Samsung Galaxy S23 and S22 owners have been hit with both as users have been experiencing faulty hardware and software lately.
On social media platforms and even on the company’s own social forums (opens in a new tab)these are posts showing some bubble defect appearing in the bottom corners Galaxy S23 Ultra. The location is different for each device: some have while on the left others have it on the right (opens in a new tab).
The good news is that this is purely a cosmetic thing as no one has reported any performance issues so far (unlike the last flaw of camera stabilization). However, considering the S23 Ultra costs over $1,200, you can’t blame people for being a little offended. The company is well aware of this because, among other things, Samsung’s official UK Twitter (opens in a new tab) told the affected user that the bubble is more of a feature, not a bug.
Apparently, if you shine a strong enough light on the S23 Ultra’s display, “some parts appear to be squashed.” The squashed appearance is reportedly a consequence of Samsung’s stamping process during production, when the company adds “waterproof and dustproof” to the phone’s screen. Apart from the bubble, everything seems fine.
Affected owners are still annoyed by this flaw. Samsung UK Twitter seems to be reaching out and trying to help people with bubble screen. So at least the company is aware of the flaw.
Battery drain
The same cannot be said for the One UI 5.1 update that was recently rolled out to older Galaxy phones like the S22 and S21.
The patch was only supposed to introduce new features and increase the performance of the device. However, some people report a sharp increase in battery consumption on their phones after the patch. User on European Samsung Community Forums (opens in a new tab)posted a picture of a sudden power outage. They claimed that the battery in their S22 Ultra drained completely after about seven hours of moderate use. Further claims (opens in a new tab) that due to a problem they are forced to charge their device by the middle of the day.
However, there is debate about what exactly causes battery drain. According to the GSMArena report (opens in a new tab), the drain may be the result of the One UI 5.1 update forcing Galaxy phones to go into maximum performance mode or some compatibility issue with the Samsung keyboard. If the latter, the official support pages suggest clearing the keyboard cache and restarting the phone.
We have reached out to Samsung to see if they are aware of the battery drain and are working on a fix. So far, the company has not released any official statements regarding the One UI 5.1 patch. Additionally, we asked what it would do for users suffering from the bubble defect, such as replacing the screen. This story will be updated if we get a response.
Now that we have you, be sure to check it out TechRadar’s list of the best Galaxy phones for 2023 – so far.