OnePlus phone batteries are being decimated by WhatsApp

By Chris Wedel
published

OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7 Pro
OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7 Pro (Image credit: Android Central)

What you need to know

  • OnePlus devices running both Android 9 and 10 are being affected by the high battery drain.
  • WhatsApp version 2.19.308 appears to be the culprit for the cause of the drain.
  • Some Xiaomi phone users are reporting that they are being affected by the bug as well.

OnePlus phones have been great on battery life for the last few iterations of smartphones, however, users of WhatsApp on these devices are having their batteries hammered.

OnePlus users are reporting on Reddit, OnePlus forums, (opens in new tab) and even through the Play Store that WhatsApp is drastically draining their batteries by 40% or more. To make matters worse, they are getting this horrendous effect even with limited use of the app.

Now, this issue isn't being seen across all OnePlus devices, only on phones using Android 9 and 10 — which is a large swath of OnePlus smartphones. It doesn't appear to be every one that uses WhatsApp on their OnePlus phones, but it does seem to be a reasonably high number of folks — even some Xiaomi users are reporting this issue as well.

Hopefully, this bug gets squashed soon, because phones from OnePlus like their fantastic 7T is one of the best phones Android fans can get right now.

OnePlus 7T in Glacier BlueAnother winner

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OnePlus 7T

A welcomed upgrade
Continuing in the recent hits of great phones from OnePlus, the 7T brings the 90Hz display and the new Snapdragon 855+ to the mid-range price range with flagship performance. It's paired with clean software with thoughtful customizations to Android for a wonderful experience.

Chris Wedel
Chris Wedel
Smart Home Writer
Chris Wedel is a fan of all things tech and gadgets. Living in rural Kansas with his wife and two young boys makes finding ways to get and stay online tricky. By utilizing his years of experience with the tech and mobile communications industries — success is assured. When not conquering connectivity challenges and testing new gadgets, he enjoys cruising a gravel road in his UTV with some good tunes.
11 Comments
  • It's unknown if this affects pixel 4 owners as they wouldn't notice the difference
  • Oooouuu buuurrrn 😄 bish is hurtin now
  • Yikes. I do like the Adaptive Battery feature on the Pixel that will warn you that an app is eating up battery life and ask if you want to limit it.
  • I wasn't using the app anyway so I just uninstalled it however I was not affected by the bug. My battery life has been just fine on the OP7PRO.
  • Not just whatsapp but android 10 is a huge battery drain in my 7 pro.
  • What was your average SOT and total standby time before & after installing Android 10?
  • I've lost about 1.5 - 2 hours soc per charge. Seems in not the only one this it's happening to either.
  • Ouch. Yeah that is significant. Android has never been battery friendly, but that is a substantial step backwards.
  • When I check my bag on my 7T, WhatsApp isn't the main culprit, it's usually the Android system and Google Play Services for me.
  • Wouldn't Greenify be a good temporary fix for this?
  • Not experiencing any abnormal drain with this version on my 7pro android 10 beta 5. 1% drain at 80% battery after full charge. Been using app frequently since then.