14 Ways to Fix Battery Drain Issue on Galaxy Note 20/Note 20 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra have large battery capacities — 4,300 mAh and 4,500 mAh, respectively. However, these devices have been hounded by battery drain issues over time, as some users have reported.

Sometimes, Galaxy Note 20 has poor battery performance, and its battery drains fast. It’s no wonder, given their premium features, such as the 108MP triple rear camera, 5G support, and 120Hz refresh AMOLED display. 

But there are ways to help you maximize each charge of your Galaxy Note 20 or Note 20 Ultra! In this guide, we’re giving you 14 tried-and-tested solutions on how to fix Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra battery drain issues.

Why does my new Note 20/Note 20 Ultra battery drain so fast?

• Your phablet has outdated system software which can result in your device not performing as efficiently as possible, leading to more power consumption.
• When you run multiple apps and processes at the same time, this will make your processor power-hungry.
• Using graphics-heavy games and apps will squeeze every bit of juice from the phablet to run as best as possible.
• When you use a battery that was damaged after a long service or misuse, it will not be able to provide enough power for your device to run like normal.
• There are background processes and network connections that remain active consuming power and receive notifications even when you’re not using the phone.

How to Fix the Battery Draining Issue on Galaxy Note 20/Note 20 Ultra

Galaxy Note 20/Ultra battery drain issues can be fixed by disabling or uninstalling apps in the background. Also, you extend your Samsung phablet battery’s life by rebooting your phone and using power-saving mode.

That’s just for starters. Here’s are more ways to help you fix the battery drain issue on your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 device: 

1. Reboot the device.

Number of Steps	2
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	10 seconds

The oldest written trick from the book when troubleshooting any device is to perform a reboot or soft reset. Sometimes, allowing your phone to shut down and refresh its system is all it takes to correct any minor issues.

Here’s how to reboot the Galaxy Note 20:

• Hold the volume down and side buttons simultaneously.

• Tap Restart.

• Let the device boot back up.

2. Reduce the screen’s brightness.

Number of Steps	3
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	7 seconds

Your phone’s display is akin to a light bulb. The brighter it is, the more power it consumes.

Since the display is always active when the phone is in use, whether there are apps running or not, keeping it at a reasonable brightness is vital in improving your phone’s uptime.

Here are the steps in adjusting the screen’s brightness:

• Open Settings.

• Click Display.

• Slide left or right on the brightness bar to adjust the brightness.

Note: From here, you can also disable Adaptive Brightness. This will prevent the display from automatically adjusting its brightness level based on the surroundings.

3. Turn off Always On Display.

Number of Steps	4
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	10 seconds

Always On Display or AOD is a handy feature that displays widgets and information such as time, date, notifications, and missed calls even when the screen is turned off. As good as that sounds, it’s advisable to simply turn this feature off to save power.

Turn off AOD by following these steps:

• Open Settings.

• Click Display.

• Scroll down/click Always On Display.

• Tap the switch to turn it off.

Note: In case you want to save power while keeping this feature on, you can customize AOD to only show for 10 seconds after tapping the screen or by setting a schedule.

4. Turn on dark/night mode.

Number of Steps	3
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	10 seconds

Dark mode or night mode lets your phone save on power by using darker display colors. This nifty feature also protects your eyes from your phone’s bright display during the night or when using it in a dark environment.

Here’s how you turn on dark mode:

• Open Settings.

• Click Display.

• Tick the circle under Dark.

Note: From here, you can schedule dark mode so you don’t have to set this feature on and off manually every time.

Here’s how to schedule dark mode:

• Click Dark mode settings.

• Click Turn on as scheduled.

• Select Sunset to sunrise to make it turn on during evenings.

Pro tip: Select “Custom schedule” or “Set Schedule” to set a your desired schedule instead. You can set the start time and end time using this option.

5. Turn off the 120 Hz display refresh rate.

Number of Steps	4
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	10 seconds

If you own the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, you probably chose it over the standard Galaxy Note 20 because of the ability to have a 120 Hz display refresh rate. 

While the higher refresh rate makes for a smoother display, it does consume more battery. Turning this feature off seems to be an effective way to fix the Galaxy Note 20/Ultra battery drain issue and extend battery life.

Follow the steps for adjusting the display’s refresh rate below:

• Open Settings.

• Click Display.

• Click Motion smoothness.

• Click Standard refresh rate (60 Hz). 

• Click Apply.

6. Turn off unused features.

Number of Steps	4 or more
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	10 seconds

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a goldmine of flagship specs and nifty features. In fact, regular users barely even scratch the surface when using this device.

If you’re one of those people who don’t actually use most of the available features, turning them off as soon as you can is better for extending your device’s battery.

Here are the steps to turn off unused features:

• Open Settings.

• Scroll down/click Advanced features.

• Select/click the feature you want to disable.

• Repeat until you disable all your chosen features.

7. Turn off unused network services.

Number of Steps	3
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	7 seconds

Network services like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS continue to operate in the background even when the phone isn’t used. Social media apps, for instance, receive notifications and alerts as long as you have mobile data or a Wi-Fi connection.

Here’s how to turn off network connections:

• Open Settings.

• Click Connections.

• Select/click the network service you want to turn off.

Pro tip: You can turn on airplane/flight mode instead to temporarily disable all network services.

With the 5G variants of the Note 20 series, you have more reason to avoid leaving your mobile data connection on while not in use. In fact, Samsung support acknowledges how using 5G drains more power compared to using solely 3G or LTE.

8. Reduce the screen resolution.

Number of Steps	4
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	10 seconds

Another feature that sets the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra apart from the standard Galaxy Note 20 is the ability to choose between 3 screen resolutions. 

Using the higher resolutions (FHD+ and WQHD+) will improve the display visuals in exchange for increased battery usage. Meanwhile, opting for the lowest screen resolution (HD+) saves you more power.

Here’s how to change the screen resolution on Galaxy Note 20 Ultra:

• Open Settings.

• Click Display.

• Scroll down/click Screen resolution.

• Select HD+.

• Click Apply.

9. Disable app background data usage.

Number of Steps	6
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	15 seconds

Most apps need to connect to Wi-Fi or mobile data to function and run in the background. However, having a huge number of apps in the background that uses data will no doubt squeeze your phone’s battery as dry as a desert.

The steps for disabling app background data usage are as follows:

• Open Settings.

• Click Apps.

• Scroll down/select any app.

• Click Mobile Data.

• Toggle Allow background data usage off.

• Repeat until you disable all desired apps.

10. Try using power saving mode.

Number of Steps	4
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	10 seconds

As its name suggests, power saving mode cuts down on your battery usage by limiting and disabling certain features and functions on your phone. This also has the added benefit of keeping your battery healthy since it slows down its charge cycle.

As such, we think power saving mode is the most effective way to fix the Galaxy Note 20/Ultra battery draining issue on this list.

Follow these steps to activate power saving mode:

• Swipe down the home screen to open quick settings.

• Toggle Power mode on.

• Press/hold Power mode.

• Choose between Medium power saving and Maximum power saving.

Note: Maximum power saving will save more power while putting more restrictions on your phone. Also, both modes can be customized to your liking.

11. Check for power-hungry apps. 

Number of Steps	5
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	15 seconds

Keeping tabs on which apps are causing your device’s power to drain quicker is important in monitoring your battery usage. Knowing which apps should be used more controllably helps keep your phone active much longer.

Here are the steps to check app battery usage:

• Open Settings.

• Click Apps.

• Select any app.

Note: You’ll see the app’s battery usage written under the Battery option. If you want to limit the chosen app’s battery usage, follow the next steps.

• Click Battery.

• Toggle Allow background activity off.

12. Uninstall or put to sleep unused apps.

Believe it or not, even apps that you don’t remember ever using before contribute to your phone’s battery use by simply running in the background. As such, it’s advisable to uninstall these unused apps or put them to sleep in case you want to keep them.

A. Uninstalling Unused Apps:

Number of Steps	2
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	5 seconds

• Press/hold and hold the app’s icon.

• Click Uninstall.

B. Putting Unused Apps to Sleep:

Number of Steps	6
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	15 seconds

• Open Settings.

• Click Device Care.

• Click Battery.

• Click App power management.

• Click Sleeping apps.

• Add the apps you want to sleep with.

13. Try battery recalibration.

Number of Steps	5
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	15 Hours

Did your phone shut down even when the battery bar in the display showed that you had some power left? If yes, there are two possible reasons for this.

First, your battery is faulty and it most likely needs to be replaced. Second, your phone was reading the battery’s remaining power wrong and needs to be recalibrated.

Here’s how to recalibrate your phone’s battery:

• Fully charge your phone.

• Leave it plugged in for at least two more hours.

• Use your phone until it shuts down.

• Leave it for at least two hours.

• Fully charge your phone.

This should help your phone’s software to read the battery capacity correctly. If this didn’t work, you can try doing it again.

Note: If it still didn’t work after the second attempt, the battery is most likely faulty or  broken. Visit your nearest Samsung Service Center to have it replaced.

14.  Update the software.

Number of Steps	8
Difficulty Level	Easy
Completion Time	30 minutes

Samsung usually releases software updates to fix bugs in previous versions of the system software. Other times, updates simply improve your phone performance.

Without the latest update, your phone might perform inefficiently and consume more juice than normal.

Here’s how to perform a software update:

• Open Settings.

• Scroll down/click Software update.

• Click Download and install.

• Wait for it to check for updates.

• Download the update (if available).

• Click Install now once the download is complete.

• Allow the installation to complete.

• Wait until your phone boots back up.

Wrapping Up

With the solutions listed above, you should have stumbled upon the most effective ways to fix the Galaxy Note 20/Ultra battery drain issue. Plus, the data provided should help extend your battery life as soon as you finish reading this post. 

How to Fix Galaxy Note 20/Note 20 Ultra Battery Drain Issue FAQs