The Android 8.0 Oreo update brought many new features and enhancements to the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, but many users have also complained of poorer battery life on Oreo compared to Nougat. Reduced battery life is often a side effect of major updates, but for some Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners, battery life seems to have been affected in an unusual manner after the Oreo update: The phones have begun draining battery excessively when airplane mode is enabled.
European Galaxy S8 units seem to be most affected
Galaxy S8 and S8+ users have taken to the Samsung Community and other forums to complain that their phone now eats up to 20 percent battery in idle with airplane mode enabled. On Nougat, the battery drain in airplane mode for these users was around 1 to 2 percent, which is standard fare for most smartphones when all the connectivity options are disabled. European consumers seem to have been affected the most, and while Samsung's official forum moderators have said the company is aware of the issue and is looking into the matter, no fix has been offered yet.
Factory resets and cache wipes haven't helped, either, and it looks like the problem lies in the code for the phone's modem/radio. Switching to 3G/2G network mode (from Settings » Connections » Mobile networks) before switching airplane mode has been touted as a temporary solution and, of course, one can also simply use Do Not Disturb mode if they don't want to be disturbed by calls and notifications in the middle of the night.
Complaints about the excessive battery drain on airplane mode have been coming in since March, so it's high time Samsung offers a permanent solution by way of an update. Maybe the April 2018 security patch update will include a fix, and we've asked Samsung for an official statement. We'll let you know once we hear back from the company and also test one of our Galaxy S8 units in airplane mode to see if the same issue affects us.
In the meantime, you can tell us if you have been facing this issue on your Galaxy S8 after updating to Oreo by voting in the poll and leaving a comment.
