Samsung surprises fans with battery-saving trick that stops ‘accidental’ drain by tweaking easy-to-miss setting
SAMSUNG has served up a battery life trick that takes advantage of an easily-overlooked phone setting.
Not only that, but it also has some extra benefits for your Samsung Galaxy phone beyond just extending charge.
The trick was revealed in a special memo for phone owners aimed at boosting battery life.
Some tricks – like decreasing screen brightness – are fairly common sense.
But there’s another display setting that you’ll also want to try: Accidental Touch Protection.
“You can reduce battery strain and stop embarrassing pocket dials by blocking accidental touches,” Samsung explains.
“That way you won’t have any more mishaps.”
You can find it by going into Settings > Display.
Then simply toggle the switch next to Accidental Touch Protection to the on position.
The feature explains that it “protects your phone from accidental touches when it’s in a dark place, such as a pocket or bag”.
This should stop your phone waking by mistake, silently draining battery life.
CHECK YOUR USAGE
Your Samsung phone will actually tell you how much usage time you have left.
The read-out can be found in Settings > Battery and Device Care > Battery.
You’ll be able to see remaining charge time at the top of the screen.
Samsung adds: “The usage time left shows the time remaining before the battery power runs out.
“Usage time left may vary depending on your device settings and operating conditions.”
SUPER SAVER
There’s another trick to help you out too.
Samsung phones offer a Power Saving Mode to limit how much charge you’re using.
You can find this in the same menu as the battery time remaining read-out.
Go to Settings > Battery and Device Care > Battery and then select Power Saving Mode.
You’ll then need to tap switches next to the settings or customizations you want for the feature.
Why do batteries get worse over time?
Here's what you need to know...
- Most gadgets run on lithium-ion batteries
- Over time, the amount of charge this type of battery can hold gets smaller
- That means you need to charge your device more often because they hold less charge
- Batteries have two electrode points – the cathode and the anode
- To charge a battery, the ions inside the battery are forced from the cathode to the anode
- When you use a battery, it moves in the reverse direction
- This process wears away at the structure of the anode, reducing its ability to function correctly
- But the process also builds up a kind of salt on the cathode when charging
- As this build-up grows, the battery will accept less charge over time
- It’s estimated that between 500 and 1,000 full charge-cycles will reduce a battery’s maximum capacity by roughly 20%
For instance, you can have it turn off the Always On Display, generally decrease brightness, deactivate 5G, and limit performance.
Note that if you restrict performance, you might experience issues with some apps.
Then tap the switch at the top of the screen to turn Power Saving Mode on.