Canaltech’s Galaxy Z Flip 7 comparisons found higher power use on 5G during some activities, but results varied with signal strength, network design and how the phone was used.
Tests by Canaltech suggest that 5G can place a heavier load on a phone’s battery than 4G, but the size of the difference depends on the radio conditions, the device and the task being performed. In a series of side-by-side comparisons on a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, the publication kept brightness, apps and activity patterns constant to isolate the effect of the network. The result was not a universal rule so much as a reminder that battery life on mobile data is shaped by how efficiently the handset can hold a connection and how long it must stay active to move data.
Under strong coverage, Canaltech found that the phone consumed about 30 per cent more energy on 5G than on 4G during roughly an hour of video playback and large file downloads. That does not mean the faster network is always less efficient. Research from Princeton shows that energy use rises and falls with the type of activity: short, intermittent requests can keep the radio awake for longer on 5G, while sustained downloads can sometimes make better use of the higher data rate and reduce energy per bit. In other words, speed can help, but only if the task actually takes advantage of it.
The gap becomes more pronounced in continuous use. In a second test combining Spotify playback with Netflix streaming, Canaltech recorded battery use of 24 per cent on 5G against 15 per cent on 4G, a difference of nine percentage points. The publication said that coverage, modem design, carrier implementation and network configuration all influence the outcome, which is consistent with Samsung’s guidance that some 5G arrangements require the phone to stay connected to more than one network at once, increasing power draw and heat. Huawei gives a similar explanation, noting that weak signal conditions and high-data services such as video streaming can push consumption higher.
The practical conclusion is more measured than the headline numbers suggest. Turning off 5G may help in places where signal is unstable or when the phone is only being used for light tasks such as messaging and quick web checks. But Canaltech’s tests indicate there is no fixed battery saving to be had simply by preferring 4G. Qualcomm’s field study reinforces that point: 5G can be more efficient in some strong-signal scenarios, less efficient in others, and the handset itself may also draw extra power when it is merely detecting a 5G network. For most users, the better approach is to treat 5G as a situational trade-off rather than an automatic drain.
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