[Updated] Samsung investigating Galaxy S8 airplane mode battery drain issue

Update (May 04):

Samsung to fix the issue with an update. See the details here.

Update (April 25):

Even S9 users are reporting similar battery drain issues (1,2).

Original story:

It goes without saying that new updates have a tendency to negatively affect the battery life of smartphones initially, however things usually get back to track after a few days of turbulence. But, what if they don’t? What if battery continues to drain badly even weeks after installing the update?

Yes, that’s what Samsung Galaxy S8 series users have been chiming for more than a month now. However, what’s different here is that battery drain is happening specifically when the device is in standalone or airplane mode.

Battery drain after Oreo update

Samsung Community (European) is drenched with complaints (1,2,3,4,5) mainly from Galaxy S8+ users who upgraded their units to Android Oreo, for it killed their device’s battery life. Affected users report battery drainage of about 15%-20% in flight mode at night after Oreo in comparison to 1% before upgrading. And all this drainage occurs irrespective of the network provider they are subscribed to.

A quick go through the following user comments and tweets will give you more clarity on the matter:

After the update on oreo with me the same problem. With Android 7 I had a battery consumption of only 1% overnight in flight mode and now with Android 8 it consumes 10-15%! This is very annoying.I hope that this software bug is fixed quickly Dear Samsung Team.

Also I have encountered the same problem with galaxy s8 …….. and I confirm that with Nougat this excessive battery drain did not exist. During the night in offline mode it consumed only about 1/2% …… ….. while now with oreo consumption at the same conditions is around 15/20%

Good morning, me and many others, have a problem with the battery consumption in flight mode. Here is a test result from me from the forum Android Help:
Good morning, synonymous have both devices, S8 +, switched to 2G / 3G. Display changed from 4G to H +, wifi off, flight mode. Consumption over 4h not measurable <1%. Both switched to 2/3 / 4G, display 4G, WLan off on both devices, on one device flight mode on. Consumption over 10 hours 13%, device without flight mode 2%.

xactly the same problem. When using flight mode from the 2G / 3G / 4G, the consumption at night is about 13-15%. Out of the 2G / 3G only about 2%.

Report the same problem that afflicts the Galaxy S8 + post-update Oreo. The device put in offline mode for the night (about 7/8 hours) loses about 15/20% of charge. I note that the same battery Drain was absent with Android Nougat that at the same conditions only lost 1/2% charge. The problem seems to be in the modem drivers

I have the same problem battery consumption in flight mode Galaxy S8 + after updating to Oreo network telecom.

The bug is only present if both of these conditions occur SIMULTANEOUSLY:
– use of airplane mode
– have an operator working with LTE / 4G networks: if your company covers 3G the battery drain should be more contained / non-existent (this is why one of the “trick” to solve is to switch on 3G / 2G networks BEFORE putting in airplane mode)

https://twitter.com/Gi0i/status/982161132273090561
https://twitter.com/creepercvnt/status/974614187962982400

It’s worth mentioning that the aforementioned could be an issue with Exynos models, as there are hardly any complaints form those with Snapdragon models.

Now lets take a look what the company has been doing about the problem.

What Samsung has been saying?

Of course this is a major problem, and calls for the company’s attention. And going by what the moderators on the company’s official European help forum have been telling those affected, Samsung’s aware of the issue. Here’s what Samsung moderators have been saying all this while:

March

Hello everybody, Thank you for your data. The whole is being tested. As soon as we receive feedback, we will let you know!

Followed by

Thanks again for your detailed feedback on this topic. Smiley (happy)
I have just received feedback: Our experts have been able to adjust the problem and are now working on a solution. As soon as there is news, we will let you know again.

Followed by

Yes, so far it is probably not yet. The cause is still being sought.

April

Hello everyone, the problem has already been reported and all the checks are under way by the departments in charge. At the moment it is necessary to wait for a reply. Thank you all for your contribution!

April 11

Hello everyone, as already indicated, the problem has been submitted to the relevant departments. We are waiting for a solution.

Concluding words

We fail to understand why is Samsung taking so long to come up with a fix if they are already aware of the issue. They should at least give an official statement on the matter to give more clarity to those affected. We hope they do it sooner than later.

Meanwhile, a temporary workaround is to switch from 4G to 3G/2G mode before activating the airplane/flight mode, as stated by some of those affected.

Stay connected with us on Twitter (@PiunikaWeb) to hear about all related developments as and when they occur