I’ve owned the new Samsung Galaxy S3 for roughly a month now. When I first got the phone it performed amazingly. In the last week and a half however, it has been nothing but a constant headache.
I try to charge my devices as they should be. Since I’ve owned the phone, I always let the battery run to around 10% or 20%, then re-charge the phone to 100% before using it.
One night I let the phone run completely dead and I put it on the charger before I went to sleep. I was sleeping for just 5 hours, but when I woke the phone was extremely hot. This phone did charge very fast and never even got warm unless playing a graphic intense game.
After I unplugged the phone, the power level began decreasing quite rapidly. Within an hour it was dead. Assuming I had overcharged the phone, I ditched the battery. It was even draining power when the phone was turned off. I was using the charger that came with the phone. It is the only one I have.
I am no novice when it comes to Android, and I have tried every software method possible of improving this. I’ve analyzed the battery usage by APP with GASM. Nothing is out of the ordinary except all applications are now using more power.
My theory is that the heat of being on charge for too long caused the Samsung Galaxy S3’s resistive capabilities to be burned up. I now have a $500 phone that is useless to me because it wont stay charged for more than a couple hours.
I’ve consulted several very experience people in the Android community that have told me leaving the device on the charger overnight should not have hurt it. None the less, I now have a very expensive, very fast android device that stays charged for 2 hours at MOST. The phone will even drain to dead while turned OFF! That’s right! A 100% charge will drain to nothing while the phone is turned off.. NOT IDLE.. OFF..
The phone actually gets warm when it is turned off as well. This further backs up my theory that the power can no longer be held by the device’s circuitry. I loved the phone when I first got it. If Samsung does not exchange this for me, I will never use another one of their products.
Even if leaving it hooked to the charger caused it, a $500 device should not take an enormous crap under such circumstances. There are problems with all new devices, hopefully they will address these issues and resolve them quickly.
In the meantime, I’ll attempt to return the device for an exchange.. I’ll post an update when I do.
UPDATE: Samsung has repaired my Galaxy S3 by replacing the PBA (essentially the entire board). This backs up my theory that the power drain was hardware related. I’m looking forward to having my S3 back the way it was when I first got it. It really is an awesome phone, but with all first hardware releases, there are quirks to work out.
Thankfully, Samsung upheld their warranty and the phone is being shipped back to me. I’ll have my phone back in 2 to 3 days. Can’t wait to get back to providing Galaxy S3 news, information, help and tips. Thanks for repairing my phone and being a helpful and FAST company to deal with.
I’ve had the phone back for a day and it’s back to the original awesomeness that it had when i first got it. I went to sleep with 74% battery and woke up with 66%. Besides the annoyance of having to get a defect repaired, the phone has been great and I recommend it to anyone who wants a powerful android smartphone.
UPDATE: Phone has been going strong and the other day, I had 19 hours on the battery and 34% still left. Battery life is great and the phone is working perfectly. Although it may have had some defects on its initial release, the Galaxy S3 is a groundbreaking achievement in the world of smart phone technology.
About Allen Morey
