9 ways to improve your phone’s battery life

Samsung introduced its latest flagship, the Galaxy S24 series, at the Galaxy Unpacked event this January. The new generation of flagship phones flaunt larger battery capacities than their predecessors. For instance, the Galaxy S24 Ultra features massive cells, so you don’t have to worry much about them draining too soon. The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24+ have a marginal battery improvement compared to the previous generation. Still, you might want to extract more juice from them. If so, try out our tips to eke out every last drop of battery life on your Samsung Galaxy S24.

1 Change Always On Display settings

The Galaxy S24 series’ Always On Display keeps its screen on and displays the battery percentage, date, time, and unread notification icons. It’s useful since you can check the time and see if you have notifications without unlocking your phone. However, this feature affects your phone’s battery life.

One UI 6.1 uses an Apple-like AOD with the backdrop of your lock screen in toned-down colors. Meaning the battery drain will be higher than the traditional all-black AOD. To reduce power consumption, Samsung added a new feature that automatically erases the background. The AOD will only show the person or object and keep the surroundings dark.

Here’s how to remove the background:

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap Lock screen and AOD.
3. Select Always On Display.

   

   

4. Toggle on Erase background.
5. Tap When to show.
6. Select Tap to show. The display turns on only after you tap the screen.

   

   

Turn off AOD to improve your Galaxy S24’s battery life. Go to
Settings
>
Lock screen
and toggle off
Always On Display
.

2 Turn on Battery protection

The Galaxy S24 series features a new Battery protection option that helps improve battery life. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Battery.
3. Select Battery protection.

   

   

4. Choose from Basic, Adaptive, and Maximum.

Select Maximum to extend your battery life. It stops charging when the battery level reaches 80%. Choose Adaptive if you tend to charge your phone overnight. In Basic mode, the phone stops charging when its battery level is 100% and resumes when it drops to 95%.

3 Switch on your phone’s Power saving mode

The quickest way to extend your phone’s battery is to use Power saving mode. Here’s how to turn on the feature:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select Battery.
3. Toggle on Power saving.

   

   

Turn it off to customize Power saving options. Choose any of the following:

• Turn off Always On Display
• Limit CPU speed to 70%
• Decrease brightness by 10%
• Turn off 5G
• Limit apps and Home screen

Alternatively, you can access Power saving mode from the quick settings menu.

4 Turn on dark mode to extend battery life

The Galaxy S24 has an AMOLED screen. Switching to dark mode extends its battery life. AMOLED displays can turn off individual pixels, so applying a system-wide dark theme uses less power. This benefits you only if you typically crank up the brightness on your phone’s display. You won’t experience significant battery saving if your screen has lower brightness levels.

Here’s how to switch on dark mode:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Display.
3. Select Dark.

   

   

5 Use Samsung’s Light performance mode

Samsung’s Light performance mode reduces the phone’s power output to save battery life. It also keeps the device cooler. It does not affect online browsing, phone calls, video playback, or social media usage.

Here’s how to turn on Light performance mode:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Device care.
3. Tap Performance profile.

   

   

4. Toggle on Light.

   

Light performance mode automatically turns off while playing games.

6 Put your phone’s unused apps to sleep

Even if you don’t use certain apps, they might run in the background and take a toll on your phone’s battery life. Your Samsung device lets you put them to sleep so that you don’t get unnecessary notifications and updates. Sleeping apps may resume operating in the background if you start using them again. Put them into deep sleep if you don’t want them to run in the background.

Here’s how to put apps to sleep:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Battery.
3. Select Background usage limits.
4. Toggle on Put unused apps to sleep.

   

   

5. You can also choose which apps to put to sleep.

7 Get rid of unnecessary apps on your phone

Turning on sleep mode for unused apps is a great way to prevent them from draining your phone’s battery. But it makes better sense to uninstall apps if you don’t use them at all.

Here’s how to uninstall an app:

1. Long press an app on your app drawer or home screen.
2. Select Uninstall.
3. Tap OK.

8 Turn off Nearby Device Scanning

When your Samsung phone’s Nearby Device Scanning is on, it searches for devices like earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, and smartwatches within close range. It sends you a notification so that you can connect them to your phone.

If you paired your accessories, turn off the feature to save battery life. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select Connections.
3. Tap More connection settings.

   

   

4. Toggle off Nearby device scanning.

   

9 Harness the power of Bixby Routines on your Galaxy S24

Bixby Routines lets you set up triggers to automate system functions. To save power, create a routine to turn off Always On Display or activate Power saving mode at night. Read our guide on how to use Bixby Routines to learn more.

Here’s how to create Bixby Routines:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Modes and Routines.
3. Go to the Routines tab.
4. Tap the + button.
5. Select what will trigger the routine and what the routine will do.

   

   

6. Tap Save.

Stretch your Samsung Galaxy S24’s battery life to its limit by using all of its new features

Playing with your shiny new Galaxy S24 all day could drain your phone sooner than expected, especially if you have an S24 or S24+. Follow the tips listed above to extend the usage of your battery.

This year’s Galaxy series has many AI-powered features, and Circle to Search is one of the most interesting visual search tools we’ve seen. It scours Google for info on what you circled. You can move the search bar if it obscures the content you want to select.