Not everyone can be an energy preserving guru, but you can take control of your phone’s battery-life-expectancy. Check out some of these best practices to optimize battery life in phones.
Don’t run out of juice.
Always fully charge new phones and batteries before their first use. This ensures that your battery knows what its maximum capacity is. Most lithium-based batteries should be charged 5-6 hours before the first use.
Lithium-based batteries are meant to be charged frequently. Running it all the way down can actually damage the battery to the point where it never fully feels like itself again. It will likely shorten your battery’s life expectancy each time.
Turning your phone on and off takes up a massive amount of battery life. Keeping that in mind, you should only be powering down if it is going to be for a significant amount of time. If you usually don’t answer your phone after work or once you go to bed, this may be a better time to turn off your phone for several hours.
If you are going to be in an area with no reception, this may be a good time to power down. On the subway, on a plane, or in the mountains for a while? Turn it off. When you are in an area with little to no signal, your phone is looking for one and will use energy trying to find it. If you still want to use your phone for offline activities, put it in flight mode.
Don’t give yourself the need to charge.
Unless you are in a meeting or it is truly necessary, please switch the vibrate feature off. When you are receiving audible calls with a ringtone, leave vibrate off. Just use the ringtone.
Backlighting takes battery power. The more you can get by without it, the more your battery will thank you. If you need a little backlighting, most phones will allow you to customize your level or percentage in a settings menu directly from the phone. Some phones even have an ambient sensor that automatically adjust based on your lighting conditions.
Avoid using moving or animated images for your phone’s background. As much as you need a monkey hugging a kitten in your life- that is how quickly it will drain your battery. Phone screens actually use a lot less energy when they are displaying black backgrounds, so the darker the better.
Keep it short and sweet.
If you know your battery is low, resist the urge to continue gabbing. Let them know. If they care, they will understand. Say what you need to say and get to a charger. Sometimes a dying battery can even be a good excuse to get off that call you want to end anyways.
Resist the urge to use those battery-sucking extras, especially f it is going to be a long minute before you can recharge. Games, internet, and especially flash photography can really draw what life your battery may have left.
Wi-Fi, GPS, infrared, and Bluetooth all drain your battery very quickly. When it comes to one of these features, only turn it on when you know it is going to be in use. Remember to turn it off when you are done. Some phones even have a menu icon for these features as a shortcut, so that you can easily tap to toggle on and off.
Keep it cool. Keep it clean.
Heat can really wear on a battery. Try not to leave your phone out in the blazing sun or carry it in a pocket directly against your body. Another thing to keep an eye on is your charger. If your phone feels hot while charging, you may have a defective charger.
Clean the contacts on the phone and battery, but also try to keep them clean when not in use. The best way I’ve found is with a dust plug. Port Plugs offers a wide range of them. Dust plugs are a great way to keep your battery port, earphone jack, and USB ports clean. Most importantly, it will help you get the best connection when charging your battery.
To sum it all up: Make good judgments, don’t drain it, make do without flashy extras, keep it clean, and always stay cool. You can do it. I have faith in you.