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How to Get Better Samsung Galaxy S5 Battery Life

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From a new Ultra Power Saving mode to taking control of screen brightness and apps there are many ways to get better Galaxy S5 battery life without buying an extended battery or giving up the features that you love.

It helps that the Galaxy S5’s screen uses less power than the Galaxy S5 and the more efficient processor helps deliver good Galaxy S5 battery life as it is, but there is still room for improvement, especially for users that need a phone that can keep running all day and well into the night.

This guide will show Samsung Galaxy S5 owners how to make the included Galaxy S5 battery last longer so there is no need to carry around a spare battery or to spend the money on an extended Galaxy S5 battery. One of the nice features about this phone is the ability to remove the back and swap a battery, but most users prefer better Galaxy S5 battery life over carrying around a second battery. This is especially true if you don’t have a bag that you carry with you all-day every day.

Learn how to get better Samsung Galaxy S5 battery life.

Learn how to get better Samsung Galaxy S5 battery life.

This guide will show you how to get better Galaxy S5 battery life by changing small features and limiting when your phone connects and uses power. These Galaxy S5 battery life tips will not impact the performance of your phone. Instead they typically focus on controlling when the phone performs certain actions and keeping the screen at a reasonable brightness.

Users can pull down on the notification bar with two fingers for fast access to many of these settings, so it is easy to toggle them on and off as needed.

Control the Screen Brightness

This is the easiest way to get better Galaxy S5 battery life without switching up settings on a regular basis. Does the Galaxy S5 display look amazing at full brightness? Yes, no doubt — but it’s also going to use a lot of battery power to keep that beautiful display going.

Set the display to auto brightness most of the time, and dial it down lower when you need to.

Set the display to auto brightness most of the time, and dial it down lower when you need to.

Instead of keeping the display at full brightness all the time turn it to Auto. With this selected the Galaxy S5 will change based on the light it senses. Go outside it boosts the brightness so you can see in the sun. Go to bed, it turns it down so you aren’t blinded by the light. Throughout the day it changes from inside to outside and light to dark to make sure you can still see the screen and get better battery life.

You can also turn auto off and manually turn down the brightness, but the sensors are good enough that it makes more sense to use the Auto mode. Swipe down to see notifications and you should see a slider and an Auto checkbox. Check the Auto box. If you don’t see this go to Settings -> Notification Panel -> Brightness Adjustment. With this on it is also easier to manually control brightness when needed.

Use Power Saving Mode

The Galaxy S5 Power Saving Mode is one way to limit the phone to get better Galaxy S5 battery life. Unlike many of these options, this actually changes the performance of the device and when items sync.

Turn this on by pulling the Notification drawer down by two fingers and tapping on Power Saving Mode. If you tap and hold you will see the options and settings that are good to change as needed.

Set Power Saving Mode to turn on automatically to start saving battery life when it hits 20% left.

Set Power Saving Mode to turn on automatically to start saving battery life when it hits 20% left.

Choose to Block Background data if you want to maximize battery life while preventing alerts from apps that check for email and notifications in the background. Next, tap on the Restrict performance row to see what you can control. On the next screen you can slow down the processor, reduce screen performance turn off the lights on the buttons and turn off GPS to save battery life.

You won’t want this on at all times, but it is handy to use when battery life is super important. You can tap on the Select when turned on and choose Auto enable to set this to turn on when the battery is below 20%.

Ultra Power Saving Mode

Samsung packs in an even bigger power saver mode that can turn 5% of battery life into 24 hours of standby time. This turns the screen black and white, limits the apps that are running and data usage so that the phone will last as long as possible. In this mode you can still make calls, send messages and surf the web. This is designed for keeping the phone going for the last couple of hours before you get home or while you are a long ways from power.

Ultra Power Saving Mode turns the display black and white, and limits apps for extreme battery savings.

Ultra Power Saving Mode turns the display black and white, and limits apps for extreme battery savings.

Pull down the notification drawer with two fingers and tap on U. power saving to turn this on. There are no settings other than off or on. With Ultra Power Saving Mode the Galaxy S5 will no longer use data when the screen is off and this also disables WiFi and Bluetooth as well as limits what apps can run.

Don’t use this mode all the time, but when you need one tap to incredible Galaxy S5 battery life, this is the option to enable.

Screen Timeout

Controlling how long the screen stays on when you set the Galaxy S5 down is an easy way to get better battery life without giving up any features.

Choose a low time to increase Galaxy S5 battery life.

Choose a low time to increase Galaxy S5 battery life.

Go to Settings -> Display -> Screen timeout and choose 15 seconds to decrease screen time and maximize battery life.

This simply turns the screen off faster so that you aren’t wasting power when you aren’t looking at the screen.

Turn off Bluetooth and NFC

Bluetooth and HFC are great for connecting to cars, the Gear Fit, headphones, speakers or for making a mobile payment, but if you really want to boost battery life you will need to turn them off.

Turn off NFC and Bluetooth if you don't use them.

Turn off NFC and Bluetooth if you don’t use them.

Go to the Notification drawer and then quick settings. Tap on Bluetooth to turn it off. Do the same with NFC. This will limit your phone’s connectivity but if you don’t use either of these features you won’t miss anything and can enjoy better battery life.

Control Apps and Backups

Rogue apps can cause bad battery life when things don’t go right. If your Galaxy S5 battery life drops dramatically you should check to see what apps are using most of your battery life. Go to Settings -> Battery to see what apps use the most power.

See what apps use your Galaxy S5 battery the most and take control.

See what apps use your Galaxy S5 battery the most and take control.

If an app is using too much power you should look to limit when it is active. If it is a backup application tell it to only backup when charging. If it is not an essential app you may need to simply uninstall it or at least look for updates.

You can kill multitasking apps to see if that helps, but if an app is bad you may be better off looking for a replacement than continually closing multitasking apps.

Limit Location Info

If you want to boost battery life at the expense of precise location info you can switch from using GPS for the location to using WiFi and mobile networks only.

Use a less precise location to get better Galaxy S5 battery life.

Use a less precise location to get better Galaxy S5 battery life.

Go to Settings -> Location -> Mode – >Power saving to turn this on. You’ll still get your location, but it won’t always be as precise.

Install Battery Guru

The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with a collection of battery saving software, but if you install the free SnapDragon Battery Guru software you’ll see better S5 battery life with changes you rarely notice.  This app learns your usage habits and where you connect to WiFi and more to customize when settings turn on and off.

This is an app that works on any Snapdragon powered device, and delivered great results on the Galaxy S4, and early tests show it is helpful on the Galaxy S5 as well.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. John Wong

    05/17/2014 at 2:55 am

    I am quite impressed with 2800mAh battery of my 1 month old Galaxy S5 that after full charged on qi wireless charger runs throughout the day. Thanks for sharing the vital tactics to improve battery performance of the Samsung Galaxy S5. After reading this, I came to know that by just reducing the brightness also saves the battery of device.

  2. Scott Petrovic

    05/17/2014 at 4:53 pm

    Great article! Is there a reason to not use Ultra Power Saving Mode all of the time? I use it most of the time. When I am working, sleeping, or driving, I don’t really care about background processes and apps. I just care if someone is calling or texting me. I have a computer right in front of me that can do all of that at work. It makes the phone last sooo much longer.WIFI is almost everywhere, so I rarely even need to turn on my data plan. I have 1GB and that is more than enough for GPS and other outside internet needs.

    Maybe I am an “extreme smart phone user”. :)

  3. seether00

    05/27/2014 at 11:01 am

    Great tips but I don’t see the option to automatically switch on Power Saving Mode when the battery reaches are certain point like you have in the screen capture. Any idea why?

  4. Kevin

    06/12/2014 at 7:47 pm

    Why don’t I see the “Select when turned on” option on my Galaxy S5? :(

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