I wish I had known about this battery-saving setting sooner while gaming

I don’t typically do heavy tasks on my phone, but over the past three months, I have been gaming on it almost every day.

I admittedly have severe battery anxiety; I like to keep my devices healthy for six years if I can, which means I need to be as gentle as possible with my devices’ batteries and screens.

I am guilty as charged, however, that I have been abusive over my OnePlus 12R’s SuperVOOC capabilities, which lets me game almost on loop because of how quickly it charges up.

On the other hand, my Samsung Galaxy S25+ is my primary driver, and I barely touch it for gaming — lately, I’ve been tempted to play a bit on it because of its ample storage, but I’m afraid of draining the battery too much.

But now my position has changed. I found a battery-saving setting that works perfectly for my needs, without worrying about excess charging cycles.

I enabled bypass charging while I game

All you need to do is keep your phone plugged into an outlet

Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police

A full disclaimer: You do not need to be gaming to use the bypass charging feature. You can use any application that continuously drains your battery, but for me, the most draining one is playing my open-world games on my phone.

The bypass charging feature gives your phone power directly without using the battery. So when you plug it in, turn this option on, and keep playing without depleting the battery.

Though it was admittedly a little tricky to set up at first, a few options got in the way. The two restrictions that could prevent you from using this option are as follows:

First, you need a supported charger, which must be a USB-PD (Power Delivery) charger with PPS (Programmable Power Supply) rated at least 25W.

I just used the charging cable from my UGreen power bank, and it worked well. Using something similar should make it work.

Also, ensure your phone’s battery is at least 20% before you plug it in.

The second involves making sure you are on a supported Android version that has this setting.

When I checked my OnePlus 12R, which is sadly still on OxygenOS 14 (I have tried to force-update it to a newer version, but it won’t take), it doesn’t have the feature, at least not on my phone.

OnePlus does have it on OxygenOS 16, and it is available as a system-wide feature.

Google has its own version, but this is built directly into its charging optimization settings.

Samsung has this as well, which is where I’ve been using it recently. My Galaxy S25+ is on One UI 8.5, which is based on Android 16.

How to set up bypass charging on a Samsung phone

It’s pretty simple to set up when you’re plugged in, but one reminder, you need to toggle on Fast charging inside Charging settings. Previously, the option for bypass charging, Pause USB PD charging when gaming, was grayed out, but turning on Fast charging fixes it.

After you have that set up, open the Gaming Hub, tap the three-dot icon in the upper-right corner, and select Game Booster. Then, toggle Pause USB PD charging when gaming.

Then select the app or game in the Game Hub, and this feature should work — but remember you need to stay plugged into an outlet while you are using it.

When you’ve finished your session, exit the Game Hub and then turn off Fast charging.

I prefer doing this because I am a battery-anxious user and worry about the excessive heat generated when my phone charges naturally.

I left my bypass charging settings on (this includes fast charging), then used a regular charger to regain battery life for everyday use.

My Galaxy S25+ gets a little too hot for my liking when this happens, so I opted out of fast charging completely since I don’t normally need it — though if you want to be extra safe, always use certified chargers when using this feature.

Your charging habits do matter

I’ve tried to do a lot to save my device’s battery. I love keeping my phone as long as possible.

It is hard for me to move on from old phones, sometimes because the tactile feel isn’t the same, other times the screen is too big or too small, and reading on your Android phone just doesn’t feel the same.

I am picky, and it takes me a long time to select the right upgrade.

It’s also partly why I stuck with Samsung for so long. I never felt too pressured to upgrade, thanks to its reasonably generous software support (yes, it might be a gimmick, but it still gives users like me more choice).

But I have tried optimizing my usage to reduce battery drain, such as minimizing wallpaper animations, enabling battery-saver mode, and lowering my screen brightness to prolong battery life.

In the end, I didn’t love those practices. So instead, I found other ways to maintain battery health, namely through charging practices.

Currently, my preferred middle ground is changing the charging cap. The last 10% of charging your device’s battery causes the highest thermal stress, so I avoid it altogether.

Still, 80% can sometimes feel a little too short, which is why I loved it when Samsung added even more options for its capped charge. I often find myself stopping it at 85% or 90%, as my ideal sweet spot. I barely notice the differences in maximum charge.

I recommend changing the cap to something similar if your smartphone also has it.

• 

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

  RAM

  8GB or 16GB LPDDR5X

  Storage

  128GB or 256GB

  Battery

  5,500mAh

  Ports

  USB-C 2.0

  The OnePlus 12R is the cheaper sibling of the OnePlus 12, delivering almost the same experience as the flagship at a lower price point. It achieves this using a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, a 6.78-inch FHD+ OLED display, and a beefy 5,500mAh battery.

  
  

• 

  SoC

  Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy

  RAM

  12GB

  Storage

  256GB/512GB

  Battery

  4,900mAh

  Ports

  USB-C

  The Samsung Galaxy S25+ is the middle offering in the company’s lineup. It features a 6.7-inch AMOLED QHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset powers it, and it has 12GB of RAM, and either 256 or 512GB of storage. Samsung didn’t increase the battery size for 2025, leaving it at 4,900mAh, although a more efficient chipset has resulted in better battery life. It’s thin and lightweight, at just 7.3mm and 190g, respectively.