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Galaxy Note 8, S8 users report that their screens are waking up on their own

Published Jan 3rd, 2018 8:06PM EST
BGR

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Battery explosions are a thing of the past for Samsung phones. But that doesn’t mean Samsung’s latest flagships are immune to battery issues of their own.

Some Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8+ users have begun to report unusual battery behavior. Once the battery is depleted, the phone won’t turn on even when it’s connected to a charger. Samsung said that it’s investigating the matter, which has affected only a small number of customers.

Meanwhile, various users have discovered a new abnormal behavior which may lead to severe battery drain.

Some Galaxy S8/S8+ and Galaxy Note 8 units are continually waking up. The screen turns on a few seconds without any user interaction, and it’s unclear what’s causing it.

Reports on Samsung’s own forums and Reddit detail the matter, complete with videos of the bug in action. Restoring the phone to factory settings doesn’t fix the problem either. One user discovered that wiping the cache will fix the issue only until the phone is used again. At that point, it reappears.

The screen will turn on even when a flip cover case is in use. These phones have OLED displays, which are more efficient than LCD screens, but if the user can’t control the screen turning on, the battery life will suffer.

It’s important to note that there’s no correlation between this bug and the battery issue described by other users. Even if this inadvertent screen wake up bug does drain the battery of the Galaxy Note 8 or Galaxy S8 all the way down to 0%, the phone should still reboot and recharge when connected to a charger.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.