7 Best ways to preserve battery life
Extending the electronic device’s battery life is one of the best things you can do to prolong the lifespan of your device.
Here are 7 ways you can extend battery life:
1) Reduce screen brightness
You can increase phone battery lifespan by lowering the brightness slider of any screen.
This can usually be found in the Options or Settings area of your electrical device.
Alternatively, many devices have a sensor to optimize battery usage that can detect ambient light around you and adjust the screen to the dark mode or brighten the display in a dark room.
Some phones already have adaptive brightness enabled and are supposed to learn your preferences as you use your phone.
If you’ve been frustrated with auto brightness that you didn’t expect, you can clear those preferences and make the phone learn all over again.
2) Utilize the standby mode
Laptops, phones, and tablets are able to turn off the home screen after detecting inactivity to use less power.
This is also known as a screen timeout.
A screen timeout can help save battery life as the power to illuminate the display is off when you’re not looking at it.
While 10 to 15 minutes of awake time is a good rule of thumb for a laptop or a tablet, you might want to power down your mobile phone screen sooner.
When any device enters sleep mode, the display turns off and any background app that is running will be paused.
3) Switch your battery settings to power saving mode
Devices running low on battery power will sometimes switch to a power-saving mode automatically with about 20 per cent remaining power.
This can also be manually adjusted on your mobile phone and laptop.
While you might not want low-power mode on all the time, many new computers, tablets, and phone settings enable the screen to turn black and white, darkens the display, and turns off nonessential wireless features such as location services and unused apps to improve battery health.
For maximum power saving, you can use airplane mode and give yourself a break from scrolling through your social media.
4) Be aware of apps that drain battery life
No matter what your device, its battery will drain faster if you’re using it for tasks that demand more of the system’s resources.
This includes activities such as watching a video or playing multiplayer games.
Therefore, it is a good idea to make sure phone batteries are well-charged or plugged into a power source.
Other apps that require a lot of computing power and therefore battery power include programs that render images in 3D, productivity software such as Adobe Photoshop and Apple iMovie, and sophisticated games.
Less taxing tasks include typing notes or browsing the web.
Other activities that cause a shorter battery life include:
- Animated wallpaper also called live or dynamic wallpaper which looks nice but requires higher battery usage for the animation.
- Peripherals are devices that attach to your computers such as external microphones, monitors, and add-on webcams that cause battery drain.
- Multitasking can generate excess heat and reduce the battery’s lifespan
5) Lock screen
When you lock your screen, you can increase the lifespan of your phone battery as it enters rest mode.
You’ll still be able to receive phone calls and texts, but you won’t accidentally turn on the phone when it’s in your pocket or purse because you hit a button or the screen.
6) Update your operating system
On all your devices, remember to download and install all updates to the operating system whenever they are available.
Manufacturers are always trying out new ways to improve power management and fix software bugs that could affect battery life and battery performance.
You can also check to see if your device is set to do this automatically.
7) Reduce push notifications
Be sure to remove any push notifications under the settings app to keep the battery healthy.
This includes items such as:
- incoming email
- game updates
- real-time sports scores
- stock quotes
Instead, choose to pull down messages only when you need to.
Phone manufacturers sometimes allow you to turn off wireless features like cellular data or a mobile network to save on battery use.
This also includes Bluetooth, GPS, near-field communication (NFC) and Wi-Fi.
For instance, Apple, Google and Samsung mobile payments use NFC technology.
Google Maps uses GPS and you may want your phone to use your Wi-Fi at home if your wireless plan limits data use.
8) Limit location services
Sometimes you can have your phone’s location services always on display.
You can amend this by checking your phone’s settings to check if any app is tracking your location when you are using the app.
Do a background app refresh by removing unwanted access to your phone to improve battery life.
Your phone also will be gathering less information on you, and you’ll have more control over when it happens and for your convenience.
9) Keep battery temperature cool
Any extreme heat, cold or dampness can prematurely drain your battery and affect its overall longevity.
Therefore, it is important to keep your devices cool and dry.
Here are tips on what you can do for each electronic device:
For smartphones, you can cover your phone or tablet so it’s not in direct sunlight.
Laptops and other portable computers also can run hot under the hood, and that heat needs a way to escape.
Never block the air vents on the back or sides and always use your laptop on a hard, flat surface to avoid being a fire hazard.
Those vents are easily obstructed if the laptop is kept on a soft surface, such as a bed, blanket, pillow, or sofa.
Desktop computers or tower-based desktops may have their “brains” on the floor under your desk.
So keep the vents clear from dust and pet hair for the same reasons.
10) Carry a power bank
You can avoid overheating your phone’s battery by using a backup battery pack, also called a power bank.
It is also a great way to juice up a smartphone or tablet while on the go.
That way, you won’t need to find an electric outlet to plug in a device in danger of shutting down.