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How to get better battery life on Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+

Experiencing poorer battery life than you would like on your Galaxy S9 or S9+? Well, you’re in luck as Samsung has built several battery-life saving features into the phone. Here’s how to use them all…

Steps to improving Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ battery life

  1. Lower screen resolution
  2. Turn off always-on display
  3. Adjust screen timeout
  4. Disable auto brightness/lower display brightness
  5. Stop apps from running in the background
  6. Power saving mode

1. Lower screen resolution

Out of the box, the Galaxy S9 is capable of displaying content at WQHD+ (2960×1440) but is set to FHD+ (2220×1080) by default. Whether you’ve already raised the screen resolution to the highest level or still have it set to default, having the display at a lower resolution will help save some battery life.

To do this, open your phone’s settings by pulling down the notification shade and tapping on the gear icon. From there, select Display and then Screen resolution. There, choose one of the two lower resolutions and then select Apply.

Read our Android Basics guide on adjusting the screen resolution if you need further help.

2. Turn off always-on display

Samsung’s always-on display is excellent for showing you the time and notifications at a glace when the screen is off and laying down face up. But if you want to get a little more out of your phone’s battery, it’s probably best to turn this feature off.

To do this jump into your device’s settings menu by pulling down on the notification shade and tapping on the gear icon. From there, select Lock screen and security. Next, locate the Always On Display option under the Lock Screen and Always On Display subheading and toggle it off.

3. Adjust screen timeout

If you’re like me, you adjust your phone’s screen timeout so that the display won’t turn off on you after sitting dormant for 15 to 30 seconds. But for the best possible battery life, you might want to lower this so your phone’s screen isn’t left on longer than it needs to be.

First, head to your phone’s settings menu by pulling down on the notification shade and tapping on the gear icon. Next, find the Display option and then select Screen timeout. Lastly, choose a shorter timeout period.

4. Disable auto brightness/lower display brightness

As you could guess from all of these steps, it’s the little things that when combined, give you a little extra juice to get you through the day. Something as simple as pulling down your notification shade and lowering your display’s brightness is one of these things.

Additionally, to make sure your screen only stays as bright as you need it to be, you should disable automatic brightness. To do this, hop into your phone’s settings menu by pulling down on the notification shade and tapping on the gear icon. Then head into Display and toggle off Auto brightness.

5. Stop apps from running in the background

Samsung includes a Device Manager feature that can be used to monitor apps running in the background and shutting them down to save battery life. To reach it, open your phone’s settings by pulling down the notification shade and tapping on the gear icon and then opening Device Monitor.

Here, your first option is to optimize the phone by selecting the Optimize Now button. This process will automatically identify apps that can be closed to save battery life as well as unused apps that can be deleted to save space.

The second option is to tap on the Battery button in the lower left corner of the Device Manager. Here, find the App power monitor section. You can deselect the apps the tool has identified as power hoggers and choose to stop them from running in the background. Note that by doing this, these apps won’t sync or receive notifications until the next time you open them.

6. Power saving mode

Lastly, you can use the Galaxy S9/S9+’s built-in power saving modes. To access them, open the device’s settings menu by pulling down the notification shade and tapping on the gear icon. From there, select Battery. In this list, you’ll find two different power saving modes: Mid and Max.

When you select either of them, you’ll see a pop-up that shows all of the different variables that can be turned on or off. Once you’ve set everything to your liking, you will see how much time will be added to your estimated battery life. Select Apply to enable power saving mode.

If all else fails, make sure to check out our list of the best chargers and battery packs for your Galaxy S9 or S9+.

If you have any questions, make sure to leave them in the comment section below or hit me up on Twitter.


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Avatar for Justin Duino Justin Duino

I’m a writer for 9to5Google with a background in IT and Android development. Follow me on Twitter to read my ramblings about tech and email me at justin@jaduino.com. Tips are always welcome.