Samsung Galaxy phones having a bad week as display and battery issues arise

Samsung Galaxy S23 and S22 owners have been hit with a one-two punch as users have recently been experiencing defective hardware and software.

Across social media platforms, and even on the company’s own Community forums, are posts showing some kind of bubble defect appearing on the bottom corners of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The location differs for each device: some have on the left while others have it on the right. 

The good news is this is purely a cosmetic thing as so far, no one has reported experiencing any kind of performance issues (unlike the recent camera stabilization flaw). However considering that the S23 Ultra costs over $1,200, you can’t blame people for being a little miffed. The company is well aware of this as the official Samsung UK Twitter told an affected user the bubble is more of a feature, not a bug. 

Apparently, if you shine a strong enough light at the S23 Ultra’s display, “some parts appear to be squashed”. The squashed look is reportedly a consequence of Samsung’s pressing process during production when the company adds “waterproofing and dustproofing” to a phone screen. Other than the bubble, everything’s seems fine. 

Affected owners are still annoyed at this defect. It does appear the Samsung UK Twitter is reaching out and trying to help people with the bubble screen. So at least, the company is aware of the defect.

Battery drainage

The same can’t be said about the One UI 5.1 update that recently rolled out to older Galaxy phones like the S22 and S21. 

The patch was only supposed to introduce new features and boost device performance. However, some people are reporting battery usage on their phones skyrocketing after the patch. A user on the European Samsung Community forums posted an image of the sudden power drain. They claimed the battery on their S22 Ultra drained completely after about seven hours under moderate use. Another claims that they’re forced to recharge their device by the middle of the day due to the issue.

There’s some debate, however, on what exactly is causing the battery drain. According to a report by GSMArena, the drain could be a result of either the One UI 5.1 update forcing Galaxy phones to go into Maximum Performance Mode or some kind of compatibility problem with Samsung Keyboard. If it’s the latter, official support pages suggest clearing out the Keyboard’s data cache and restarting the phone.

We reached out to Samsung to see if it was aware of the battery drain and if it’s working on a fix. So far, the company hasn’t made any official statements regarding the One UI 5.1 patch. Additionally, we asked what it will do for users suffering from the bubble defect like replacing the screen. This story will be updated if we hear back.

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list on the best Galaxy phones for 2023 – so far.