Smartphones in general are not known for their amazing battery life while under heavy use, but that doesn't mean there is nothing you can do to extend the use of your device between charges. There are several easy things you can do to decrease the amount of energy your device uses, and a few charging tips that can increase the total life of your battery. First though, a little about batteries.
Rechargeable Batteries
I'll try not to bore you with too many technical details, but understanding how a rechargeable battery works is important if you want to increase the total life expectancy of the battery. All rechargeable batteries have a life expectancy, a maximum number of full discharges and recharges (or 1 lifecycle) before it stops holding a charge and needs to be replaced.
The iPhone battery for instance, has been known to lose 20% of it's maximum energy capacity after 300-400 life cycles. This means, after 400 full discharge and recharges, you are only running on 80% of the battery's total energy capacity. Before you freak out and think "OMG! My battery will already be weaker after only a year?!", you need to remember that we are talking 400 TOTAL discharges and recharges. 100% to 0% then back to 100% again. This doesn't happen every day, unless you are really heavily using your device.
Since most of us plug our device in when we go to bed or when we are in the car, we don't always fully deplete the battery. The less the battery is discharged before we charge it again, the more life cycles a battery can survive before losing total capacity. In fact, charging your device before it drops below ~80% doesn't even count as a life cycle, continuously doing so can greatly increase the total life of the battery.
There is one exception to the rule: Roughly once a month, it is a good idea to totally drain the battery and then recharge the device. This deep cycle charge is very good for the chemical process of a lithium battery, but shouldn't be done too often as it does use up a lifecycle.
Enough of the technical jargon, lets move on to the things you can do to decrease your energy usage.
Energy Saving Tips
- Turn off your Wifi adapter when you are away from wireless internet, otherwise it will still search for wireless signals even if you aren't actively using data. (However, using wifi when it's available DOES use less energy then pulling data from your cellular provider)
- Turn down your screen brightness. Not surprisingly, the screen uses more energy then any other component.
- Push notifications from multiple applications can rob your battery while your not even using the device. Turning them off can definitely help.
- Check your email applications and see how often they are set to fetch mail from their servers. You can always manually fetch data at anytime anyways, why not save some battery power while it's in your pocket during a meeting?
- Minimize the amount of streaming video usage or playing graphically intense games on the device.
- Don't leave your device in extreme temperature for any extended period of time, as heat and cold alike can greatly reduce a battery's capacity. It can also damage the battery physically.
- If you are going to store your device, make sure it is at least 50% charged.
- Turn off your Wifi adapter when you are away from wireless internet, otherwise it will still search for wireless signals even if you aren't actively using data. (However, using wifi when it's available DOES use less energy then pulling data from your cellular provider)
- Turn down your screen brightness. Not surprisingly, the screen uses more energy then any other component.
- Push notifications from multiple applications can rob your battery while your not even using the device. Turning them off can definitely help.
- Check your email applications and see how often they are set to fetch mail from their servers. You can always manually fetch data at anytime anyways, why not save some battery power while it's in your pocket during a meeting?
- Minimize the amount of streaming video usage or playing graphically intense games on the device.
- Don't leave your device in extreme temperature for any extended period of time, as heat and cold alike can greatly reduce a battery's capacity. It can also damage the battery physically.
- If you are going to store your device, make sure it is at least 50% charged.
One last thing to think about. Eventually rechargeable batteries do go bad, or become weak enough that the battery barely lasts through the day. Most smartphone batteries can be replaced, and it really doesn't break the bank to do it. If your device seems to die far sooner then it used to, maybe it's time to get in touch with a reputable repair company.
Thanks for reading!
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