Charging tips to increase battery life of Android Smartphones

6 Charging tips to increase battery life

Start the Power Saving Mode

When you find yourself in a situation where you need your phone’s battery to last longer than usual, activating the power-saving mode can help conserve power. On our Samsung device, we accessed Settings > Battery and device care, and then tapped on the Battery option.

Start the Power Saving Mode

By enabling the power-saving mode, we automatically disabled networking, syncing, and location services, as well as reduced the screen’s refresh rate. We also had the option to customize the mode further by disabling the Always on Display, reducing the CPU speed by 70%, or dimming the screen brightness by 10%, all of which contributed to maximizing battery life. Additionally, the Power Saving option can be accessed through the Quick Settings menu.

When the power-saving mode is active, the Limit apps and Home screen feature restricts background activities to a select few apps, resulting in optimal power savings. Older versions of Android offer different power-saving mode presets, each striking a different balance between performance and battery life.

If you own a Google Pixel, you can find similar battery-saving settings under Settings > Battery > Battery Saver. For even more battery life, you can schedule when the Battery Saver mode activates and enable Extreme Battery Saver.

Adjust the Screen Brightness

The large and bright screens on smartphones tend to consume a significant amount of battery power. Most of the time, you don’t need to set your screen brightness to the highest level. Head to your display settings and reduce the screen brightness manually. You can also use the pull-down menu to conveniently adjust the brightness.

Change the screen's brightness: Charging tips to increase battery life

While you’re at it, consider turning off the auto brightness feature. Although it adapts to your surroundings, it may often set the screen brightness higher than necessary. Your eyes (and your battery) will thank you if you switch off the Adaptive brightness toggle.

Customize Your Lock Screen Settings

Always-on Display, a feature that has recently become available on iPhones, has been present in Android smartphones for quite some time. It allows basic information, such as the time and date, to be displayed on the screen even when it’s off. Although this feature is designed to consume minimal energy, you can optimize it for maximum power efficiency.

For Samsung Galaxy devices, navigate to Settings > Lock screen and disable the Always-on Display. If you don’t want to completely disable the feature, there’s an option to set it to only appear when the screen is touched or occasionally. On most Pixel phones, these adjustments can be made under Display > Lock screen > Always show time and info.

Adjust the Screen Timeout

The longer your phone’s screen remains on, the more battery it consumes. To counter this, you can configure your screen to turn off sooner than usual. This is particularly useful if you often leave your unlocked phone on a table. On both Galaxy and Pixel phones, go to Settings > Display > Screen timeout to choose from a range of options, from as short as 15 seconds to as long as 10 minutes.

Disable Wireless and Location Services

Your phone continues to send signals even when you’re not actively using it, which gradually depletes the battery. If you want to maximize power without fully activating the Power Saving mode, there are a few backend services you can disable.

Each Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mobile data ping consumes battery life. To save some battery quickly, open the pull-down shade on your phone and tap the Airplane mode button. This will immediately disconnect your phone from these services, conserving power.

While location services allow you to use features like Google Maps for navigation, constant background GPS pings can significantly drain your battery. To prevent Google from tracking your location, go to Settings > Location and disable all location services. Keep in mind that some apps may not function properly without location access. Alternatively, you can selectively revoke location permission for specific apps that tend to excessively use GPS.

Disable Background Updates and App Refreshes

Even when you’re not actively using an app, it may continue to run in the background, draining your battery and consuming data. On Samsung devices, you can put inactive apps to sleep under Battery options. Select Background usage limitations and enable the feature to prevent these apps from draining your battery.

Turn off background updates and app refreshes

You can take it a step further and manually instruct your phone to turn off specific apps. Simply choose Sleeping apps or Deep sleeping apps and add your desired apps to the list by tapping the plus (+) symbol. Keep in mind that sleeping apps may experience longer update times since they are rarely refreshed, and deep sleeping apps will not function until you actively use them.

Regularly check on the apps that consume the most battery power and decide which apps should be disabled when not in use or allowed to run in the background. This can be done by going to Battery and device care > Battery > View information.

On Google Pixel phones, access Battery > Adaptive settings and enable Adaptive Battery to reduce background processing for infrequently used apps. Additionally, you can manage individual app settings by going to Apps > See all apps > Battery and setting the desired app to Optimize.

By following these charging tips, you can extend your Android phone’s battery life and ensure that it lasts longer throughout the day.

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