How to Fix Always-On Display Battery Drain on Your Phone

Published 2026-10-16 · Marion Phone Repair

Your phone's always-on display shows the time, notifications, and other information on the lock screen without waking the full display. It is convenient, but you have noticed your battery draining faster since you turned it on — or you are trying to figure out whether the always-on display is the reason your battery life has gotten worse. The truth is that always-on display does use battery, but the amount varies dramatically depending on your phone's screen technology, settings, and what you have configured to show on it.

How much battery does always-on display actually use

The battery impact of always-on display depends primarily on the screen type:

• OLED and AMOLED screens: These screens light up individual pixels. When the always-on display is active, only the pixels showing the clock, date, and notification icons are lit — the rest of the screen is truly off (black pixels use zero power on OLED). On a well-implemented OLED always-on display, battery usage is roughly 1 to 2 percent per hour, or about 5 to 12 percent over a full day
• LCD screens: LCD screens cannot turn off individual pixels. The entire backlight must be on for any content to be visible. Always-on display on an LCD phone uses significantly more battery because the full backlight runs continuously. Most LCD phones do not offer always-on display for this reason, but some do — and the battery drain is substantial

If your always-on display is draining more than about 10 to 15 percent per day, something else is likely contributing. The settings below can reduce the drain to its minimum.

Reduce what is displayed

Every element on the always-on display uses power — more pixels lit means more battery consumed:

Samsung

1. Settings, Lock Screen and AOD, Always On Display
2. Change the clock style to a simpler, smaller design. Large colorful clocks with animated elements use more power than a small white digital clock
3. Disable Show Music Information if you do not need it — album art displayed on the AOD lights up a large area of the screen
4. Notification icons: set to show icons only rather than detailed notification content. Fewer lit pixels equals less battery
5. Disable image or Bitmoji backgrounds if enabled — a background image on the AOD lights up large areas of the screen

Google Pixel

1. Settings, Display, Lock Screen
2. Choose a minimal clock layout — At a Glance with a simple clock uses less battery than a large stylized clock face
3. Reduce the information shown on the lock screen: weather, calendar events, and Now Playing all keep additional sensors and services active
4. Now Playing in particular uses the microphone intermittently to identify music, which adds battery usage beyond just the display

iPhone

1. Settings, Display and Brightness, Always On Display
2. Disable Show Wallpaper — this reduces the AOD to just the clock and widgets on a black background instead of showing a dimmed version of your wallpaper, which lights up many more pixels
3. Disable Show Notifications — notification previews on the AOD light up text that is not necessary when the phone is sitting on a desk
4. Use a simple watch face or widget layout that displays minimal information

Schedule the always-on display

The always-on display does not need to run 24 hours a day. If your phone is in your pocket, face-down on a desk, or you are asleep, the AOD is wasting battery showing information to nobody.

Samsung

• Settings, Lock Screen and AOD, Always On Display, set Show Always On Display to Show as Scheduled. Set a start and end time — for example, 7 AM to 11 PM
• Alternatively, set it to Show for New Notifications — the display only activates briefly when a notification arrives, then turns off. This uses significantly less battery than showing the clock continuously
• Tap to Show is another option — the AOD is off by default and only appears when you tap the screen. This uses the least battery while still having AOD available

Google Pixel

• Pixel phones automatically turn off the AOD when the phone detects it is in a pocket or bag (using the proximity sensor) or face-down (using the accelerometer). Make sure this behavior is working — if the AOD stays on in your pocket, the proximity sensor may be obstructed by a thick screen protector

iPhone

• iPhones with iOS 18 and later support scheduled Focus modes that can disable AOD. Create a Sleep Focus that disables always-on display during sleeping hours
• The iPhone also automatically disables AOD when it detects the phone is face-down or in a pocket. If this is not working, check that Raise to Wake is enabled in Display and Brightness settings, as the motion detection system for AOD relies on the same sensors

Battery optimization settings that help

Dark mode

If you use always-on display, dark mode makes a bigger difference than usual. On OLED screens, dark mode means fewer lit pixels across the entire interface, not just during AOD. The combination of dark mode and AOD keeps total screen power consumption lower.

Reduce AOD brightness

Some phones allow adjusting the brightness of the always-on display independently from the main screen brightness:

• Samsung: The AOD brightness adapts automatically based on ambient light. In very bright environments, the AOD brightens significantly and uses more power. If you can, position your phone face-down or in a pocket when in direct sunlight
• Pixel and iPhone: AOD brightness adjusts automatically. There is no manual override in most cases, but reducing the overall screen brightness in the main settings can influence the baseline AOD brightness

Limit notifications

Each notification that appears on the AOD lights up additional pixels and may also wake background processes that generated the notification. Reducing unnecessary notifications does double duty — less AOD display power and less background processing power:

• Disable notifications from apps that send frequent, non-essential alerts (games, shopping apps, social media)
• Use Do Not Disturb or Focus modes during times when you do not need to see notifications immediately

Check if AOD is actually the problem

Before blaming the always-on display for poor battery life, check whether something else is actually draining the battery:

Battery usage statistics

• Android: Settings, Battery, Battery Usage. Look at what percentage of battery each app and system feature has consumed. If AOD or the screen is not near the top of the list, the drain is coming from something else
• iPhone: Settings, Battery. The battery usage chart shows screen-on time and screen-off time, plus per-app consumption. If background apps are consuming more than the display, AOD is not your main problem

Common actual battery drains

• Poor cell signal: Your phone uses more power to maintain a cellular connection in areas with weak signal. This can drain 20 to 30 percent more battery per day and is often blamed on AOD because users do not realize signal strength affects battery
• Background app refresh: Apps running in the background can consume significant battery. Social media apps, email clients, and weather apps frequently refresh data. Check battery statistics to identify the worst offenders
• Location services: Apps constantly checking your GPS location drain battery. Review which apps have location access and restrict any that do not need it to While Using Only
• Old or degraded battery: If your phone is over 2 years old and battery life has gradually worsened, the battery itself may be degraded. Check battery health: iPhone shows this in Settings, Battery, Battery Health. Samsung shows it in Device Care, Diagnostics. A battery below 80 percent health holds significantly less charge regardless of AOD settings

Disable AOD entirely

If the battery savings matter more than the convenience, turning off AOD completely eliminates its power draw:

• Samsung: Settings, Lock Screen and AOD, Always On Display — toggle Off
• Pixel: Settings, Display, Lock Screen — disable Always Show Time and Info
• iPhone: Settings, Display and Brightness, Always On Display — toggle Off

You can still check the time by tapping the screen (which briefly wakes the lock screen) or by pressing the power button. The battery savings are typically 5 to 12 percent per day depending on the phone.

AOD battery help in Marion

If your phone's battery is draining too fast even after adjusting always-on display settings, Marion Phone Repair can run a full battery diagnostic to determine whether the problem is AOD, a background app, a degraded battery, or another hardware issue — and fix it.