How to use Samsung Bypass Charging Feature to Prevent Overheating When Gaming

Smartphone games have become resource-intensive, and the longer you play, the more you may experience your phone overheating. It becomes more evident when you are playing games while charging your phone. Not only is it bad for the battery’s health, but it may also result in accidents. Overheating can also lead to game lag and a drop in your phone’s performance and battery life. But if you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, then you would be glad to know that there is a bypass charging feature that allows the phone to draw power directly from the charger instead of charging. In this way, the temperature of your phone remains in check during intense gaming sessions.

In this guide, we will share the steps to enable the Samsung bypass charging feature. This is a hidden feature and will allow you to continue gaming for long hours without worrying about damaging your phone. Let’s jump right into it.

What is Samsung’s bypass charging feature?

According to Samsung, “The ‘Pause USB PD charging when gaming’ feature directs power directly from a Power Delivery (PD) charger to the phone’s system during gaming, bypassing the battery. This minimizes physical battery charging, reducing performance degradation and prolonging battery lifespan in high-temperature conditions.”

The bypass charging feature isn’t a new technology and has been included in Sony and Asus phones. Google Pixel phones also come with the bypass charging feature, where the phone is first charged to 80%, and then the phone is powered directly through the adapter. This helps keep the battery level maintained at 80%, whether you are using the phone or it is sitting idle. Samsung follows a slightly different approach for the bypass charging feature.

Notably, the Samsung bypass charging feature can be used only when you are gaming on your Galaxy phone. The good thing is that it doesn’t require your Samsung Galaxy phone to be charged to a certain level to be enabled. However, your phone should have at least 20% battery. Otherwise, the phone will prioritize charging over your gaming session.

Also, note that you require a supported 25W or above PD charger to use the feature. Additionally, not all Samsung Galaxy phones support the bypass charging feature. Only the below list of devices supports the feature:

• Galaxy S24 series
  • Galaxy S24
  • Galaxy S24+
  • Galaxy S24 Ultra
• Galaxy S23 series
  • Galaxy S23
  • Galaxy S23+
  • Galaxy S23 Ultra
• Galaxy S22 series
  • Galaxy S22
  • Galaxy S22+
  • Galaxy S22 Ultra
• Galaxy Z Fold 5
• Galaxy Z Fold 4
• Galaxy Z Fold 3
• Galaxy Z Fold 2
• Galaxy Z Flip 5
• Galaxy A73 5G
• Galaxy A33 5G
• Galaxy Tab S8 series
  • Galaxy Tab S8
  • Galaxy Tab S8+
  • Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra

How to enable the Samsung bypass charging feature?

1. Launch Gaming Hub on your phone from the app drawer. If the icon is not available, you need to enable it from Settings > Advanced features and toggle on the Gaming Hub option.
2. Tap on the 3-dot menu icon on the top-right corner.
3. Select Game Booster.
4. Scroll down and toggle on the Pause USB PD charging when gaming option. Make sure your phone is plugged in to charge because otherwise, the option will stay grayed out.

Now, whenever you play games on your Samsung phone, the charging will neither increase nor decrease and will remain constant. You may receive a toast message confirming that bypass charging is activated.

What to do if the bypass charging feature isn’t working?

There are a few things to keep in mind that will help you resolve if the bypass charging feature isn’t working:

• Ensure you are using Samsung’s official PD charger, which is 25W or above.
• The feature is available only on supported models. Check before you head over to enable the feature.
• This feature works only when playing games and will not work with apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.
• Your phone should have at least a 20% battery charge to enable the feature.
• Ensure the Fast Charging feature is enabled. You can check it by heading over to Settings > Battery and Device Care> Battery > Charging > Fast charging.

Final thoughts

The bypass charging feature not only protects your phone from overheating but also protects your battery. There are a few other ways you can keep your phone cool. You can avoid longer gaming sessions, not keep your phone plugged into charging for long, not expose your phone to the sun for long, and use a cooling pad or a fan to blow out the steam.