On a single charge, the cheapest and smallest Samsung Galaxy S phone lasts longer than its predecessor.
My main issue of the Galaxy S22 when I reviewed it last year was its very low battery life. Fortunately, Samsung has rectified this weakness with the Galaxy S23, which was released on February 17 and contains a larger battery and a more power-efficient chipset.
The Galaxy S23 doesn’t have a record-breaking battery life, but it’s enough of an increase for me to feel comfortable using it without a charger on a busy day. That’s more than I could say about the Galaxy S22, which gave me battery anxiety when I was away from a power source for extended periods of time.
Small Android phones like the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22 can be difficult to find, which is why I’m delighted Samsung fixed its 6.1-inch flagship phone.
The larger battery on the Galaxy S23 makes a difference.
Samsung boosted the battery capacity of the Galaxy S23 by 200 mAh over the Galaxy S22. The new phone has a 3,900-mAh battery, while the gadget from last year had a 3,700-mAh capacity. Yet, this is not the only aspect that influences battery life.
The Galaxy S23 series is powered by a version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU that has been specifically designed for the Galaxy S23 series. According to Samsung, the new processor improves power efficiency, which contributes to the phone’s longer battery life.
These differences are obvious even after only a short time on the Galaxy S23. After a hard day at work, the Galaxy S22’s battery might occasionally drop into the 30s or 40s by 9 p.m. I had to borrow a colleague’s charger once during an all-day work function because I was scared I wouldn’t make it to the evening. (I usually had the always-on display turned off and the refresh rate set to a standard rather than adaptive).
So far, my experience with the Galaxy S23 has been completely different. When I pulled the phone off its charger at 10 a.m. on a recent Sunday, I still had 64% of my battery left at 12:36 a.m. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that I wasn’t using my phone all that much that afternoon. I was spending most of the day with my family, so I generally kept my phone tucked away in my pocket, only pulling it out to check my texts or take a photo.
Even on a busy day, though, the Galaxy S23 still had more battery life than the Galaxy S22. Following a day of benchmarking, taking photos, filming films, and streaming YouTube videos as part of my review testing, I still had 46% of my battery left by 9:45 p.m. That’s not too awful when you consider that the Galaxy S22 occasionally had 30 to 40% of its battery left by 9 p.m. after being used actively all day. I also left the adaptive refresh rate setting enabled for the majority of my time with the Galaxy S23.
I put each phone through a 45-minute endurance test and a three-hour battery depletion test to put the battery to test. Over the 45-minute test, I continuously streamed YouTube videos, made a video call, played mobile games, and looked through social media feeds to see how much of a dent these ordinary chores would make in each phone’s battery. I streamed YouTube for three hours with the display brightness set to 100% and checked the battery percentage once an hour to see how much it had depleted.
Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S23 outperformed the Galaxy S22 in both tests, as shown in the tables below.
Keep in mind that battery life will always vary depending on how you use your device. Battery life is affected by factors like screen brightness and the types of programs you use, so your experience may differ from mine. For example, even though I struggled to get through a full day with the Galaxy S22, I was able to save about 60 to 70% of my battery by 9 p.m. on days spent largely at home with the always-on display turned off.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Galaxy S22’s Battery
If you own a Galaxy S22 and are experiencing battery life issues, there are a few things you can take to extend the life of your device. To begin, try lowering the screen brightness by pushing down from the top of the display to open the quick settings menu on your phone.
You should also disable the adaptive brightness option to prevent your phone from automatically increasing brightness as necessary. While this is a great function in normal situations, you may not want the brightness to increase when trying to conserve battery life. Open the settings menu on your Galaxy S22, select the display option, and make sure the switch next to adaptive brightness is turned off.
If you’re looking to prolong battery life, you should also try turning off the adaptive refresh rate and always-on display settings, which you can toggle in the options menu.
To make the battery survive longer, Samsung devices offer a power-saving mode that disables certain settings. To access the battery, open the settings menu, select the battery and device care option, and then touch the battery. You may also reduce battery usage for apps that you don’t use frequently from this battery menu.
If it isn’t enough, consider obtaining a portable charger or power bank to charge your device while on the go.
With its new $700 price tag, the Galaxy S22 is an enticing alternative to the $800 Galaxy S23. Just keep in mind that you’ll be sacrificing some battery life to get that lower pricing.
