Here’s the ‘secret’ behind the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s improved battery life

The Galaxy S21 Ultra's display uses 16% less power than Samsung's previous-generation AMOLED panels.

What you need to know

• Samsung has revealed more details about the Galaxy S21 Ultra's energy-efficient 120Hz AMOLED panel.
• The company claims the panel consumes 16% less power than the previous generation, while being a lot brighter.
• In the coming months, the tech is likely to make its way to more flagship phones from Samsung and other manufacturers.

When it announced the Galaxy S21 series phones earlier this month, Samsung claimed that the Galaxy S21 Ultra has its most intelligent and brightest screen yet. Unlike the Galaxy S20 Ultra, the Galaxy S21 Ultra's Dynamic AMOLED panel can adjust the refresh rate from 10Hz to 120Hz depending on the content you're watching. In a post on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, Samsung has now shared more details about the new power-efficient OLED panel on its best Android phone of 2021 (via GSMArena).

Samsung says the Galaxy S21 Ultra's OLED display consumes 16% less power compared to its previous generation panels. Not only does it have higher power efficiency, but it is also much brighter. Samsung claims the panel has a peak brightness of 1,500 nits, which is 25% higher than the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The company was able to achieve the higher peak brightness by creating a new material that allows the moving speed of the electrons across the organic layer of the screen to be increased.

While Galaxy S21 Ultra is currently the only smartphone that uses Samsung's latest-generation power-efficient OLED screen, you can expect to see similar panels in other flagship smartphones later this year.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

$1,200 at Samsung $1,200 at Amazon $1,200 at Best Buy

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is an impressive upgrade over last year's Galaxy S20 Ultra in quite a few areas, and also happens to be slightly more affordable. It comes with a much-improved fingerprint sensor, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 processor, four highly capable cameras, and a stunning 120Hz Quad HD+ display.