By adopting virtuous behaviors it is possible increase the battery life of your mobile phone (in some cases even for a few hours), which is of vital importance for those who – due to their work or other circumstances – do not have easy access to a power socket with which to recharge their phone when necessary. Here, therefore, is a decalogue of actions to extend the life of your smartphone's battery.
- 11. Prefer Wi-Fi over cellular data connection
- 22. Deactivate Always-On Display
- 33. Use low-energy screen settings
- 44. Set dark theme to OLED display
- 55. Enable manufacturer optimization features
- 66. Use the device at the optimal temperature
- 77. Avoid apps that are too heavy
- 88. Turn off auto brightness
- 99. Activate energy saving
- 1010. Disable unnecessary connections
1. Prefer Wi-Fi over cellular data connection
Prefer Wi-Fi to cellular data connection it is one of the most important behaviors to make your cell phone battery last longer. This is because mobile data “eats” more battery than Wi-Fi.
If you are forced to use the cellular data connection, perhaps because you do not have a Wi-Fi network to connect to, it would be preferable to use the 4G-LTE connection rather than the 5G one, as it would drain the battery more quickly, at least according to an analysis made by experts at Ookla (the Seattle-based Internet diagnostic services company that became famous for its speedtest service).
2. Deactivate Always-On Display
An aspect not to be underestimated to optimize the autonomy of a smartphone with an OLED screen (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is tied to a function call Always-On Display, Always active screen or with other similar names depending on the smartphone manufacturer. This feature allows you to see some useful information (such as the time, weather conditions and upcoming calendar events) when your phone is locked.
Although this setting – if taken alone – can have a minimal impact on consumption, it still has an impact which, if added to that of other more or less useful functions, contributes to the phone running out of battery.
3. Use low-energy screen settings
Use low-energy screen settings it is another very important move to improve the charge life of our phone. This could involve different practices.
First of all, we recommend reduce screen activation time: in this way the display will not be kept active for an excessively long period of time, thus reducing the amount of energy required to function.
Another thing we recommend doing is lower the screen refresh rate. The latest generation smartphones have displays capable of reaching framerate very high, even of 120Hz. While on the one hand this guarantees extremely fluid animations which significantly increase visual comfort, on the other it has a significant impact on consumption.
Even if usually such a high frequency is not always kept active by the system (precisely to avoid causing a drop in autonomy), in emergency situations it could be a good thing to intervene “manually” on the display update frequency, keeping it at a acceptable level (60Hz they can be very good).
Also disable unnecessary graphic animations – including various transparencies and translucent effects – can help to have better autonomy, albeit at the expense of a less refined aesthetic appeal of the interface.
4. Set dark theme to OLED display
Related to the previous point, too set dark theme on OLED display it is another good practice to adopt to prolong the battery life of your smartphone. This is because in displays made with this technology, each pixel can be turned on and off without using a separate backlight system.
Translated into simple terms, by setting a total-black theme or background, the pixels will in fact be turned off and the display's energy consumption will plummet.
5. Enable manufacturer optimization features
Some Android smartphone manufacturers have created some proprietary battery optimization features which, if activated, reduce energy consumption, for example by “freezing” apps when not in use. An example of this is the Samsung function through which it is possible to put the app suspended.
If your device does not have an ad hoc function, you may see some improvements to make your cell phone's battery last longer by turning off background app updatesespecially those that you do not particularly need, so that they do not affect the consumption and performance of the device.
6. Use the device at the optimal temperature
The lithium batteries with which our smartphones are equipped have a optimal operating temperature which must be respected in order to function properly. As a general rule, you should use the device when there is a surrounding environment temperature between 0°C and 35°C.
If this range is not respected, cell phone batteries run down more quickly in the cold or can even be permanently damaged in the heat.
7. Avoid apps that are too heavy
The use of apps too heavy it significantly affects the battery life of the mobile phone. It is for this reason that, to improve the duration of the charge, you should absolutely avoid the use of apps that require a high energy expenditure.
This definition includes: app to take photos/videosthe photo or video editing app, games with complex graphics and, to a certain extent, also the apps of the main social networks.
In the section dedicated to battery performance available in the Android and iOS settings, it is possible to see which apps have consumed the most: knowing this data can be useful to “surgically” close those that are currently consuming the most energy.
8. Turn off auto brightness
Since the light emitted by the screen is one of the most impactful factors on battery life, turn off automatic brightnessperhaps by setting a 20-30% level, is another “trick” to try to optimize the autonomy of our phone. And then let's face it: if you are indoors or, in any case, not exposed to direct sunlight, it is not necessary to have the brightness of the display shot to maximum.
9. Activate energy saving
The activation of energy saving goes to automatically apply most of the best practices listed in the previous chapters. The setting in question, in fact, in the vast majority of phones in circulation reduces the activities carried out in the background, reduces the framerate and the display activation time and lowers the brightness of the screen.
Features are also available on Android smartphones from some manufacturers super energy savingwhich are particularly useful when the phone is close to running out of battery (perhaps it contains a residual charge of 5-10%) and which allow it to be used for essential functions.
10. Disable unnecessary connections
By turning off unnecessary connections – as Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, Wifi And cellular data connection – you can make your cell phone battery last longer.
Depending on your needs, you can deactivate only some of these or, in some particular moments (for example at night), you can deactivate all the connections in “one fell swoop” activating airplane mode.
Activating airplane mode is also particularly recommended when you are in an area with poor mobile network coverage, since by doing so the phone will avoid “exerting itself” unnecessarily to find the signal.
