Moto Z Force Droid extreme battery drain since Oreo update

[Looneyman]

Recently, my Moto Z Force Droid finally received the long promised 8.0 Oreo update. And, like many, many others, Oreo has rendered my Z Force phone basiclly useless due to a ridiculously fast battery drain, even when the phone is sitting idle with the screen off. Just a week or so ago, before the trainwreck that is Android 8, the battery would last in standby mode for days, and would easily last an entire day of my "normal" amount of use. Now, when idle with the screen off the battery drains from 100% to 0 in less than seven hours, and if I actually try to use the phone the battery life drops to under two hours. This is unacceptable.  Personally, I think it's time for Lenovo and Verizon to step up and admit they totally messed things  up with this update, and either release a downgrade back to Android 7, or, if the rumors are true that the Oreo update did in fact damage these phones, replace all affected Moto Z Force Droids free of charge.

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[Dgierschke]

My battery on my Motto z Force is terrible!!!!! It only last about 3 hours! I have force stopped all my forced my apps nothing helps. Even sitting idle it is dead within 4 hours!

[Green_TN]

4 weeks ago to the day, my battery very suddenly starting draining EXTREMLY fast. Battery analysis revelas a ridiculus 35% drain in less than an hour while the phone is on idle. I unistalled all aps and strated in safe mode etc. etc. This was very sudden. before this, I could go almsot three days without charging the phone.. now its just garbage. I thought I had finnaly found a phone and a compnay that does not garbage their battery life, and I was extremly happy. It was the most redeeming feature. Now, this phone is useless. I am sick of this. I will siwtch providers as well as manufacturers next time I buy, and I will defintly  be spreading the word about how bad this phone is. I preached it becuase of its battery life, now its just another useless smartphone.

[Green_TN]

And the verizon people in here just giving their generic:

1) We hate that for you, here is some sympathy, we understand, really!

2) Have you tried our battery tips?

3) Let me know if there is anything else we can do to help!

Read the fudging thread. None of you or your company has solved anything. I will do everyone a favor and let them no not to waste their money on another useless product rigged to fail to force you to buy a new phone.

[vzw_customer_support]

We would never want you to feel this way. Keep in mind that batteries have a 2 -3 years of battery life depending on the usage. Also, we would love to help you in any way we can. I see that you have done some troubleshooting, have you completed a Factory Reset? If not here are the steps: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-205215/ Make sure that you have a backup before completing this step. Also, the good news is this device supports Moto Mods. You can get a battery mod. https://www.verizonwireless.com/products/everyday-essentials/moto-mods/ Please keep us posted.

AaronS_VZW

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If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[ejrfast1]

I received a replacement phone last year when I broke the screen (insurance claim). That means my battery is only 1 year old.  My phone will be paid off next month.  I really do not want to pay for a new phone again.  Yes I have insurance on my phone but I also do not want to pay the deductible.  My phone was at a 100% 25 minutes ago and battery is now at 67% (which now my phone just shut off at 67%).  I have been a Verizon customer for 20 years, should we go elsewhere or are you willing to replace my phone for free?

[vzw_customer_support]

I hope you are having a great day so far and a wonderful beginning to your week! Thank you so much for reaching out to us today. We are always here to answer all of your questions and concerns. I want to make sure that you always have a dependable device and I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with your device battery. I was reading through the thread and I want to take a step back to make sure we are on the same page. The product that Verizon Wireless develops for you and can take sole responsibility for is the network. The device that you purchase to connect to our network is not created by us and we do not have control over the software updates and how your device reacts to those updates. This is a joint effort by both Motorola and Android. We are always here to help you troubleshoot the device because we have so much experience with these phones, but at the end of the day, the product, Moto Z Force Droid, was not created by Verizon Wireless it is a third party piece of equipment developed by Motorola/Android with its own unique makeup created to connect you to our network.

The drain on your battery can be cause by a multitude of different things. We would need to know how much time you spend on your device. The applications that you have downloaded on your device and if they have compatible software to your operating system software, if your Bluetooth feature turned on while you aren't using it, is your Wi-Fi feature turned on while you aren't using it, what is the screen lighting percentage at each day etc. 

Since the phone is completely shutting down at 67%, I would recommend calling Asurion and explaining that the replacement they sent you is acting oddly. They will troubleshoot with you and should be able to get you another phone if they find this one to be defective. They can be reached at 888.881.2622 or you can contact them from here: https://www.asurion.com/

[nascar3]

I have the wireless charging Tumi Motomod.  If I didn't my phone would be a brick in about 15 minutes now.  This just started happeneing about a week ago. 

If I start in Safe Mode I get decent battery life.  In Normal Mode it's rapidly draining AND that happens with a normal boot but runnin in Airplane Mode too. Cheking battery use doesn't indicate many apps using it besides Facebook - which I'm constantly killing.  Facebook background was using more batttery than foreground.

I've cleared system cache and rebooted but it is still seeing excessive drain.  In fact it drained down the Motomod pack down to  15% right after a reboot in normal mode when it was over 80% minutes before in safe mode.

I've done the standard stuff seen elsewhere of turn of the phone and let it charge for several hours to recalibrate the battery gauge but this is annoying and leads me away from upgrading to a Z4.  I'd like the capability of disabling apps then enabling one by one to find the culprit rather than a nuke & pave. And no, this phone is NOT rooted.

[vzw_customer_support]

nascar3, It's essential that you get the most out of your Moto Z Force. I regret that your phone is draining so quickly. Let's get the answers that you need, and get this fixed. You've had an excellent start with your troubleshooting steps. 

To get some clarification, when you say that you get decent battery life in Safe Mode, how long does it last?

How do you typically use your phone (heavy, moderate, or light use)?

Did you update your phone to the latest software? Here is how to check (under System Update Instructions). http://spr.ly/6606EW2Fj

JoelR_VZW

[ryder0442]

Well said.  Ridiculous and just a slap in the face to hear verizon blame 3rd party apps.  Hey verizon my phone was just fine until your update. Only thing that changed was your update. As for factory reset, seriously?  Remove all my photos and saved items. Then wipe phone to factory and reinstall everything? Lose all saved passwords and data auto fill? Unacceptable and it doesn't correct the issue. Mine started shutting off at 30% battery. Then 40, then 50, 60, now 70% it shuts off. Goes from 100% - 70% in less than an hoir. I literally have to walk around with a pocket juice external battery charger pack. Phone is useless. Verizon says oh upgrade to new phone or call Motorola. Motorola says out of warranty buy new phone. Bottom line neither verizon nor Motorola care. In my opinion they do this intentionally so we buy new phones and renew contract. Should be a class action lawsuit filed.  Auto makers have been sued for less.  I've had a Verizon tech tell me the updates mess up the phones after a few updates. They know the issue they cause. Seriously this needs to be investigated and suit filed.

[LouisB]

I went from one hundred percent to zero in two to four hours! I have to disable YouTube which now uses 37% of my battery within two hours. Chrome is also disabled after the same battery usage. Both would happen while I was at work not using my device! I know walk on eggshells w my phone as the settings allege I've screen time elsewhere also when I am not using my phone. Im forced to use YouTube only in the Google app and my chrome app is tremendously missed. 

[vzw_customer_support]

We are truly sorry to read about your battery problems, LouisB. I know how important it is to have a long battery life on our phones. We appreciate the steps you've done so far to try to remedy this problem. There are no reports or known issues as of right now with the device. We'd like to ask a few questions to better assist you. When was this update done? Have you tried restarting the phone in Safe Mode? This will tell us if there is an app causing the issue. Here are the steps to restart in safe mode: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-205258/ If this helps, then the battery issue is related to the installed apps.

ChristianP_VZW

[#13]

We are truly sorry to read about your battery problems, LouisB. I know how important it is to have a long battery life on our phones. We appreciate the steps you've done so far to try to remedy this problem. There are no reports or known issues as of right now with the device. We'd like to ask a few questions to better assist you. When was this update done? Have you tried restarting the phone in Safe Mode? This will tell us if there is an app causing the issue. Here are the steps to restart in safe mode: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-205258/ If this helps, then the battery issue is related to the installed apps.

[Music_Mama]

As with **every** comment in this thread, my phone started acting flakey VERY suddenly. It drops from 100% charge to 90 almost as soon as it is picked up and once it hits 65% there is a good chance it will randomly power down...most recently yesterday during my daughter's college graduation when we were taking pictures... obviously a once in a lifetime experience. 😐

I had purchased an iPhone from straight talk for her graduation gift and very well may be going that route for myself if Verizon does not offer realistic resolution to this OBVIOUSLY common problem (read all the comments in this thread, like I did...it happens daily). My family is all happy on straight talk, so it's not worth this frustration. I've been a Verizon customer for 15 plus years, with 5 lines in the past...but my family all got tired of it and dropped Verizon for straight talk. I very well may be next, this is entirely unacceptable. YES I've tried the "fixes" and I don't want "oh we are very sorry, this is unusual" because it is NOT. Customers have a choice, there is a big marketplace. What is the actual fix? Do we all magically need new batteries?!?

[Music_Mama]

Yep it's either $89 to file insurance claim and stick with Verizon, or pay $99 for a brand new phone andn straight talk with unlimited text and no contract... After 15 years guess I'll be making the switch!!!!

[Tuggles1]

As with every other person here who has posted regarding this issue, my phone is doing the exact same thing.  I can't even get through the train ride home any longer.  Recently, I had to shut off my phone and hope it rebooted so once I arrived at the train station, I would have enough battery to call an Uber.  Luckily, it did but then drained to zero on the car ride home. I'm beyond frustrated by reading 37 pages of folks posting the same issue and having the EXACT same response coming every time.

[LouisB]

Force stopping and disabling my YouTube app and chrome app solved this problem. I now only access YouTube via my internet browser. Also I stopped using chrome and switched to the Google app. I no longer see the app drainage in my settings.

[vzw_customer_support]

I depend on my battery to get me through the day. Let's get this figured out. Currently, how often do you use your device?

Heavy User

• Frequent use of streaming services (i.e. Pandora, YouTube, Play Music, etc.)
• Frequent use of applications (i.e. Games, Facebook, Instagram, Maps, etc.)
• Frequent web browsing, texting, email, or phone calls.
• Frequent use of Bluetooth, GPS, or Wi-Fi.

Moderate User

• Occasional, light, or no use of streaming services (i.e. Pandora, YouTube, Play Music, etc.)
• Occasional or light use of applications (i.e. Games, Facebook, Instagram, Maps, etc.)
• Occasional or light browsing, texting, email, or phone calls.
• Occasional or light use of Bluetooth, GPS, or Wi-Fi.

Light User

• Very light, or no use of streaming services (i.e. Pandora, YouTube, Play Music, etc.)
• Very light to no use of applications (i.e. Games, Facebook, Instagram, Maps, etc.)
• Very light to no browsing, texting, email, or phone calls.
• Very light to no use of Bluetooth, GPS, or Wi-Fi.

Have you updated an app or installed a new one? Have you updated your device software? Click here https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/motorola-moto-z-droid-editions-update/ for a walkthrough on checking your Software Version. AlbertoR_VZW

[catgirly]

My Moto Z is doing the same thing, it is now useless unless plugged in. Hardly 'mobile'. This is the 2nd or 3rd expensive 'smart' phone I've had that has crapped out after a couple of years.

I won't be buying another one,  no more droids either. Used iphone will do.

[vzw_customer_support]

catgirly - Having a phone that has to be plugged in for it to work is a pain we don't want you to have. We are here to help you resolve the battery issues you're having. If you fully charge the battery how long does it take for the battery to die? Are you a heavy, moderate or light phone user? Are all of your apps up to date? https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-105501/    

JacobV_VZW

[Tdhogan]

Did they ever actually fix or address this issue? I've done all of the tech basic recommendations that do nothing to help the issue. It's gotten worse and now my phone goes from 50% to 1% in 5 minutes. This is ridiculous and should not be happening to a Motorola phone. This was the best phone I have ever had. My contract is up next month and now the phone is getting even worse - coincidence? I can't imagine so. 

This should be remedied. 

T Hogan

[vzw_customer_support]

I rely on my phone to work well at all times and want to ensure you have a phone with a lasting battery, Tdhogan. We'd like to take a closer look into your concerns. Are you using the charger that came with the phone? Has there been any damage to the phone? When was your update complete?

DanielleR_VZW

[gonapunx]

My phone has degraded to an unusable level. I can not take a picture with out my phone crashing. after it crashes it will not turn back on unless plugged in. If I try to turn it on after a crash it will either tell me I have low or no battery or crash again on boot. When I refer to no battery I have reached a screen where instead of the normal low battery exclamation point it has a question mark(?). I have had my shutdown from low battery then plug it in and it tell me I am at 75% then I unplug it then I am back at 0% battery. I have tried all available tactics including safe mode. My battery life is almost non-existent. i have went from 100% to 0% in a hour time period. I have been a dedicated Verizon customer for many years and this is unacceptable. I know well enough that this is not a 3rd party app issue. This is a hardware or a OS issue.  My boss has the same phone with the same issues. He has already switched devices and providers. I bought this phone for it battery life and its camera and now I have neither. I have no faith in my phone incase of an emergency or even the simple task of taking a phone call or picture. I am going to switch devices and providers if this isn't fixed.