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Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones are among the best Android phones available today thanks to their responsive and feature-rich software. But most Samsung phones — especially flagships like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 7, and Z Flip 7 — come with over-the-top features you probably don’t use daily.
If your new Galaxy phone won’t last a whole day on a single charge, there are ways to get the most out of what you have without hindering the user experience.
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Here are seven ways to maximize battery life on your Galaxy phone. Don’t worry – I won’t be Captain Obvious here and recommend lowering the screen resolution or using your phone at a lower refresh rate. The recommendations on this list should improve quality of life. Whereas Maximizing the efficiency of your handset. read on.
1. Use dark mode
Most Samsung phones have AMOLED displays, which can handle individual pixels. So, when you use a dark theme or a dark wallpaper, the part of the screen that should remain black will not turn on the pixel. This, in turn, reduces screen power usage and lets your battery last a little longer.
How to do: Open the Settings app > Display. You will get two cards for Light and Dark. Tap on the dark option. Alternatively, you can change the system wallpaper and continue using the light theme, but this will not have the same impact on the battery as turning on dark mode.
2. Toggle on Adaptive Brightness
This setting is ideally activated out of the box, but some people turn it off because it’s not always accurate. However, over the years, the quality of Samsung’s ambient light sensors has improved. Your Galaxy phone can reliably detect light in your environment to automatically adjust screen brightness. This ensures that your display is more efficient and no brighter than necessary.
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How to do: Go to the Settings app > Display and toggle on Adaptive Brightness. This should work in most environments, but if need be, you can adjust the brightness by swiping down from the quick settings panel.
3. Detect power-draining apps and force stop or uninstall them
Samsung phones come with many preinstalled apps like Facebook, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, and Samsung and Google apps. Identify the ones you don’t need and uninstall or force disable them so they don’t run in the background.
For example, not everyone needs the Samsung Smart TV app or OneDrive. When I set up a new Galaxy phone, I uninstalled both of those and others, including Facebook, Outlook, Microsoft 365, Tutor, and others.
How to do: Tap and hold the app you want to uninstall. A pop-up menu will appear. Tap Uninstall. As a result, none of these non-essential apps will use up your battery.
4. Identify apps that drain power
Some apps consume more power depending on your location, 5G connectivity, and background usage. Samsung lets you identify these power-hogging apps to help reduce non-essential battery usage.
How to do: On your Galaxy smartphone, you can identify power-draining apps by going to Settings > Battery & device care > Battery > Background usage limit and choosing which apps you want to turn off.
5. Download offline content before traveling
If you take the same route every day or listen to the same playlists and podcasts, it’s a good idea to download that content offline. Most streaming apps and Google Maps consume a lot of battery on 5G and LTE. When outside, it may also make your handset hot to the touch. You can deal with this with a little pre-planning: download your favorite music or maps on Wi-Fi before leaving home.
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How to do: Go to the streaming apps you want to download content from and follow the in-app steps. For example, YouTube has a download button on videos, and Spotify lets you download entire playlists.
6. Use a scheduled always-on display
I love the Always-On Display (AOD) on my Galaxy S25 Ultra. It has an LTPO display that clocks down to 1Hz for efficiency, which is useful for features like AOD. If you have a midrange Galaxy phone with a minimum refresh rate of 60Hz, using AOD may not be as efficient. However, you can be smart about this by scheduling AOD when needed.
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For example, I’ve set it to 11am to 7pm so I don’t miss any important notifications and have the information I need at a glance.
How to do: Go to Settings > Lock screen & AOD > tap on Always on display > Show when > According to schedule. While you’re at it, also turn off Show lock screen wallpaper in AOD settings.
7. Use performance profiles
Samsung allows you to choose a display profile as per your usage. If you don’t play games and use your phone mainly for browsing, calling, and similar routine tasks, you should select the Lite performance profile instead of Standard. It will prioritize battery life and cooling over processing speed.
How to do: Open the Settings app and go to Device Care > Performance Profiles and select Light. It is ideal for average phone users.
What to do when my Galaxy phone’s battery gets low?
The above seven settings will not hinder your user experience and will retain the best Galaxy phone features. However, if you’re out and about and your phone’s battery is low, here’s what you should do:
- turn on power saving
- toggle data roaming
- Turn off location services
- turn off AOD completely
Also: Your Samsung phone has a secret Wi-Fi menu that’s incredibly useful – how to access it
I recommend turning on these settings when your phone’s battery level is below 15% but you’re still a few hours away from a charger. The above Samsung settings will also help you maximize the battery on your Galaxy phone.
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