One of the scariest feelings is getting a “Low Battery” life alert on your phone knowing you’ll be hours away from a nearby outlet. After a year of owning a phone, you may find that your phone’s battery is not what it used to be. However, with preventative practice and careful use of your phone, you can save yourself the stress of watching your phone die while you’re away from the outlet.
Before reaching for your power bank, read these best practices to keep your phone’s battery in top condition. Of course, these apps are not the final word, and battery life also varies based on your usage.
1. Maintain Optimum Battery Percentage
One of the best habits to keep your battery in perfect condition is to keep your battery percentage between 20% – 80%. That’s it, don’t wait for your phone to die or its battery to run out completely. Instead keep alerts for charging when it reaches 20-30% levels.
Letting your phone’s battery drop to 0% will strain the battery and shorten its lifespan. On the other side of the spectrum, constantly charging your phone to its maximum capacity will stress your battery. Allowing your battery to discharge healthily while keeping it within the optimal range will ensure its longevity.
2. Avoid Overcharging Your Phone
Unplug your phone when the battery charge reaches 100%. Newer phones have features that prevent overcharging. But these features can only work for a while. When your phone reaches 100% capacity, it stops charging and naturally loses its charge. Your phone will start charging again when it drops below 100%. This is a “trickle charge” where your phone bounces between 98% and 100% and usually happens overnight.
Most phones only take a few hours to reach a full charge, and battery life degrades the longer they charge. Ideally, to maximize your battery life, you should only plug your phone in when it needs charging, and it shouldn’t exceed a minute.
It’s not the best practice to leave your phone charging overnight while you sleep. This will keep your phone constantly charging and charging. It may be better to charge some or at maximum capacity before going to sleep and then top up when you can watch in the morning.
3. Use The Correct Charger
You can have a collection of electronic devices ranging from your phone to tablets and laptops, and each comes with a USB charging block. You may want to charge your phone on your tablet’s charging block – after all, it will charge much faster. Be careful with your phone while doing this.
Your phone’s battery is much smaller than what you might find in a tablet and cannot handle a higher voltage for long. As a result, you will overheat your battery, causing more stress and shortening its lifespan.
A standard mobile charger has a 5V output. If you need to charge your phone with a charging block (10V output and above) designed for larger electronics, do not let it exceed 100%. So even if you have a third-party multi-port charger, make sure to check the power output capacity of the port before plugging your phone’s charging cable into it.
4. Avoid Overheating
While your phone is charging, it’s natural for it to get warm. You should avoid using your phone while it is charging. And wait for it to cool down before using it again later.
Keeping your phone cool by removing the case while charging, avoiding leaving it in the shade and using it at maximum brightness for long periods of time is beneficial for keeping the battery healthy. But exposing your phone to direct sunlight can also cause it to overheat. And if you find your phone.
5. Reduce Battery Drain on the Go
In a perfect world, wherever you go, you can leave your phone in airplane mode and turn it off only when needed. This is not possible today. Turning your phone’s “Battery Saver Mode” will naturally save your phone’s battery life. However, if you do not want to use this feature and you manually turn on and off the features that this program does for you, you can follow the steps below:
Turn Off Background Services
Many apps like to run in the background using your Location Services, WiFi and Cellular Data. These apps slowly drain your battery even when you’re not using your phone. Go to your phone’s Settings and change the services option to “While in use” to keep their functionality while using apps. Basically, if you block unwanted apps from running in the background and disable data services for them, this can help to some extent.
Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
If you forgot to turn off Wi-Fi services after going out, your phone will continue to search for a reliable hotspot. This constant search uses up valuable battery power. So you can turn off Wi-Fi every time you leave your home or office. Also, if you’re in an area with poor cellular reception, switching your data to a lower generation network (3G or 2G) may offer you basic connectivity.
Decrease Phone Brightness
One of the biggest power consumers for your phone is its screen! Turn down the brightness while using your phone. It will keep you cooler and give you more battery time to work. If you have a phone with an OLED display, setting your apps to “Dark Mode” will save much more power.
Nothing lasts forever
Unfortunately, batteries don’t last forever. With due diligence and good practice you can extend the life of your phone’s battery. Most lithium-ion batteries fail after two years, when the reduced capacity is most noticeable. If you plan to use your phone for more than two years, follow these tips to keep your battery as fresh as possible.
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