Tests Show That Dark Mode Significantly Improves Battery Life on OLED Phones

Dark Mode has been a heavily demanded feature across all platforms. Not only does it ease the strain on your eyes, but a recent test has now proven that it also helps save precious battery life.

A YouTuber named Phonebuff put this to the test and found out that Dark Mode helps save significant battery life on OLED displays.

 

Phonebuff performed the test using two iPhone XS devices from last year, one running on light mode and the other one on dark. The test involved video playback on YouTube, social media browsing, texting, and using Google Maps. At the end of the test, the light mode iPhone died while the dark mode iPhone still had 30% battery remaining.

The test may not have been an official one, but it justifies using dark mode over normal to save battery life. It’s not just applicable to iPhones, but all devices with OLED displays as the underlying technology is the same.

OLED displays can be found on many devices these days, including the iPhone 11 Pro, Galaxy Note 10, and several Chinese brands as well. These displays can turn their pixels on or off depending on what color is being displayed on the screen. Standard IPS LCDs commonly found on mid-range devices are unable to do that since they function using a backlight.

Keep in mind that users are likely to get different results as real-life usage varies from person to person. The specifications of the phone and brightness levels are also some factors that will affect results for different users.

In any case, the results are quite impressive and having 30% extra battery life left can be the difference between needing to charge during the day or not.