Nothing Phone (1 & 2) 'AOD' screen refresh rate staying at 120Hz causing battery drain for some

Multiple Nothing Phone 1 and Phone 2 owners have been facing an issue where the 120Hz ‘AOD’ screen refresh rate is causing a major battery drain.

Like any other modern smartphone, both phones feature an Always-On Display (AOD) to alert users about new messages, missed calls, and notifications.

However, it seems having AOD enabled locks the screen refresh rate at 120Hz, causing faster battery drain.

Nowadays, most smartphone screens that support a refresh rate of up to 120Hz incorporate technology that brings it down to under 10Hz during periods of inactivity.

Notably, this happens when the screen is off or when AOD mode is activated. And this strategic reduction in refresh rate helps reduce power consumption and extend the battery life.

However, several Nothing Phone 1 and Phone 2 owners (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10) are disappointed as they are experiencing excessive battery drain due to AOD.

It seems that Nothing Phones lack this technology. As a result, the refresh rate remains fixed at 120Hz even when AOD turns on. And this is undeniably disappointing for those whose battery life is affected.

Users claim that their device’s battery lasts for about 4.5 to 6 hours with moderate usage. While others argue that they barely get a battery backup of two to three hours with the feature enabled.

I enabled the show refresh rate in the developer options and noticed that the refresh rate stayed at 120hz even in the AOD. Instagram, reddit apps run on 90hz which is okay but shouldn’t the refresh rate go to 1hz on AOD. I’ve never seen it go to 1hz on my phone.
Source

This is quite concerning for those using the phone as their daily driver and have to charge it about three to four times during the day.

On the other hand, some people have also noted that AOD automatically idles at 60Hz after some time. But when some sort of motion is detected, it goes back to the 120Hz refresh rate.

People are surprised that this is happening on the Nothing Phone 2 with LTPO as well.

Previously I used to get around 6hr of SOT on 120Hz, wifi or 4G and with AOD on and now I barely lasts around 4-4:30 hrs only.
Source

Interestingly, some have observed that the refresh rate on the phone’s home screen never goes below 120Hz as well. A few even claim that they don’t use the feature to avoid reducing their phone’s battery life.

Unfortunately, NOTHING has not officially responded on the matter. But we are hopeful that it will address this concern soon.

In the meantime, we will keep monitoring this issue and update this story to reflect the latest developments.

Note: We have more such stories in our News section, so be sure to follow them as well.

Featured image source: Nothing Phone 2.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.