The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a great foldable, but battery life has never really been its strong suit. Making matters worse, recent updates such as One UI 8.5 seem to have had a major impact on battery life.
In our Galaxy Z Fold 7 review last year, we found the battery life to be middling at best, with the 4,400 mAh battery able to make it through most days without a top-off. Inevitably, time was going to make that worse, and as a daily Galaxy Z Fold 7 owner myself, I can absolutely say that battery life has gotten worse over time.
But there’s something new going on lately.
I’ve personally noticed that my Galaxy Z Fold 7 has been absolutely racing through its battery as of late, even if the device is just on standby in my pocket, and it seems I’m not alone. Dozens of frustrated Galaxy Z Fold 7 owners concur on Reddit that, following the most recent updates such as One UI 8.5, battery life has hit a steep decline. Some say it feels as though the battery life has been cut in half, while others say they need to charge twice in one day. In my own personal use, I noticed just this weekend that the phone’s battery drained around 30% in just two hours, with the phone barely even being used in that time beyond streaming podcasts via wireless earbuds and connecting to my cars (wireless Android Auto) on and off while cleaning out the garage and washing vehicles. Certainly not the type of use I’d expect to see such a major drain from. The Fold was at under 30% by 5pm.
