Connect your phone to a charger while you play without worrying about heat
A week has passed since Samsung announced the Galaxy S23 series, and all three models already look like strong contenders for a spot in our pick of the best Android phones. With a bloated Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip under the hood, these phones were already equipped to handle demanding Android games. And now we find out about some software enhancements that allow Galaxy S23 phones to make the most of that cutting-edge silicon – without cooking your battery in the process.
Samsung’s Game Booster utility includes a supposedly small setting called “Pause USB Power Delivery”, spotted by NL Tech (via SamMobile). The idea here is to completely bypass the battery of the phone when you have it plugged in via USB. It’s a mode we’ve seen on performance-focused gaming phones in the past, like the Asus ROG Phone 5 and ROG Phone 6 – these even had dedicated charging ports.
The feature has a triple benefit. First, your battery won’t degrade as quickly as when subjected to rapid charge-discharge cycles from heavy use. Your smartphone’s processor will have additional thermal headroom to ensure continuous high performance without thermal throttling, as the battery does not heat up due to the load. And finally, the charging bypass option also (mostly) helps you maintain your state of charge as power is drawn from the wall outlet instead. The S23 consumes 6W of power with the feature on, but requires 17W when charging the battery.
For power users, this feature could make a big difference to health and long-term battery life. So far it seems limited to the Galaxy S23 series, and it remains to be seen if Samsung is interested and able to bring the mode to existing hardware.
