Experts at SlashGear listed the disadvantages of constantly using energy-saving mode on smartphones. The mode helps extend battery life between charges, but it also imposes several restrictions on device operation.
Notifications can be delayed
To reduce power consumption, a smartphone limits apps’ background activity, causing some processes to slow down or pause until the app is opened. For example, email may check for new messages less frequently, photos may upload to the cloud more slowly, and social media feeds may only refresh when the app is launched.
On some Android smartphones, these restrictions can even affect incoming WhatsApp messages, meaning that keeping energy-saving mode enabled constantly may prevent timely receipt of important messages.
Battery savings do not always justify the restrictions
The effect of energy-saving mode depends on usage patterns: the biggest gain in battery life is noticeable when the phone spends most of its time idle. If the user is actively watching videos or running many apps, the difference in runtime with the mode on or off may be negligible.
An experiment by the YouTube channel PhoneBuff, which compared the battery life of two iPhones with energy-saving mode on and off, showed only a small difference in results.
The display may run less smoothly
On smartphones with 90Hz or 120Hz displays, energy-saving mode may reduce that rate to 60Hz or lower. As a result, scrolling, system animations and switching between apps may appear less smooth, which will be noticeable to users accustomed to higher refresh rates.
Some models also disable haptic feedback and certain visual interface effects in this mode, further affecting the perceived smoothness of the device.
Brightness, 5G and geolocation may be limited
To reduce power consumption, a smartphone may limit maximum screen brightness, disable Always-on display and shorten the time before automatic screen lock, which can be inconvenient when using the device outdoors in bright light. Reduced background activity can affect apps that use geolocation, and real-time location sharing may suffer interruptions.
On iPhone, energy-saving mode also restricts the use of 5G networks, and other models may have similar limitations intended to cut power consumption.
