Smartphones are very useful gadgets. So useful, many would be lost without one, the thing is, they need battery power.
The Battery
One of the main reasons people spend money on a new model is their current device beginning to slow down noticeably or the battery draining too quickly.
There are also many myths out there explaining how to extend your battery life. Along with the myths there are also a few nuggets of truth if you dig far enough.
Well, here at Gadgethelpline we have been digging for you and have listed a few things you can do to prevent the loss of your dearly beloved smartphone.
Firstly, most Androids and iPhones have chips built in that prevent them from absorbing excessive electric current once they are fully charged. This means you will not be damaging your phone if left on charge all night using an official charger. Also, because of the fact FAST/QUICK charge is a negotiated protocol; if both ends of the handshake do not agree it will drop to standard charging.
The only thing you could do to really damage the battery would be using a charger that is beyond the batteries voltage specs, so, stay with the official charger.
Regardless which phone you use, lets look at the battery itself.
Most Li-Ion batteries have a 2 to 3 year lifespan. This is irrespective of how much the battery has been used, this still holds even if the battery is unused. Of course, with a lot of charging and discharging the degradation process will speed up, the reality of it is you will lose days of use not years…
As with everything else in life, batteries age and will begin to show capacity decline as time goes by.
The general consensus of opinion is: charge your battery when it is between 20-40% and charge it up to approximately 80-90%. This will get you the longest life out of your battery.
Below are a few steps you can take to squeeze more juice out of your device:
Black wallpaper
A true black wallpaper can do wonders. As there are no colours to be reproduced this means the phone does not have to light up any of those pixels. We have provided the link below for the wallpaper and a little walkthrough to get it installed.
First off, click the link above, this will open up a new tab showing the image.
Save the picture and go to settings on your device.
Tap wallpaper, then choose wallpaper and scroll down to gallery.
From there you should be able to see your new wallpaper image, tap set to wallpaper and lock screen.
Ok Google…
Thanks to the wonders of technology you can now ask your smartphone questions. The answers may not always be fitting but Google is always listening for that command. Unless you really cannot be without Google at your every whim you may wish to skip this part.
So, to disable this continuous listening you will need to do the following:
- Open the Google app .
- At the top left, tap the three line Menu Settings.
- Tap Voice “Ok Google” detection.
- Turn Off all.
You can confirm if this worked by simply saying ‘Ok Google’. If it has Google will be strangely silent.
Greenify
Greenify is an app that can save a lot of your battery power from being drained needlessly. It allows you to choose through all of your apps and disable any that you feel you do not need unless specifically chosen. You do not need to uninstall any of them either. The app will monitor them all for you. Bear in mind that you do not need to have rooted your device to use this either.
Conclusion
If you really care about how long your battery will last over time here are a couple of pointers.
- Try not to let your phones battery drop to 0%
- Do not store your phone on your dash or in direct sunlight for too long.
Aside from that, until battery technology goes through a large overhaul anyway, it may be worthwhile considering a phone with a replaceable battery.