My Galaxy’s battery mentioned it was wholesome till AccuBattery informed me the reality

My Galaxy Note20 Ultra is a 2020 flagship smartphone I truly purchased as “outdated inventory” again in November 2024. I’m nonetheless on the fence about whether or not to commerce in its large display, S Pen, superior digital camera, and expandable storage for a newer phone within my budget.

Unfortunately, this telephone is beginning to present its age, with a single cost solely lasting two-thirds of a day on its inventory software program. I did attempt to rescue it by flashing it with ArtisanROM, which dramatically improved battery life, but it surely left me questioning whether or not the battery itself had given up.

Would changing it purchase this telephone some extra time, or was I losing cash throwing it at an growing old flagship? Samsung’s inventory software program declared the battery was “Good,” with out telling me how a lot capability truly remained. So I examined it 4 other ways earlier than deciding whether or not to interchange the battery or the telephone.

Samsung mentioned the battery was “Good,” however what does that even imply?

The built-in verdict was reassuring till I seemed on the numbers beneath

The inventory prognosis and buyer assist app “Samsung Members” gave me a simple however not overly useful end result at first. Its battery diagnostic turned “Normal” and “Life: Good.” I ran it once more after putting in it on ArtisanROM and received again the identical ambiguous verdict.

That was briefly reassuring till I seemed on the line beneath it. “Capacity: 4500 mAh (typical)” describes the Note20’s unique battery specification, but it surely was impossible it nonetheless held that a lot.

The battery data web page in Settings gave me two numbers that didn’t actually line up:

1. The battery well being rating was 91%. This sounded slightly too good to be true for a 2020 telephone, particularly after the poor performance I skilled on the inventory software program.
2. The battery cycle rely was 1,444. That’s a great ~400 full-cycle (100% to 0%) fees above what is often thought-about finish of life for a flagship telephone’s battery.

The discrepancies between these dates had been, partially, defined by the telephone’s bizarre historical past. The battery was manufactured on the 4th of July 2020, whereas the first-used date was the 4th of November 2024. That’s a four-year hole, and it does match as a result of the telephone was purchased as an outdated inventory merchandise round September 2024.

Regardless of the outcomes Samsung gave me, neither might truly inform me what the lengthy shelf life or these 1,444 cycles had truly achieved to this battery.

Here, I used to be deciding between getting a substitute battery and a brand new telephone. The “Good” end result and the reported 91% had been a perfect start line, however I wanted to look at the telephone discharge and cost earlier than trusting either number with that call.

An hour of video confirmed me what life with this battery would appear to be

It misplaced cost steadily, however the remaining time forecasts had been in every single place

Having the battery simply sitting on the desk is one metric, however I wished one thing nearer to real-life use. I put in Battery Monitor from F-Droid, unplugged the telephone at 44%, and let it play what I assumed was a really informative, hour-long nature documentary whereas I went and ate dinner.

Its historical past logged 43% at 8:02 pm and 34% at 8:56 pm, a nine-point drop in 54 minutes. The degree stepped down one % each couple of minutes. There weren’t any actual sudden plunges or shutdowns.

This data was a bit extra helpful than merely calling the battery “Healthy.” Aging lithium-ion cells can lose capability and, when worn down, battle to keep up their voltage underneath load and begin having performance problems. Samsung itself lists habits like abrupt drain and unexpected shutdowns among the many warning indicators.

My video wasn’t precisely what I’d name a stress take a look at, and I didn’t run it into the extra revealing low-battery vary. Still, sustained playback at mid-range cost behaved comparatively usually.

The runtime forecasts had been, sadly, actually inconsistent. Battery Monitor later predicted 7 hours and 34 minutes remaining at 32%, whereas Samsung confidently predicted 15 hours and 31 minutes at 31%. Both had been forecasting future use and never measuring battery well being.

Samsung’s battery web page additionally attributed 12.3% to YouTube over its displayed utilization interval. That determine shouldn’t be confused with the 9% misplaced in my timed take a look at.

It was relieving, particularly given the identical take a look at would have dropped the battery by ~20–30 on the inventory software program. However, I wasn’t able to name the battery wholesome simply but. ArtisanROM probably diminished the ability the telephone makes use of throughout atypical duties. The battery hadn’t magically regained misplaced capability.

This take a look at confirmed me the telephone was working nicely sufficient to maintain utilizing — at the very least with the custom ROM. A correct measured take a look at, although, would inform me if the battery wanted changing.

Developer(s)

Tomasz Świstak

Platform(s)

Android 8.0 or newer

Battery Monitor tracks cost degree, temperature, voltage, and battery historical past. Its discharge log helped me see how steadily my telephone misplaced energy in the course of the video take a look at.

One full cost gave me a much less reassuring estimate

AccuBattery noticed 76% well being the place the telephone reported 91%

I put in AccuBattery from the Google Play Store as a result of it demanded a considerable charging session earlier than it might produce take a look at outcomes. At 28%, I set its design capability to 4,500 mAh and, being impatient, related my USB-C PPS charger.

The app confirmed dwell present and voltage, then tracked the climb to 100%. All up, it took 1 hour and 11 minutes, which was considerably much less painful than watching the telephone discharge.

Across these 72 proportion factors, AccuBattery recorded 2,469 mAh added. Its estimated full capability due to this fact was 3,429, since 2,469 divided by 0.72 is 3,429.11. Compared with the unique 4,500 mAh specification, the battery has fallen an extended strategy to a measly 76% well being.

The telephone’s battery data web page claimed it was 91% wholesome, and this was a 15-percentage-point distinction that couldn’t simply be ignored.

This was the primary end result that made me start thinking about changing not solely the battery, but in addition the telephone. It was clear that Samsung’s “Good” verdict was relatively beneficiant, however I wasn’t fairly able to declare it incorrect as a result of one take a look at hardly qualifies as conclusive.

AccuBattery’s documentation states that it wants a 60% charge for its health calculations, and that a number of classes enhance its accuracy. My 72-point cost positively certified, however later fees might change the estimate utterly.

The app’s “0.97 cycles” of damage was one other situation. That’s an outline of its put on estimates for this session, not the telephone’s whopping 1,444 lifetime cycles. For now, 76% gave me a purpose to maintain measuring earlier than lastly deciding to scour Amazon.com for a substitute.

I’m retaining the flagship, however I’ll preserve testing its battery

A substitute battery makes extra sense to contemplate earlier than changing a telephone I nonetheless like

Four checks later, I believe Samsung’s “Good” was far too beneficiant to be helpful. AccuBattery estimated 76% well being in opposition to 91% given by Samsung’s battery data. The situation is that the decrease determine solely got here from a single charging session. I’ll must preserve measuring over the subsequent few fees to see simply how far off Samsung’s estimate was.

I’ve determined to interchange the battery anyway. After 1,444 heroic full cost cycles, the decrease estimate provides me sufficient purpose to spend the cash on a brand new cell. Outside of curiosity, I don’t actually need to know its actual remaining capability to make that alternative.

Even although I do know the Note20 Ultra received’t final perpetually, I nonetheless love utilizing it. Its display, digital camera, S Pen, and expandable storage, plus the improved efficiency operating on ArtisanROM, are all options that I must verify fastidiously for a potential replacement in 2026.

A brand new flagship of this caliber prices much more than the Note20 did again in 2024, whereas a telephone inside my funds vary would imply giving up the issues I like about this one. That’s loads to sacrifice when a brand new battery simply may give this superior telephone just a few extra good years.