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How important is battery consumption due to media playback?
Avoiding unnecessary battery consumption is an important aspect of developing a
performant Android app. Media playback can be a major cause of battery drain,
however its importance for a particular app heavily depends on its usage
patterns. If an app is only used to play small amounts of media each day, then
the corresponding battery consumption will only be a small percentage of the
total consumption of the device. In such cases, it makes sense to prioritize
feature set and reliability over optimizing for battery when selecting which
player to use. On the other hand, if an app is often used to play large amounts
of media each day, then optimizing for battery consumption should be weighted
more heavily when choosing between a number of viable options.
How power efficient is ExoPlayer?
The diverse nature of the Android device and media content ecosystems means that
it's difficult to make widely applicable statements about ExoPlayer's battery
consumption. Performance varies by hardware, Android version, and the media
being played. Hence the following information should be treated as guidance
only.
Video playback
For video playback, the display and decoding of the video stream account for
most of the power consumed during playback.
Choosing between SurfaceView and TextureView for output can have a
significant impact on power consumption. SurfaceView is more power efficient,
with TextureView increasing total power draw during video playback by as much
as 30% on some devices. SurfaceView should therefore be preferred where
possible. Read more about choosing between SurfaceView and TextureViewon the Surface page.
On some TVs, using video tunneling may provide a more efficient path for
high-resolution video playback where the regular playback path is not performant
enough for smooth playback.
Audio playback
For short audio playbacks or playbacks when the screen is on, audio does not
have a significant impact on power.
For long playbacks with the screen off, it's possible to save power by using
ExoPlayer's audio offload mode. See the track selection guide for more
details on how to enable it.
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License. Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-06-11 UTC.
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