Smartphone Battery Life – Intro

I remember my old Nokia phone. It was a phone, not a smartphone, just a phone. It’s battery lasted a week. When I had to recharge it I had to clean the dust that settled on the charger before. My first smartphone was also a Nokia. Not a smartphone if we compare it to what a smartphone is today but still a smartphone. Battery lasted from three to four days and I was happy with it. Recently I got an Android smartphone, much “smarter” that my old Nokia, and much much more power hungry. I have to recharge it almost every night. I know some friends that recharge their phone twice a day but I’m not that kind of heavy user. Don’t play mobile games all the time, don’t stalk Facebook all day and still, I have to recharge almost every day. I did some research since I got my phone and gathered a list of tips to extend battery life. I want to share all the tips with you too. So, here they are.

Find out what is eating away the battery

The first step to save battery and extend the time between phone recharges is to find out what is consuming the battery in the first place. In recent Android versions you can find out the battery usage for each component and app by going to Settings>Device>Battery. Here you will find a list of battery eaters ordered by their battery consumption. Usually the first places are taken by the Android System and OS followed by the Display. This is something normal. The Operating System and the display are the power hogs. Any other app that is on top of the list with a high battery consumption should raise some questions. Maybe it is not working as intended or it was not developed well. If you find anything unusual think if you really need that app. Uninstalling some app that does nothing but consume power can prolong the time your phone is not connected to the charger.

You can also install an app that monitors power consumption and creates a list of the apps that use the battery. It has the same functionality as the classic list of battery consumers but often it has even more details. The app I am using, Watchdog Lite also has alerting capabilities. I am pretty happy with how it runs and what info it provides.

Reduce the brightness of the display

As I said earlier, the display is a battery eater. Reduce the brightness of the display and believe me, you will extend the life of the battery. I know that it may be hard to use the phone in the sun or in other conditions when a bright display helps but when you don`t need full brightness don`t forget to dim the display. Some phones even have an option to set it to automatic mode. This way, the phone will detect the lighting conditions from the surroundings and adjust the screen brightness automatically accordingly. Also by coupling automatic display brightness with the power saving mode available on some phones you will get more battery life. Also make sure that you set a shorter time on screen timeout. Android phones will automatically dim and turn of the display when not used. Don`t leave the display turned on for a long time while your phone sits idle. Set a lower timer on the auto display turn off timer.

Disable functions you don`t use all the time

Don`t leave phone functionality you rarely use turned on all the time. Disable GPS when not navigating, disable WiFi or Mobile Data when not browsing the internet. If you keep the GPS or data connections on all the time your battery will drain faster. Bluetooth and Auto-Sync enter this category too. Disable everything you don`t need and only turn it on when you really need it. This may sound common sense but many smartphone users just leave this features turned on regardless of their need.

WiFi requires less power

When you browse the internet or check your Facebook, Twitter or do any other actions that require a data connection please keep in mind the following. Mobile Data eats away more battery life then wireless. WiFi connection speeds are better, you spend less time accomplishing your online actions and drain less battery. It also has to do with signal strength. A stronger WiFi signal consumes less power from your phone then the weaker mobile carrier signal.

Fancy stuff eats battery life away

I know a live wallpaper is something that makes your phone look more fancy but by not using one you actually save power. All the fancy widgets and gizmos consume power. Also, you can disable vibration and sound on touch. You can happily use your phone even if it does not vibrate or make sounds every time you touch it. You will reduce power consumption by not using all the stuff mentioned above and your phone will be fully functional without live wallpapers and all the noise it makes when touched.

Use the power saving option

The name of this setting tell all about it. Enable power saving when you don`t need power. This setting will dim the display, disable mobile data when your screen is asleep and limits CPU use. I usually have power saving enabled all the time. When I need some power for a game or any other app that requires performance I disable the power saving option. Keep it turned on all the time and your battery life will extend considerably.

Root your phone

I don`t recommend this option to everybody. You need some degree of technical knowledge to accomplish this but it is worth it. The rooting itself does not save power by default. You save power by using the extended actions a rooted phone gives you. On a rooted phone you can uninstall all the unnecessary apps and background tasks that came with your phone. On a rooted phone you can uninstall all the bloatware that comes from your carrier and all OEM apps that just stand there and consume power. Also a rooted phone allows CPU under-clocking. A slower CPU will consume less power. Remember, root your phone at your own risk. Don`t root it if you don`t know what rooting is about or your phone is still under warranty.

Don`t use task killers

Just don’t use any app that claims it saves battery life by killing apps and freeing the RAM. Read my previous article on why task killing apps are bad. You can find the article here: Android task managers – To kill or not to kill

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