Certain activities and settings can be smartphone battery killers, causing your device to run out of battery quickly and potentially affecting battery health over time.
Looking through the list of smartphone battery killers, and it looks like you actually have to stop using your smartphone as a smart phone in order to maintain good battery life and health. But that is ridiculous. We buy our cell phones to use them for what they can do.
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Features that drain smartphone battery
Here are some common features and factors that are proven to draining smartphone battery:
- Screen Brightness: High screen brightness consumes a significant amount of power and so is a major smartphone battery killer.
- Background Apps: Unused or unnecessary apps running in the background can drain battery life.
- Location Services: GPS and location-based apps can be power-hungry.
- Push Email: You may not have been aware of this, but email apps can be a huge drain on smartphone battery. Constantly fetching new emails can deplete the battery.
- Notifications: Frequent notifications from various apps can drain battery life.
- Vibrations: Vibrations use more power than ringtones.
- Overheating: High temperatures can damage battery health.
- Widgets and Live Wallpapers: Animated widgets and live wallpapers can use more power.
- Mobile Data: An active data connection from your carrier can be a huge drain on smartphone battery, especially in areas with weaker network signal strength.
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are also well known smartphone battery drainers.
- Unoptimized Apps: Some poorly designed apps can consume excessive power.
- Battery-Intensive Tasks: Activities like gaming, streaming videos, and video calling can be taxing on smartphone battery.
What You can Do To Extend Your Cell Phone’s battery Life and health
I do not believe in asking cell phone users to turn off Wi-Fi, shut down background apps, disable GPS, use power-saving mode, etc, in order to experience good battery life and health. Please. We want a smartphone, not a dumb smartphone. You do not have to disable all the good stuff on your smartphone to enjoy good battery life and maintain good battery health for long.
There are several things you can do, however, to extend your smartphone’s battery life and maintain better smartphone battery health over time. Let’s look at them.
Buy a smartphone with good battery capacity
The very first, and the most important, thing you can do to enjoying solid battery life and health is to buy a smartphone with a beefy battery. Trust me; it makes all the difference in the world. For example, Apple iPhones have traditionally had poor battery life, simply because Apple kept fitting them with miserable battery capacity. When their battery capacity began to improve, battery life began to get better. It is simple physics. If you want peace of mind with a cell phone, buy one with a good battery capacity. This is the most important factor.
Reduce screen brightness
One of the biggest drains on your smartphone battery is the screen. If you maintain a high level of brightness, your smartphone battery will drain faster. By reducing the screen brightness, you can help to extend your battery life.
Disable push notifications
Did you know that in addition to constantly distracting you, all those push notifications of who liked your Facebook post or retweeted your tweet, and of incoming mails, are all smartphone battery killers? Push notifications can also drain your battery, especially if you receive a lot of them. I am not asking you to shut down push notifications completely; just be selective about what you let fight for your attention. Consider disabling push notifications for apps that aren’t critical.
Use airplane mode in low signal areas
If you’re in an area with low signal, your smartphone will work harder to maintain a connection. Consider using airplane mode when you’re in these areas to conserve battery life.
Avoid extreme temperatures
Extreme temperatures can also affect your smartphone’s battery life. Some smartphones even have a fail-safe feature built in to protect them in extreme temperatures. Some will turn off essential features when they get really warm, or even shut down completely. Avoid exposing your smartphone to extreme heat or cold.
Use original chargers and cables
Using original chargers and cables can help to maintain your smartphone’s battery health over time. Cheap is not always better, especially if you have spent money acquiring a high-end smartphone. If necessary, spend a little more on quality chargers and cables to ensure that you charge your device without the risk of damaging it.
Partial Charging
Improper charging is one way to kill a smartphone battery quickly. The right way to charge your advanced cell phone today is to charge it in smaller increments rather than letting it go to 0% before charging. Once your smartphone battery is drops to below 60%, plug it in to charge. It doesn’t matter whether it charges all the way to 100% or to 90% or 80%; just learn to top up your smartphone battery in smaller increments.
What of the issue of overcharging? Overcharging can also be harmful to your smartphone’s battery health over time. Try to avoid leaving your smartphone plugged in after it has reached 100% charge, especially if it is a low-end device. Higher end devices have automated systems built-in that disable the charging once the device battery hits the 100% mark.
By following the above tips, you can help to extend your smartphone’s battery life and maintain better battery health over time. If you follow the above tips that I have gleaned from many years of smartphone ownership, you can keep your GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth on all you like. Feel free to also use your smartphone as intensively as you want.
