Does dark mode save battery life?
Back in November 2018, Google already confirmed that it does on OLED-equipped devices, which didn't really come as much of a surprise. With iOS 13's Dark Mode already out, someone put it to the test to see how it compares with Light Mode on an iPhone.
Dark Mode vs. Light Mode
The YouTube channel PhoneBuff uploaded a video aptly titled "Dark Mode vs. Light Mode Battery Test" (posted below). As its name suggests, it shows just how much battery life users of iPhones with OLED screens can save when using Dark Mode instead of the default Light Mode.
It used an iPhone XS and a robot arm to conduct the test, doing everyday things on the device, such as using the apps Messages, Twitter, and Google Maps and watching videos on YouTube.
The iPhone XS on Dark Mode used up its battery at a significantly slower rate than the iPhone XS on Light Mode. Once the latter died, the former still had 30 percent of juice left to keep the lights on.
As mentioned earlier, users of OLED iPhones can reap the battery-saving benefits of Dark Mode, while those with LCD iPhones might not see much of a difference. For the record, the iPhone X, iPhone XS (the one used in the video), iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max have OLED screens, while the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 have LCD screens.
How To Enable iOS 13's Dark Mode
Tech Times has a guide on how to turn on Dark Mode in iOS 13, and it only takes a couple of steps to set things up.
Speaking of battery-centered features, iOS 13 also came with Optimized Battery Charging. While it doesn't exactly extend the battery life of an iPhone, it does keep battery degradation at bay. In other words, it helps keep the battery healthy so that it doesn't start draining too fast sooner than expected.
