Unlocking the Truth: The Real Impact of Always-On Display on Your Battery Life
Discover the truth about Always-On Display and its impact on your phone's battery life Learn how to turn off this feature on both Android and iPhone devices to save battery power
What Is Always-On Display?
The always-on display feature on your phone may cause battery depletion, but the extent of the drain depends on various factors such as your device, operating system, and usage patterns. Nevertheless, disabling the feature can help extend your battery life. While the feature is convenient for checking time and notifications without unlocking the phone, it's worth considering whether it's worth the battery drain.
The always-on display is designed to show important information on your phone screen at all times, even when it's locked or in sleep mode. This means you can quickly and easily check the time, date, weather, and notifications without having to unlock your phone or press any buttons. The feature is particularly effective on devices with OLED displays, which have the ability to control each individual pixel and turn them on or off as necessary. By illuminating only the necessary pixels, the always-on display can conserve battery life while still providing you with the information you need at a glance.
But even a limited amount of battery consumption by the always-on display can impact the overall backup offered by the battery.
Does Always-on Display Affect Battery Life?
Always-on displays do have an impact on battery life, albeit to varying degrees depending on the device, operating system, and usage patterns. Essentially, in order to display information, a portion of the screen must remain lit up constantly, which requires power. Although this power consumption is lower compared to when the display is fully active, it still contributes to decreased battery life and reduced uptime on a single charge.
RELATEDWhy Do Phone Batteries Still Only Last a Day?
Extensive testing conducted by independent benchmarking website DXOMARK revealed that enabling the always-on display feature on popular smartphones from Apple, Google, Samsung, and Xiaomi results in a four-fold increase in battery drainage. This impact on overall battery life is quite significant. However, the study also found that Apple's implementation of the feature on the iPhone 14 Pro Max results in the lowest battery discharge among the smartphones tested, despite keeping the entire screen lit and displaying elements at a reasonable brightness. In comparison, Google and Samsung's devices, the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra respectively, only light up parts of the screen and maintain a relatively low display brightness to minimize battery drainage.
It's important to note that the DXOMARK study only takes into account the performance of a phone's always-on display feature while it's actively being used. However, in real-life scenarios, when the phone is not in use and is placed in a pocket or bag, or even left face-down on a desk, it can utilize the proximity sensor (depending on the phone model) to detect its surroundings and automatically turn off or dim the always-on display elements. This results in a significant reduction in battery consumption. Similarly, many smartwatches also employ this feature to improve battery life by automatically dimming the always-on screen when not in use.
Disabling the always-on display feature can be a practical solution to extend your phone’s battery life, especially if you are experiencing low uptime in a single charge. While it does consume a significant amount of battery, the degree of drain can vary depending on several factors elaborated above.
Navigate to the “Always-on display” option and toggle it off. If you don’t see this option, it’s possible that your device doesn’t have an always-on display feature.
On the “Lock screen” page, toggle “Always show time and info” to turn the feature off. Some phones may simply refer to the option as “Always on display.”
How to Turn Off Always-On Display on iPhone
iPhone owners will also find the always-on display feature in the Settings app. To start, launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
Then, tap on “Display & Brightness.”
Once you are on the “Display & Brightness” page, scroll down and locate the “Always On” option. You can toggle it to turn off the feature.
Remember, as of June 2023, the always-on display feature is only available on the Apple iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
