Although it is technically a ‘stable’ release, Samsung’s OneUI-based Android Pie isn’t completely bug-free. So far, nothing major has surfaced just except for one that causes the battery to drain rapidly. The early rollout could very well be a test and the actual one might begin as scheduled in January. Samsung has had a particularly estranged relationship with batteries ever since the Note 7, and it looks like that spectre is back to haunt them again. Even some of their Gear smartwatches had the same problem for months, but it appears that it has been fixed.
First spotted by some users on Sammobile, the bug caused some Galaxy S9+ users’ battery to drop from 10% to 5% in a matter of seconds. Initially, it was thought to be due to background app activity, but that doesn’t seem to be the reason. Considering that only a handful of users have received the update, it may be a device-specific issue. If enough users report it, a fix might be baked into the global build.
Related Galaxy Note 9 Android Pie Rollout Might Begin by January 15
Battery drain is a complex issue and singling out the cause is often cumbersome. Very often, it is due to an errant app using too many resources in the background. Even though Samsung Experience has mechanisms in place that notify users about such apps, not everyone acknowledges it. Even my personal Galaxy S9+ running Oreo drains the battery at an accelerated pace at times, and the cause is almost always different in each instance.
One might argue that the bug is a result of an early deployment, but that is far from the truth. Every major OS update comes with its share of problems. Even Android Pie in its final form had a lot of issues, some of which took months to quash. Last year, Samsung’s Oreo build caused triggered random reboots in some Galaxy S8s, which caused delayed its rollout by several weeks in some regions. If you’re one of the lucky ones running Android Pie on your Galaxy S9, do let us know in the comments if you’ve noticed any reduction in your battery life.
Source: sammobile
