Settings you can change to reduce battery drain on your Samsung Galaxy device
Smartphones come with larger battery capacities than they did a few years ago. Samsung’s Ultra smartphones, for example, have cells so massive that you rarely have to worry about draining to zero before you can recharge. However, the same can’t be said for regular Galaxy flagships and mid-range devices. Depending on your usage, you can get anywhere from poor to decent battery life. If you’re looking to improve this, there are a few actions you can take.
1. Turn off or modify Always On Display
Android devices have had Always On Display for some time now. As the name implies, it keeps your Samsung device’s screen on, showing the time, date, battery percentage, unread notification icons, and a fancy animation — albeit in a low power state. It's a great way to tell the time and see your unread or missed notifications at a glance, but it negatively impacts battery life.
ANDROIDPOLICE VIDEO OF THE DAY 3 Images Expand Expand ExpandDisabling Always On Display will significantly improve your Galaxy device’s battery life. Simply navigate to Settings > Lock screen and toggle off the feature. However, if you want the best of both worlds (better battery life with Always On Display enabled), you can change the settings from Show always to Tap to show for 10 seconds. That means the display will only turn on after you touch the screen. You can also set it to show merely when you have new notifications, or schedule it, just as you can with dark mode.
2. Switch the display to 60Hz and HD+ resolution
Samsung offers several display settings that can you can tweak for a better viewing experience. On Galaxy flagships, you get motion smoothness and screen resolution options, while mid-rangers like the Galaxy A72 and Galaxy A52 5G offer the former. Setting Motion Smoothing to Standard and screen resolution to HD+ should give the best battery life if you don’t mind the poorer visuals.
3 Images Expand Expand ExpandNavigate to Settings > Display > Motion smoothness and select Standard to change the screen refresh rate to 60Hz. For resolution, head to Settings > Display > Screen resolution and tap HD+.
3 Images Expand Expand ExpandIf you own a Galaxy S21 Ultra or Galaxy S22 Ultra with an LTPO display, you won't have to worry much about battery consumption from the high refresh rate. Both phones can adapt between 10–120Hz and 1–120Hz respectively, depending on what you’re doing.
3. Use dark mode
Samsung is widely regarded as the king of smartphone displays. Its OLEDs are crisp-looking, punchy, and beautiful, to say the least — especially when paired with a 120Hz refresh rate and a Quad HD+ resolution like on the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Apart from all that screen viewing goodness, OLEDs can also help save battery life.
Unlike LCDs, OLEDs don’t have a backlight and, as a result, draw less power when displaying dark-colored pixels. That said, the difference in battery saving may not be noticeable at lower brightness levels. However, if you use your screen with the brightness cranked up, you’ll get a significantly longer battery life once you've made the switch. There’s also the advantage of improved readability and reduced eye strain. Enable dark mode by heading over to Settings > Display and tapping the Dark option at the top.
4. Use Power Saving Mode
4 Images Expand Expand Expand ExpandNothing can maximize battery juice on your device like the power-saving mode. Once enabled, it’ll limit background network usage, syncing, and location checking and change the refresh rate to 60Hz. If you’re not entirely satisfied with that, you can further extend battery life by toggling on options to:
You can turn on Power Saving Mode by navigating to Settings > Battery and Device care > Battery > Power saving. You can also use the Quick Settings panel to enable it faster.
5. Put unused apps to sleep
Samsung’s Power Saving Mode imposes several limitations across various aspects of your device. If you want something more specific, the Sleep Mode for apps is an option. Once turned on, the system automatically places unused apps to sleep (they’ll run minimally in the background) or deep sleep (they won’t run in the background at all). You can also manually add apps to either.
3 Images Expand Expand ExpandThe sleeping apps will remain in your app drawer or home screen and will only leave that state when you open them. Simply head over to Settings > Battery and Device care > Battery > Background usage limits to enable it.
6. Uninstall or disable unused apps
Some apps run background processes that can take a toll on battery life. Sleep mode is great, but uninstalling might be the best option if you have apps that you often don’t use. You can do this by:
ExpandSamsung is still big on bundling in-house and even third-party apps with your smartphone. Unfortunately, some of them cannot be uninstalled (at least not directly). However, you can disable them to improve battery life. Simply go to Settings > Apps > select an app > tap Disable.
3 Images Expand Expand Expand7. Disable Nearby Device Scanning
Nearby Device Scanning causes your Samsung phone to periodically search for devices within reach and show a notification when it detects one, so you can connect your phone to them. This feature can be useful, but it’s not all that necessary for an enhanced user experience. Plus, it could make a tiny dent in battery life.
3 Images Expand Expand ExpandIf you’ve already paired your commonly used accessories like wireless headphones and speakers to your device, you might as well turn off Nearby Device Scanning to improve battery life. Simply navigate to Settings > Connections > More connection settings and toggle off the feature.
The benefits to disabling this feature probably won't be huge, but if you want to do everything you can to save power, it's an extra step you can take.
8. Use Bixby Routines to save battery
Most people don’t like Samsung’s Bixby, and it’s not hard to see why. While it’s great for offline functions and in-device searches, it’s not as sophisticated as the Google Assistant in terms of intelligence and context. Bixby Routines, on the other hand, are a different matter. They offer certain useful triggers for automating tasks.
3 Images Expand Expand ExpandSpeaking of automation, you can set up a Bixby Routine to automatically activate Power Saving Mode at night if your device isn’t plugged in. You can also set it to decrease screen timeout, or turn off mobile data or Wi-Fi. You can even set specific routines based on your daily commute or when traveling — the possibilities are endless. You can access Bixby Routines in your Galaxy device by heading to Settings > Advanced features > Bixby Routines.
Some of these suggestions, such as those relating to dark mode and Always On Display, apply to most recent Android phones, while those involving Bixby Routines are Samsung-specific. Regardless of which Galaxy device you own, you can use these tips to improve your battery life and get more out of a single charge.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is unlike any phone out there — like the cases Spigen designed for itThis article is sponsored by Spigen
Read NextShareTweetEmail Related TopicsAbout The AuthorHaroun Adamu(118 Articles Published)Haroun became an Android enthusiast in 2014 and has been avidly following the industry since then. Currently a medical student, he doubles as an SEO copywriter for small businesses. When not scouring the net for the latest tech news, you'll either find him nose-deep into his textbooks or working on Homeripped, his fitness website.
MoreFrom Haroun Adamu