Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25 Ultra owners say a recent software patch is draining their batteries and heating their phones. The complaints surfaced this week across the Samsung Community forum and Reddit, days after Samsung rolled out its July 2026 Android security update. Affected users describe phones losing charge within hours and running noticeably warm during light use. Samsung has not issued a public statement, but the volume of reports suggests the problem is not isolated to a handful of devices.
What Galaxy S24 Owners Are Experiencing
Multiple Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra owners posted detailed accounts on the company’s official support forum describing three overlapping problems that arrived together. Their phones drain quickly whether the screen is on or off, they feel hot to the touch during simple tasks, and charging speeds have slowed noticeably compared to before the update. One user on the Samsung Community forum said their device now needs several hours to reach a full charge, a process that previously took far less time.
A separate Galaxy S25 Ultra owner reported losing roughly 80 percent of battery life between midnight and midday despite barely two hours of screen-on time. Others say their phones are shedding five to seven percent of battery charge per hour while sitting idle. That pattern points toward a background process consuming power even when the phone appears to be resting.
Timing Points To The July Security Patch
The reports began almost immediately after the July 2026 security update reached Galaxy S series devices. Several posters on Samsung’s forums specifically referenced installing the patch shortly before symptoms appeared. This timing has led many owners to suspect the update itself, rather than aging hardware, as the likely trigger. This isn’t the first time a Samsung Galaxy S24 software rollout has drawn complaints from owners. Battery concerns have surfaced after previous updates too, though this round appears to affect a wider group of users across different regions, carriers, and unlocked device variants.
Read more: Samsung Galaxy S26
Which Devices Are Affected
Reports are not limited to a single model. Based on forum threads and social media posts, the following devices have generated the most complaints:
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, in a smaller number of cases
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Ultra appear most frequently in these reports, based on forum activity reviewed this week. Standard Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus models have not shown the same volume of complaints so far, though a smaller number of isolated reports do exist for those variants.
Why This Matters For Users
Battery performance is one of the most visible measures of a smartphone’s health, and unexpected drain can disrupt daily routines for anyone who relies on their phone throughout the day. For Samsung Galaxy S24 owners who purchased their device shortly after launch, sudden overheating raises additional concerns about long-term battery degradation and overall device longevity. Repeated heat exposure can accelerate wear on lithium-ion batteries over time. The throttled charging speeds reported by some users add a second layer of inconvenience. A phone that already loses charge faster than normal becomes harder to manage if it also takes longer to refill. That combination is pushing frustrated owners to search for workarounds while they wait for an official response.
What Samsung Has Said So Far
As of this week, Samsung has not publicly acknowledged the battery and overheating reports tied to the July update. The company typically reviews forum activity and diagnostic data before confirming a known issue, and a fix, when it arrives, usually comes through a follow-up software patch rather than a public statement alone.
Read more: Fold 8 Launch Confirmed Samsung
Possible Fixes Users Are Trying
While waiting for an official response, some Samsung Galaxy S24 owners have already tested a handful of basic troubleshooting steps with mixed results:
- Restarting the device to clear temporary background processes
- Checking battery usage settings for apps consuming unusual amounts of power
- Clearing the system cache partition through recovery mode
- Avoiding wireless charging temporarily, since it generates more heat than wired charging
Samsung has confirmed none of these steps as an official solution, and some users report symptoms returning even after trying them.
What Comes Next
Samsung’s next scheduled security update, expected in August 2026, is the most likely opportunity for a fix if the company confirms a software cause. Owners experiencing severe symptoms can report their device details, including One UI version and security patch level, directly through the Samsung Members app to help the company track the scope of the issue. Anyone weighing whether to install the July patch on an unaffected Samsung Galaxy S24 may want to monitor forum activity a little longer before updating, particularly if their device is otherwise running normally right now.
