Your Samsung Galaxy's always-on display could be costing you 15% battery daily — turn it off now

MakeUseOf has documented a significant battery drain on Samsung Galaxy phones caused by four convenience features left on by default. In a July 30, 2026 report, the publication's testing on a Galaxy S22+ showed that Always On Display alone consumed 10% to 15% of the device's daily charge, while disabling all four idle functions together saved up to 20% by the end of a workday. The findings are a concrete benchmark for anyone who has ever wondered where their Galaxy's battery disappeared while the phone sat idle on a desk.

The features tested and what's really draining your phone

The four settings MakeUseOf identified — Always On Display, Digital Wellbeing usage-data access, Nearby Device Scanning, and Lift to wake — all serve a purpose during active use, but their background behavior quietly chips away at battery reserves. The headline figure is the Always On Display (AOD) impact: between 10% and 15% of a full charge lost over 24 hours on the Galaxy S22+ test unit. To put that in perspective, if your phone normally ends the day at 20%, turning off AOD could nearly double that remaining buffer to 35%.

Digital Wellbeing's continuous logging of app usage, unlocks, pickups, and notification counts adds an additional, though smaller, background load. MakeUseOf's author noted that after disabling its usage-data access — found at Settings > Digital Wellbeing and parental controls > ⋮ (menu) > Settings > Usage data access — the phone showed improved idle drain, though no exact percentage was provided. The trade-off is losing the detailed weekly reports and screen-time warnings; users who rely on these, such as parents managing family accounts, may want to keep it enabled.

Nearby Device Scanning, Samsung's mechanism for making Bluetooth pairing faster with Galaxy accessories, increments battery drain by keeping the radio actively listening for devices. Samsung's own description frames it as a convenience: "Scan for nearby devices, even while Bluetooth is turned off." For anyone who has already paired their Buds, Watch, or Tag, this continuous scan is often superfluous. To turn it off, go to Settings > Connections > More connection settings > Nearby device scanning and toggle it off.

Lift to wake, which uses the accelerometer and gyroscope to detect when you pick up the phone and then turns on the screen, also contributes to idle drain. While individual power cost is low, the constant sensor monitoring can cause several unwanted screen activations in a pocket or bag. Disabling it — Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures > Lift to wake — and relying on double-tap-to-wake is the recommended low-power alternative.

What this means for everyday users and professionals

For typical home users, these four features represent a classic convenience-versus-endurance trade-off. AOD shows glanceable information without touching the phone; Lift to wake makes that glance even faster; Digital Wellbeing gives insights into screen habits; Nearby Device Scanning simplifies connecting new toys. Yet taken together, their background load can be the difference between a phone that needs a mid-afternoon top-up and one that sails through the evening. MakeUseOf's real-world test showed 15% to 20% more battery at day's end, a margin substantial enough that the inconvenience of tapping the screen to see the time feels small.

Power users and professionals who rely on their Galaxy for work notifications, email, and Microsoft 365 apps — especially those who use Samsung's Link to Windows integration to mirror the phone on their PC — stand to gain even more. A phone that lasts longer on standby remains available for impromptu calls or two-factor authentication prompts without hunting for a charger. For IT administrators managing a fleet of company-owned Galaxy devices, disabling these four settings via policy (where supported) could extend deployment battery life and reduce help-desk calls about premature shutdowns.

How we got here: the evolution of always-on and sensor-driven features

Samsung introduced the Always On Display with the Galaxy S7 in 2016, and it has since become a staple of its premium smartphones. Initially, the feature was praised for making notifications and the time visible without waking the phone, but OLED power efficiency has always rested on a core principle: black pixels do not draw power. AOD, by definition, keeps a subset of pixels lit and requires the display subsystem to remain partially active, refreshing the screen periodically. Over time, Samsung added more interactive elements like music controls and notification icons, which incrementally raised the feature's power profile.

Digital Wellbeing arrived as part of Google's broader push for healthier device habits, packaging usage statistics and focus tools into One UI. While well-intentioned, its background tracking runs alongside the system's own Doze and App Standby optimizations, creating a subtle paradox: a feature designed to help you use your phone less subtly encourages the phone to work harder when you aren't looking. Nearby Device Scanning and Lift to wake followed a similar arc — originally pitched as differentiating conveniences, their latent battery cost became apparent only as users and reviewers started benchmarking total drain rather than individual component draw.

What to do now: a step-by-step guide to reclaiming battery

The most effective strategy isn't to blindly toggle everything off, but to use the settings as a controlled experiment. Here's exactly how to change each one, with recommended alternatives where they exist.

Test for yourself: Rather than disabling everything at once and guessing at the impact, pick the feature you care about least — for many users, that will be Nearby Device Scanning — and turn it off for three full charge cycles. Use the phone normally and note the battery level at the same time each day. Then add the next change. This isolation method makes it clear which changes actually matter on your specific usage pattern, because a Galaxy A series with a smaller battery might show a different percentage shift than the S22+ testbed.

A note for wearables users: If you frequently pair new Galaxy Buds or rely on SmartTag for finding keys, you might keep Nearby Device Scanning on but only enable it temporarily when expecting to set up a new accessory. Toggling it on manually takes seconds and doesn't require restarting Bluetooth.

Outlook: will Samsung optimize these features further?

Samsung has historically refined its idle power management with every major One UI release, tightening background limits and introducing adaptive battery profiles. The company has not commented on whether it plans to reduce Always On Display's power draw in future updates, but the trend toward larger battery capacities in flagship devices suggests the industry is aware that features like AOD, while popular, impose a measurable cost. For now, the ball is in the user's court. The four settings detailed by MakeUseOf are all easily accessible, and the battery gains are reliable enough to make a tangible difference — without waiting for an over-the-air fix.

For Windows users who increasingly depend on their Galaxy phone as a companion to their PC, the math is simple: a few taps in the Settings app can add meaningful runtime to a device that already shoulders work and personal life. The real question is which convenience you're willing to delegate to a deliberate double-tap.