Tag Archives: Battery

Did Israel sabotage B&H batteries to explode Hezbollah pagers?!

Did Israel sabotage B&H Photo batteries so that pagers used by Hezbollah in Lebanon would explode?! Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Israel sabotaged B&H batteries to explode Hezbollah pagers!

Right after news broke that pagers allegedly used by members of Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon, killing and injuring scores of people, there were claims that Israel intercepted a shipment of pager batteries from B&H Photo and inserted Kiska 3 explosives as part of Operation “Below the Belt“.

The Hawk Eye / GoaChronicle : GoaChronicle through its intelligence network has learned that Israeli intelligence successfully intercepted a shipment of pager batteries that had been ordered from B&H Photo. The order was placed from Lebanon. Acting on a confirmed tip, the intelligence agency seized the shipment and covertly modified the batteries. Small, undetectable explosives known as Kiska 3 were inserted into the battery casings and connected to the battery wires via a discreet chip. The pager model was Rugged Pager AR924 IP67. The operation code word was ‘Below the Belt’.

The modified batteries were programmed to heat up and detonate when triggered by the chip. This chip was remotely activated by sending a common message to all targeted pagers simultaneously, causing the explosions. This operation demonstrates a precise and strategic use of technology, further highlighting Israel’s sophisticated capabilities in cyber and intelligence warfare.

Defense News of INDIA : MOSSAD successfully intercepted a shipment of pager that had been ordered from B&H Photo. The order was placed from Lebanon. Acting on a confirmed tip, the intelligence agency seized the shipment and covertly modified the batteries. Small, undetectable explosives known as KISKA-3 were inserted into the battery casings and connected to the battery wires via a discreet chip. The pager model was Apollo Gold Rugged Pager AR924 IP67. The operation code word was ‘Below the Belt’.

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Truth : Israel did not sabotage B&H batteries to explode Hezbollah pagers!

This appears to be yet another example of fake news circulating around the Hezbollah pager attack, and here are the reasons why…

B&H Photo claim was satire

It appears that stories about Hezbollah purchases pager batteries from B&H Photo appear to be based on satire posted by Dovi Safier on 17 September 2024.

Safier deleted his satirical post after it was picked up and posted as legitimate, but thanks to a cached X post on Google, we have a fragment of his post:

When @bhphoto received a large order from Lebanon, they tipped off the Mossad’s Eli Kopter, who planted the undetectable Kishka 3 explosive …

Frankly, even that short post fragment has two obvious jokes that screamed satire. It is truly hilarious that any serious media outlet / analyst would fall for such jokes.

Eli Kopter = Helicopter

Eli Kopter / Eli Copter (Eli Cobter in Arabic) is a play on the Hebrew word for helicopter. It went viral as an Israeli joke about Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash in May 2024.

Even French-Israeli TV presenter Daniel Haik fell for it, quoting a Telegram channel in saying that, “The pilot pilot was a Mossad agent with the name ‘Eli Copter’, it’s not currently clear whether this is true or not, but that’s the rumour going around.”

Kishka is a type of sausage

There is no undetectable explosive known as Kishka-3 or Kishka 3. It appears to be a joke based on kishka – a traditional Jewish Ashkenazi food.

Kishka or kishke is a type of sausage filled with meat and grain or potato. In Jewish cuisine, it’s also known as stuffed derma, and traditionally made from flour or matzo meal, schmaltz and spices.

Below the Belt is an unlikely name for a Mossad operation

While not mentioned in the fragment, it appears that Dovi Safier joked that the name for the Mossad operation was called “Below the Belt“.

Recommended : Did Kamala Harris paralyse girl in 2011 hit-and-run accident?!

Dovi Safier called his post a “parody”

Dovi Safier also explained that his post was a “parody“, and “not meant seriously“. He also stated that he was shocked that any news outlet would run it as fact.

Earlier I deleted a satirical post mentioning B&H photo. This was parody and not meant seriously. I’m shocked that any news outlet would run it as fact, but apparently in 2024, the idea of fact-checking is dead. Thank You.

B&H Photo denies selling Hezbollah pager batteries

There is also no evidence that Hezbollah ordered those pagers, or their batteries, from B&H Photo. In fact, GoaChronicle updated its article clarifying that B&H Photo denied supplying the batteries for those pagers:

In a phone call to GoaChronicle and an email by B&H Photo post the release of the article. A representative of the PR firm of the company has informed us that they have not supplied the batteries for the pager.

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B&H Photo does not sell pager batteries

Even though B&H Photo has stated that it did not sell the pager batteries to Hezbollah, it is likely that some people will still believe that they are lying, or in on the conspiracy too.

Anyone who bothers to check B&H Photo will quickly realise that it does not sell any pager battery. In fact, B&H Photo only sells lithium-ion battery for cameras, camcorders, notebooks and laptops.

The only rechargeable batteries available on its website are standard Ni-MH batteries in the AAA, AA, C, and D sizes. It also sells non-rechargeable alkaline and lithium batteries in the AAA size. However, none of them are used in the pagers used by Hezbollah.

B&H Photo does not sell pagers either

In addition, claims that Hezbollah ordered those pagers from B&H Photo also appears to be false – B&H Photo does not sell any pager at all! So it will be quite impossible for Hezbollah to order any pager from B&H Photo.

Hezbollah pagers were mostly Gold Apollo AR924

According to The New York Times, Israel intercepted and tampered with a new batch of Apollo Gold pages that were being shipped to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Most of the pagers were the Rugged Pager AR924 model (archive), but three other Gold Apollo models were also part of the same shipment.

Gold Apollo founder and chairperson Hsu Ching-kuang explained to reporters on Wednesday, 18 September 2024, that the Gold Apollo AR924 model was actually manufactured under licence by its European distributor – B.A.C. Consulting, which is based in Budapest, Hungary.

Explosives were planted next to the battery

The Rugged Pager AR924 lasts for up to 85 days using a replaceable lithium-ion battery. However, video footage of the explosions suggest that an explosive was used, and it was not just the battery.

According to The New York Times, the explosive material was not hidden in the pager battery. Rather, the explosive was implanted next to the battery in each pager, together with a switch that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosive.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for the main, foldable display:

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 60 Hz screen refresh rate

By default, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

Interestingly, we found out that the display’s refresh rate actually changes in both modes. The only difference is the Adaptive mode switches between 24 Hz and 120 Hz, while the Standard mode switches between 24 Hz and 60 Hz.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 (SD8 Gen 3) Performance Review!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 comes with a larger 4,000 mAh battery, which is 300 mAh (8%) larger than last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 5.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

Even though the Galaxy Z Flip 6 only comes with 8% higher battery capacity, it actually delivered a significantly longer battery life of just over 11.75 hours using its default Adaptive refresh mode. That’s 2.5 hours of extra battery life over the Galaxy Z Flip 5!

When we switched to the Standard refresh mode, it delivered almost 14 hours of battery life. That’s almost 3 hours longer than the Galaxy Z Flip 5!

Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip 5, Z Flip 4, and S24 Ultra smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just almost 14 hours.

You can see just how more power-efficient the Z Flip 6 is compared to its predecessor – it uses 14.3% less power than the Z Flip 5. Coupled with an 8% larger battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers 26% longer battery life at the Standard refresh rate!

Work 3.0	S24 Ultra	Z Flip 6	Z Flip 5	Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	4,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	16 hrs 25 mins	13 hrs 57 mins	11 hrs 4 mins	10 hrs 14 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.06 mAh	3.82 mAh	4.46 mAh	4.82 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 continues to deliver much better battery life, even with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled – lasting just over 12.75 hours!

The Galaxy Z Flip 6’s power consumption per minute dropped by 16%, compared to Z Flip 5. When combined with the 8% larger battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers 29% longer battery life at the Adaptive refresh rate!

Work 3.0	S24 Ultra	Z Flip 6	Z Flip 4	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	4,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	13 hrs 49 mins	11 hrs 48 mins	9 hrs 12 mins	9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.83 mAh	4.52 mAh	5.36 mAh	5.39 mAh

Whether you wish to enable Adaptive refresh rate for smoother graphics is really up to you. On one hand, you get almost 12 hours of battery life with Adaptive refresh rate. On the other hand, switching to the Standard mode buys you two full hours of extra battery life.

Personally, I rather go with Standard mode for a longer battery life. I may not need the extra 2 hours, but using less power means less wear and tear on the battery over time.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt and 25 watt Samsung fast chargers that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Charging Speed	S24 Ultra	S24 Ultra	Z Flip 6	Z Flip 5	Z Flip 6	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	4,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	4,000 mAh	3,700 mAh
Charger Output	25 watts	15 watts	25 watts	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Charging Time	68 min	106.5 min	101.5 min	105 min	119.5 min	129.5 min
Charging Speed (per minute)	58.8 mAh	37.6 mAh	31.5 mAh	28.2 mAh	26.8 mAh	22.9 mAh

One “problem” with the Samsung Galaxy Z-series smartphones is that they charge pretty slowly, probably to avoid producing excessive heat, and to keep its thin batteries healthy.

The good news is – the Galaxy Z Flip 6 charges faster than last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 5. But you will still need to put up with relatively slow recharging speeds – the Galaxy Z Flip 6 charges slower with a 25W charger, than the Galaxy S24 Ultra with a 15W charger!

With the standard 15 watt fast charger, you will need 2 hours to fully recharge the Galaxy Z Flip 6. Upgrading to a 25 watt ultra fast charger only speeds this up by 18 minutes (15%). So if you don’t already have a 25 watt charger, there’s no real need to buy one.

Ultimately, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 7:1, which is 65% better than the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – mostly thanks to its much longer battery life. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 8.5 minutes you recharge.

You don’t really need the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger, but if you feel it’s worth buying it for a slightly faster recharging time, here are some online purchase options:

Buy in US : Charger only | Charger + cable
Buy in UK : Charger + cable | Charger + cable
Buy in SG : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only
Buy in MY : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 Hands-on Preview In All 4 Colours!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be available in four main colour options, as well as the three exclusive online colours. Pre-order begins immediately, with general available from 24 July 2024 onwards, at these price points :

12 GB + 256 GB : US$1099.99 / £1,049 / A$1,799 / RM4,999
12 GB + 512 GB : US$1,219.99 / £1,149 / A$1,999 / RM5,599

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 :

United States : Amazon
United Kingdom : Amazon
Singapore : Shopee
Malaysia : Shopee

Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 went up a fair bit (~US$100 / RM500-600) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy A55 Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the new Samsung Galaxy A55, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

Samsung Galaxy A55 : Two Fixed Refresh Rate Options

The new Samsung Galaxy A55 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz.
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate.

Although the description seems to suggest that the display switches dynamically between 60 Hz to 120 Hz, that’s not accurate. By turning on the frame rate counter, we can see that the Galaxy A55 switches between two fixed refresh rates – 60 Hz or 120 Hz in the Dynamic mode, and uses just 60 Hz in the Standard mode.

The true Adaptive refresh rate offered in the Galaxy S24 Ultra is variable, changing from 1 Hz to 120 Hz according to the situation. This not only reduces power consumption, it also prevents “screen tearing” – a visual artifact that occurs when the game frame rate does not match the display’s refresh rate.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy A55’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Battery Life + Charging!

Samsung Galaxy A55 : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy A55 comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s Galaxy A54, as well as higher-end devices like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy S22 Ultra.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Not bad at all! The Samsung Galaxy A55 has a battery life of 11.5 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and just over 13 hours with the Standard refresh rate. That’s about an hour shorter than the Galaxy A54.

But let’s also compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Galaxy A73, Galaxy A54, and S24 Ultra smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy A55 lasted just over 13 hours with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz – a 5.5% shorter battery life than the Galaxy A54.

Work 3.0 (60 Hz)	S24 Ultra	Galaxy A73	Galaxy A54	Galaxy A55
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Battery Life	16 hrs 25 mins	13 hrs 4 mins	13 hrs 57 mins	13 hrs 13 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.06 mAh	5.10 mAh	4.78 mAh	5.04 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy A55 lasted just over 11.5 hours when the refresh rate was set to 120 Hz – a drop of just over 1.5 hours (14.6%). That was also just 4% shorter than last year’s Galaxy A54.

Based on what we see here, I definitely recommend turning on the Adaptive Refresh Rate on the Galaxy A55, unless you absolutely need the extra 1.5 hours of battery life.

Work 3.0 (120 Hz)	S24 Ultra	Galaxy A54	Galaxy A55	Galaxy A73
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Battery Life	13 hrs 49 mins	12 hrs 25 mins	11 hrs 32 mins	10 hrs 42 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.83 mAh	5.52 mAh	5.78 mAh	6.23 mAh

Samsung Galaxy A55 : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy A55 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing, and added the 25 watt Samsung ultra-fast charger.

Recharging Speed	S24 Ultra	Galaxy A73	Galaxy A55	S24 Ultra	Galaxy A54	Galaxy A55
Battery Capacity	3,300 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Charger Output	25 watts	15 watts	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	68 min	85 min	88.5 min	106.5 min	120.7 min	138 min
Charging Speed (per minute)	58.8 mAh	47.0 mAh	45.2 mAh	37.6 mAh	33.1 mAh	29.0 mAh

The Samsung Galaxy A55 fully recharges from 20% to 100% in 2 hours and 18 minutes with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger. Oddly enough, this is significantly (14.33%) slower than the Galaxy A54.

That’s a pretty poor battery life : recharging ratio of just 5:1 – 28.5% less than the Galaxy A54. As a rule of thumb, you need to charge it for 12 minutes for each hour of battery life.

But if you upgrade to the 25 watt Samsung super-fast charger, you can cut it down to under 1.5 hours – an improvement of 56%. That also improves its battery life : recharging ratio to a much better 7.8:1.

Samsung Galaxy A55 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A55 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and either 128 GB or 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:

8 GB + 128 GB : £439 / A$699 / S$618
8 GB + 256 GB : RM1,999 / £489 / S$698

Surprisingly, Samsung decided not to bring the Galaxy A55 to the United States, and suggested that customers consider the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 FE instead. However, it is possible to purchase Latin American unlocked devices in the US (see below).

There are four colour options, which are not available in all countries – Awesome Iceblue, Awesome Lilac, Awesome Lemon, and Awesome Navy.

Here are online purchase options (we may get commission from your purchase) :

MY : 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours
SG : 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours
US : Awesome Iceblue | Awesome Lilac
UK : Iceblue | Lemon | Lilac | Navy
AU : Awesome Lilac | Awesome Navy

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Charging Speed @ 15W, 25W, 45W!

Take a look at the battery charging speed of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and find out how fast you can recharge with the official 15W, 25W and 45W chargers!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Supports Up To 45W Charging!

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box. You can either use the standard 15 watt fast charger from your previous Samsung smartphone, or purchase a 25 watt or 45 watt super fast charger.

Best To Use Samsung Fast Charger

You can use non-Samsung fast chargers, but while they may charge your Galaxy S24 Ultra, they will likely not charge at full speed.

For example, I tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra using 65W and 96W PD fast chargers, but they failed to charge faster than 25 watts. It would only charge beyond 25 watts with an official Samsung 45W fast charger… 🙁

How To Tell If You’re Charging At Full Speed

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn’t make clear how fast you are charging, so how do you know if you are charging fast enough?

When you plug in the charger, the charging protocol will flash for a few seconds on the display of your Galaxy S24 Ultra:

Fast charging : you’re charging at up to 15 watts
Super fast charging : you’re charging at up to 25 watts
Super fast charging 2.0 : you’re charging at up to 45 watts

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : All Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!

How To Activate Fast Charging

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has fast charging enabled by default. But if you are using a Samsung fast charger, and it somehow isn’t charging at full speed, here is how you can verify if fast charging is enabled.

Go to Settings > Battery > Charging settings
Make sure Fast charging is enabled.
If not, tap on Fast charging to enable it.

Please note that this setting cannot be changed while the Galaxy S24 Ultra is charging. You will need to pull out the cable before making any changes.

You Must Use Correct Cable

Samsung fast charging protocols also require you to comply with minimum cable requirements:

25W super fast charging : 3A cable minimum
45W super fast charging 2.0 : 5A cable minimum

The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with the Samsung EP-DN980, which is USB-C to USB-C cable that supports up to 5A of current. So this cable will readily support 45W charging.

In the next section, we will look at how fast the Galaxy S24 Ultra charges with the official 15W, 25W and 45W chargers!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : All 4 Colours Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (SD8 Gen 3) Performance Review!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Charging Speed @ 15W, 25W, 45W!

We tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra using the official 15W, 25W and 45W Samsung fast chargers, and the results are really surprising!

Galaxy S24 Ultra	Charging Time	Charging Speed
15 Watts	106.5 minutes	37.6 mAh per min.
25 Watts	68 minutes	58.8 mAh per min.
45 Watts	66 minutes	60.6 mAh per min.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra charges really fast with a 15 watt charger, and even faster with a 25 watt charger. It basically needs just over 1.75 hours to fully recharge with a 15 watt charger, and just over one hour with a 25 watt charger.

Unfortunately, upgrading to the 45 watt charger doesn’t improve its charging speed much. It only shaved 2 minutes off the charging time with a 25 watt charger!

In fact, that’s actually its best time. On two other occasions, it charged slower than the 25 watt charger! Really quite unexpected.

Just in case you are wondering – it does charge at 45 watts, but only at the beginning for a short time. After that it charged at between 12 watts to 24 watts for most of the charge.

With such results, I can only recommend purchasing the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by a considerable 38.5 minutes for a full recharge:

Buy in US : Charger only | Charger + cable
Buy in UK : Charger + cable | Charger + cable
Buy in SG : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only
Buy in MY : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only

Don’t bother getting the 45 watt charger, unless you want to recharge your laptop, or power bank at a faster speed.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Price + Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is available in four main colours:

Titanium Black
Titanium Gray
Titanium Violet, and
Titanium Yellow

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Unboxing : What’s Inside?

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Battery Life + Charging Review!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for its display:

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 60 Hz

By default, the Galaxy S24 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

While the display may be capable of going as low as 1 Hz, it never went that low. When I tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s display in multiple apps, this was what both refresh rate options did:

Adaptive : The display dynamically switches between 24 Hz, and 120 Hz (occasionally 60 Hz, and 80 Hz).
Standard : The display dynamically switches between 24 Hz, and 60 Hz

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : All Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery, which has held steady for the last few generations – S23 Ultra, S22 Ultra and S21 Ultra.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, to fix the brightness level and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

Look at that! The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra lasted almost 14 hours with the Adaptive refresh mode enabled, and lasted almost 16.5 hours with the Standard refresh mode!

This is a 6-7% improvement in battery life over last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra – approximately an extra hour of battery life, at the same battery capacity. Very nice!

Now, let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip5, the S23 Ultra, and the S22 Ultra smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just under 16.5 hours.

Even though it runs on powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is more power-efficient than Samsung’s older flagship devices like the Z Flip5, the S23 Ultra, and the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S24 Ultra	S23 Ultra	S22 Ultra	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	16 hrs 25 mins	15 hrs 18 mins	14 hrs 15 mins	11 hrs 4 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.06 mAh	4.36 mAh	4.68 mAh	4.46 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s Adaptive refresh rate is so efficient, it lasts almost 14 hours. Even so, the higher refresh rate uses a significant amount of power.

Even with the same battery capacity and similar Adaptive Mode enabled, the Galaxy S24 Ultra uses 6% less power than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and 23% less power than the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S24 Ultra	S23 Ultra	S22 Ultra	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	13 hrs 49 mins	13 hrs 0 mins	10 hrs 38 mins	9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.83 mAh	5.13 mAh	6.27 mAh	5.39 mAh

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt and 25 watt Samsung fast chargers that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Charging Speed	S22 Ultra	S24 Ultra	S23 Ultra	S24 Ultra	Z Flip 5	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,700 mAh
Charger Output	15 watts	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts	25 watts	15 watts
Charging Time	64.5 min	68 min	88.8 min	106.5 min	105 min	129.5 min
Charging Speed (per minute)	62.0 mAh	58.8 mAh	45.0 mAh	37.6 mAh	28.2 mAh	22.9 mAh

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra charges really fast with a 15 watt charger, and even faster with a 25 watt charger. It basically needs just over 1.75 hours to fully recharge with a 15 watt charger, and just over one hour with a 25 watt charger.

This gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 7.8:1 (15 watt), or 12.2:1 (25 watt), which is good. You basically get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 8 minutes you recharge at 15 watts, or 5 minutes at 25 watts.

If you prefer to get faster charging, you should purchase the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by a considerable 38.5 minutes for a full recharge:

Buy in US : Charger only | Charger + cable
Buy in UK : Charger + cable | Charger + cable
Buy in SG : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only
Buy in MY : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Price + Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is available in four main colours:

Titanium Black
Titanium Gray
Titanium Violet, and
Titanium Yellow

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Unboxing : What’s Inside?

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Battery + Charging Review!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Two Refresh Rate Options!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for its display:

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 90 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

By default, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

On investigation, I found that the Galaxy Tab S9 FE’s display has three fixed refresh rates, switching between 30 Hz, 60 Hz and 90 Hz, when set to the Adaptive mode.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Tab S9 FE’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Unboxing + First Impressions!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE comes with a large 8,000 mAh battery, which supports 45 watt super fast charging. It even supports 15 watt reverse fast charging. However, it does not come with any bundled charger, and the bundled USB cable can only support 25 watt fast charging.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes. We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

Not bad! The Galaxy Tab S9 FE lasted almost 10 hours on the Standard refresh rate, and just over 9 hours on the Adaptive refresh rate.

With such results, it makes sense to just leave the Tab S9 FE on its default setting of Adaptive refresh. After all, it only saps its battery life by 8% (46 minutes).

Let’s compare its battery life against the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus and Galaxy S8 Ultra tablets.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

This Fan Edition tablet delivered the best battery life with the Standard refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Thanks to its power-efficient Exynos 1380 processor and smaller display, it sips power compared to the other two larger and more powerful tablets.

Work 3.0	Tab S9 FE (60 Hz)	Tab S7 Plus (60 Hz)	Tab S8 Ultra (60 Hz)
Display Size	10.9-inch	12.4-inch	14.6-inch
Battery Capacity	8,000 mAh	10,090 mAh	11,200 mAh
Battery Life	9 hrs 49 mins	7 hrs 55 mins	8 hrs 3 mins
Utilisation per min.	10.87 mAh	16.99 mAh	18.55 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (90 Hz / 120 Hz)

Switching on the Adaptive refresh rate allowed the display to switch between 30 Hz, 60 Hz and 90 Hz, and only cut down its battery life by 46 minutes (8%).

But as my evaluation shows – the Galaxy Tab S9 FE uses considerably less power than the two larger and more powerful tablets. In fact, it uses just over half as much as the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra!

Work 3.0	Tab S9 FE (90 Hz)	Tab S7 Plus (120 Hz)	Tab S8 Ultra (120 Hz)
Display Size	10.9-inch	12.4-inch	14.6-inch
Battery Capacity	8,000 mAh	10,090 mAh	11,200 mAh
Battery Life	9 hrs 3 mins	6 hrs 11 mins	6 hrs 38 mins
Utilisation per min.	11.79 mAh	21.76 mAh	22.51 mAh

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging. However, it does not come with any bundled charger, and the bundled USB cable can only support 25 watt fast charging.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt and 25 watt Samsung fast chargers that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Recharging Speed	Tab S8 Ultra	Tab S7 Plus	Tab S9 FE (25W)	Tab S9 FE (15W)
Display Size	14.6-inch	12.4-inch	10.9-inch	10.9-inch
Battery Capacity	11,200 mAh	10,090 mAh	8,000 mAh	8,000 mAh
Charger Output	15 watts	15 watts	25 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	86.5 mins	86 mins	90.5 mins	145.5 mins
Recharging Speed (per minute)	103.6 mAh	93.9 mAh	70.7 mAh	44.0 mAh

Well, isn’t that interesting? Even with a more powerful 25W super fast charger, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE recharges slower than the Tab S7 Plus or the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using the standard 15W charger!!

The 15W charger took almost 2.5 hours to fully recharge its 8,000 mAh battery from 20% to 100%. Upgrading to the 25W charger cut that down to just 1.5 hours, shaving off almost a full hour. The good news is that the Galaxy Tab S9 FE sips power, so you won’t need to recharge it quite so often.

If possible, you should purchase the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by almost an hour, and give you an hour of battery life for every 9.5 minutes you recharge:

Buy in US : Charger only | Charger + cable
Buy in UK : Charger + cable | Charger + cable
Buy in SG : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only
Buy in MY : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Price + Availability

This Fan Edition tablet comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver. It comes with two RAM and storage options:

6 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB

These are the available models and launch prices:

6 GB + 128 GB : US$449.99 / £549 / A$749 / RM2,099
8 GB + 256 GB : US$519.99 / £619 / A$899 / RM2,399

Here are some online per-order and purchase options:

United States : Amazon
United Kingdom : Amazon | Amazon | Amazon
Malaysia : Shopee | Shopee | Shopee

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Battery + Charging Review!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy S23 FE offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for its display:

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

By default, the Galaxy S23 FE uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

On investigation, I found that the Galaxy S23 FE’s display only switches between the 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rate, when set to the Adaptive mode.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy S23 FE’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Unboxing + First Impressions!

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with a larger 4,500 mAh battery, which is 15% larger than the 3,900 mAh battery in the Galaxy S23!

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

Not bad! The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE lasted almost 10.5 hours with the Adaptive refresh mode enabled, and almost lasted 11 hours with the Standard refresh mode!

In other words – it does not make (battery) sense to switch to the Standard refresh mode. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in battery life.

Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip5, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just under 11 hours.

As this comparison shows, the Galaxy S23 FE isn’t quite as efficient as Samsung’s flagship devices like the Z Flip5, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra. But it’s close enough.

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra	S22 Ultra	Z Flip 5	S23 FE
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	4,500 mAh
Battery Life	15 hrs 18 mins	14 hrs 15 mins	11 hrs 4 mins	10 hrs 57 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.36 mAh	4.68 mAh	4.46 mAh	5.48 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

But its Adaptive refresh rate is surprisingly so efficient, it actually uses (slightly) less power than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip5 smartphones. With a slightly larger battery, it actually lasted more than an hour longer than the Galaxy Z Flip5!

In fact, it’s so efficient that it almost matches the battery life of the S22 Ultra, which has a 28% larger battery!

Needless to say – we are highly recommending you stick with the Adaptive refresh mode for the Galaxy S23 FE!

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra	S22 Ultra	S23 FE	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	4,500 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	13 hrs 0 mins	10 hrs 38 mins	10 hrs 20 mins	9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation per min.	5.13 mAh	6.27 mAh	5.81 mAh	5.39 mAh

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt and 25 watt Samsung fast chargers that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra	S23 FE	S23 Ultra	S23 FE	Z Flip 5	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	4,500 mAh	5,000 mAh	4,500 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,700 mAh
Charger Output	15 watts	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts	25 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	64.5 min	73 min	88.8 min	96 min	105 min	129.5 min
Recharging Speed (per minute)	62.0 mAh	49.3 mAh	45.0 mAh	37.5 mAh	28.2 mAh	22.9 mAh

Not bad! The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE charges really fast with a 15 watt charger, and even faster with a 25 watt charger. It basically needs just over 1.5 hours to fully recharge with a 15 watt charger, and just under one hour and 15 minutes with a 25 watt charger.

This gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 6.5:1, which is pretty good. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 9.25 minutes you recharge.

If you prefer to get faster charging, you should purchase the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by 23 minutes, and give you an hour of battery life for every 8.5 minutes you recharge:

Buy in US : Charger only | Charger + cable
Buy in UK : Charger + cable | Charger + cable
Buy in SG : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only
Buy in MY : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only

Samsung Galaxy S23 Fan Edition Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver, with two exclusive colours on their website – Tangerine and Indigo. They are all offered with two RAM and storage options:

6 GB + 128 GB
8 GB + 256 GB

These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy S23 FE :

8 GB + 128 GB : RM2,999 (approx. US$633 / £519 / A$998)
8 GB + 256 GB : RM3,299 (approx. US$699 / £571 / A$1,098)

Here are some online purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE:

United States : Amazon | Amazon
United Kingdom : Amazon
Australia : Amazon | Amazon |Amazon
Malaysia : Shopee | Shopee

Recommended : How To Setup Galaxy S23 FE For The First Time!

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for the main, foldable display:

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

By default, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

Interestingly, we found out that the display’s refresh rate actually changes in both modes. The only difference is the Adaptive mode switches between 24 Hz and 120 Hz, while the Standard mode switches between 24 Hz and 60 Hz.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Unboxing + First Impressions!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a large 3,700 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

With the same battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 had the same battery life of just over 9 hours using its default Adaptive refresh mode, like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

But when we switched to the Standard refresh mode, it surprisingly delivered over 11 hours of battery life – 49 minutes longer than the Galaxy Z Flip 4!

Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip 4, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just over 11 hours.

But what’s really important to note here is that it is about 5% more power-efficient than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and about 7.5% more power-efficient than the Z Flip 4.

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra	S22 Ultra	Z Flip 5	Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	15 hrs 18 mins	14 hrs 15 mins	11 hrs 4 mins	10 hrs 14 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.36 mAh	4.68 mAh	4.46 mAh	4.82 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

Even with the same battery size, and fundamentally the same foldable display, we expected the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to deliver a slight improvement in battery life due to its more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and it pretty much delivered the same battery life of just over 9 hours.

What this means is that if you don’t need smoother graphics, it is worth turning off the Adaptive refresh rate to reduce power consumption by a very significant 21% / 2 hours!

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra	S22 Ultra	Z Flip 4	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,700 mAh
Battery Life	13 hrs 0 mins	10 hrs 38 mins	9 hrs 12 mins	9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation per min.	5.13 mAh	6.27 mAh	5.36 mAh	5.39 mAh

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra	S23 Ultra	Z Flip 4	Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity	3,300 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,700 mAh
Charger Output	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	64.5 minutes	88.8 minutes	98.75 minutes	129.5 minutes
Recharging Speed (per minute)	62.0 mAh	45.0 mAh	30.0 mAh	22.9 mAh

As we reported earlier, Samsung appears to intentionally reduce the charging speed for their foldable Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4 smartphones, probably to avoid producing excessive heat. That’s why they both recharge twice as slowly as the S22 Ultra, even using the same 15 watt charger!

But this is a bit of a shocker – the Galaxy Z Flip 5 recharged even slower – it took more than 2 hours to fully recharge it from 20%! That’s a whopping 31% slower than the Z Flip 4, with the same battery!

That gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 4.24:1, which is rather dismal. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 14 minutes you recharge.

Perhaps Samsung is now trying to encourage users to purchase its optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger…

Buy in US : Charger only | Charger + cable
Buy in UK : Charger + cable | Charger + cable
Buy in SG : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only
Buy in MY : Charger only | Charger only | Charger only

I will need to retest the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a 25 watt fast charger to see how much of a difference it would make. Stay tune for my update!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four main colour options:

Graphite – legacy colour
Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
Mint – new colour
Cream – new colour

In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:

Gray
Blue
Green
Yellow

These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 :

8 GB + 256 GB : US$999.99 / £1,049 / A$1,649 / RM4,499
8 GB + 512 GB : US$1,199.99 / £1,149 / A$1,849 / RM4,999

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :

United States : Amazon
United Kingdom : Amazon
Australia : Amazon
Singapore : Shopee | Lazada
Malaysia : Shopee | Lazada

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Comparison!

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Did Tesla Cars Catch Fire + Explode After Accident?!

Did two Tesla electric cars catch fire, and explode spectacularly, after colliding in an accident?!

Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Video Shows Tesla Cars On Fire + Exploding After Accident!

A video has gone viral on WhatsApp and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, with people claiming that it shows two electric vehicles, or Tesla cars, catching fire and exploding spectacularly, after colliding in an accident!

AlphaFox : This is what happens when one Tesla catches on fire.

BUDA : Tesla car battery exploding #tesla #elonmusk @elonmusk $TSLA

An incredible video, showing what can happen when two EVs collide. Note that both sides of the freeway have been shut down and there are no fire apparatus present because, once a lithium battery ignites, it cannot be easily extinguished and the fumes are toxic.

Recommended : The Last Video Of Titan Sub At Titanic Wreck Fact Check!

Truth : Video Does NOT Show Tesla Cars On Fire + Exploding!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp, and social media platforms, and here are there reasons why…

Fact #1 : Video Was Recorded In Moscow, Russia

First, let me start by pointing out that the viral video was recorded on the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (MKAD).

Fact #2 : Video Was Recorded In July 2013

Next, you should know that the incident did not happen recently. In fact, it actually occurred on 13/14 July 2013 – more than 10 years ago!

Although the Tesla Roadster was displayed in Moscow as early as June 30, 2010, Tesla never sold any electric cars officially in Russia. Instead, Tesla enthusiasts in Russia imported them in by themselves, through a “Tesla Club”.

Even as late as 2020, there were only about 500 Tesla electric cars in Russia, with 400 of them sold through the Russian “Tesla Club”. Therefore, it is virtually impossible for two Tesla electric cars to be involved in an accident in Russia, in 2013…

Fact #3 : Exploding Vehicle Was A Propane Gas Truck!

The truth is – the incident involved a truck that was carrying propane gas tanks. No electric vehicles were involved.

In the video above, you can see that the propane gas truck driver was speeding, and slammed into the back of a grey van / mini bus that was changing lanes to the right.

The accident caused the 36 propane gas tanks to burst and catch fire. Some of them exploded spectacularly, while others flew around like rockets!

Despite the ferocity of the fire and explosions, no one died in the accident. The truck driver can be seen running away from the exploding gas tanks.

Recommended : Leaked Last Messages From OceanGate Titan Sub?!

Did Tesla Cars Catch Fire + Explode After Accident?!

Fact #4 : There Were Firefighters

The viral video does not show any firefighters, because it is only one minute long. The original video, which is over 8 minutes long, shows Russian police and firefighters arriving on the scene within minutes.

However, it seemed safer to just let the truck burn completely, as the propane gas tanks were still exploding and flying around. In fact, a Russian police car was almost hit by one of those flying gas tanks, and quickly beat a hasty retreat!

Fact #5 : Lithium Battery Fires Are Hard To Put Out

It is true that the lithium ion batteries used in electric vehicles can catch fire, and these lithium fires are notoriously hard to put out. Firefighters generally need to dump a ton of water on the burning electric vehicle for several hours.

That is why it is generally a good idea to simply let the electric vehicle burn itself out, unless the fire is threatening life or other property.

Electric vehicles will burn furiously, but they won’t explode like what was shown in the viral video. Those are, again, pressurised propane tanks exploding.

Fact #6 : Electric Vehicles Are Less Likely To Catch Fire

Electric vehicles can and do catch fire during car accidents, especially when their lithium ion battery packs are damaged or ruptured by the impact.

However, their overall fire risk is lower than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. According to AutoinsuranceEZ, ICE vehicles are 60X more likely to catch fire than an electric vehicle.

The riskiest are hybrid vehicles – they are 130X more likely to catch fire than an electric vehicle! The much higher fire risk in hybrid vehicles is likely due to the fact they have both a lithium-ion battery, and a gas tank filled with combustible fuel.

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Can Your Phone Explode / Catch Fire If You Fart?!

Can the hydrogen and methane in your fart catch fire or explode if your phone rings?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Your Phone Can Explode / Catch Fire If You Fart!

People are sharing a video on WhatsApp and social media platforms, claiming that it shows a phone exploding or catching fire after its owner farted!

Be Careful! ⛔ Never fart with your cell phone in your pocket ! Gases are flammable ! 😱🤣

Human fart contains Hydrogen and methane both can combust with a spark ,please be careful when you fart with your phone in your back pocket. Funny but so true😅😅

Presumably, the phone triggered the fire when it rang after the man farted… but is that really possible?

Recommended : Did A Ringing Phone Cause This Gas Stove Explosion?

Can your phone EXPLODE or CATCH FIRE if you fart?! 😯🤔

Here are the facts : https://t.co/tMLNzEyE0C #TechARP #Smartphone #Phone #Mobile #Fart #Farting #Science #Facts #FactsMatter #FactCheck #Hoax #Fake #FakeNews #Explosion #Fire #Video #Viral #PowerBank #LithiumIon #Battery pic.twitter.com/NF8INIvuYk

— Dr. Adrian Wong (@DrAdrianWong) May 24, 2023

Truth : Your Phone Won’t Explode / Catch Fire If You Fart!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and shared on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : This Is An Old Video From South Africa

The viral video isn’t new. This video of a CCTV recording was recorded in South Africa in March 2020.

Fact #2 : It Was Not A Phone, But A Power Bank

The video does not show the man’s phone exploding or catching fire. Rather, it was a power bank that caught fire.

Fact #3 : Flatulence Is Combustible

Farts, or flatulence, is combustible, because it contains methane and hydrogen sulphide which are produced by bacteria digestion of our food. However, the power bank did not catch fire because the man farted.

Even if the man farted a great deal of combustible gas, there needs to be a spark for there to be any fire. Power banks don’t generate sparks. Phones, even when they are ringing, do not generate sparks – that is just an urban legend.

So flatulence may be combustible, but neither a phone or a power bank will set it off, because neither produce sparks or an open flame.

Fact #4 : Power Bank Apparently Overheated

At the time the incident happened, 29 year-old Lwando Mashiamahle was waiting for his girlfriend to buy a plane ticket at the OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa.

While sitting down to wait, he realised that the power bank in his pocket felt warm. But he didn’t think anything of it, until it suddenly burst into flames.

It felt quite hot in my pocket but I thought it was normal, like sometimes your phone heats up when you’re using it, but I never thought it could explode,

I was so shocked, I didn’t know what to do, I automatically just lost my mind. I was very, very scared.

Recommended : Apple Watch Explodes, Apple Tries To Cover It Up!

Fact #5 : He Was Not Injured By The Fire

Mashiamahle was not injured when his power bank burst into flames, because he was able to quickly take off his trousers, and avoid getting burnt.

Fortunately I have no injuries but my pants were burnt and I had to quickly find the nearest shop to buy a new pair.

He is very fortunate, as lithium battery fires are very strong and hard to put out.

Fact #6 : Phone / Power Bank Batteries Are A Fire Risk

Despite claims our phone or smartphone can spark flames in petrol / gas stations, or even cause a gas stove explosion, there is simply no scientific evidence for those urban legends.

The electrodynamic speakers in your phone vibrate to produce sound waves. They do not generate sparks. Without a source of sparks or an open flame, even a gas leak wouldn’t catch fire and explode.

The US FCC, US NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) and the Petroleum Equipment Institute have all confirmed that mobile phones do not pose a fire hazard.

The lithium ion battery in our phone and power bank, however, are a fire hazard. Roughly one in every 10 million lithium-ion batteries will fail and catch fire. That sounds like very low risk, but not when there are BILLIONS of lithium-ion batteries in use around the world!

That is why it is forbidden to pack any device with a lithium-ion battery into luggage that needs to be checked into an aircraft cargo hold. Everyone must carry their phone, computer and power bank using these lithium-based batteries into the cabin, so that if they catch fire, the crew are aware and can quickly put them out.

Please help us fight fake news – SHARE this article, and SUPPORT our work!

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy A54 Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the new Samsung Galaxy A54, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Two Fixed Refresh Rate Options

The new Samsung Galaxy A54 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz.
Standard : Get longer battery life by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 60 Hz.

Although the description seems to suggest that the display switches dynamically between 1 Hz to 120 Hz like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, that’s not true.

By turning on the frame rate counter, we can see that the Galaxy A54 switches between two fixed refresh rates – 60 Hz or 120 Hz in the Dynamic mode, and uses just 60 Hz in the Standard mode.

The true Adaptive refresh rate offered in the Galaxy S23 Ultra is variable, changing from 1 Hz to 120 Hz according to the situation. This not only reduces power consumption, it also prevents “screen tearing” – a visual artifact that occurs when the game frame rate does not match the display’s refresh rate.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy A54’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Battery Life + Charging!

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy S22 Ultra.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Not bad at all! The Samsung Galaxy A54 has a battery life of 12.5 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and almost 14 hours with the Standard refresh rate. That’s equal to the Galaxy S22 Ultra at the Standard refresh rate, and 16.7% better at the Adaptive refresh rate.

But let’s also compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S23 Ultra, S22 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy A54 lasted almost 14 hours with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. But it isn’t quite as efficient as the new S23 Ultra, or even last year’s S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra (60 Hz)	S22 Ultra (60 Hz)	Galaxy A54 (60 Hz)	Z Flip 3 (60 Hz)
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Battery Life	15 hrs 18 mins	14 hrs 15 mins	13 hrs 57 mins	8 hrs 11 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.36 mAh	4.68 mAh	4.78 mAh	5.38 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

Will you look at that! The Samsung Galaxy A54 was about 13.6% more efficient than the S22 Ultra with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled, coming within 8% of the power efficiency of the S23 Ultra.

Based on what we see here, I definitely recommend turning on the Adaptive Refresh Rate on the Galaxy A54, unless you absolutely need the extra 1.5 hours of battery life.

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra (120 Hz)	Galaxy A54 (120 Hz)	S22 Ultra (120 Hz)	Z Flip 3 (120 Hz)
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Battery Life	13 hrs 0 mins	12 hrs 25 mins	10 hrs 38 mins	6 hrs 44 mins
Utilisation per min.	5.13 mAh	5.52 mAh	6.27 mAh	6.53 mAh

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy A54 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra	S23 Ultra	Galaxy A54	Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity	3,300 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Charger Output	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	64.5 minutes	88.8 minutes	120.7 minutes	88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed (per minute)	62.0 mAh	45.0 mAh	33.1 mAh	29.8 mAh

The Samsung Galaxy A54 fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just over 2 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger. Oddly enough, this is significantly (36%) slower than the S23 Ultra.

I have no idea whether this was an intentional design decision to reduce the Galaxy A54’s thermal output while charging, or to further differentiate it from the much pricier Galaxy S23 Ultra.

In any case, the Galaxy A54 has a good battery life : recharging ratio of 7:1. As a rule of thumb, for every hour of battery life, you only need to recharge it for 8.5 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:

8 GB + 256 GB : RM1,899 / US$449.99 / £499 / A$697 / S$648

Here are online purchase options (we may get commission from your purchase) :

MY : 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours
SG : 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours | 4 colours
US : Graphite | Violet | Lime
UK : Graphite | Violet | Lime | White
AU : Graphite | Violet

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Best Display Settings for Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra!

Now that you got your Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, let us show you which is the best display settings you can choose!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Display Refresh Rate Options

The new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate between 1 Hz and 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

By default, the Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery life.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Display Resolution Options

In addition, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has three display resolution options (Settings > Display > Screen resolution) :

WQHD+ : 3088 x 1440 pixels
FHD+ : 2316 x 1080 pixels
HD+ : 1544 x 720 pixels

By default, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the FHD+ resolution, but you can switch to the full WQHD+ resolution for sharper graphics, or drop down to HD+ for a longer battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Review : Tech ARP Editor’s Choice!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Best Display Settings!

Those five display settings affect battery life. Even though the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery, it won’t last forever. So which display resolution and refresh rate should you choose?

Many people and even some experts will recommend that you switch to the best possible settings – you paid for those features after all! But how much will they suck your new smartphone’s battery life?

To find out, I ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and these were the best results I obtained:

Display Resolution	Standard Refresh	Dynamic Refresh
WQHD+	15 hours 9 minutes	12 hours 7 minutes
FHD+	15 hours 18 minutes	13 hours
HD+	16 hours 46 minutes	14 hours 34 minutes

Best Display Resolution : WQHD+

Switching to the WQHD+ resolution will definitely give you the sharpest and best possible display on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Normally, this would suck up a significant amount of power, which is why Samsung set the Galaxy S23 Ultra to use the FHD+ option by default.

But as my tests show, using the maximum display resolution of WQHD+ barely dents its battery life!

At the Standard 60 Hz refresh rate, you lose just 9 minutes – which is a drop of just under 0.11% – practically imperceptible.

If you switch to the Dynamic Refresh Rate mode, you lose 53 minutes or 6.8% of battery life. That sounds like a lot, but you still have just over 12 hours of battery life.

So unless you must have the longest-possible battery life, I recommend you switch to the WQHD+ resolution.

The low resolution of HD+ definitely increases your battery life, but not as much as you might think. You gain about 1.5 hours longer battery life. Not worth putting up with soft-looking images and text IMHO.

Best Display Refresh Rate : Up To Your Preference

The change in refresh rate affects the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery life far more than changing its display resolution.

At the WQHD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 3 hours, or about 20%.

At the FHD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 2 hours 18 minutes, or about 15%.

At the HD+ resolution, switching to Dynamic Refresh cuts your battery life by 2 hours 12 minutes, or about 13%.

If you are fine with a 12 hour battery life, and most would be, you should definitely turn on Dynamic Refresh Rate.

But if you want a longer battery life (like if you’re on a trip), you can always turn on the Standard refresh rate for a 15%-20% boost in battery life to about 15 hours.

I highly recommend that you try both refresh rate options, and see if you can feel a noticeable difference. People who play mobile games will probably find it noticeable, while non-gamers might not appreciate the difference in refresh rate.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Prices + Pre-Order Offer!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will be significantly more expensive than last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra!

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

256 GB : RM5,699 (about US$1,336 / £1,083 / A$1,888 / S$1,755)
512 GB : RM6,199 (about US$1,453 / £1,179 / A$2,052 / S$1,910)
1 TB : RM7,199 (about US$1,688 / £1,369 / A$2,388 / S$2,218)

While the increased price may be disappointing, Samsung is offering some great pre-order offers:

you get a free upgrade to the next storage option!
if you buy from the Samsung Online Store, you get an RM400 e-Voucher
you get 30% off Samsung accessories, Samsung Care+, Galaxy tablets, Watch, and Buds earphones!
you get to save up to RM600 more when you trade in!

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

United States : $1,199 | $1379.99 | $1,495 | $1,495
United Kingdom : £1,249 | £1,399 | £1,399 | £1,399
Malaysia : RM5,699 | RM5,699 | RM5,699 | RM5,699
Singapore : $1,599 | S$2,098 | S$2,098

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Battery Life + Charging!

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery recharging speed, and how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

The Galaxy S21 Ultra also has an Adaptive mode, which dynamically refreshes between 10 Hz and 120 Hz.

The new Galaxy S23 Ultra and last year’s S22 Ultra improved on that, with an Adaptive mode that dynamically refreshes between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.

By default, the Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Hands-On Preview!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Performance Examined!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Will you look at that!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a battery life of 13 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and a whopping 15.3 hours with the Standard refresh rate – 24% and 7.5% better respectively than the S22 Ultra!

But let’s also compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S21 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra really shines with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. It used 7% less power per minute, which delivered 7% longer battery life than the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra (60 Hz)	S22 Ultra (60 Hz)	Z Flip 3 (60 Hz)	S21 Ultra (60 Hz)
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh	5,000 mAh
Battery Life	15 hrs 18 mins	14 hrs 15 mins	8 hrs 11 mins	11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.36 mAh	4.68 mAh	5.38 mAh	5.87 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

While the Galaxy S23 Ultra certainly used less power than the S22 Ultra, that advantage was greatly diminished with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled.

This is where we see the greatest improvement in the power efficiency of the S23 Ultra. Its display used 18% less power per minute, and delivered 22% (almost 1.5 hours) longer battery life than the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S23 Ultra (120 Hz)	S22 Ultra (120 Hz)	S21 Ultra (120 Hz)	Z Flip 3 (120 Hz)
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Battery Life	13 hrs 0 mins	10 hrs 38 mins	10 hrs 26 mins	6 hrs 44 mins
Utilisation per min.	5.13 mAh	6.27 mAh	6.39 mAh	6.53 mAh

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing. But we used the 25 watt charger for the S21 Ultra, because it came with that charger.

Work 3.0	S21 Ultra	S22 Ultra	S23 Ultra	Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Charger Output	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	64 minutes	64.5 minutes	88.8 minutes	88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed (per minute)	62.5 mAh	62.0 mAh	45.0 mAh	29.8 mAh

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just under 1.5 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger. Oddly enough, this is significantly (38%) slower than the S22 Ultra.

It’s hard to know whether this was an intentional design decision to reduce the thermal output while charging, or to drive the adoption of the 45 watt chargers (sold separately).

Fortunately, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a significantly better battery life, which should offset the slower recharging speed. Frankly, I don’t see a real need to splurge on a new 45 watt fast charger.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Prices + Pre-Order Offer!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will be significantly more expensive than last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra!

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

256 GB : RM5,699 (about US$1,336 / £1,083 / A$1,888 / S$1,755)
512 GB : RM6,199 (about US$1,453 / £1,179 / A$2,052 / S$1,910)
1 TB : RM7,199 (about US$1,688 / £1,369 / A$2,388 / S$2,218)

While the increased price may be disappointing, Samsung is offering some great pre-order offers:

you get a free upgrade to the next storage option!
if you buy from the Samsung Online Store, you get an RM400 e-Voucher
you get 30% off Samsung accessories, Samsung Care+, Galaxy tablets, Watch, and Buds earphones!
you get to save up to RM600 more when you trade in!

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

United States : $1,199 | $1379.99 | $1,495 | $1,495
United Kingdom : £1,249 | £1,399 | £1,399 | £1,399
Malaysia : RM5,699 | RM5,699 | RM5,699 | RM5,699
Singapore : $1,599 | S$2,098 | S$2,098

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Apple Watch Explodes, Apple Tries To Cover It Up!

An Apple Watch Series 7 exploded recently, and Apple tried to cover it up. Maybe that’s why there’s not much uproar over it!

Apple Watch Explodes, Apple Tries To Cover It Up!

An Apple Watch Series 7 user recently reported to 9to5Mac that his smartwatch overheated, started smoking and eventually exploded!

The user recently noticed that his smartwatch was getting much hotter than usual, and that the back of the Apple Watch Series 7 had cracked.

watchOS also started showing a warning about needing to shut down due to the high temperature. This happened while he was in his own home where the temperature was just over 70°F / 21°C.

He immediately called Apple Support, and his call got escalated through multiple levels, eventually landing in the hands of a manager who told him not to touch the watch until he heard back from them.

The next morning, the Apple Watch was even hotter to the touch, and the heat actually shattered its display!

When he picked it up to take photos to send to Apple Support, it started making “crackling sounds” and “exploded” just as he threw it out the window.

The exploding Apple Watch Series 7 left burn marks on his couch, and he visited the hospital emergency room out of an abundance of caution over the potential of lead poisoning from the burning Apple Watch.

When he reached out to Apple, he was told that his case was a “top priority”, and that he would receive an update by the “following Monday”. Apparently, it wasn’t top priority enough to deal on a weekend…

Eventually, he waited until Wednesday, October 5, 2022, to hear back from Apple – it arranged to pick up the Apple Watch for further tests in its labs.

Apple also sent him a document asking him to agree not to share his experience with anyone. Fortunately, the Apple Watch user declined to sign the document, so he could share his story. Otherwise, we would never have known about an Apple Watch Series 7 exploding!

Apple Watch Explodes vs. Samsung Phone Batteries Bloating

It is inevitable that comparisons will be made between this story of an Apple Watch actually exploding, and the recent complaints by influencers that their Samsung phone batteries were bloating.

First, let me point out that in both cases, we cannot determine cause and effect merely from a few cases (in the saga of bloating Samsung batteries) or one case (this example of an exploding Apple Watch).

Apple sold over 100 million Apple Watch models since December 2020, and Samsung sells over 270 million smartphones every year. So it is important to frame both incidences in that context.

While exploding or bloating batteries are a real danger that we must all be aware of, it is an unavoidable risk of using lithium-ion battery technology.

When the drama over bloating Samsung batteries first exploded (pun intended!), many people asked me for my opinion as I too have many smartphones that I keep for comparison tests.

I shared that so far, the only Samsung phone to bloat was an old Galaxy S7 edge from 2017, and many other smartphones from ASUS, Xiaomi, etc. have bloated on me. In fact, a realme smartphone is slowly splitting itself in two from a battery bloat in front of me right now.

So it isn’t exactly a “brand problem”. In fact, the worst brand for battery bloating in my personal experience is Apple. My 15-inch MacBook Pro suffered no less than THREE (3) sets of bloated batteries in just 3 years. So Apple fans really should not laugh at other brands over battery issues.

All lithium-ion batteries have an innate risk of bloating, catching fire, or even exploding. That is something we must all acknowledge.

Read more : Did Exploding Samsung Smartphones Kill 3 In Florida?

Of course, better design decisions and stringent quality control can greatly reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of such dangerous incidences. When hundreds of millions of lithium-powered devices are being manufactured every year, it is inevitable that many of them will bloat after some time, and a few will catch fire and may even explode.

That is why airlines forbid travellers from storing lithium-ion batteries, or devices with lithium-ion batteries, in their check-in luggage. That’s to ensure that if a fire does break out, it would be noticeable to the cabin crew, and can be tackled quickly.

What is most concerning though what happens when companies are made aware of battery issues. Do they take you seriously and treat you right? Or do they try to shut you up, to protect their reputation and sales?

What Samsung did was assuring, but probably only because they learned their lesson from the Galaxy Note7 battery saga. Apple did not suffer through such a traumatic event, and it shows.

Perhaps they should go through a similarly traumatic experience. Then maybe they will treat their customers a little better. The way they treated me when I reported my MacBook Pro’s bloated batteries is why I steadfastly refuse to ever consider buying an iPhone.

And trying to cover up this case of an Apple Watch exploding? That’s just not right…

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

The Adaptive mode dynamically refreshes its main, foldable display between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.

By default, the Galaxy Z Flip4 uses the Adaptive mode, for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Z Flip4’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4: Unboxing + First Impressions!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 comes with a larger 3,700 mAh battery, which is 400 mAh (12%) larger than last year’s Galaxy Z Flip3.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

Will you look at that! The battery life for both options are now much closer than with the Z Flip3!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 has a battery life of just over 9 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and 10.25 hours with the Standard refresh rate!

Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S22 Ultra, S21 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz.

But what’s really important to note here is that it is as power-efficient as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, about 10% more efficient than the Z Flip3, and 18% more efficient than the S21 Ultra!

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra	Z Flip4	Z Flip 3	S21 Ultra
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	3,700 mAh	3,300 mAh	5,000 mAh
Battery Life	14 hrs 15 mins	10 hrs 14 mins	8 hrs 11 mins	11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.68 mAh	4.82 mAh	5.38 mAh	5.87 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

While the Galaxy Z Flip4 looks like the Z Flip 3, its energy efficiency was greatly improved to the point that the Adaptive refresh rate is really usable for most people!

Turning on adaptive refresh increase the Z Flip4’s power consumption by just 11%, giving you a very usable battery life of 9 hours 12 minutes!

That makes the Galaxy Z Flip4 about 14.5% more efficient than the S22 Ultra, 16% more efficient than the S21 Ultra, and 18% more efficient than the Z Flip3.

Work 3.0	Z Flip4	S22 Ultra	S21 Ultra	Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity	3,700 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Battery Life	9 hrs 12 mins	10 hrs 38 mins	10 hrs 26 mins	6 hrs 44 mins
Utilisation per min.	5.36 mAh	6.27 mAh	6.39 mAh	6.53 mAh

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 supports up to 20 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

But we used the 25 watt charger for the S21 Ultra, because it came with that charger.

Work 3.0	S21 Ultra	S22 Ultra	Z Flip 3	Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh	3,700 mAh
Charger Output	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	64 minutes	64.5 minutes	88.5 minutes	98.75 minutes
Recharging Speed (per minute)	62.5 mAh	62.0 mAh	29.8 mAh	30.0 mAh

Samsung appears to intentionally reduce the charging speed for their foldable Z Flip3 and Z Flip4 smartphones, probably to avoid producing excessive heat.

Hence they both recharge twice as slowly as the S22 Ultra, even using the same 15 watt charger!

Because of its larger battery, the Galaxy Z Flip4 fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just over 1.5 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger.

That gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 6.22:1, which is pretty decent. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 10 minutes of recharge.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes in four colour options, as well as a special Bespoke Edition :

Graphite – legacy colour
Pink Gold – new colour
Blue – new colour
Bora Purple – their signature colour this year

These are the available models and launch prices for the Z Flip 4 :

8 GB + 128 GB : RM4,099 (about US$920 / £760 / A$1,319 / S$1,267)
8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,399 (about US$987 / £816 / A$1,415 / S$1,359)
8 GB + 256 GB Bespoke Edition : RM4,599 (about US$1,032 / £853 / A$1,479 / S$1,421)
8 GB + 512 GB : RM4,899 (about US$ 1,099 / £909 / A$1,576 / S$1,514)

The Bespoke Edition is only available on the Samsung website, and requires 3-4 weeks to deliver, as each unit is custom-made.

Here are online purchase options :

Malaysia : $4,099 | $4,099 | $4,099 | $4,099
Singapore : S$1,398 | $S1,333 | S$1,398
United States : US$1,059 | US$1,059
United Kingdom : £999
Australia : Price Check | Ecosystem Bundle

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : Colour Comparison!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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EBL 8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger + AA Batteries Review!

In my review of the EBL lithium-ion AA batteries and 8-bay charger, I will share with you why this is the future of AA batteries!

EBL 8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger + AA Batteries Review!

The future of AA batteries is here, and it comes in the form of EBL lithium-ion AA batteries, and the 8-bay Li-Ion battery charger!

Most of us have long relied on rechargeable AA batteries using NiCad (Nickel-Cadmium) and NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) technologies which were developed in the 1980s.

They are set to be replaced by AA batteries built on lithium-ion technology – the same kind of battery used in your smartphone and laptops.

So I was most excited when EBL said that they would send me their latest lithium-ion AA batteries and 8-bay Li-Ion battery charger to try out.

EBL 8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger + AA Batteries : What’s In The Box?

EBL sent me their most popular AA battery bundle, which consists of an 8-bay Li-Ion battery charger, and eight of their lithium-ion AA batteries. They also offer them for sale as separate items.

The package arrived in a simple black plastic bag – there is no special bundle packaging. EBL would do well to add bubble wrapping to prevent damage to the box, and pilfering from the package.

There are the items that you will receive if you purchase the EBL 8-bay Li-Ion battery charger and 8-battery bundle :

1 x EBL 8-bay Lithium-Ion Battery Charger
1 set of EBL Lithium-Ion Battery Charger + Lithium Ion Battery manuals
1 x USB Type A to micro-USB Type B power cable
8 x EBL Lithium-Ion AA batteries
2 x AA battery storage cases

EBL 8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger Review!

The EBL 8-Bay lithium-ion charger has a pretty simple design. It has 8 battery bays, supporting up to eight AA or AAA lithium-ion batteries, or a mix of them.

However, please note that this charger only supports lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Please do not use it to recharge your NiCd / NiMH rechargeable batteries!

Every bay has a separate circuit, allowing for optimal charging according to each battery’s condition. It is also smart enough to prevent over-charging, over-voltage, over-current and overheating while charging.

That said, EBL recommends that you take out the batteries once they are fully-charged, and do not leave them in the charger. Trickle-charging lithium-ion batteries is not good for their lifespan.

I would also recommend that you disconnect the charger after use, because it will use up to 0.3 watts of power even when it’s not charging any battery. That “vampire power loss” may seem little, but it is still a waste of power.

Power input comes through the very common Type A to micro-USB cable. In 2022, I would have very much preferred a bidirectional USB Type C connector. But this is a minor inconvenience – you won’t generally remove the cable unless you are travelling.

The 8-bay charger has a 10 watt power input, delivering up to 1.25 watts per bay when fully-loaded with eight batteries, and up to 1.5 watt per bay with fewer batteries.

However, EBL does not provide a 10 watt USB power adaptor to actually power this 8-bay lithium-ion battery charger. So you will need to purchase a separate USB power adaptor, or use the one that came with your smartphone.

Just make sure the USB power adaptor can deliver 10 watts or more. Otherwise, charging will be much slower.

Specifications	EBL 8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger
Model	EBL M7012
Type	USB Charger
Battery Size	AA / AAA
Battery Type	Only 1.5V Lithium-Ion
Input Voltage	DC 5V @ 2A
Input Power	10 W
No-Load Input Power	0.3 W max.
Output Voltage	DC 1.5 V @ 1 A
Output Current	AA : 1000 mA max. AAA : 500 mA max.
Dimensions	126.4 mm wide 75.4 mm high 25.2 mm thick
Weight	94.9 grams

EBL 8-Bay Lithium-Ion AA Batteries Review!

The EBL lithium-ion AA batteries work like any other rechargeable AA batteries. Just plug them into any device that requires AA batteries, and they just work.

These lithium-ion batteries have a capacity of 3,000 mWh, which is equivalent to 2,000 mAh. So they are equivalent in capacity to many NiMH batteries, but about 18% lower than top-shelf Eneloop Pro batteries.

EBL claims that they have a low self-discharge like Eneloop batteries, and will retain up to 80% of its capacity 3 years after it’s fully-charged. But they do not come pre-charged, because so you will need to charge them for 6-8 hours before using them.

The biggest advantage of the EBL lithium-ion AA battery though is its ability to deliver 1.5 volts of constant current. This beats NiCad and NiMH batteries which are limited to just 1.2-1.4 volts.

Even though these batteries have similar capacities to NiCad/NiMH batteries, their higher voltage means they deliver 7% to 25% more power.

That extra power is useful when it comes to certain devices, like Nerf guns or electric toothbrushes for example. You will get higher performance with these 1.5 volt lithium-ion batteries than you would with NiCad / NiMH batteries.

Specifications	EBL Lithium-Ion AA Battery
Size	AA
Type	Lithium-Ion
Capacity	3000 mWh 2000 mAh
Discharge Voltage	1.5 V ± 2%
Low Voltage Warning	1.1 V ± 2%
Standard Charging Time	≤ 2.5 hours
Standard Discharge Time	≥ 5 hours
Charging Voltage	5.0 V ~ 5.5 V
Recommended Discharge Current	0.2 C (400 mA)
Maximum Discharge Current	1 C
Overcurrent Protection Limit	800 mA
Overcurrent Discharge / Short Circuit Limit	2.1 A ~ 2.8 A
Low Temperature Charging Protection	0 ℃ : ≤ 150 mA -10 ℃ : ≤ 100 mA
Static Power Consumption	≤ 100 μA
Dimensions	50.1 mm tall 14.1 mm wide
Weight	20 grams

EBL 8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger + AA Batteries : Price + Availability

The EBL 8-Bay lithium-ion charger can be purchased separately, or together with AA batteries, at these official price points :

8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger + 8 AA batteries : US$45.99
8-Bay Lithium-Ion Charger only : US$13.59
8 x Lithium-Ion AA Batteries : US$28.99

Here are some online purchase options :

EBL Direct : $45.99 (use Welcome for 10% off)
Amazon : $45.99

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy A73 Battery Life + Recharging Speed!

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy A73 smartphone’s battery recharging speed, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

Samsung Galaxy A73 : Refresh Rate Options Affect Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy A73 smartphone offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

High : Get smoother animations and scrolling with a 120 Hz screen refresh rate
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

You may think that this is similar to the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 120 Hz display, but you would be wrong.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has an Adaptive mode that dynamically refreshes between 1 Hz and 120 Hz for better battery life.

The 120 Hz refresh rate option in the Galaxy A73 is fixed at 120 Hz. This guarantees you an ultra-smooth 120 Hz refresh rate all the time, at the expense of battery life.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy A73 smartphone’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Review : Our Editor’s Choice!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy A73 Unboxing + Hands-On Preview!

Samsung Galaxy A73 : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy A73 comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s battery!

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Look at that! The Samsung Galaxy A73 has a long battery life of 10.75 hours with High refresh rate enabled, and lasts 13 hours with the Standard refresh rate!

That means it has the same battery life as the Galaxy S22 Ultra with the 120 Hz refresh rate, but one hour shorter battery life at 60 Hz.

That’s the advantage of the S22 Ultra’s more efficient 4nm processor, but then again – the S22 Ultra costs a lot more than the A73!

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy A73 delivers the best battery life with the Standard refresh rate of 60 Hz, offering just over 13 hours of non-stop use.

The Galaxy A73 consumed 13% less power than the S21 Ultra, but 9% more power than the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra (60 Hz)	A73 (60 Hz)	S21 Ultra (60 Hz)
Display Size	6.8-inch	6.7-inch	6.8-inch
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Battery Life	14 hrs 15 mins	13 hrs 4 mins	11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.68 mAh	5.10 mAh	5.87 mAh

High Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

Switching on the High refresh rate of 120 Hz cut its battery life by 18% – almost 2.5 hours!

But Galaxy A73 has pretty much the same battery life as the S22 Ultra, and last year’s S21 Ultra.

Work 3.0	A73 (120 Hz)	S22 Ultra (120 Hz)	S21 Ultra (120 Hz)
Display Size	6.7-inch	6.8-inch	6.8-inch
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Battery Life	10 hrs 42 mins	10 hrs 38 mins	10 hrs 26 mins
Utilisation per min.	6.23 mAh	6.27 mAh	6.39 mAh

Samsung Galaxy A73 : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy A73 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones and tablets – something we believe most users will end up doing.

Recharging Speed	S21 Ultra	S22 Ultra	A73
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Charger Output	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	64 minutes	64.5 minutes	85 minutes
Recharging Speed (per minute)	62.5 mAh	62.0 mAh	47.0 mAh

Despite having the same capacity battery as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and using the same recycled 15 watt charger, the Galaxy A73 recharged about 25% slower.

That shows that even though their batteries have the same capacities, they are built differently, allowing for faster charging on the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

That said – the Galaxy A73 was no slouch, taking less than 1.5 hours to fully recharge from 20% to 100%.

Samsung Galaxy A73 Colour + Availability!

Here in Malaysia, the Galaxy A73 smartphone is available in three colour options :

Awesome White
Awesome Mint
Awesome Gray

It will be offered in only one variant, at this price point :

8 GB + 256 GB : RM 2,099 (about US$499 / £379 / A$679 / S$679)

Here are some online purchase options :

Malaysia : RM2099 | RM1,849 | RM1,748 | RM1,725
Singapore : $798 | $798 | $750

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Battery Life + Recharging Speed!

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra’s battery recharging speed, and how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Two Refresh Rate Options

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

High : Get smoother animations and scrolling with a 120 Hz screen refresh rate
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

You may think that this is similar to the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 120 Hz display, but you would be wrong.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra has an Adaptive mode that dynamically refreshes between 1 Hz and 120 Hz for better battery life.

The 120 Hz refresh rate option in the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is fixed at 120 Hz. This guarantees you an ultra-smooth 120 Hz refresh rate all the time, at the expense of battery life.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Hands-On Experience!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Unboxing : What’s Inside?

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes with a massive 11,200 mAh battery, which is more than the size of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s battery!

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Astoundingly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra only has a battery life of 6.5 hours with High refresh rate enabled, and a more acceptable 8 hours with the Standard refresh rate!

This is a slight improvement over last year’s Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. There is no doubt that its much larger 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display is a significant drain on battery life.

Let’s compare its battery life against the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone which uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile SoC.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra delivers the best battery life with the Standard refresh rate of 60 Hz.

The Tab S8 Ultra appears to use 9% more power than the Tab S7 Plus, but I have to point out that it has a 39% larger display.

Fortunately, the battery life deficit is “covered” by its 11% larger battery.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra (60 Hz)	Tab S7 Plus (60 Hz)	Tab S8 Ultra (60 Hz)
Display Size	6.8-inch	12.4-inch	14.6-inch
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	10,090 mAh	11,200 mAh
Battery Life	14 hrs 15 mins	7 hrs 55 mins	8 hrs 3 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.68 mAh	16.99 mAh	18.55 mAh

High Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

Switching on the High refresh rate of 120 Hz cut its battery life by 17.6% – almost 1.5 hours!

But the data shows that its larger 14.6-inch display only used 3.4% more power than the Tab S7 Plus.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra (120 Hz)	Tab S7 Plus (120 Hz)	Tab S8 Ultra (120 Hz)
Display Size	6.8-inch	12.4-inch	14.6-inch
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	10,090 mAh	11,200 mAh
Battery Life	10 hrs 38 mins	6 hrs 11 mins	6 hrs 38 mins
Utilisation per min.	6.27 mAh	21.76 mAh	22.51 mAh

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones and tablets – something we believe most users will end up doing.

Recharging Speed	Tab S8 Ultra	Tab S7 Plus	S22 Ultra
Display Size	14.6-inch	12.4-inch	6.8-inch
Battery Capacity	11,200 mAh	10,090 mAh	5,000 mAh
Charger Output	15 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	86.5 mins	86 mins	64.5 mins
Recharging Speed (per minute)	103.6 mAh	93.9 mAh	62.0 mAh

Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra recharged faster with a standard 15 watt charger, than the Tab S7 Plus or even the Galaxy S22 Ultra!

This is really good news. It means that Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra owners need not worry too much about its recharging speed with the older 15 watt chargers.

In fact, you don’t need to splurge on a new 45 watt fast charger. The Tab S8 Ultra fully recharges its massive battery from 20% to 100% in just under 1.5 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Price + Availability

Samsung is offering the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra in five RAM + storage capacity options globally :

8 GB + 128 GB
12 GB + 256 GB / 512 GB
16 GB + 256 GB / 512 GB

But over here in Malaysia, it is available with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage for RM 5,899 (about US$1,387 / £1,063 / A$1,877 / S$1,892.

Here are some online pre-order options :

Malaysia : RM5,599 | RM5,719 | RM5,899 | RM5,899
Singapore : S$1,645 | S$1,689 | S$2,125
United States : US$1,689 | US$1,389
United Kingdom : £1,066 | £985

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

Recommended Reading

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Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Battery Life + Recharging Speed!

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s battery recharging speed, and how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

Last year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra also has an Adaptive mode, which dynamically refreshes between 10 Hz and 120 Hz

The new Galaxy S22 Ultra improves on that, with an Adaptive mode that dynamically refreshes between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.

By default, the Galaxy S22 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode, for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Our Hands-On Experience!
Read more : How To Setup Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra For The First Time!

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with a larger 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Will you look at that!

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has a battery life of 10.5 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and a whopping 14.25 hours with the Standard refresh rate!

But let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S21 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra really shines with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz.

The S22 Ultra used 20% less power per minute, which delivered 25% longer battery life than the S21 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra (60 Hz)	Z Flip 3 (60 Hz)	S21 Ultra (60 Hz)
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh	5,000 mAh
Battery Life	14 hrs 15 mins	8 hrs 11 mins	11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation per min.	4.68 mAh	5.38 mAh	5.87 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

While the Galaxy S22 Ultra certainly used less power than the S21 Ultra, that advantage was greatly diminished with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled.

The S22 Ultra used just 2% less power per minute, which delivered 2% (12 minutes) longer battery life than the S21 Ultra.

Work 3.0	S22 Ultra (120 Hz)	S21 Ultra (120 Hz)	Z Flip 3 (120 Hz)
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Battery Life	10 hrs 38 mins	10 hrs 26 mins	6 hrs 44 mins
Utilisation per min.	6.27 mAh	6.39 mAh	6.53 mAh

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing.

But we used the 25 watt charger for the S21 Ultra, because it came with that charger.

Work 3.0	S21 Ultra	S22 Ultra	Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	3,300 mAh
Charger Output	25 watts	15 watts	15 watts
Battery Life	64 minutes	64.5 minutes	88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed (per minute)	62.5 mAh	62.0 mAh	29.8 mAh

Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra recharged as quickly with a standard 15 watt charger, as the S21 Ultra with its more powerful 25 watt charger!

In fact, the Galaxy S22 Ultra recharged itself twice as fast as the Galaxy Z Flip 3, even though they both used the same 15 watt charger!

This is really good news. It means that Galaxy S22 Ultra owners need not worry too much about its recharging speed with the older 15 watt chargers.

In fact, you don’t really need to splurge on a new 45 watt fast charger. The Galaxy S22 Ultra fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just over an hour with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger!

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Price + Availability

Samsung is offering the Galaxy S22 Ultra in four colour options – Burgundy, Green, Phantom Black and Phantom White.

I had the opportunity to attend an exclusive Samsung preview event, to check out all four colours for ourselves.

Note : Samsung only allowed us to use digital cameras, so the video is not stabilised as it would be with smartphones that I generally use.

Here in Malaysia, it is available starting 10 February 2022 in three variants, at these price points :

8 GB + 128 GB : RM 5,099 (about US$1,219 / £899 / A$1,699 / S$1,629)
12 GB + 256 GB : RM 5,499 (about US$1,314 / £969 / A$1,829 / S$1,759)
12 GB + 512 GB : RM 5,899 (about US$1,409 / £1,039 / A$1,959 / S$1,889)

Here are some online options :

Malaysia : RM5,499 | RM5,499 | RM5,499 | RM5,499
Singapore : S$1,858
United States : US$1,199 | US$1,199
United Kingdom : £1,149 | £1,149 | £1,249 | £1,249
Australia : A$1,999

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Battery Life Comparison

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes with a large 4,500 mAh battery, but how long does it really last at 120 Hz, or at full display resolution?

We put the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra through the paces, and compared it to a few other devices in our lab. Check out the results!

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra : Battery Life Considerations

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes with a 4,500 mAh battery, which is just a little larger than the Galaxy Note 10+‘s 4,300 mAh battery.

On paper, this should give it a little more battery life than the Galaxy Note 10+. But the Note 20 Ultra is also the first Note to feature a 120 Hz display.

120 Hz Refresh Rate

A higher refresh rate will give you a smoother display, at the expense of higher power consumption and consequently, lower battery life.

That’s why Samsung doesn’t keep the display running at 120 Hz all the time. Instead, they offer an Adaptive option, doubling the refresh rate to 120 Hz only when it’s “necessary”.

WQHD+ Resolution

The other “trick” that Samsung uses to keep power consumption lower is to use a lower display resolution by default – FHD+ (1080 x 2316 pixels).

You can switch to the full WQHD+ resolution of 1440 x 3088 pixels, but that will increase power consumption and reduce battery life, because the GPU has to process more pixels.

Note : The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra only supports 120 Hz at the FHD+ or HD+ resolutions. Switching to WQHD+ limits you to just 60 Hz.

Let’s find out exactly how much both display options affect the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra‘s battery life!

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Battery Life Comparison

To test the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra‘s battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 2.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and picked the best result.

Resolution + Refresh Rate Comparison

First, we started with a resolution and refresh rate comparison. The

Work 2.0	FHD+ (60 Hz)	WQHD+ (60 Hz)	FHD+ (120 Hz)
Battery Capacity	4,500 mAh	4,500 mAh	4,500 mAh
Battery Life	10 hrs 9 mins	9 hrs 17 mins	7 hrs 34 mins
Battery Utilisation	5.91 mAh / min.	6.46 mAh / min.	7.93 mAh / min.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has pretty good battery life of just over 10 hours, but only if you keep it at the default FHD+ resolution and use the standard 60 Hz refresh rate.

Increasing the display resolution to WQHD+ reduced battery life by 52 minutes, or about 8.5%. Not too bad, since you still get 9+ hours.

Switching to Adaptive mode though will drastically reduce battery life by a whopping 155 minutes, which is a full quarter less than its maximum battery life!

Full HD+ Resolution @ 60 Hz

Battery Performance	MatePad Pro	Black Shark 2 Pro	S20 Ultra (FHD 60Hz)	Galaxy Note10+	Galaxy S10+	Note20 Ultra (FHD 60Hz)
Capacity	7,250 mAh	4,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	4,300 mAh	4,100 mAh	4,500 mAh
Battery Life	14 hrs 1 min	12 hrs 25 mins	11 hrs 32 mins	10 hrs 32 mins	10 hrs 17 mins	10 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation Per Min.	6.90 mAh	4.30 mAh	5.78 mAh	5.44 mAh	5.32 mAh	5.91 mAh
Review Links	Review	Review	Review	Review	Review	Review
Price Check	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	US UK Malaysia	US UK Malaysia	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia

Even with its slightly larger battery, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a slightly shorter battery life than the Galaxy Note 10+.

It even has a shorter battery life than the Galaxy S10+, which has a 10% smaller battery.

WQHD+ Resolution @ 60 Hz

Battery Performance	MatePad Pro	Black Shark 2 Pro	S20 Ultra (WQHD 60Hz)	Galaxy Note10+	Galaxy S10+	Note20 Ultra (WQHD 60Hz)
Capacity	7,250 mAh	4,000 mAh	5,000 mAh	4,300 mAh	4,100 mAh	4,500 mAh
Battery Life	14 hrs 1 min	12 hrs 25 mins	10 hrs 54 mins	10 hrs 32 mins	10 hrs 17 mins	9 hrs 17 mins
Utilisation Per Min.	6.90 mAh	4.30 mAh	6.12 mAh	5.44 mAh	5.32 mAh	6.46 mAh
Review Links	Review	Review	Review	Review	Review
Price Check	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	US UK Malaysia	US UK Malaysia	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia

When we increased the resolution to WQHD+, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra had a full hour shorter battery life than the Galaxy S10+, which has a 10% smaller battery.

FHD+ Resolution @ 120 Hz

Battery Performance	MatePad Pro	Black Shark 2 Pro	Galaxy Note10+	Galaxy S10+	S20 Ultra (FHD 120Hz)	Note20 Ultra (FHD 120Hz)
Capacity	7,250 mAh	4,000 mAh	4,300 mAh	4,100 mAh	5,000 mAh	4,500 mAh
Battery Life	14 hrs 1 min	12 hrs 25 mins	10 hrs 32 mins	10 hrs 17 mins	9 hrs 4 mins	7 hrs 34 mins
Utilisation Per Min.	6.90 mAh	4.30 mAh	5.44 mAh	5.32 mAh	7.35 mAh	7.93 mAh
Review Links	Review	Review	Review	Review	Review
Price Check	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	US UK Malaysia	US UK Malaysia	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia	US UK Malaysia Singapore Australia

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra used significantly more power than the Galaxy S20 Ultra, with a 120 Hz refresh rate.

Thanks to its 11% larger battery, and lower power consumption, the Galaxy S20 Ultra lasts 1.5 hours longer than the Note 20 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra : Where To Buy?

Malaysia

Here are the direct online purchase links in Malaysia :

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (256GB) : Mystic Bronze | Mystic White | Mystic Black

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Malaysia Launch + Trade-Up Deals!

Singapore

Here are the direct online purchase links in Singapore :

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (256GB) : Mystic Bronze | Mystic White | Mystic Black

United States

Here are the direct online purchase links in the United States :

Note20 Ultra 5G (128 GB) : Mystic Bronze | Mystic White | Mystic Black

United Kingdom

Here are the direct online purchase links in the United Kingdom :

Note20 Ultra 5G (256 GB) : Mystic Bronze | Mystic White | Mystic Black
Note20 Ultra 5G (512 GB) : Mystic Bronze | Mystic Black

Australia

Here are the direct online purchase links in Australia :

Note20 Ultra 5G (256 GB) : Mystic Bronze | Mystic White | Mystic Black
Note20 Ultra 5G (512 GB) : Mystic Black

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra : 60Hz vs 120Hz Battery Life!

One of the new features introduced in the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is its 120Hz display, which allows for smoother scrolling and a more realistic gaming experience.

However, running the display at 120Hz will reduce the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s battery life. Let’s find out exactly how much!

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra : A Quick Primer!

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 in the United States, and Samsung Exynos 990 in the rest of the world.

To ensure it will last a long time, Samsung gave it a very large 5,000 mAh battery. The corresponding Galaxy S10 Plus from last year only has a 4,100 mAh battery in comparison.

It comes with a 40 MP front camera, and a quad-camera system at the back, with :

a 108 MP main camera,
a 48 MP telephoto camera with 10X hybrid optical zoom,
a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, and
a DepthVision camera (for depth sensing)

The top-of-the-line model pairs 16 GB LPDDR5 memory with 512 GB fast UFS 3.0 storage. The other two models come with 12 GB LPDDR5 memory, and either 128 GB or 256 GB storage.

Recommended : Samsung Exynos 990 Performance : How Fast Is It?

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra : 60Hz vs 120Hz

Running the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra‘s display at 120Hz allows for smoother scrolling and a more realistic gaming experience. However, running the display at 120 Hz saps battery life.

The display not only refreshes twice as often, the GPU has to work twice as hard. This is why Samsung sets the display to 60Hz by default.

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Samsung-Galaxy-S20-120Hz-display.mp4?_=1

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra : 60Hz vs 120Hz Battery Life!

We ran the PCMark Work 2.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, with the display set to 60Hz and 120Hz. Here were the best results we obtained :

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra @ 60Hz : 11 hours 32 minutes

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra @ 120Hz : 9 hours 4 minutes

So there you have it – increasing the display refresh rate on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra from 60Hz to 120Hz will reduce its battery life by about 21% or roughly 2.5 hours.

Work 2.0	60Hz Display	120Hz Display	Difference
Battery Life	11 hours 32 mins	9 hours 4 mins	– 148 mins (21.4%)
Battery Utilisation	5.78 mAh / min.	7.35 mAh / min.	+ 1.27 mAh / min.

Now we can see why Samsung set the display to 60Hz by default. If battery life is important, keep it at the default refresh rate of 60Hz.

But if you prefer to enjoy the 120Hz display, go on right ahead. Thanks to its large 5,000 mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra will last you quite a few hours!

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra : Price + Availability

Samsung is only offering two colour options – Cosmic Black, and Cosmic Gray – as shown in our video above.

Here are its recommended retail prices :

Malaysia : RM 4,999 (128 GB)
United States : $1,399.99 (128 GB) | $1,599.99 (512 GB)
United Kingdom : £1,199 (128 GB) | £1,399 (512 GB)
Australia : A$1,999 (128 GB)

Here are the online purchase options in Malaysia :

Official Samsung Flagship Store
Galaxy S20 Ultra : Cosmic Black | Cosmic Gray
Galaxy S20+ : Cloud Blue | Cosmic Black | Cosmic Gray
Galaxy S20 : Cloud Blue | Cloud Pink | Cosmic Gray

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How Samsung Found & Fixed Their Exploding Battery Problem

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The Samsung Galaxy Note7 arrived to great acclaim on 19 August 2016. It was literally the best phablet ever, with its IP68 rating and its improved S Pen and Knox capabilities. However, its massive early success was soon overshadowed by reports of some Note7 phablets catching fire – the infamous exploding battery problem.

In October, Samsung initiated a global replacement program, but even some of the replacement devices continued to catch fire. That’s when they decided to recall and permanently end the sale of the Galaxy Note7. Since then, they have been working hard on finding out what happened, and how to prevent a recurrence.

After an exhaustive investigation, Samsung can now reveal what caused both the original and the replacement Galaxy Note7 phablets to catch fire, and what they are doing to prevent that from ever happening again. Check it out!

The Investigation

After the global replacement program was initiated, Samsung assembled 700 engineers to find out why some of them would spontaneously catch fire. Together with the replacement Note7 phablets from the global recall, their engineers tested more than 200,000 of those returned devices, and over 30,000 batteries.

Samsung also roped in three industrial safety and quality control organisations – UL, Exponent and TÜV Rheinland – to examine the Galaxy Note7 phablets, and provide Samsung with their own findings.

Finally, Samsung went back and examined every aspect of their production processes in their factories in China, Vietnam and south Korea – from hardware and software development to the assembly and testing of the Galaxy Note7, as well as logistics.

Double Trouble

The reason why both the original and the replacement Galaxy Note7 phablets exhibited similar spontaneous combustion issues was because two different batteries were catching fire under different circumstances.

Battery A

The first situation involved battery A which had an overly small casing. The cramped condition led to the negative electrodes being “deflected in the upper right corner of the battery“, and coming into contact with each other.

Battery B

The second situation involved battery B where welding burrs on the positive electrode penetrated the insulation tape and separator, and came into direct contact with the negative electrode. This essentially resulted in a short circuit.

Making Sure It Won’t Happen Again

To ensure that Samsung users will never have to worry about the exploding battery problem ever again, Samsung developed a rigorous 8-point battery safety check protocol for all future Samsung devices :

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Enhanced battery durability tests – includes overcharging tests, nail puncture tests and extreme temperature stress tests.
Visual inspection tests of every battery under standardised guidelines and objective criteria.
X-ray scans of every battery to look for any abnormalities.
Every battery will undergo a large scale charging and discharging test.
TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compound) Test – to make sure there isn’t the slightest possibility of leakage
Disassembly Test – the batteries are disassembled to assess their quality, including the battery tab welding and insulation tape conditions.
Accelerated Usage Test – the batteries will undergo extensive tests to simulate accelerated consumer usage scenarios
△OCV (Delta Open Circuit Voltage) Test – Samsung will check for any change in voltage throughout the manufacturing process, from component level to the assembled device.

Large scale charge & discharge testing

X-ray scanning of the batteries

Delta Open Circuit Voltage tests

Samsung may have been hit hard by the exploding battery problem in the Galaxy Note7, but there may be a silver lining after all. It brought up the critical and often overlooked issue of the safety of lithium-ion batteries that are, by nature, volatile. The new battery safety check protocol Samsung put in place should become an industry-standard. Other smartphone manufacturers would do well to adopt Samsung’s battery safety check protocol, or a similar one.

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ADATA X7000 Dual USB Power Bank Released

Taipei, 03 January 2017 – ADATA Technology today launched the ADATA X7000 Power Bank. As the model name suggests, the device is rated for 7000mAh. The X7000 features dual USB ports for efficient battery top-up of two devices at once.

Its stylish design employs the finest components and smart circuitry to provide multiple protective measures, made of highly durable materials to increase fire and impact resistance. A bespoke hairline-brushed aluminum textured surface combined together with a tough plastic side panels resulted in a unique look which differentiate the X7000 from other power banks.

With a choice of three colors, the X7000 is elevated from a mediocre power charging device to a premium power charger on-the-go for smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

ADATA X7000 Power Bank

Functionality into Fashion

While power banks are often thought of as generic, practical items, the ADATA X7000 power bank is a work of art itself. The combination of durable aluminum surface with tough plastic panels dissolves differences in texture into one unmatched visual experience. This innovative power bank is resistant to scratches, chipping and fingerprints smudges.

Weighs merely 210g and measures up to 12mm in thickness, the X7000 could be fitted into narrow, small spaces. The X7000 comes in three distinct colors to better match various smart devices: Titanium grey, blue, and red. A bright white LED status indicator provides at-a-glance charge capacity information, as well as a low-charge caution to keep users informed.

Quick and Efficient Charging

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The X7000 includes two USB ports, providing a total output of 2.4A output as needed by connected devices. The dual ports allow users to charge two mobile devices simultaneously, saving precious time. Additionally, the 7000mAh device can fully recharge a smart phone three times and a tablet one time. Now you can have enough power to watch and shoot videos on the mobile device, take photos and surf social networks, all the long.

Built Durable Inside Out

ADATA makes safety the leading priority with all products, and more so with power banks. Meticulous circuit and wire engineering provides six-faceted protection against excessive heat, voltage, current, charge, and discharge. Externally, the shell uses tough, fire-resistant polycarbonate that has been IEC 60950 impact resistant-certified for safe portability in diverse environments.

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The Pokeball Power Bank (1st & 2nd Generation) Review

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This is a guest review by Emperor Zensekai.

Purchasing The Pokeball Power Banks

There are apparently three “generations” of Pokeball power banks (portable phone chargers) available online. I purchased the first and second generation Pokeball power banks off Amazon, which I will be reviewing here. I did not purchase the third generation “Pikachu Projection Pokeball”, which costs US$15-20 more than the other two models.

The Gen 1 Pokeball power bank was supposed to arrive a day earlier, but it got delayed due to a shipping error. That was just one bump in my epic quest to get one of these Pokeball power banks. I actually had to cancel and get a refund for two other Pokeball power banks I purchased from other e-commerce websites, because I did not receive them even after waiting for 1.5 months!

Word of advice : Don’t bother with the power banks that promise 20,000+ mAh. Chances are you will never get it.

I actually bought both of these Pokeball power banks to hedge my bets. I figured that there was a good chance that either one would never make it, or break soon after I receive them… and I would have to get another refund.

The Two Pokeball Power Bank Models

Both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokeball power banks are about the same price, ~US$20.

The Gen 1 Pokeball power bank has four “slits” that light up, with the USB port is in the center. It has a rated battery capacity of 10,000 mAh.

The Gen 2 Pokeball power bank looks more like a Pokeball, with a rim light and two USB ports. It has a rated battery capacity of 12,000 mAh.

From the research I ended up doing to figure all this out, there are real inconsistencies amongst the sellers. I don’t suggest that you buy any that aren’t fulfilled by Amazon themselves!

There seems to be a ⅓ to ¼ failure rate from the reviews I read on these power banks. Some of them may be due to the lack of an instruction manual though, as I will details below.

First Impressions

The Gen 1 seller went out of their way to properly secure the Pokeball power bank in the box. They even tossed in a cute Pokeball keychain!

The packaging for the Gen 2 Pokeball power bank was bad though. The box inside the package had come over, and the power bank was halfway out of it.

The Gen 1 Pokeball power bank looked as advertised, but the the rim lighting of the Gen 2 Pokeball power bank was nowhere near as bright as seen in the advertised pictures!

Using The Pokeball Power Banks

I prefer the look and feel of the Gen 2 model, but it was very hard to get the USB cable into the socket. It was also heavier than the Gen 1 model, which makes questing for Pokemons with this attached harder… because I have physical issues. However, it is still my favourite of the two.

Getting these power banks is a nightmare, but the part that worries me the most is the lack of instruction manuals in both models. The Gen 1 model has very brief instructions in broken English on the side of the box. The Gen 2 model came with no instructions at all.

Check out the “all your base are belong to us” type of English instructions provided with the Gen 1 Pokeball power bank :

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It means full of charge when four lamps are fully berght [sic] and not flashing.
Need to keep the battery when not in use for a longtime [sic].

I assume that means you have to keep the battery charged if you are not going to use it for weeks. I also assume that this applies to both Pokeball power banks.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know if either Pokeball power bank can be damaged by overcharging, or if they have an automatic cut-off built-in. Thankfully, the light pattern on the Gen 2 model is very apparent when you recharge it. It’s much harder to tell the charge level of the Gen 1 model.

My Verdict

I’m really excited about these Pokeball power banks, and I like them a lot. I just had to do a ton of research to get them.

I think some of the bad reviews on these power banks are due to the lack of an instruction manual on how to use and maintain them. They are not intuitive to the average American who’s used to buying and using products from top-tier companies like Apple and Sony.

You have to be somewhat mindful of these no-brand electronics. I’m relatively certain that if I drop them on a hard floor from six feet or so, they would be damaged. Or if you left one charging for extended periods of time.

Oddly, neither power bank came with any USB cable. You will need to purchase a USB-to-micro USB cable, commonly used by Android smartphones, to recharge it. You can use the same cable to recharge your Android smartphone. You will need a separate Lightning cable for these power banks to recharge your iPhones or iPads.

Overall, I really like these Pokeball power banks. US$20-25 is a fair price for either models. I personally prefer the Gen. 2 model. Finally, I can farm Pokeballs at Pokestops without running low on battery, and do it in proper Pokemon style!

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