When Samsung integrated Vulkan API support into their flagship devices in 2016, they promised revolutionary graphics performance, efficiency, and gaming experiences. Yet surprisingly, most Galaxy devices still default to the outdated OpenGL technology—a legacy rendering engine that drains battery faster and delivers inferior performance compared to Vulkan. While the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S23 series default to Vulkan on One UI 7, most are still defaulting to OpenGL including the S22 series, S21 series, and some foldable phones.

In 2016, Samsung introduced Vulkan API support to their flagship devices, promising a new era of enhanced graphics performance, efficiency, and gaming capabilities. However, despite the hardware readiness, most Galaxy devices continue to default to the older OpenGL technology — a legacy rendering engine that consumes more battery and falls short in performance compared to Vulkan. The biggest advantage of enabling Vulkan over OpenGL is instant performance gains and better battery life.