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The Galaxy S21 series actually sports some pretty good battery life. In our reviews of the Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra, we found that it was really impressive. Particularly on the S21 Ultra since it was running at QHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. But there are always ways to improve the battery life on your smartphone.
In this article, we are going to give you a few different tips that you can use to improve the battery life of your Galaxy S21 smartphone. And make it last just a bit longer, when needed.
Adjust screen resolution & refresh rate
The display is always going to be the most demanding part of your phone, when it comes to battery life. Especially if you have the Galaxy S21 Ultra, with that 6.8-inch display. So one of the easiest ways to improve battery life, is to adjust the screen resolution and refresh rate.
Now, Samsung does Adaptive refresh rate, so it’s not running at 120Hz all the time. But if you are using the Galaxy S21 or S21+, the only choice you have is to bring it down to 60Hz. As neither of these allow for a lower resolution. It’s stuck at FHD+ all the time.
Over on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, you can opt to drop the screen resolution to FHD+ from QHD+. However, if you did not adjust that setting out of the box, then you likely are still using FHD+. And in that case, you may want to drop it down to 60Hz. These changes can actually make a really big difference.
Switch to dark mode
For many, this is common sense, but for others, this needs to be said. Switch over to dark mode. It’s easier on the eyes, and it will also conserve your battery life. This is because all of Samsung’s smartphones use OLED displays. These displays light up pixels individually. So the more pixels that are black, the more pixels that are turned off and not running.
Google actually did some testing on this, and found that black backgrounds would use significantly less power than a white background. It uses around 63% less power, which can make a big difference on your smartphone’s battery life.
Another tip here, would be to use a darker wallpaper too. Even though you likely rarely see the wallpaper on your home screen. This can make a big difference too.
Check on your battery stats
A good way to improve your battery life, is simply by checking your battery stats. The reason for this is, you can see what apps are power hungry. And which ones have gone rogue.
For instance, Google Play Services likes to go rogue every once in a while. And you can force stop the app to help your battery out. Sometimes other apps like Facebook and Twitter use a lot more power than they should.
Additionally, you can adjust whether some apps run in the background. Which can also use up quite a bit of battery.
Use Wifi instead of 5G
This is a long time battery life tip, and it still hasn’t changed. But use WiFi instead of 5G. Unfortunately, Samsung doesn’t allow you to turn off 5G, like on some other smartphones. But when you’re at home – which most of us are still – make sure to keep WiFi on.
This is great for your battery, but also great for your own experience. As your WiFi is likely faster than 4G LTE or even 5G in your area. So Twitter, and other apps will load faster on WiFi.
Turn on power saver mode
Finally, if worse comes to worse, a good idea is to turn on the power saver mode. Which can really extend the battery life on your Galaxy S21.
You can get to power saver mode in the quick settings panel, which is quite easy, and also through the battery settings.
Power Saver mode typically slows down the processor, as well as dimming the display. And will even stop some notifications. So this isn’t something you can leave on all day. But if you are down below 20%, it might be a good idea to turn it on and get some extra juice out of your phone. At least until you can charge your phone.