could provide those instructions to S4 owners to perform themselves, rather than requiring them to take their phones to Best Buy. At a minimum, Verizon should notify all S4 owners about this issue so they don't continue to suffer. That's just good customer service.

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Re: Galaxy S4 battery draining after NG6 update
Zudnic
Enthusiast - Level 3

The Best Buy process has been the most successful for me as well. The at-home processes, via VZ's software or Kies, is effectively a factory reset, so it's worth it to schlep to BBY and have them do it so you don't have to reset your phone. (NB: They can't help you if you're rooted.)

The S5 received its Lollipop update yesterday so I am hopeful that we will see that soon for the S4, which should hopefully nuke these issues altogether.

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