Fix: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge battery drain in Android Nougat

One of the best if not the best Android device of the past year must be the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. We can say with certainty that this device even revolutionized some of the aspects of the modern smartphone. Like that curved display, camera, or the amazing non-removable battery (3600 mAh) never seen in a Samsung S flagship before.

However, while the phone opened the path for the upcoming S8 series, the adaptation to Nougat OS hasn’t gone as expected. At least for some of the users. Namely, after the update to Nougat, a lot of users encountered a noticeable battery life decrease. We can’t be sure what’s the exact reason for that, but the main suspect is the unoptimized system. For the long-awaited upgrade, they indeed made some critical errors.

Until a new firmware patch resolves this issue, we are presenting you with a few possible workarounds that should help you resolve or at least retain this issue. You can find those in the list below.

Disable background apps

An OS update, can, besides the system preferences, change the app’s behavior. Namely, some of the apps that were less consumptive, may become resource-hogging monsters within seconds. Now, to make things even worse, a lot of apps are not optimized for Nougat, so you can either wait for the update or knowingly disable some of the permissions or background activity and risk unstable behavior.

If you decide to modify some apps, you can do that this way:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Open each app individually and change the permissions and background preferences.
4. Make sure to check the largest consumers like Facebook, Facebook Messenger, etc.

Use Battery Power Saving mode

We are aware that this is not exactly an exceptional solution, mostly because it will set certain boundaries and affect your everyday use. However, if the leak is relentless, you can try and contain it. At least until the folks from the software department fix their broken update. This is how to enable the Power Saving mode on your S7 Edge:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Battery.
3. Enable Power Saving mode.
4. Additionally, you can enable Ultra Power Saving mode, but that will practically transform your flagship into a monoblock-like device.

As we said, this is just a temporary solution until the next update fix battery issues.

Wipe cache partition

If you performed the previous workarounds and the battery drainage is still present, we can get the big guns into play. Namely, some users reported that the battery stabilized after they cleared the cache partition. This is a more subtle approach than a factory reset since your data will remain untouched after the procedure is finished. However, precautionary measures are always welcomed, so back up your data and follow the steps below.

1. Make sure your device battery is at least at 20% and Turn Off the device.
2. Press and hold the combination of Volume Up, Home, and Power Keys.
3. Wait until the Android System Recovery screen appears and release all keys. It may last for about 30 seconds most of the time.
4. Use the Volume Down key to navigate to ”Wipe cache partition”.
5. Select ”Wipe cache partition” with a single press of the Power button.
6. Use the Volume Down key to highlight ‘Yes’ and press the Power button to confirm.
7. After the procedure is finished, confirm ‘Reboot system now’ with the Power button.

Once your S7 Edge restarts, the battery issues should be resolved. Nonetheless, if the problem is persistent, the only remaining solution is a factory reset.

Perform a factory reset

In the end, you can try the ultimate DIY solution before you decide to address the problem with your carrier or the responsible service center. And that, of course, is the factory reset. The important thing to remember is to back up your data timely before everything gets completely nuked on both internal storage and SD card. After you tend to your data, follow these steps to restore the factory settings:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Backup & Restore.
3. Select Factory Data Reset.
4. Tap Reset Device.
5. Tap Erase Everything.
6. Confirm the selection and insert your passcode or PIN.
7. The process should take about 5-10 minutes.

That should do it. If the problem is still persistent in spite of the complete wipeout, make sure to send a ticket to your service or carrier. It’s quite sad to see that such a premium device suffers from this kind of issue after an unoptimized update.

Don’t forget to tell us about additional issues or post a question about the matter. The comments section is below.