The Galaxy S5 comes with not one, but two different, power saving modes — Ultra Power Saving mode and a normal Power saving mode. These modes are very distinct from each other and meant for specific purposes. Below, we list down the difference between the two and the purpose they serve.
Power saving mode
The normal power saving mode on the Galaxy S5 is nothing new and is also available on the Galaxy Note 3, S4 and the S3. Under this mode, the phone reduces the display brightness, clamps down the CPU clock speed, disables background syncing and haptic feedback to save battery life. It is a great way to bring about a slight increase in the battery life of your device without sacrificing functionality.
Users can also customize this mode to a certain extent and activate it anytime they want on the Galaxy S5. That can be done by going to Settings -> Power Saving (located under System) and enabling the Power saving mode.
Ultra power saving mode
The Ultra power saving mode is a new feature on the Galaxy S5 and provides a great way to extract the maximum juice from the phone’s battery. This is a much more aggressive way to save battery and converts the S5 into a basic dumb phone. Under this mode, the S5’s AMOLED display will turn into a grayscale hue with the home screen switching to a basic theme and providing access to only a limited number of apps. The list includes Calculator, Memo, Browser, Google+, Messaging and the Voice Recorder.
Thankfully, this is somewhat customizable and even supports popular third party apps like Facebook and Whatsapp. All the other apps running in the background will also be terminated. The quad-core CPU will also turn off two of its cores and downclock the other two to 1.5GHz in a bid to limit power consumption.
Other aggressive measures include turning mobile data on only when the display is turned on. All the other radios like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi will also be turned off to save battery power. Samsung advertises that under this mode, the Galaxy S5 can last for more than 24 hours on less than a 10% charge.
Considering how limited this mode makes the S5, it is recommended that you use it only when your battery goes down below 15% and you are still a few hours away from getting access to a charger. Ultra power saving mode can be activated from Settings -> Power Saving or by using the U. Power saving quick tile shortcut.
