Galaxy S23 Battery Life vs. Galaxy S22: Samsung’s New Phone Gets a Boost

This story is part of Samsung EventCNET’s collection of news, tips and advice about Samsung’s most popular products.

When I checked the Galaxy S22 last year, my biggest criticism was the relatively short battery life. Fortunately, Samsung has addressed that shortcoming with Galaxy S23which was launched on February 17 and includes a larger battery and a more efficient processor.

The Galaxy S23 doesn’t offer record-breaking battery life, but it’s advanced enough that I can comfortably use it on a busy day without carrying a charger. That’s more than I can say for the Galaxy S22, which left me with battery anxiety on long days spent from a power outlet.

Small Android phones like Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22 can be hard to come by, so I’m glad Samsung made this improvement to its 6.1-inch flagship phone.

The Galaxy S23’s larger battery makes a difference

Samsung increased the battery capacity of the Galaxy S23 by 200 mAh compared to the Galaxy S22. The new phone has a 3,900-mAh battery, while last year’s device had a 3,700-mAh capacity. But that’s not the only factor influencing battery life.

The Galaxy S23 family runs a version of the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor specifically optimized for the Galaxy S23 series. Samsung says that this new processor brings better power efficiency, which contributes to the phone’s longer battery life.

Even after spending a short time with the Galaxy S23, these changes are noticeable. The Galaxy S22 battery sometimes dips into the 30s or 40s at around 9pm after a long day at the office. I even had to borrow my colleague’s charger once while attending an all-day work event because I was worried I wouldn’t make it through the night. (I usually turn off always on display and the refresh rate is set to standard instead of adaptive).

My experience with the Galaxy S23 has been very different so far. I still had 64% of my battery left at 12:36 a.m. on a recent Sunday when I took the phone off its charger at 10 a.m. that morning. However, it’s important to note that I didn’t use my phone very often that afternoon either. I spend time with my family for a large part of the day, so I usually keep my phone in my pocket, only taking it out to occasionally check my texts or take a photo.

But even on a busy day, the Galaxy S23 has more battery left than the Galaxy S22 likely. After a day of running benchmarks, taking lots of photos, recording videos and streaming YouTube videos as part of my review test, I still had 46% of my battery left at 9: 45 pm That’s not bad when you consider the Galaxy S22 sometimes has 30 to 40% of its battery left at around 9 pm after using the phone all day. I also left the adaptive refresh rate setting on for most of the time I spent with the Galaxy S23.

To further test the battery, I put each phone through a 45-minute endurance test and a three-hour battery drain test. During the 45-minute test, I continuously streamed YouTube videos, made video calls, played mobile games and scrolled through social media feeds to see how much each day could handle. battery functions of each phone. For the three-hour test, I streamed YouTube with the display brightness set to 100% and checked the battery percentage once every hour to see how much was drained.

Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S23 beats the Galaxy S22 in both tests, as you can see in the tables below.

Galaxy S23 vs. Galaxy S22 45-minute test

Galaxy S23	91%
Galaxy S22	89%

Galaxy S23 vs Galaxy S22 3 hour test

	1 hour	2 hours	3 hours
Galaxy S23	95%	88%	81%
Galaxy S22	91%	81%	71%

It’s important to remember that battery life will always vary depending on how you use your device. Things like screen brightness and the types of apps you use can affect battery life, so your experience may not directly mirror mine. For example, although I sometimes struggled to get through a full day with the Galaxy S22, I was able to preserve roughly 60 to 70% of my battery at 9pm with the always-on display off for about day spent mostly at home.

How to get the most battery life from your Galaxy S22

If you have a Galaxy S22 and are struggling with battery life, there are some steps you can take to increase the longevity of your device. First, try lowering the screen brightness by pulling down from the top of the display to access the quick settings menu on your phone.

You’ll also want to make sure the adaptive brightness setting is disabled to prevent your phone from automatically increasing brightness when needed. While that can be a useful feature under normal circumstances, you may not want to increase the brightness when you’re trying to save 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.

It’s also a good idea to try turning off the adaptive refresh rate and always on display settings if you’re trying to extend battery life, which you can toggle in the settings menu.

Samsung devices have a power savings mode that disables some settings to make the battery last longer. Open the settings menu, select the battery and device care option and then tap the battery to access it. From this battery menu, you can also limit battery usage for apps you don’t use often.

If that’s not enough, you can try buying a portable charger or power bank to power up your device while walking.

With a new $700 price, the Galaxy S22 is an attractive option alongside the $800 Galaxy S23. Just remember that you will sacrifice some battery life to get the cheaper price.