I've been a Xiaohongshu user for years and yes, the app consumes more data and battery than other apps. It's because most of the content on Xiaohongshu is of higher quality resolution than the kind you'd see on Tiktok for instance.
It's better to only browse Xiaohongshu when you're on wifi so that it doesn't eat up all your data. Don't doom scroll or scroll endlessly for no reason but start utilizing its search function to go straight to what you want to see. The search function is where it learns how to show you the algo that you want instead of pushing other stuff to you. Plus it saves data and battery this way.
Or you can download the app to your desktop and use it on wifi. Some laptops even come with the Xiaohongshu app already installed in it like mine (Acer).
Or you can use the browser/web version (https://www.xiaohongshu.com/). <--- if you can't read Chinese and you're on Chrome, it should auto translate the web version of Xiaohongshu. If your Chrome fails to auto-translate, you can always add translation extensions to your Chrome to help you out.
Also, Idk how true this is but I've been told by a lot of my other friends who have also been on Xiaohongshu app for years that if you're on iPhone, it'll drain your battery more than if you're on... Samsung or Chinese brand phones for instance. I've always only buy Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo or Oppo phones and I've never used iPhones at all so I can't tell how true this is.