Top 7 tips to maximize mobile device battery life

Currently most smartphones pack powerful processors, huge & high-resolution screens and lots of memory to multitask and handle really complex tasks. This also unfortunately means that they struggle to handle a full day’s worth of heavy usage, and so power banks are now a must-have accessory.

Most of our consumer electronics devices come with Lithium ion and Lithium Poly batteries that are geared for quick recharging, and not for long term life. The same can be said for our laptop computers, and the need to tether them to the plug point grows as the battery ages. Often, you’re better off replacing your battery instead of upgrading your laptop, because of how quickly the battery ages.

Whether you’re using a smartphone, tablet PC, or notebook PC,  today AussieBatt battery experts share some general purpose tips on prolonging its life-cycle and usage between recharge cycles.

1) Turn off location tracking
According to a recent news report, the Facebook app drains the battery of iPhone users as it’s constantly tracking the user’s location using the GPS module. Turning off location tracking for apps that don’t need your location will certainly help.

On iOS 9, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and turn it off on a per-app basis, leaving location access on for just important apps, if you really need to. In most Android devices, you can head to Settings > Location, and toggle it off to disable location tracking entirely. The functionality to set app level permissions is only enabled in Android M.

2) Turn down display brightness
This is an obvious tip that applies to both laptops and mobile devices. On most devices, brightness settings are easily accessible, and you can also apply screen dimming techniques through third party apps like Lux, which overlays an opaque graphic to reduce brightness and change the colour cast of the screen.

3) Keep it cool
Exposing the mobile devices battery to high temperatures can be more stressful than cycling. According to Battery University, which runs an extensive array of battery tests – cycling, elevated temperature and ageing decrease the performance of your battery over time. Keeping your devices in a cool environment (Samsung Navibot SR8855 battery dwelling above 30°C is considered elevated temperature) will certainly enhance the lifecycle of your device.

It’s also a good reason to worry about heating issues on a smartphone, as it can plunge the battery life quite drastically over time. On a laptop, you should look at using a cooling pad to make sure the CPU vent is being vented away. Exposure to dust can clog vents and make your fans run on overtime, leading to an additional resource burden, so keep the environment clean and dust free.

4) Turn on low power mode
Not all Android phones have battery saver mode, but if you’re on Android 5.0 or later (Lollipop) then you are likely have this feature. It automatically kicks in when your Nokia BP-5L battery hits 15 percent, and disables background app refreshes, location tracking, and other syncing activity to save on battery life.

5) Partial recharges are better than full-depth recharges
Another invaluable trip from Battery University can be explained with the metaphor of a running a marathon. Instead of letting your battery cycle all the way from 100 percent capacity down to zero, keeping the depth of discharge to 50 percent of your battery capacity, between 30 and 80 percent can increase the number of discharge cycles by three times.

6) Schedule app updates over Wi-Fi or when you are plugged in
In general, anything that is processor or bandwidth intensive is likely to consume a lot of CPU power. For the best standby times it’s best to be stationary, and sipping on a Wi-Fi than your data plan. For this reason, it’s best to schedule app updates to happen only over Wi-Fi, or if your mobile device supports it, while you are plugged in.

7) Go for paid apps, instead of free ones
Ad-supported apps reduce battery life by 2.5 to 2.1 hours on average, a study conducted by US-based researchers revealed. To quote the study, a phone’s processor is like its brain – and ads eat up a lot of that brain power, slowing it down. Not all free apps are draining your Nokia BL-4CT Battery, but if you’re seeing advertising on it then assume it comes with a bandwidth and processing burden.