Here's How Samsung's New Android Battery Protection Feature Is Supposed To Work
Samsung is adding a new feature that seeks to enhance the longevity of batteries inside smartphones. The feature is currently being tested with the latest Android 14-based build of One UI 6, but it is currently not widely available in an active state for all users. Called battery protection, the feature lets users pick between three strategies for topping up their phone's battery, with the ultimate goal of slowing down chemical degradation and enhancing lifespan.
That's an important consideration because smartphone batteries can only handle a limited number of charge-discharge cycles before the chemical constituents undergo a natural cycle of degradation. When that happens, the battery loses the charge retention capability over time. As a result, the phone lasts fewer hours on a single charge, a situation that only worsens over time.
Samsung and other smartphone makers, such as OnePlus and Apple, have been offering an optimized charging system that limits charging pace and limit. The latest One UI feature adds more flexibility to the whole system by offering three separate presets to control the charging behavior.
The three battery protection tiers include basic, adaptive, and maximum, each with its own set of restrictions. The maximum protection option is the most proactive layer. Once enabled, it blocks the charging process as soon as the battery level reaches the 80% mark. Moreover, the phone will only start to charge once the battery percentage has dipped below 80%.
Expected to arrive with the launch of Galaxy S24
The middle tier is called adaptive protection. This one relies on your smartphone usage pattern and accordingly adjusts the pace of charging. This one is more suited for people who are in the habit of plugging in their phones for overnight charging. Activating this feature stops charging at the 80% mark. Then, based on a person's waking up slot, the charging resumes and fills the rest of the tank.
The final option is basic protection. This cuts off the power supply as soon as the battery level reaches the 100% mark. Then, as the phone loses idle power due to background activities and the battery level slowly falls to 95%, charging resumes and once again fully juices up the battery.
However, the feature is not widely available. According to SamMobile, it will likely arrive with the launch of the Galaxy S24 series phones early next year. In the testing stage, the report notes that the battery protection system may not be fully functional.
A few other system settings can be tweaked to get more out of each charging session. To start, reduce the screen time-out duration, set a schedule for the always-on display and power saving modes, and enable dark mode. Samsung phones also offer the option to reduce the screen resolution as well as display refresh rate, both of which can be dialed down a notch to get more hours of activity out of a full charge.