4 Common Problems on Samsung Galaxy Phones (And How to Fix Them)

Samsung took the top spot in our ranking of the best big smartphone brands, with its Galaxy line standing tall against Apple and Google. However, like any tech giant, its products don’t come without problems.

Although Samsung has a reputation for making reliable phones that customers love – even going so far as to be considered the best Android phone brand in terms of customer satisfaction – a few weird software glitches and hardware constraints can still cause unwanted issues. For example, Samsung phones have become infamous for their dead battery after a major update. Some of these issues require the manufacturer to apply patches or perform proper optimization, so you can’t necessarily fix them yourself, but other quirks, like the moisture detected notification for older devices, may benefit from a few workarounds. Of course, if you discover new issues, it is recommended to use the Samsung Members app to report issues so that Samsung can collect data and provide advice where appropriate.

Battery drain after updating seems to plague many Samsung Galaxy users. Often this happens after the update is complete. You’ll see reports on Reddit, Samsung Community Forums, and YouTube about this after a major update. Part of the reason is that the update may not be optimized for all devices, but that’s not the only factor. Often, battery drain after updating can be because your device needs to recalibrate its power management options with the new software and, therefore, relearn your usage habits (this is how Adaptive Battery works and why it can extend the battery life of your Android phone).

Users recommend waiting a week to see if the battery drain persists, as this gives your phone enough time to repair itself. But as a safety precaution, it is recommended to be careful with third-party apps, as they are not always as well optimized or compatible with new software, which can cause your device to drain faster than it should. The best solution is to use these apps sparingly to reduce their background activity.

Moisture detection notification is a security feature built into Samsung devices with a water resistance rating of IP68 or higher. If water leaks into the USB port, a sensor sends an alert that moisture or foreign objects have been detected, and the notification will not clear until the port has been properly cleaned or dried.

This is one of the reported issues that has caused phones to fail to charge, and sometimes this alert still doesn’t go away after hours of drying – although this is usually not the case. If the notification persists and you think your port is dry, start by carefully examining the opening with a flashlight to make sure no water remains.

If you’re absolutely sure it’s a software issue, restarting your phone may fix the problem. Failing this, deactivate the fast charging option under Settings > Battery > Charging Settings > Fast Charge can help. Another method is to try clearing the phone’s USB settings cache under Settings > Applications > USB Settings > Clear Cache. If the USBSettings application does not appear, make sure Show system apps is activated under the Filter and sort options (the three horizontal lines with a down arrow) in the main list of applications. If none of this works, you may need to replace your charger and make sure that you are not charging your device in a humid environment.

You’ll mostly notice this in the quick panel or on your home screen, where the animation either doesn’t appear or lags noticeably. When this happens, it is usually attributed to a system bug after an update, cache filling, or a custom Good Lock theme using Theme Park that conflicts with the animations. The only potential solution is to clear your system cache by entering recovery mode and selecting Wipe cache partition (if you still have this option, since Samsung has removed some options from newer phones). To enter Recovery Mode, turn off your phone, then press and hold the Volume Up and Power buttons together until the Samsung logo appears.

For the Good Lock theme issue, try removing the custom theme and using a default option to see if the animation issues are resolved. Also check if any modules need to be updated. Samsung often offers a new Good Lock update to devices that have recently received a new version of One UI, as operating system updates may cause compatibility issues with some Good Lock modules.

Finally, sometimes it can be helpful to change the animation scales on your Samsung phone. To do this, you will need to activate the hidden “Developer Options” menu by going to Settings > About phone > Software informationthen pressing the Build number entered seven times in a row. Once enabled, select Developer options at the very bottom of your Settings app, then adjust the Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation ScaleAnd Facilitator Duration Scale choice. You’ll probably want to choose a lower value here. For example, if your default is 1x, change it to 0.5x.

Finally, we are faced with one of the worst problems that Galaxy users can face: it is a single vertical green line that appears on your screen. What makes this issue a bit strange is that there is no trigger or cause known to the user: you can simply wake your phone after a period of non-use and then notice that this line has appeared on your screen. It appears to be primarily a manufacturing defect on the OLED display where the line exposes a weak row of pixels. Over time, as the phone is used, charging, heat, pressure, and minor impacts can cause this line to appear. Unfortunately, this issue is also not device specific, as it has affected many different Galaxy OLED displays.

You might see this on older phones like the Galaxy S20 series, or even older generations of Z Fold and Z Flip devices. Unfortunately, the main long-term solution is to replace faulty hardware. Your best option is to contact Samsung to request a screen repair. Although India is the main region where Samsung has shown willingness to repair outside of warranty periods, you should always check if the company is willing to repair your affected device in your region.