I turned off 2G on my Galaxy S24 Ultra for a pretty mundane reason. My carrier already gives me newer network coverage everywhere I normally go, and keeping a decades-old cellular standard enabled didn’t seem especially useful, especially with the security baggage attached to it. Then I started paying attention to my battery at the end of the day.

After disabling 2G, I was getting to bedtime with noticeably more charge during the same kind of everyday use I’d already settled into. I hadn’t touched my 5G settings, started obsessively killing background apps, or changed how I used the phone. Disabling 2G was the only network setting I’d deliberately changed, and there’s a plausible technical reason it may have helped.

I gave my modem one less network to chase

The setting took seconds and barely changed how I use my phone

On my Galaxy S24 Ultra, the 2G toggle sits just far enough down in Settings that I’d ignored it for ages.

• Open Settings.
• Tap Connections, then Mobile networks.
• Find Allow 2G service and switch it off.

The exact options can vary by carrier and network, so some Galaxy phones may not show the toggle at all.

Pixel phones have a similar control called 2G network protection. On supported Pixels, you’ll find it under Settings > Network & internet > SIMs > your carrier > 2G network protection.

Some Android phones that don’t expose a dedicated 2G switch may have another option buried in Android’s testing menu. Typing *#*#4636#*#* into the Phone app can open Phone information, where Set preferred network type lets you choose which cellular technologies the modem can use.

The exact options vary by phone, and some manufacturers disable this menu entirely. If it’s available, a configuration that leaves out GSM removes 2G from the mix. NR/LTE/WCDMA, for example, keeps 5G, 4G, and 3G while excluding GSM. LTE/WCDMA also excludes 2G but drops 5G, while LTE only restricts the phone even further.

I’d treat this as a fallback rather than the preferred method. Write down the original network mode before changing anything, and switch it back if calls, texts, or mobile data stop working. I also wouldn’t use it somewhere that regularly falls back to 2G, since that may be the only coverage available there.

After changing the setting, you may spend another thirty seconds checking that calls, texts, and mobile data still work with Wi-Fi turned off. If everything behaves normally, your day-to-day service probably isn’t depending on 2G anyway.

The setting works lower down at the cellular radio level. With 2G disabled, Android prevents the phone from scanning for and connecting to 2G networks during normal use. I left my 5G and LTE preferences exactly as they were, so the phone could still use the networks I depend on every day. My colleague forced their phone to use LTE instead of 5G to squeeze out more battery under certain conditions, but that wasn’t part of my test.

Weak coverage is where the battery difference makes sense

Patchy service keeps the radio busier than a strong signal does

Cellular radios have an easier time when the phone sits under a strong, stable signal. When you move through weak or inconsistent coverage, the modem has to work harder to maintain service, search for available cells, and recover when the current connection drops. Poor reception is also one reason your phone can lose battery overnight even when you’re barely using it. Samsung itself lists poor or overlapping cellular coverage as one condition that can increase battery consumption.

That lines up pretty closely with how I use my phone. I spend plenty of time away from Wi-Fi and move through areas where the signal can jump from solid 5G to LTE and then fall off a cliff during the same trip. With 2G enabled, the modem had one more network family to choose from while figuring out where to connect.

I wouldn’t expect the same result from every phone. Someone who spends all day under excellent LTE or 5G coverage might make the same change and notice almost no difference. Their phone may rarely need to look beyond its preferred network in the first place. Coverage, carrier configuration, available bands, roaming, and the phone itself can all influence whether disabling 2G makes a noticeable difference.

My own result wasn’t a controlled battery benchmark either. I didn’t repeat identical routes with matching screen time, temperatures, signal strength, and app activity for several days, so I wouldn’t attach a tidy percentage to the improvement. The difference was simply large enough during normal use that I noticed it without going looking for one.

That also means I wouldn’t blame 2G itself for being inherently power-hungry. The more plausible explanation is narrower than that. My phone no longer spends normal operation scanning for or connecting to a network generation I don’t rely on, and that seems to have helped most when coverage was already inconsistent.

The security reason is even easier to defend

2G has picked up a lot of baggage over the years

Battery life wasn’t why Android gained a way to disable 2G in the first place. There’s also a solid case for disabling 2G as an Android security upgrade even if battery life never changes.

The standard was designed long before several protections used by newer cellular networks. In particular, 2G lacks mutual authentication between the phone and network, which leaves room for rogue base stations to impersonate legitimate cellular infrastructure.

That can be used in downgrade attacks. A false base station may try to push a compatible phone away from 4G or 5G and onto 2G, where older security mechanisms make certain attacks easier. Google has also documented malicious base stations being used to deliver fraudulent SMS messages through weaknesses in older cellular technology. Blocking normal 2G connections closes off that route because the phone won’t ordinarily connect to a 2G network at all.

You’ll still want to remember where the switch is. Some parts of the world continue to depend on 2G, and certain roaming arrangements may still expect a phone to fall back to it. If you travel somewhere and normal cellular service disappears, re-enabling 2G is worth trying before assuming something has gone wrong with your SIM or phone.

Emergency calling is handled separately, so disabling normal 2G service doesn’t prevent Android from using a 2G network for an emergency call when necessary.

Mine is staying off

For the way I use my phone, the tradeoff is easy. LTE and 5G already cover my normal service, and I haven’t run into any connectivity problems since disabling 2G.

The battery improvement was what made me pay attention to the setting, while the security benefit gives me a stronger reason to keep it disabled. If travel ever takes me somewhere that still depends on 2G, I know where to find the switch. Until then, I don’t have much reason to turn it back on.