Galaxy Nexus signal issue may be to blame for battery woes

By JR Raphael (@jr_raphael)

Google's Galaxy Nexus has all the makings of an awesome phone, but right now, the U.S. version of the device is facing some serious issues.

Numerous Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners are reporting problems with maintaining consistent signals, both for data and voice connectivity, as well as problems with rapid drops in the phone's battery level. Based on my own personal testing, I have reason to believe the two sets of problems are closely related.

I've been using the Verizon Galaxy Nexus since last Thursday. Over the weekend, I started noticing that my phone would occasionally experience large drops in its battery level, often when it wasn't actively being used. So yesterday, I kept careful track of my phone's battery status all throughout the day, looking at the device about once an hour and logging the amount of charge it had remaining. I observed one significant drop in battery level early in the morning, shortly after I turned the phone on. The phone then acted normally during the bulk of the day, retaining its charge in a reasonable fashion, up until early evening. Between 6:51 p.m. and 8:05 p.m., while the phone was sitting unused and idle, its battery level dropped from 47 percent all the way down to 22 percent.

Examining the phone after both battery drops, I noticed I had no call reception -- something I hadn't picked up on during my casual weekend observations. And sure enough, looking at the Android system battery data, I found that the areas with red "mobile network signal" -- indicating a lack of any viable voice signal -- correlated precisely with the otherwise unexplained sharp drops in charge. The data also shows "cell standby" as being my biggest battery consumer, and cell signal being unavailable to my phone for 15 percent of the day. It all lines up.

I was in the same location for almost all of the day, by the way, and it's a location that's always gotten fine cell signal from Verizon. As you can see, too, I had my phone on Wi-Fi for the majority of these hours. During the weekend, I used 4G more frequently; I didn't run into any trouble with the device's data connection, though some users have.

Verizon Wireless support reps, in fact -- both online and on the phone -- are now confirming to customers that the company is aware of both voice and data signal issues with its version of the Galaxy Nexus. Reps have said the carrier anticipates being able to correct the issues via a software update, which is currently being developed; no definite date has been given for the update's release, though one rep told me via phone that the carrier is tentatively targeting January.

If my experiences are any indication, that update may go a long way in fixing the phone's battery life problems as well as its signal issues. During my careful measurements yesterday, the phone's battery life was generally fine outside of those occasional dips in reception. There may or may not be some other factor at play, but my suspicion is that many users who are experiencing bad battery life may be suffering from a similar effect to what I've observed, either via the device's voice or data signal. (Some users are reporting abnormally high levels of "Android OS" battery usage, which could be connected to the data side of the equation.) It's certainly logical that the phone being forced to search for a signal would cause it to consume an abnormally high amount of power in a short amount of time, regardless of whether it's actively being used.

I tested the international HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus last month, incidentally, and did not encounter any of these issues with that version of the device. (My review unit was connected to T-Mobile's network.)

Here's hoping Verizon and/or Samsung get a fix pushed out fast. Regardless of how many users these issues are affecting -- a factor we simply don't know at this point -- it's a shame to see such an otherwise excellent phone be tarnished by something so potentially debilitating and absolutely avoidable.

SEE ALSO: Galaxy Nexus battery life: 5 tips for boosting your phone's stamina 

JR Raphael writes about smartphones and other tasty technology. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Article copyright 2011 JR Raphael. All rights reserved.