Bad Screen On Time... What To Do?

bmichaels556 · March 5, 2019

I've noticed that over time, on any phone I've had, screen-on time has absolutely tanked. Whether it was my Galaxy S3, my ZTE Grand X3, or my Note 4. My old G1 also, but it was Android's first go, so I kind of expected it.

Anyway, it seems like no matter what I do, whether I reset the phone, uninstall a bunch of apps, replace the battery, things never go back to normal. For example, my ZTE Grand X3 always got awesome battery life, and paired with quickcharge, it served me well. A bit underpowered? Sure. But it definitely helped to have a low-power SoC paired with a decent-sized 3000mah battery. But now? I'm lucky to get a couple hours out of it, despite replacing the battery.

Same for my Note 4. I got it used to replace the ZTE. Sure, when it was reset from the seller, battery life was "OK", but not stellar. About 3 hours of screen-on time. Now I'm lucky to get 2. Man, I remember how back when I got my S3, I'd watch Netflix and maybe use a percentage point every few minutes. Now it's closer to 1% a minute, on ALL of these phones.

So why is this!? I suppose that new updates might be more taxing on the CPU, and I don't doubt this will lead to a noticable reduction in battery life. But 50% reduction? Is it really that bad? It makes me never want to update, which is silly, but if this is the consequence, why should I bother? You know, every phone I get makes me want to get a phone with a huge battery such as the Zenfone Max. But I'll skip out on phones like that. And when I get another phone, I'm always saying "Oh, this gets great battery life. Plenty for my needs!"

Until THIS happens. So what the hell!? Do I have ANY options? Why am I losing 50% of my battery life, despite finding brand new battery replacements? Has anyone solved this modern mystery? Thanks so much for your help...