Samsung’s One UI 5.1 battery widgets look pretty familiar
Preorders are underway for theSamsung Galaxy S23 series, but a fair number of owners-to-be are still waiting eagerly for stuff they don’t know all about — just bits and pieces from all those leaks in the past months. One such detail coming fromOne UI 5.1should be a new battery widget, giving device owners a quick glance at the battery levels of all their connected devices, such as theirGalaxy Watch,Galaxy Buds, plus “other supported devices.” We’re now getting a first-hand glimpse at Samsung’s dual-pronged approach to this feature.
As you may see in our screenshots below, one of the battery widget variations on One UI 5.1 highlights information inside circles with each including a diagram of the device and the current battery level — it’s much like how iOS 16 performs the same function, but Apple chooses to display the percentage figure below the circle for better visibility.
We also get a good look at the settings page for Samsung’s widget with toggles for users to show or hide devices, adjust the background color, and to match your system’s light and dark mode settings.
The folks at TechDroider posted a side-by-side illustration of the Samsung and Apple battery widgets, providing a better idea about the similarities and differences between the two widgets.
Here, we see Samsung’s second format for the battery widget: a list with full-length meters for each gadget, similar tothe Android 12-native battery widget.
In addition to the battery indicator widget, One UI 5.1 also introduces a ton of new features, such as the ability to collaborate with other Galaxy device users on Samsung Notes contentduring a Google Meet call. That feature will be limited to the Galaxy S23 Ultra at launch, but Samsung is anticipating on spreading it to other devices in future updates.The company is currently taking preordersfor the new flagships until they are officially available starting February 16.
Last year’s flagships, such as the Galaxy S22 series as well as theGalaxy Z Fold 4and Flip 4, should get the One UI 5.1 update in the coming weeks, but there’s no fixed timeline to mark on our calendars just yet. Additionally, the manufacturer will likely roll out the update to some of its morepopular mid-range and budget handsets.
If you’re looking for the best of the best out of Android in 2023, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is it. It’s the only one in the S23 lineup to feature the company’s flagship 200MP ISOCELL HP2 camera sensor, the only one with a 5,000mAh battery, and the only one to push the storage envelope up to 1TB. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy should run fast and easily. Everything on that 6.8" Dynamic AMOLED 2x display (the only one in the series with adaptive refresh rates between 1 and 120Hz) should look smooth and beautiful. And who can forget about all the note-taking features and the added convenience the S Pen brings? This is Samsung’s all-out effort for the Galaxy S nameplate.
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The Galaxy S23 offers the best that Samsung has — from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset to a high-class camera system led by an impressive 50MP sensor — at just the right size with a vibrant and “palmable” 6.1-inch display. The phone also brings a larger battery than the S22’s, plus a sector-leading five years of monthly security updates. That’s all for the same price as last year.
The Galaxy S23+ is built to provide a top-notch Android experience in 2023 for those who like to live just a little larger. The 6.6" AMOLED display runs smooth, the 45W wired charging should allow for longer days with shorter breaks plugged in, and there’s also more room to run around with, thanks to the 256GB and 512GB options. Backed by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, it’s about as much phone as you can get right on that $1,000 mark.
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