Not happy with One UI7 update, rapid battery drain, and extra tiny indicator icons

[Xnibblet]

The new changes in One UI 7 are horrible. First, the icons are incredibly tiny, which will trouble anybody with visual problems. The battery icon is useless now since I can't see the number indicating how fast this update drains my battery. Second, the update drains the battery much more quickly than any update before. Why do I have to charge my phone twice daily for it to be usable during the day? 

How can I go back to the previous update?  This one is not user-friendly or device-friendly.

[Star_girl]

Which phone have you got? I believe the contrast between grey, black and darker grey is not very visible for some people. I have no problem seeing the battery as it is. Should be allowed customisation.

[Dave1967]

S23 ultra which, I was totally happy with until UI7. And I was waiting to buy an S26 ultra when released. Now that decision has changed big time if I get Ui7 on it.

[Dave1967]

You've nailed it Star Girl, the black on grey is awful 😖

[Dave1967]

Interesting, looking at the Sony Xperia 1 VI reviews I see many people saying they haven't owned a Sony for years but have returned. I wonder why 😆 🤣 2 day battery is so tempting.. As for AI, keep it in AI apps, don't integrate it into a phone. It'll only get used to spy on us and send us more adverts ! Think about it people.

[Star_girl]

Yes but S23 Ultra is an older phone, the hardware is designed for UI7 and Android 15 on the S25 Ultra and it's a different story. S23 Ultra is still a very potent phone, if you can't do it yourself, you can take it to a certified phone shop and ask the operator to wipe the cache partition for you and download a few apps such as the Good Guardians and to show you how to use Device Care to improve your phone performance. I have S24 Ultra, which is the sibling of S23 Ultra and my phone improved overall after the update.

The AI is supposed to help optimise battery life not drain it, so I believe it's other apps drainig the battery on your phone, also the latest software since the S24 Ultra is coming with a learning timeline that it up to 14 days, that is to learn your usage pattern such as which apps you are using the most and the peak time of your day when you are using your phone the most and when you don't use it as much, to give you the most battery life.

[Dave1967]

I'm a tech geek of the highest order, I can clear the cache and see if it helps with the battery life, but,. my biggest issue is I just don't like the UI any more. I indeed have lots of personal and work apps running and I'm sure a new phone would fix the battery life, especially because the cpu wouldn't be working so hard to run the new UI. I need to give this some thought and go trial some other vendor devices I think. I may dislike them even more lol you never know. If it wasn't for the security issues I would wipe the phone and USB load the old UI and disable updates. But I can't root it as the work apps partition wouldn't be happy. I've been avoiding carrying a works iPhone as two phones is such a pain. I think it just comes down to it's a shame the good days of UI6 are gone, they'll be missed. Maybe if I offered Samsung subscription fees they would security patch UI6 and let me avoid this. It's rattled me enough that I'm reading reviews of Sony phones, something I've never considered before. A sad day in many ways. I was looking forward to buying a new S26 ultra on release day, that idea is in the bin now.

[Dave1967]

Asus Rog 9 is on my shortlist, too. Just watching videos on its UI implementation. I'm in the market for 2 new flagship phones, a 75 inch plus TV, a 50 inch TV and a 43 inch TV, fortunately this has aligned with refresh time in my house. I need good smart home support as my house is a mix of smart things, smart life, Google home, govee and philips Hue, but I don't think any of the above ties me into the Samsung eco system. Fortunately, I'm not a Dex user. The Asus appears to be all the Samsung hardware I love but without their UI 😍

[Star_girl]

Sounds interesting. Would love to hear more. Sorry you are leaving Samsung though.

[Dave1967]

I'm going to give it a little while and see if sales figures change their strategy, but I'll keep you updated on what I find out.

[Dave1967]

Anyone got any updates on the release date for the s26 ultra ? I'm not giving up on Samsung this easily. @samsung I'm sure you're listening, please, please fix the issues. Make the battery level so I can read it. Drop the swipe down top left and top right and bring back the pull down menu the way it was ( which was a lot better ), fix smart view that doesn't seem to work any more. And can we have a big on off button for all AI functionality outside of the camera App please ?