Fix: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 / Z Fold 5 Battery Draining Fast

What Leads to Fast Battery Drain on Foldable Phones?

If you have upgraded from a regular smartphone to a foldable phone like the Galaxy Z Flip 5 or Fold 5, you’ll see a significant difference in the battery backup. For instance, the Galaxy S23 Ultra lasts 30% more than Samsung’s latest foldable phones. That’s because they have multiple screens working in sync, and on the Fold 5, you have a bigger display (when unfolded).

Multiple screens and big screen sizes result in more battery consumption. But that’s not the only factor contributing to fast battery drain.

Smartphones typically have 5,000mAh battery. But the Galaxy Z Fold 5 opts for a smaller 4,400mAh capacity, which goes down to 3,700mAh for the Galaxy Z Flip 5. For comparison, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery. You can see the gap in battery capacities, and that itself explains the fast battery drain on Galaxy foldable.

Samsung smartphones learn your usage patterns and automatically optimize the device accordingly. It can take from a week or two. So, if you are new to Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Flip 5, give the device enough time to learn your usage patterns and optimize the battery usage.

Recent software updates and third-party apps can also cause a fast battery drain on your Samsung Galaxy.

How to Fix Fast Battery Draining on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5

Test out these effective solutions to resolve the fast battery draining issue on your Samsung Galaxy.

1. Wait For The Device to Optimize Itself

If you are new to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Galaxy Z Flip 5 and facing a fast battery draining issue, worry not. Your device can take a week or two to analyze your usage patterns and then optimize itself to improve the battery backup. So, there’s no need to panic.

Users can experience a fast battery drain after installing a software update. If that’s something happening with you as well, don’t worry. After installing an update, the device optimizes its software in the background, which can consume more battery. It can take up to two days.

While you wait for your Samsung Galaxy to optimize itself, apply these solutions to get more screen-on time.

2. Tweak Your Device Settings

Minor changes to your device settings can significantly boost the battery backup of your Samsung Galaxy. Here are the recommended changes

Tip#1: Lower Your Screen Refresh Rate

Refresh rate is the number of times an image on your screen is updated in a second. Setting a higher refresh rate results in a smooth motion, but it takes more battery. Hence, consider switching to a lower refresh rate to get more screen-on time.

How to lower screen refresh rate:

1. Open the Settings app on your Samsung Galaxy.
2. Tap on the Display option.
3. Click Motion smoothness and choose the Standard option.

Tip #2: Enable Adaptive Brightness

If the brightness level is set to high, it will lead to more power consumption. So, what’s the ideal brightness level? Well, there isn’t any. It depends on the intensity of the light around you.

Instead of always keeping high brightness, you can enable adaptive brightness. Your smartphone will then automatically set the brightness based on the conditions.

1. Go to the Settings app.
2. Tap on Display.
3. Enable the toggle for Adaptive brightness if it isn’t already.

Tip #3: Turn on Adaptive Battery

The Adaptive battery setting on Samsung Galaxy phones learns your usage patterns and optimizes the battery usage for frequently used apps. It will prioritize battery power for frequently used apps and reduce the battery usage for rarely used apps.

Enabling the Adaptive battery can extend your phone’s battery life. By default, It’s enabled on Galaxy smartphones, but you may want to double-check if it’s disabled.

1. Open the Settings app on your phone.
2. Please scroll down to Battery and Device Care and tap on it.
3. Tap on Battery.
4. Click More Battery Settings at the bottom.
5. Toggle on Adaptive battery if it’s toggled off.

Tip #4: Change Processing Speed

You can tweak the processing speed to match your goals. Settings it to “High” or “Maximum” will result in faster data processing. However, it uses more battery. The “Optimised” option does a good job for most users, as it balances speed and battery.

Steps to change processing speed in Samsung Galaxy:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on Battery and device care and click Battery.
3. Tap on More battery settings.
4. Click Processing speed and choose Optimised.

Tip #5: Enable Auto Optimisation

Samsung Galaxy smartphones can automatically restart to optimize itself. The process involves closing background apps and clearing memory for a smooth experience. It can also improve the battery life.

Here’s how to enable it on your phone:

1. Go to the Settings app.
2. Tap on Battery and device care.
3. Scroll down to Auto optimisation and tap on it.
4. Enable the toggle for Restart when needed option.

The device automatically restarts itself when it’s not in use.

Tip #6: Use Dark Mode

When using the dark mode, pixels showing dark colors on OLED screens are turned off to save power. Hence, it can reduce battery consumption on your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 or Galaxy Z Fold 5.

All the tips I’ve shared in this section can improve battery usage. But, it may not happen instantly. You may need to wait for a few days to observe the change in battery usage.

3. Remove High Battery Consuming Apps

One of the most effective ways to fix fast battery draining issues on any smartphone is to identify the high power-consuming apps and remove them or find a better alternative.

To check the battery usage of all apps, go to Settings -> Battery and device care and tap on Battery.

Scroll down the page a little bit, and you’ll see the most power-consuming apps along with their consumed battery percentage. Click View details to see battery usage for more apps.

Carefully go through high-power consuming apps. If there are apps that you don’t use often, they might be consuming battery in the background. Removing them should boost the battery backup of your Samsung Galaxy.

4. Switch to 4G Network Mode

5G operates at higher frequencies with complex signal processing. If your device remains connected to a 5G network for long hours, it can consume a significant portion of your phone’s battery, causing a fast battery drain.

If you do not require very high internet speed, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to switch to a 4G network.

If you use 5G at a specific time during the day, you can set a routine to enable and disable 5G at a specific time. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Settings app and click Modes and Routines.
2. Go to the Routines tab.
3. Tap on the “+” icon at the top.
4. Tap on Add what will trigger this routine.
5. Click Specific time and choose the time when you want to enable 5G.
6. Click Done.
7. Tap on Add what this routine will do.
8. Click Connections, tap Network mode, and choose 5G/LTE/3G/2G (auto connect).
9. Click Done.
10. Tap on Save at the bottom.
11. Name your routine and click Done.
12. Similarly, add another routine to disable 5G at a specific time.

Now go to Settings -> Connections -> Mobile networks and select the network mode to LTE/3G/2G (auto connect).

5. Turn off the AOD

Always-on Display (AOD) looks super cool. It shows you important details, such as time, date, notifications, missed calls, and more, without unlocking the device. However, it keeps consuming battery.

Always-on Display can be essential while you’re working. If you don’t want to disable it, set a routine to enable and disable it at a specific time automatically.

Here’s how to schedule AOD on your Samsung Galaxy:

1. Open the Settings app and click Modes and Routines.
2. Go to the Routines tab.
3. Tap on the “+” icon at the top.
4. Tap on Add what will trigger this routine.
5. Click Specific time and choose the time when you want to enable 5G.
6. Click Done.
7. Tap on Add what this routine will do.
8. Click Lock screen and select Always On Display.
9. Enable the toggle for Always On Display and choose the Show always option.
10. Click Done and then Save.
11. Name your routine and click Done.
12. Similarly, create a routine to disable disable Always On Display when you don’t need it.

By only displaying Always On Display (AOD) when you actually need it, you can get more screen-on time.

6. Enable Power Saving Mode

Enabling the power saving mode on your Samsung Galaxy applies necessary actions to reduce battery usage. It includes lowering the screen refresh rate, switching to a 4G network, reducing background activity, lowering screen brightness, and limiting visual effects.

By turning on power saving mode, you can significantly improve battery usage, but you wouldn’t want these restrictions all the time. A better approach here is to set a routine to enable this mode when the phone is folded.

Here are all the steps you need to follow:

1. Open the Settings app and click Modes and Routines.
2. Go to the Routines tab.
3. Tap on the “+” icon at the top.
4. Tap on Add what will trigger this routine.
5. Select Device, click Folding status, and choose Completely closed.
6. For Then case, select Battery, click Power saving, and choose On.
7. Click Done.

If you use the outer screen for long hours for basic tasks, it makes sense to enable the power-saving mode.

7. Update Your Device

Despite the best battery optimization settings, if your Galaxy Z Flip 5 or Z Fold 5 quickly runs out of battery, there may be a bug that Samsung needs to address. The brand regularly pushes new updates to fix known issues and improve device performance and stability.

Check if your Samsung Galaxy has a pending update by going to Settings -> Software update -> Download and install. If an update is available, download and install it.

8. Put Unused Apps to Sleep

You can reduce background activity for apps by putting them to sleep. It can improve battery usage, and you may get more screen-on time.

1. Go to the Settings app.
2. Tap on Battery and device care and click Battery.
3. Tap on Background usage limits.
4. Toggle on Put unused apps to sleep.

Enabling this option will allow your device to put unused apps to sleep. You can also manually add apps into one of three sleeping categories: Sleeping apps, Deep sleeping apps, and Never sleeping apps.

Sleeping apps can occasionally run in the background, while Deep sleeping apps will never run in the background. The Never sleeping apps can always run in the background.

9. Remove Problematic Apps

Third-party apps can cause high battery drain on your Samsung Galaxy. If you started facing this problem after installing an app, consider removing that app and notice the battery usage afterward.

10. Perform a Factory Reset

If the above solutions fix the high batter drain issue on your Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Galaxy Z Flip, performing a factory reset could help. Please remember that doing this will remove all data from your device, including photos, videos, documents, installed apps, and more.

Make sure you have backed up important data before resetting your device.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down to General management and tap on it.
3. Click Reset and choose Reset all settings.
4. Tap on Reset settings.
5. Confirm your lock screen and click Reset.

After the reset is done, your device will automatically boot up. You’ll then need to set it up again. Hopefully, the high battery draining issue is gone.

Conclusion

If you are tired of the fast battery draining issue on your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 or Z Fold 5, there are ways to resolve the problem. I have detailed the effective solutions in this article and some tips to get more screen-on time out of your foldable phone. If you have anything to add to this article or have any questions, write them in the comment section below.