This question is one of the most common amongst smartphone users. We cannot live without our phones and they help us out in virtually every area of our lives. When you first get a new phone, you might not have to charge it for a day or two and never worry about it dying while you’re out to dinner or traveling. Unfortunately, this honeymoon phase always ends, much more quickly than we’d imagine. Soon, you’re babying your phone and keeping it plugged in every time you’re near an outlet. You’ve probably ordered multiple portable chargers only to realize you forgot to charge them and your phone’s about to die while you’re waiting on an important call. While there is not a guaranteed solution to these issues with smartphone’s batteries, here are some tips that can make yours last longer.
Reduce brightness
Unless you’re in direct sunlight, setting your phone’s brightness to a lower level will be fine. As long as you can see the screen, the lowest brightness level possible is ideal. So much of a phone’s battery life is used for the screen, so a lower brightness helps extend your battery. As an extra bonus, it’s less of a stress on your eyes if you’re not staring at a brightly lit screen.
Turn off Bluetooth
The jury is out on whether or not location services and WiFi significantly wear down your battery, but Bluetooth certainly does. If your phone is constantly searching for and maintaining a Bluetooth connection, you’re more likely to get a warning that it needs to be charged than if you were disconnected.
Avoid letting it die
One of the worst things you can do to your phone is constantly let its battery drain to zero. Letting the battery completely die puts a lot of stress on your phone and wears down the overall integrity of the battery.
Keep battery temperature ideal
Another issues smartphone users often run into is their battery not being at an ideal temperature. Sometimes, when charging, your phone may feel like it’s getting hot. If this occurs, unplug it, turn it off, and let it cool down. It’s also important to keep your phone out of direct sunlight or harsh winter conditions.
Use airplane mode
When possible, put your phone in airplane mode. If you need to focus on a task at hand, it’s the perfect time to use airplane mode so you won’t be disturbed. When you’re sleeping or if you’re going to be away from your phone for a period of time, consider utilizing airplane mode then as well.
Set to silent
You might not realize it, but setting your phone to vibrate actually takes up a fair amount of battery power. Instead, place your phone on silent unless you’re anticipating a seriously important call. You likely check your phone often enough that you’ll notice any new messages or notifications shortly after receiving them anyway.
While many people agree on these tips, there is currently no foolproof way to always make your phone battery last 24 hours. It’s not an exact science, but these small changes can help a bit and hopefully lower the stress on your battery overall.