# Does Bluetooth on my phone always have to be on?



## harrison987 (Jun 30, 2018)

Battery drain on my phone is HUUUUUUUUGEEEEEEE with it on - from 100% battery to 20% within a couple of hours. So I am curious...is bluetooth only required for unlocking? Can I still use the app features without it?

hmmmmmmm...

TIA

Mike


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## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

What kind of phone? Just curious on the battery drain. Then on the topic of your post, I don't know what does and doesn't function once you've unlocked and started, but simply turn the bluetooth off and report back to us!  I know you won't be able to play music, but the phone is no longer required to operate the car once you unlock and get in. It knows you are in the seat. Once you stop and get out, you'd need the phone again to unlock.


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## harrison987 (Jun 30, 2018)

oh sorry!!

It is a Droid Turbo 2...


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

do you have other devices connected by Bluetooth (when it is turned on)? if so, you may try to disconnect/forget those you are not using and see if that makes a difference. that amount of drain certainly is not typical (assuming, your drain without BT on is significantly less).


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## harrison987 (Jun 30, 2018)

nada...this is the only thing connected (turned it on for the first time, as I needed for Model 3).

The other odd thing...is that I normally charge my phone using my USB on my CPU. Slow charge, but does the job. With my phone plugged into my CPU, I noticed that bluetooth is using more battery faster than my CPU can charge it....


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## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

Any chance there is a software update for it that might fix the drain?


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## harrison987 (Jun 30, 2018)

Well...plugged into my CPU for slow charging. Turned on bluetooth...and it drains 1% every minute... 

Looks like I'll have to call verizon.


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## Chris350 (Aug 8, 2017)

I would say that there is something wrong with that phone... Might be time for a full reset.

No way that running Bluetooth should drain your phone in that way.


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## Reliev (Jun 3, 2017)

thats really high loss 1% a minute, I dont miss Verizon I understand that sometimes its the only option but when they make their own roms for phones sometimes things happen.


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## harrison987 (Jun 30, 2018)

Well...I changed location settings from HIGH ACCURACY. Been experimenting with "battery saver" and "device only". Went out for a 15 min. walk with my phone, and only lost 1%...WITH Bluetooth turned on, and Location Settings set to "battery saver". The problem is that it could not find my location (appear to only use WiFi Bluetooth and cell networks to determine location)...when I switched to "device only (only uses the phones GPS to determine location), location was found quickly.

What does everyone else use for location settings?


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## Reliev (Jun 3, 2017)

I made mine so it doesnt snooze but my battery last all day still on a pixel 2xl
did you go to your settings ---> battery, and see what is draining it? it should give you a % weather its Bluetooth or not


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## harrison987 (Jun 30, 2018)

yup...checked there, and bluetooth does not even show up. 

For the last hour I have had it on "device only" for Location settings...and the % has not gone up at all (charging via USB)...will switch to "battery saving" as see what happens...


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## Reliev (Jun 3, 2017)

Ahh I don't miss Verizon software  do you have doze?


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## harrison987 (Jun 30, 2018)

I dont have Doze...not a lot of good reviews, and appears there are a lot of ads and in-app purchases...no?


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

harrison987 said:


> I dont have Doze...not a lot of good reviews, and appears there are a lot of ads and in-app purchases...no?


Doze is a feature in the latest versions of android, not an app.

https://lifehacker.com/how-android-doze-works-and-how-to-tweak-it-to-save-you-1785921957


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## Reliev (Jun 3, 2017)

Oops sorry for not Clarifying thanks for the link @garsh


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

harrison987 said:


> Battery drain on my phone is HUUUUUUUUGEEEEEEE with it on - from 100% battery to 20% within a couple of hours. So I am curious...is bluetooth only required for unlocking? Can I still use the app features without it?


Yes, you can use the app features without Bluetooth.

According to Android Authority, The Droid Turbo 2 has a number of Bluetooth problems:

https://www.androidauthority.com/motorola-droid-turbo-2-problems-fixes-668081/

Bluetooth Low Energy uses very little power when properly implemented. My Samsung S8+ goes for two days on a charge with the Tesla app running continuously and it opens the door 100% of the time.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

harrison987 said:


> Battery drain on my phone is HUUUUUUUUGEEEEEEE with it on - from 100% battery to 20% within a couple of hours. So I am curious...is bluetooth only required for unlocking? Can I still use the app features without it?
> 
> hmmmmmmm...
> 
> ...


I'd lay odds that it isn't because of the Tesla app and Bluetooth. There is something else that is sucking the power, it may be because the other app is using Bluetooth. Take a look at the battery utilization per app.


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## forumer (Feb 23, 2019)

I realize this thread has aged some, but I have seen the same massive battery drain as harrison987, including negligible or even negative charge rates on lesser powered chargers, and wanted to share some details.

I've been able to readily reproduce this behavior since December 2018 when I first started using the Bluetooth Phone Key feature on a new Model 3. The phone being used is a Nexus 5X running Android 8.1.0 with Google Fi as the service provider (often using T-Mobile at home). It's of course not the newest phone hardware or Android OS, but it's a clean Google OS image without carrier bloatware/mods and the battery is still in excellent shape - Holding a charge well for my typical daily use. That is until I start using the Tesla app's Phone Key feature.

The severe battery usage gets logged as coming from one of the system processes on the phone (I forget the exact process name), not the Tesla app or anything else. You have to select "Show full device usage" from the overflow menu in the Battery settings to see this. Turning off Bluetooth stops the drain, but then of course you have to remember to turn it back on every time you want proximity access to the car or want to use BT for something else. This has never been an issue with any other paired BT device, vehicle or otherwise. Of course the Tesla app is a big new variable in the mix.

From the best I can tell, the power drain is most severe when my phone is on the fringes of the Bluetooth range with the Model 3. I've observed that at certain locations in my house the Tesla app goes from indicating the Phone Key is "Connected" to "Disconnected". The phone is often just in or out of this zone, albeit not anywhere close to the vehicle and where I'd really need the connection to exist. When the phone is much closer to the vehicle, or inside it, this power draw is much less, though still more than I'd like to see compared to what I had when just using BT for typical headset and audio profiles in other cars.

I suspect that the Bluetooth radio is being driven especially hard in these fringe reception instances to keep the connection with the car alive if at all possible. I don't know the specifics of the Android BT API nor the Tesla app's internal code, but I think there is something the Tesla app does in an attempt to make its BT connection with the car more robust compared to most other BT device pairings. This is actually a bad thing when it comes to unnecessary distant/fringe reception and needless power draw. I want the BT connection to work for Phone Key when I'm near to the vehicle, but otherwise it's fine being disconnected and using other data channels like Wi-Fi and cellular data to remotely control the car.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

forumer said:


> I realize this thread has aged some, but I have seen the same massive battery drain as harrison987, including negligible or even negative charge rates on lesser powered chargers, and wanted to share some details.
> 
> I've been able to readily reproduce this behavior since December 2018 when I first started using the Bluetooth Phone Key feature on a new Model 3. The phone being used is a Nexus 5X running Android 8.1.0 with Google Fi as the service provider (often using T-Mobile at home). It's of course not the newest phone hardware or Android OS, but it's a clean Google OS image without carrier bloatware/mods and the battery is still in excellent shape - Holding a charge well for my typical daily use. That is until I start using the Tesla app's Phone Key feature.
> 
> ...


Is it paired for key and audio or just the key? Drop the audio if it is, then check the draw. If it is still high, disconnect it totally and then pair with a Bluetooth headset or any other Bluetooth device and check the draw.


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## forumer (Feb 23, 2019)

Ed Woodrick said:


> Is it paired for key and audio or just the key? Drop the audio if it is, then check the draw. If it is still high, disconnect it totally and then pair with a Bluetooth headset or any other Bluetooth device and check the draw.


Currently the phone is paired for both key and audio, but a while ago it was only paired for key and if I recall correctly I still saw the high power draw. I'd have to go back and retest to be certain though. However, I can confidently say that in the fringe reception instances I mentioned above, if anything is showing as connected at a large, seemingly absurd distance it is the key in the Tesla app, not the audio device instance in the Android BT settings. And no, I have never seen such a power draw issue with this phone and any other BT devices, past or present.


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