Staff
Android Expert
The Galaxy S20 Ultra has a 5,000 mAh battery and it will last a full day for most people. However, you can make some quick adjustments and learn a few tips to squeeze every ounce of battery life out of the S20 Ultra.
Here are the top tips to extend Galaxy S20 Ultra battery life (explanations below):
One of the best S20 Ultra features is the buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rates. That means your screen is refreshing every pixel on the screen 120 times every second! Terrific for enjoying multimedia but not so great if you're trying to prolong battery life.
If you want better battery life rather than better performance, adjust the screen refresh rate to 60Hz and it will undoubtedly help.
To change Galaxy S20 Ultra screen refresh rate:
Settings > Display > Motion Smoothness > Standard refresh rate (60Hz)
Lower Your Resolution
The S20 Ultra resolution is an interesting beast. There are 3 resolution options:
To adjust S20 Ultra screen resolution:
Settings > Display > Screen Resolution
Samsung's own Power Saving mode (see below) also lowers the screen resolution as part of its battery-saving measures.
Make Your Screen Sleep Quicker
How many times each day do you check your phone? If you're like most, probably hundreds. When you put your phone back on the table or in your pocket, how long does the screen stay on, wasting precious battery? If you don't know the answer you should immediately adjust your "Screen Timeout" setting on the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
To lower your Screen Timeout length:
Settings > Display > Screen Timeout
We recommend choosing 1-minute or less.
Enable Dark Mode
The Samsung One UI has a dark mode option which will turn your background black with white and colorful text that will greatly enhance the device efficiency. The white pixels require way more energy (and thus battery) than black/dark pixels so using Dark Mode for any amount of time will save battery.
To enable Dark Mode:
Settings > Display > Dark Mode
If you tap on "Dark mode settings" you can select to have the Dark Mode automatically applied from "Sunset to Sunrise" which is a big help. If you can use it 24/7? Even better!
Lower Your Brightness
Even in Dark Mode the brightness of your screen plays a huge role in how quickly your battery drains. Perhaps the easiest way to greatly extend battery life on your S20 Ultra is to pay close attention to your screen brightness and stick to the mantra "the dimmer the better". In addition to accessing brightness from quick settings you can find more options in settings.
To lower your brightness:
Settings > Display > Brightness
Drag the brightness slider to left, recognizing that the lowest level while still being comfortable to view is the best for your battery life.
You can also turn on/off Adaptive brightness- this will remember the brightness changes you make in certain conditions and attempt to automatically adjust your brightness to your liking depending on the situation. It can often blast brightness too high on a consistent basis. If you use it, monitor it, and make sure its job. If not: turn it off!
Turn Off Unused Features
Samsung packs its smartphones with tons and tons of features. Many are enabled by default, sucking up precious battery life, but you don't use them or even know they're there!
To disable unused gestures:
Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and gestures
Settings > Display > Edge Screen > Edge Panels/Lighting
We suggest you take a look through ALL your settings, not only to identify features you can turn off, but also to explore features you didn't know existed! There's a lot to love about the power of the S20 Ultra.
Pretend You're Flying
Continuing the "unused features" theme, making note of what connectivity options are active can play a huge role in extending your battery life. Most of us don't pay much attention while WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, Mobile Hotspot, GPS, Location and all sorts of connectivity features suck the life out of our battery.
It's easy to say, "Turn that stuff off when you're not using it," (which is true) but sometimes that's not how life works. It can be useful for both your phone battery and your sanity to set aside time to disconnect. Toggling your phone to Airplane Mode is a good way to immediately end these various connections, sparing your battery in the process.
If nothing else the concept of "pretend you're flying" will give you a slogan to remember whenever you're making battery power a priority. Eventually we'll get
Set Your Power Mode
The very first thing you should do is jump into:
Settings > Device Care > Battery > Power Mode
From here you'll have 4 primary choices:
You'll see the estimated remaining battery life by entering these power saving modes and the outcome is astounding. Put these to good use and you'll get past 1 full day easily.
Identify Apps Using Too Much Battery
Often times your device gets blamed for having bad battery life when in reality it's the fault of a poorly designed app that's constantly draining your battery in the background. One. easy way to greatly improve battery life on the Galaxy S20 Ultra is to identify problem apps and delete or uninstall them.
To check which apps use the most battery:
Settings > Device Care > Battery > Battery Usage
Settings > Device Care > Battery > App Power Management
The biggest battery consumer is - by far - your screen. The Always On Display is a brilliant feature but it will trickle battery life from your phone throughout the day, all day, every day when the feature is turned on. If you really want to save every percentage point you can turn off the Always On Display and save about 5% of your total device consumption in the average day.
To turn off the Always On Display:
Settings > Lock Screen > Always On Display > Toggle Off
You can also tap on "Always On Display" for more options including the ability to only activate the Always On Display when tapping it which will allow it to flash on the screen for 10 seconds. This is a nice balance/alternative to disabling entirely.
Reboot Your Phone (Yes, Seriously)
Sometimes smartphones just need a fresh start. Rebooting your phone gives the device a chance to clear out old to make space for the new (in the form of apps, games, processes and such). You'd be surprised how big of an impact restarting your phone regularly will have on device performance.
We recommend enabling the Galaxy S20 "Auto restart" option which allows you to set a day and time each week that your phone will automatically restart (Sunday at 2AM for example).
To enable "Auto restart":
Settings > Device Care
Pull down quick settings > power button > restart
What other Battery Saving tips do you have?
SHARE THEM IN THE COMMENTS!
Here are the top tips to extend Galaxy S20 Ultra battery life (explanations below):
- 120Hz to 60Hz
- Lower Your Resolution
- Set Screen Sleep Timer
- Enable Dark Mode
- Lower Brightness
- Turn Off Unused Features
- Airplane Mode
- Set Power Mode
- Identify and Kill Problem Apps
- Disable Always On Display
- Reboot your phone!
One of the best S20 Ultra features is the buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rates. That means your screen is refreshing every pixel on the screen 120 times every second! Terrific for enjoying multimedia but not so great if you're trying to prolong battery life.
If you want better battery life rather than better performance, adjust the screen refresh rate to 60Hz and it will undoubtedly help.
To change Galaxy S20 Ultra screen refresh rate:
Settings > Display > Motion Smoothness > Standard refresh rate (60Hz)
Lower Your Resolution
The S20 Ultra resolution is an interesting beast. There are 3 resolution options:
- HD+ (1600 x 720)
- FHD+ (2400 x 1080)
- WQHD+ (3200 x 1440)
To adjust S20 Ultra screen resolution:
Settings > Display > Screen Resolution
Samsung's own Power Saving mode (see below) also lowers the screen resolution as part of its battery-saving measures.
Make Your Screen Sleep Quicker
How many times each day do you check your phone? If you're like most, probably hundreds. When you put your phone back on the table or in your pocket, how long does the screen stay on, wasting precious battery? If you don't know the answer you should immediately adjust your "Screen Timeout" setting on the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
To lower your Screen Timeout length:
Settings > Display > Screen Timeout
We recommend choosing 1-minute or less.
Enable Dark Mode
The Samsung One UI has a dark mode option which will turn your background black with white and colorful text that will greatly enhance the device efficiency. The white pixels require way more energy (and thus battery) than black/dark pixels so using Dark Mode for any amount of time will save battery.
To enable Dark Mode:
Settings > Display > Dark Mode
If you tap on "Dark mode settings" you can select to have the Dark Mode automatically applied from "Sunset to Sunrise" which is a big help. If you can use it 24/7? Even better!
Lower Your Brightness
Even in Dark Mode the brightness of your screen plays a huge role in how quickly your battery drains. Perhaps the easiest way to greatly extend battery life on your S20 Ultra is to pay close attention to your screen brightness and stick to the mantra "the dimmer the better". In addition to accessing brightness from quick settings you can find more options in settings.
To lower your brightness:
Settings > Display > Brightness
Drag the brightness slider to left, recognizing that the lowest level while still being comfortable to view is the best for your battery life.
You can also turn on/off Adaptive brightness- this will remember the brightness changes you make in certain conditions and attempt to automatically adjust your brightness to your liking depending on the situation. It can often blast brightness too high on a consistent basis. If you use it, monitor it, and make sure its job. If not: turn it off!
Turn Off Unused Features
Samsung packs its smartphones with tons and tons of features. Many are enabled by default, sucking up precious battery life, but you don't use them or even know they're there!
To disable unused gestures:
Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and gestures
- Toggle off "Lift to wake"
- Toggle off "Double tap to wake"
- Toggle off "Smart stay"
- Toggle off "Smart alert"
- Toggle off "Easy mute" (maybe... this is helpful)
- Toggle off "Palm swipe to capture"
Settings > Display > Edge Screen > Edge Panels/Lighting
We suggest you take a look through ALL your settings, not only to identify features you can turn off, but also to explore features you didn't know existed! There's a lot to love about the power of the S20 Ultra.
Pretend You're Flying
Continuing the "unused features" theme, making note of what connectivity options are active can play a huge role in extending your battery life. Most of us don't pay much attention while WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, Mobile Hotspot, GPS, Location and all sorts of connectivity features suck the life out of our battery.
It's easy to say, "Turn that stuff off when you're not using it," (which is true) but sometimes that's not how life works. It can be useful for both your phone battery and your sanity to set aside time to disconnect. Toggling your phone to Airplane Mode is a good way to immediately end these various connections, sparing your battery in the process.
If nothing else the concept of "pretend you're flying" will give you a slogan to remember whenever you're making battery power a priority. Eventually we'll get
Set Your Power Mode
The very first thing you should do is jump into:
Settings > Device Care > Battery > Power Mode
From here you'll have 4 primary choices:
- High performance
- Optimized (recommended)
- Medium power saving
- Maximum power saving
- Turn off the Always On Display
- Limit CPU to 70%
- Lower brightness by 5% or 10%
- Toggle Screen Resolution to HD+, FHD+, or WQHD+
You'll see the estimated remaining battery life by entering these power saving modes and the outcome is astounding. Put these to good use and you'll get past 1 full day easily.
Identify Apps Using Too Much Battery
Often times your device gets blamed for having bad battery life when in reality it's the fault of a poorly designed app that's constantly draining your battery in the background. One. easy way to greatly improve battery life on the Galaxy S20 Ultra is to identify problem apps and delete or uninstall them.
To check which apps use the most battery:
Settings > Device Care > Battery > Battery Usage
- Apps using the most battery will be listed at the top
- Tap on an app and select "put to sleep" to prevent specific apps from running in the background when not in use
- If an app you don't use often shows near the top- adjust the app settings, contact the developer, or go ahead and uninstall it completely
Settings > Device Care > Battery > App Power Management
- Toggle "Adaptive battery" on to automatically limit battery usage for apps that you don't use often
- Toggle "Put unused apps to sleep" on to put apps to sleep if they haven't been used in awhile
The biggest battery consumer is - by far - your screen. The Always On Display is a brilliant feature but it will trickle battery life from your phone throughout the day, all day, every day when the feature is turned on. If you really want to save every percentage point you can turn off the Always On Display and save about 5% of your total device consumption in the average day.
To turn off the Always On Display:
Settings > Lock Screen > Always On Display > Toggle Off
You can also tap on "Always On Display" for more options including the ability to only activate the Always On Display when tapping it which will allow it to flash on the screen for 10 seconds. This is a nice balance/alternative to disabling entirely.
Reboot Your Phone (Yes, Seriously)
Sometimes smartphones just need a fresh start. Rebooting your phone gives the device a chance to clear out old to make space for the new (in the form of apps, games, processes and such). You'd be surprised how big of an impact restarting your phone regularly will have on device performance.
We recommend enabling the Galaxy S20 "Auto restart" option which allows you to set a day and time each week that your phone will automatically restart (Sunday at 2AM for example).
To enable "Auto restart":
Settings > Device Care
- Tap the 3 dots in the top right
- Toggle on "Auto restart"
- Select day and time
Pull down quick settings > power button > restart
What other Battery Saving tips do you have?
SHARE THEM IN THE COMMENTS!
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