Our summer battery and display test: the beach effect

14 July 2024
We torture-tested a selection of phones to see how bright sunlight affects their battery life.

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Anonymous, 16 Jul 2024OK here's my proof. Ever since starting into this dam... moreIdk I kinda like my Dynamic AMOLED, I like more poppy colors and what I'm pretty sure you're experiencing is a bright display, which most Samsung's AMOLEDs get fairly bright, I just keep my display dim, is your "proof" because it's too bright for you? Good for you, you can either crap out on a worse display or dim the display, I have my S21 Ultra on about 10% brightness, and is perfectly fine, I also keep adaptive brightness off, which... i think you get with any phone, either way what you are experiencing is not a widespread "problem", if you dont like Samsung's displays then don't buy Samsung phones, or phones with Samsung displays.

    Anonymous, 16 Jul 2024OK here's my proof. Ever since starting into this dam... moreBlud doesn't understand the meaning of the word "proof". 💀

      How about go to the beach and enjoy it , stop taking pictures every 10 seconds and not mess it up for the rest of the people around you

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • Sr6
        • 16 Jul 2024

        Anonymous, 16 Jul 2024Seethe harder. How about you substantiate those claims? Out... moreOK here's my proof.
        Ever since starting into this damn crap-o-led Samsung screen on a daily basis my eyesight ain't what it used to be.
        Now I only buy phones with IPS LCD because they're so much better for my eyes. No more pwm dimming and other crap.
        There's your proof. Are you happy now?

          • y
          • yalim
          • mu4
          • 16 Jul 2024

          sitting on the beach while scrolling people's holiday posts is no fun. stay disconnected and just enjoy life :)

            its a smurf, 15 Jul 2024The sun can be a contributor to slightly reduced battery li... moreCame to say this same thing.
            Heat is bad and will reduce the phone's battery life, features, and performance. But the poor reception will have the biggest effect. Which is why it sucks having an iPhone, Pixel, or the latest Galaxy phone with Exynos radio chipset, you are paying a lot more money for a notably inferior product. The Qualcomm radio chipset are just that more powerful and efficient.

            With that said, LCD displays are more efficient than AMOLED displays when it comes to these extreme tests. The front filter does a lot better job at getting the pixels to shine into your eyeballs. Modern AMOLED can have much more granular control, and go up much higher brightness, but the display itself can overheat and will have to get a lot dimmer. Dark Mode would make things worse, so you'd have to put it on Day/Normal Mode, and HDR is pointless in such high-glare extremes.

            Putting phones on sand, glass, or metal objects are a bad idea. Put them on towels or even that wooden log to keep them cooler. Ideally in the shade, and out of the harsh sun. Cooling them off can be done with putting them inside a cold drinks bag, or stealing the cold from a cold can. Do not wash them in the extremely salty ocean water. Freshwater is better, but I would not recommend because if the phone is that hot, the ingress protection would not be functioning at its best as the silicone seals and glue will be slightly deformed. If the phone is in a sealed case, yes, it might be a good idea as long as you don't drop it and lose it. With that all said, the fine sand particles could be a nuisance to your phones speakers, mics, cases, ports, and screen scratching.

            Taking a phone to the beach is not a bad idea. You may need the communication or payments. Especially in a foreign locale. But it is not ideal to use for extreme things. I would reduce video recording to short format, with lower settings. Or take snaps instead. And keep the phone cool, safe, sound, and away from theives. That last part would be my biggest concern, not so much the features, performance, battery life, and health of this gadget. Have a designated person (not child) who looks after your belongings, or keep them safe, or don't bring them at all.

            You're at the beach, enjoy it : )

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • B0@
              • 16 Jul 2024

              Anonymous, 15 Jul 2024'Galaxy S24 Ultra is, in a way, the pinnacle of smartp... moreSeethe harder. How about you substantiate those claims? Out you're just too poor to afford good screens?

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                • ll
                • S37
                • 15 Jul 2024

                is it allowed to have phones on beaches? only beers

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • Sr6
                  • 15 Jul 2024

                  'Galaxy S24 Ultra is, in a way, the pinnacle of smartphone display technology'

                  Crapp-o-led display technology is bad for your eyes.

                  How about testing the blindness factor of these dumbphones?

                    IpsDisplay, 15 Jul 2024Valid points but even so simulation is better than trust us brothey gave you the numbers and have some shots of the web pages themselves. They did well enough considering it's GSMArena and not a videophile. They gave you objective data and something subjective to help you if you want. They could've shown clearer shots but I think it's fine.

                      jiyen235, 14 Jul 2024it;s impossible to capture because it is. It's tough t... moreValid points but even so simulation is better than trust us bro

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                        • alfamus
                        • pi1
                        • 15 Jul 2024

                        really? you did the test with screen protectors installed? Makes this great idea absolute

                          The sun can be a contributor to slightly reduced battery life but thatt's usually not the deciding factor.
                          Beach=remote and also congesteted areas=low reception.
                          Low reception means the phone will use far more transmission power to try to achieve an adequate connection====phone uses far more battery.
                          You didnt simulate a day in the sea if you dont take this into account..

                            Fa14bi, 15 Jul 2024I would argue that Insta, tik tok and Facebook is web browsing.It is but when you're saying web browsing you usually associate with going on a website and reading articles. People do it for a short amount of time in a day, at best 2-3 hours.

                            But scrolling on insta and other stuff is different, there's videos and photo and stuff so yeah I don't think counting them as the same is the best thing. Video playback requires more battery and performance than simple text.

                              • M
                              • Minu
                              • ter
                              • 15 Jul 2024

                              IpsDisplay, 14 Jul 2024"You'll have to trust us on this, because it'... moreThat's why I trust notebookcheck over this website. Having an in-depth review is better than none imho.

                                • M
                                • Minu
                                • ter
                                • 15 Jul 2024

                                Fa14bi, 15 Jul 2024I would argue that Insta, tik tok and Facebook is web browsing.As long as you're connected to the internet and using apps that require an internet connection, that's also considered "web browsing" too.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • nDx
                                  • 15 Jul 2024

                                  watch this video on youtube and you'll realize how bad samsung is compared to vivo which ironically is using a samsung display
                                  watch?v=tLa0bFIS9t8&t

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • vV5
                                    • 15 Jul 2024

                                    Anonymous, 14 Jul 2024What's up with that big of drop with s24 ultra? It get... moreScreen legibility or burnt-in screen. Take your pick.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • vV5
                                      • 15 Jul 2024

                                      Anonymous, 15 Jul 2024Such a shame result Here I am riding with google maps fo... moreTemperature and sunniness are not always directly correlated.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • Duh
                                        • 15 Jul 2024

                                        SAPTORSHI, 14 Jul 2024Could you guys do such a test between the samsung s24 ultra... moreUnfortunately iPhones more sensitive thermal management would have kicked in and would have gone into overheated warning

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