LG G5 Nougat Battery Life

[wwhyte92]

Hello fellow Vodafoners,

I was pleased to see the notification for the OTA update to Android 7.0 Nougat for my LG G5 pop up a couple of weeks before Christmas and installed straight away. Although there hasn't been any major changes to the interface or day to day working, I've had major problems with the battery life ever since the update was installed.

As usual and following the advise of other online forums, I have factory reset the device (more than once) and also allowed it a bit of time to get used to my daily battery habits (as I believe the Doze functionality needs), however it is still appauling compared to before the update. Prior to updating I was able to leave the phone on my desk at work, auto-sync on and playing a bit of music in the afternoon and I would easily have 60-65% capacity remaining at the end of the day. Now, with less use (no music) the capacity is down to 30% by midday and I have to spend the afternoon recharging.

I've reached out to LG regarding this but they don't seem to want to give me any answers. Has anyone else had a similar experience since the software update?

Thanks all.

[wwhyte92]

I've also just noticed today that even whilst plugged into my laptop at work to charge up, the battery charge is still continuing to go down. While I know charging through my laptop isn't as efficient as via a normal plug socket, before the Nougat update (and even before this morning) it has always charged the phone up happily.

I haven't installed any different apps (in fact I removed a couple last night), auto-sync/bluetooth/NFC etc are all turned off...

I understand that batteries can deteriorate a bit over time, but after having the phone for only 9 or so months and the sharp decline since the Android 7.0 update this seems crazy.

[Nabs]

This was my battery usage yesterday before I plugged in last night:

That usage includes about an hours drive with Google maps navigation, a couple of hours phone calls, texting throughout the day (around 150 messages), a few hours browsing and listening to a half hour podcast at lunchtime whilst tracking a 20min walk in the Fitbit app. I have Wifi & Bluetooth on all the time to sync my watch and fitbit, my NFC is also switched on for Android Pay.

@wwhyte92 @Vincerp assuming you are both running Vodafone firmware i would take a guess that the issue lies somewhere in the recent update they approved.

[wwhyte92]

@Nabs

I'm in awe of your battery!

Do you (or anyone else) know where as consumers we stand on the whole bloatwhere/ROM stuff? Can we request Vodafone remove the software if it is causing a detrimental effect to the product? Or would it be cause to terminate the contract? I doubt it but worth keeping options open if nothing is forthcoming. Though naturally I realise there is a massive difficulty in proving that it is the ROM itself that is causing the problems.

[Nabs]

@wwhyte92 I'm only aware of 1 instance where Vodafone have back down on a firmware issue (https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/htc-desire-owners-angered-by-vodafone-bloatware-update/). Around a week after the press got hold of the story they released a 'clean' update that reverted the devices to their previous state.

In terms of the LG it's highly unlikely Vodafone would remove anything, also unlikely you'd get anywhere in relation to terminating your contract, at least not without going through multiple lengthy repair processes with your device.

There are several guides online that will sucesfully flash the generic GBR firmware onto your device:smileywink:

For obvious resaons I can't post a link + following these are entirely at your own risk!

[wwhyte92]

Just a quick update:

LG have finally responded with a proper answer. Apparently they are aware of a massive battery drain with the G5 following the Nougat update and have identified the Facebook & Facebook Messenger apps as the primary culprits. For some reason the current build of the apps don't play nicely with the LG software. So I was advised to 'Force Stop' the apps within the settings menu to see if that helps whilst LG and Facebook work towards a better/permanent solution.

I went a step further and removed the apps completely, and although the battery life is not what it once was on Mashmallow, it now seems consideribly more stable and will hold charge better (tending to last my normal work day before being topped up on the commute home). I've since reinstalled Facebook (not Messenger yet) and the battery life is holding steady. So whether there has been an update to the Facebook app in the past 24 hours which has solved it, I'm not sure.

Worth a go if you're still struggling with abyismal battery life.

Needless to say though, I'm still disappointed that even with all the new battery saving features in Nougat, the battery life seems to generally be reduced from before.

[Nabs]

@wwhyte92 Funny you mention Facebook. I updated to the latest version of the app yesterday morning and my battery was dead by lunchtime with Facebook taking 68% of the battery usage and messenger another 20%!
According to the media it seems to be an issue with the Facebook app itself http://www.androidauthority.com/facebook-messenger-battery-drain-issue-742402/

Like you, i've removed and disabled the app's on my phone and the battery is back to the level it was before the Facebook app updates. I'll go back to using the browser to check Facebook until they can get their act together and fix the app.

[hrym]

I don't use Facebook, but this wouldn't be the first time it's be implicated in battery and resource issues.   I've seen suggestions that there are alternative 3rd party apps that have a lighter footprint at no battery issues.   I have the burned-in stock one disabled on my phones, so they can't do anything.

[Vincerp]

@Nabs I would agree. I've seen it in the past that supplier roms can cause a few issues.
Just holding out for that patch while holding onto my power bank 😉

[Vincerp]

Ok so after 56 mins from a full charge with all my normal wireless devices active and 20mins of Pokemon Go I now have less than 50% battery life left with an hour & 15 mins life time left. Defintely think there's something dodgy with the Vodafone ROM.
@Nabs Would post screen shots but can't seem to import them

[Retired-Tom]

@Vincerp You can find our Firmware statement here.