This Samsung Galaxy S23 heavy gaming feature is all about battery health
A week has passed since Samsung announced theGalaxy S23 series, and all three models already look solid contenders for a spot on our selection of thebest Android phones. With asouped-up Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipunder the hood, these phones were already equipped to handle demanding Android games. And now we’re learning about some software enhancements that let Galaxy S23 phones get the very most out of that cutting-edge silicon — without cooking your battery in the process.
Samsung’s Game Booster utility includes an assuming little setting called “Pause USB Power Delivery,” spotted byNL Tech(viaSamMobile). The idea here is to totally bypass the phone’s battery when you’ve got it plugged in over USB. That’s a mode we’ve seen on performance-focused gaming phones in the past, like theAsus ROG Phone 5andROG Phone 6— those even had dedicated charging ports.
The feature has a three-fold benefit. First, your battery won’t degrade as rapidly as when it is subject to rapid charge-discharge cycles because of intensive use. Your smartphone processor will have additional thermal headroom to ensure sustained high performance without thermal throttling, because the battery isn’t heating up due to charging. And finally, the charging bypass option also helps you (mostly) maintain your state of charge because power is being drawn from the wall outlet instead. The S23 consumes 6W of power with the feature enabled, but demands 17W when also charging the battery.
For power users, this feature could make a big difference to the battery health and service life in the long term. So far it appears limited to the Galaxy S23 series, and it remains to be seen if Samsung is interested in and able to bring the mode to existing hardware.
Pixel 10 Pro XL charges faster wirelessly
Things get red hot for Magenta
I played the opening mission of The Outer Worlds 2 and really enjoyed what I experienced
Project Moohan? More like Project Moolah
Boost Mobile sees changes, too
Storage upgrades have never been so important
