How to Improve Battery Life on Any Smartphone: 10 Expert Tips

Your screen is one of the biggest battery drains on your smartphone. Reducing screen brightness or enabling adaptive brightness (auto-brightness) can help conserve power.

Tip: Avoid keeping your phone at maximum brightness, especially when indoors or in low light. Alternatively, use dark mode if available—it can reduce battery consumption on OLED and AMOLED screens.

Push notifications constantly wake up your phone’s display and keep background apps running. Turning off notifications for non-essential apps can minimise this drain.

How:

• On Android: Go to Settings > Notifications to manage individual app notifications.
• On iPhone: Navigate to Settings > Notifications to customise alert preferences.

Many apps run background processes, consuming battery even when you’re not using them. Disabling or limiting background app refresh can help extend battery life.

How:

• On Android: Settings > Battery > Background usage limits
• On iPhone: Settings > General > Background App Refresh

Focus on limiting social media, streaming, and other resource-intensive apps.

Both iOS and Android have built-in battery saver or low power mode features that automatically adjust settings to reduce battery usage.

When to Use:
Enable battery saver mode when your battery drops below 20% or during long periods without access to a charger. This mode typically reduces screen brightness, limits background activity, and disables visual effects.

A longer screen timeout means your phone stays on even when you’re not using it. Shortening the timeout duration can prevent unnecessary battery drain.

Recommended Setting:
Set your screen timeout to 30 seconds or 1 minute for optimal battery conservation.

GPS and location services consume a significant amount of battery, especially when multiple apps access your location in the background.

How to Manage:

• On Android: Settings > Location to turn off or limit location access for apps.
• On iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services

You can also enable location only while using an app to reduce battery drain.

Certain features, such as high refresh rates, always-on displays, and 5G connectivity, can impact battery life. Disabling or reducing these features can lead to noticeable improvements.

Example Adjustments:

• Set your display refresh rate to 60Hz instead of 120Hz.
• Turn off always-on display when not needed.
• Switch from 5G to 4G/LTE in areas with poor 5G coverage.

While modern operating systems are designed to manage background apps efficiently, closing resource-hungry apps like games or video editors can prevent excess battery usage.

Tip: Check your battery settings to see which apps are consuming the most power and close or force stop them if necessary.

Smartphone batteries are sensitive to extreme heat and cold, which can degrade performance and shorten battery life over time.

Best Practice:
Keep your phone at room temperature whenever possible. Avoid direct sunlight, leaving your phone in a hot car, or exposing it to freezing temperatures.

Software updates often include performance improvements and bug fixes that can help optimise battery life. Ensure your device is running the latest version of its operating system.

How:

• On Android: Settings > System > Software update
• On iPhone: Settings > General > Software Update

Regular updates also improve security, making it a good habit overall.

If you frequently find yourself running out of power, consider using a battery case or carrying a portable power bank. These accessories can give you an extra boost when you’re away from an outlet.

Final Thoughts

Improving smartphone battery life doesn’t require drastic changes. By implementing these expert tips, you can minimise battery drain, extend your device’s longevity, and stay connected throughout the day.

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