Issues
[Thread] Samsung Galaxy S22 battery drain, heating and low power efficiency issues
In February 2022, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S22 series smartphones. These premium Galaxy devices feature Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (widely) or Exynos 2200 (Europe) chipsets. In the software department, the lineup is running One UI 5.1 (Android 13), up from pre-installed Android 12 (One UI 4.1).
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On February 1st, the company unveiled the Galaxy S23 series, which runs Android 13-based One UI 5.1 out of the box. Starting February 13, Samsung has begun to release the S23 lineup’s exclusive One UI 5.1 software with its older flagship devices including the S22 series.
Features apart, the Galaxy S22, S22 Plus and S22 Ultra users are facing different kinds of issues (via PiunikaWeb) with their smartphones such as battery drain, heating and low power efficiency. Users believe that the situation was better before December 2022 patch, which got worse with January 2023 patch.
Among consumers, there are discussions that the battery drain and heating issues are generated on models due to chipset maker differences as well as Samsung Foundry. The Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processors are manufactured by Samsung Foundry.
Due to inefficient processes, the system on the chip gets affected by battery consumption issues due to thermal management. Since consumers in some countries such as India are quite satisfied with their Galaxy S22 phone’s battery, the issue is mainly reported spotted on Exynos models.
During Exynos 2200’s internal testing, Samsung faced critical thermal throttling due to the chipset’s inefficiency and additionally powerful GPU, which forced it to reduce clock speed by 0.61Ghz. To bring the world’s most powerful GPU, Samsung partnered with AMD and used Xclipse GPU in the Exynos 2200.
Due to Exynos’ heating and Foundry’s production efficiency issues, Samsung turned to Qualcomm and decided to ditch its self-developed SoC from the Galaxy S lineup. This year, the Galaxy S23 series uses Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset manufactured by TSMC, worldwide.
We hope Samsung will soon fix battery draining and heating issues on the Galaxy S22 devices through a firmware update. Since hardware issues can’t be fixed with even hundreds of firmware updates, they could be reduced or optimized with code changes.
Are you also facing battery-related issues on your Galaxy S22? Join the thread Twitter thread!
Samsung Galaxy S22 Bugs/Issues Thread: Battery drain, heating, low power efficiency #Samsung #GalaxyS22 @SamsungMobile
Consumers having issues with their S22 can share their concerns/feedback in the comments. 👀— Sammy Fans (@thesammyfans) January 21, 2023
Updated on April 6
After a long debate, it looks like Samsung has finally improved the battery consumption of the Galaxy S22 series. Recently, the Galaxy S22 series started to grab the April 2023 security patch, which somewhat reduced abnormal battery consumption.
After this update, the battery performance seems to have improved considerably. It seems that the current consumption during use is similar, but the standby power has been greatly reduced. I charged it around 6:00 pm and used about 20% of the battery by 1:00 now. Source
Mar. 25
Commenting on our Twitter thread that tracks Galaxy S22 series battery concerns, a Verizon S22 Plus user reported having “performance issues, battery drain and overheating since the last update.”
Verizon support acknowledged the issues and promised to address and troubleshoot concerns. We will share the steps as soon as we get info about the discussion done via DM.
We would be happy to troubleshoot these issues with you if you could follow and send us a DM! *Zachary
— Verizon Support (@VerizonSupport) March 24, 2023
Mar. 22
Besides battery drain, Galaxy S22 users reportedly facing issues with the phone’s wireless charging function. As per a user, wireless charging makes no progress. (In fact, it runs down on the charging pad!) Source
Mar. 19
After the One UI 5.0, Galaxy S22 users received One UI 5.1 and the March 2023 security patch. Meanwhile, the excessive battery drain issue still persists on some units powered by the Exynos processor.
S22 Battery lasts barely 4 hours of combined usage, leaving me constantly tethered to a charger or mobile battery pack. I’ve tried various remedies I can find online but to no avail. Source
Mar. 15
Due to bad battery life, some Galaxy S22 Ultra users are wondering to upgrade to the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is setting new records in efficiency. Meanwhile, it’s bad to hear that the company has not yet completely fixed the battery draining issue on the S22 series.
Are my apps that power hungry ? To where I can’t even get 3 hours of SOT, without having to charge. ABSOLUTELY love the phone but considering upgrading to s23 ultra just because of the battery upgrade. Which I can’t even say it’s worth paying the extra 5-600 dollars for that.
by u/Pleasant-Union8829 in S22Ultra
Mar. 11
Samsung started rolling out March 2023 security update to the Galaxy S22 series. And we have noted different feedback from consumers, with some users having better battery efficiency, while some are still complaining about the drainage issue.
Mar. 4
Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) users continue to report (1, 2) battery drain issues on their smartphones. Hopefully, the March 2023 security update will bring improvements to battery efficiency as part of fixing the issue.
Feb. 23
After upgrading to the One UI 5.1 software, some Galaxy S22 smartphone users are still facing battery draining and low power efficiency issues. Not only the screen on time, but the battery is also getting more consumed while the screen is off, or not in use.
Feb. 14
Reports suggest that the One UI 5.1 update has not fixed Galaxy S22’s battery-draining problems.
Feb. 13
Samsung pushed the major One UI 5.1 update for several Galaxy devices including the S22 series. It’s now expanding to both Exynos and Snapdragon models, worldwide. Hopefully, the One UI 5.1 update will resolve the battery draining and low power efficiency problems.
Feb. 7
Concerns like abnormal battery drain and low power efficiency continue to emerge (1, 2, 3, 4) on the Galaxy S22 series devices. The company has recently pushed the February patch for select Galaxy models, and we hope, it could fix the battery and heating problems.
I have had the Galaxy S22 (Exynos) for almost a year now and my experience has not been completely satisfactory The battery gives me between 2-3 hours of SOT, and the device’s performance has been quite poor. There are frequent lags, the phone gets very hot, and if l’m playing a game (not a heavy game, for example Brawl Stars) while listening to music with the Galaxy Buds Pro, the music cuts out and the experience ends up being very bad. Does anyone else have this problem? Do you think that if a go to the technical service they can give me a solution?
Feb. 5
Two more Galaxy S22 smartphone users reported having battery drain and overheating issues. According to the first affected user, their S22 heats up in general usage (such as WhatsApp, Twitter), however, the device is already delivering bad battery efficiency.
Second user said that they have fully charged the smartphone and the battery drained by 13% without any usage in the meantime. The user speculates that the Always on Display feature is eating battery heavily, however, there seems a software issue.
Jan. 31
A Galaxy S22 smartphone user said on Reddit that Samsung’s authorized service center can just factory reset the device and recommends waiting for a few days since the battery health is good. It looks like processor issues and buggy software is causing the battery drain and overheating issues.
Jan. 30
Samsung released the 2nd January 2023 firmware update Galaxy S22 series in certain regions but the battery drain and overheating issues continue to emerge. Meanwhile, there are different kinds of workarounds, which has the latest entry of turning off “Adaptive Battery” feature.
- Open System Settings >> Battery >> Adaptive preferences >> Turn on “Adaptive Battery”
Jan. 28
A Reddit user @lazykryptonian said that the Galaxy S22’s overheating issue is caused because of the chipset’s design and Samsung foundry problems. Further, they added that “Some are much better than others but there’s no control over getting a decent one vs bad.”
Jan. 27
A Galaxy S22 Ultra user claimed that after restricting background activities of unused apps, the battery consumption is greatly reduced. As per the user, the battery consumption before restricting activities was 10% per hour, which is now 2% per hour. You can also try it as a temporary fix.
Jan. 25
Samsung provides you with tips that will show you how to get the best out of your battery in everyday usage and how to look after your battery. The tips are as follows:
- > Reduce display brightness level
- > Close, disable, or uninstall unused Apps
- > Turn off Always On Display (AOD) or set a schedule
- > Toggle off WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS when not in use
- > Turn on Power saving mode
- > Check your device Signal bars
Jan. 24
Some users reported having overheating issues during video calls, as well as on WhatsApp video calls. And amid battery drain controversy, a Galaxy S22 Ultra user said that his phone’s brightness was fading day by day, which could be because of abnormal battery drain.
Jan. 23
Issues like abnormal battery drain and overheating continue to emerge on the Galaxy S22 series devices, with Exynos models being most affected. Consumers complained that the January patch destroyed battery performance and generated heating issues, even in normal usage.
Samsung Galaxy S21 series comes with a unique design, stunning processor, and powerful camera setup onboard. Besides, some issues have also arisen over time, leading to consumers’ disappointment. In a recent development, a Samsung Galaxy S21 user reported a camera jittering/shaking problem.
Samsung Galaxy S21 camera shaking/jittering
According to a Samsung customer having Galaxy S21 (powered by Snapdragon 888), the camera shaking/jittering from left to right when they record videos. The situation becomes worse when they switch the camera zoom between 2x and 3x.
It’s worth mentioning that the camera problem only exists in all shooting modes except for the 8k (sample). As shown in the video, the consumer reported the shaking problem in UHD @ 60fps, UHD @ 30fps, FHD @ Auto frame rates and FHD @ 60fps.
Here’s what Samsung responded
Samsung Community moderator admitted the camera shaking problem exists in the Galaxy S21 phone, seeing the video samples shared by the consumer. The in-charge office said that there are many things that can cause this to happen, as well as shared troubleshooting steps.
Turn off Tracking auto-focus
- Open the Camera app and tap the Settings icon. Tap the switch next to Tracking auto-focus to turn it off.
- If the camera still isn’t focusing, you should try resetting the camera to its default settings. Tap the Settings gear, and then swipe to and tap Reset settings.
More solutions
- Perform a software update can resolve issues and problems with apps, including your camera.
- Try using Safe Mode to figure out if recently installed apps are causing an issue with your camera’s focus.
How to enter Safe Mode
Press and hold the Power key and Side key. On phones without a dedicated Power key, you can swipe down from the top of the screen to open Quick settings, and then tap the Power icon. Touch and hold the Power off icon, and then tap Safe mode when it appears.
Your phone will restart and “Safe mode” will be displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen. Check your camera’s focus and remove any recently installed apps if needed. In order to exit the Safe Mode, restart your Samsung Galaxy phone.
Samsung is continuously improving the camera capabilities of its latest flagship lineup. Now, tipster claimed that the next Samsung update will fix the HDR vignetting issue of the Galaxy S23 series.
According to @UniverseIce, Samsung developers are working on camera improvements for the Galaxy S23 smartphones, which also includes a fix for the HDR issue. As the May 2023 patch began to rollout, all eyes are on the next OTA, which could solve the vignetting problem.
After analyzing the error log shared by the user, in the reply, a Samsung executive explained that “the problem occurs due to a mix of negative EV input frames containing the same contour pattern, and applying LTM after HDR output will make the problem worse.”
Earlier, the same source shared an image so users can better understand what’s the HDR-related problem on the Galaxy S23 camera. When captured in certain scenarios, the photos taken by Galaxy S23/+/Ultra get affected by HDR problems, which can be seen at the edges of the subject.
In order to fix the issue, the South Korean tech giant is reportedly working on optimization of the exposure value (EV) frame and local tone-mapping (LTM). As the May patch is available in select markets, we may see the camera SW in South Korea and China.
April 2023 Update Changelog
New Feature/Function
- A function has been added to the gallery so that you can immediately delete photos that are being processed immediately after taking them with the camera.
Changes
- For faster photo taking, the AF concept has been changed so that when the user presses the shooting button, the user can take a photo even when the focus is not completely set. However, if you want to shoot after completing Focus as before, please change the settings in the latest Camera Assistant.
- Camera Assistant > Prioritize focus over speed (focus priority) On
Bug/Issue Fixes
- Fixed an issue where a green line was displayed on the left side intermittently when shooting in the rear photo mode.
- Fixed a malfunction when shooting after Night Off in low light after selecting Shooting Speed > High Resolution > Speed Priority in Camera Assistant.
- Camera Assistant > Shooting Speed > High Resolution > Speed Priority, then Camera > Night Off or Scene Optimizer Off
- Fixed an issue where face recognition could not be recognized intermittently after ending a 3rd party video call.
Improvements
- Improved sharpness/flicker and added notice when shooting Ultrawide in low light indoors after setting Camera Video Mode > Super Steady On.
- “To take a good Super Steady photo, I need more light.”
- Improved image stabilization when shooting with FHD60 after setting Auto FPS Off in rear video.
- Improved line-shaped banding noise in the sky in mid-low light when shooting high-pixel in low-mid light.
- Improved stability for camera movements introduced through other routes.
Optimization
- Optimized overall sharpness for high-pixel shooting and improved intermittent blurring through OIS stabilization.
Samsung shared Galaxy S23’s One UI 5.1 firmware with several Galaxy devices upgraded to the Android 13 OS. Unsurprisingly, the One UI 5.1 comes with a number of new features, however, the Samsung Keyboard app has become the culprit behind Galaxy battery draining.
According to Samsung community moderator in Thailand, the Samsung Keyboard app has increased the battery usage on Galaxy devices upgraded to One UI 5.1, which occurring abnormal battery draining problems. And notably, the company has already solved the problem and given way to fix yours too.
The mod. revealed that the Samsung Keyboard app’s latest version includes under-the-hood improvements in order to reduce battery usage. It’s worth mentioning that the newly added stickers and emojis functions have increased the battery consumption of the application.
The company has not removed suspected features causing battery drain but provided a fix. This would make things better so Galaxy users can have a long-lasting battery life as they were having before. Now, you just need to update your phone’s Samsung Keyboard app to version 5.6.10.31 or later via Galaxy Store.
You can also get the APK file to sideload on your phone but it’s not recommended. As the application is already causing battery problems, you should prevent any kind of additional/unofficial activity. FYI, the mod said that all Galaxy models running One UI 5.1 are affected by battery drain due to the Keyboard app.
If you have updated your Samsung phone’s native Keyboard app to the latest or above-mentioned version and the battery-draining problem remains persistent, you should try clearing the app’s cache and data. Also, we suggest you share feedback with Samsung using the Members app.