From power and battery saving modes to great battery options, smartphones these days are starting to last longer and longer. Battery life is always a concern when it comes to using a powerful smartphone like the LG G3, and there are many ways to improve battery life with the LG G3.
LG’s flagship G3 smartphone was launched earlier this summer, making it one of the best Android smartphones released in 2014. It’s packed with a beautiful 5.5-inch quad-hd display, an impressive camera, and tons of features that can drain battery life. one hit. There are obvious things you can do to improve this, and we’ll go over a few of them below.
The LG G3 comes with a massive 3,000mAh battery to keep it running all day, but you can always squeeze in a little more. This guide will show LG G3 owners how the built-in LG G3 battery will last longer, give you some suggestions for improving the battery, and even list an extended battery case for those who absolutely need it to make the LG G3 last longer. Read on for all the details.
For starters, Google has made great strides and is working hard to make Android faster and smoother, but also more efficient. KitKat offered some of the best performances compared to previous versions, and the upcoming Android 5.0 Lollipop update to the LG G3 should improve this even further.
Below are a few steps and simple tweaks that all LG G3 owners can do in a matter of minutes and just what you need to get a few more hours off your smartphone every day. Enough to do whatever you need to do without having to spend a night out and worry about finding a charger. The LG G3 already has good battery life, but let’s make it even better.
Screen Brightness and Sleep Time
Having the 5.5 inch Quad-HD screen on and viewing Facebook messages, tweets or surfing the web will be the biggest drain on the battery. Screen On time at the bottom of the battery stats page in settings is important as the screen will use more battery than anything else. You’ll want to get started and choose something that works for you. Auto is not ideal for battery saving and I use a brightness of around 30%. Auto turns it on when lighting isn’t an idea, like outside, but the constant ups and downs can drain battery life throughout the day.
You will also want to set the screen sleep time. This determines how long the screen stays on and stays lit when not in use. If many users leave a device on the table after using it and this time is set to two or five minutes, your battery will drain for no reason. I personally use it for 30 seconds and always manually sleep my screen instead of just turning the device off after use. That is, tap the power/wake button to turn it off before turning it off. When you do this 100 times in any given day, it’s 100 times that the screen doesn’t need to stay on for 30 seconds (or longer). Others may suggest going into Developer Options and disabling all animation effects; which in turn can increase battery life at the expense of the UI and experience not being as smooth or pretty.
WiFi, 4G LTE and Bluetooth
Obviously, if you’re not using WiFi or Bluetooth, you can turn them off as well. Although they are minimal when it comes to battery drain, this is a quick and easy step. If you are in a WiFi location (coffee shop) but not using WiFi, definitely turn it off as the device will constantly search for a network. Enabling Bluetooth is not much of a problem, but while we’re here, disable it if you don’t need it. Go to Settings and swipe to turn off both WiFi and Bluetooth. The first two options, you can not miss.
Then of course, using things like Tethering or sharing the connection with a tablet or laptop will definitely drain your battery fast. Anything that constantly uses 4G LTE will hurt your battery. Use WiFi as often as possible, but turn it off when not in use.
Check Location Services and GPS
When your device runs GPS for Google Maps and Navigation or Facebook wants your location to be shared with the world, GPS needs to be turned on and it’s pretty battery life. In Android 4.4 KitKat Google has finally replaced this system and will give users more control over how all aspects of location services use GPS and therefore battery. and select Battery Saver.
If you really want to be extreme, turning off location services completely will be a huge savings when it comes to battery. Don’t expect Google Assistant to be this helpful, giving you directions or finding restaurants and businesses nearby. Facebook and Messenger apps do not share locations, and Instagram or photo uploads do not have location data. In general, it’s ideal to leave Location services enabled and Battery Saver turned on. This is because it uses mobile networks, towers, and WiFi access points instead of the power-hungry GPS chip in your smartphone to determine location.
Data, Gmail and Google Sync
Controlling what is automatically backed up, synced with Google, and otherwise transferred data is a big deal. For obvious reasons, you’ll want to keep most of Google’s sync settings enabled for Calendar, Contacts, Gmail, and stuff, but if you don’t need Gmail to sync and check for emails every minute, change them. Gmail can be set to check whenever you want. From push to 30 minutes to never.
This is another area that makes Android strong. Google’s Music syncs everything in Chrome browsing history and even saves app data and settings. I would keep all of these enabled, but if you want to conserve the battery, there is another way to do it. Automatic Backup of Photos by Google+, DropBox, Google Drive or any other service falls into the same category here. Either disable it or set it to only backup over WiFi instead of mobile data. Google Photo Sync is essential, so use it sparingly if you’re taking multiple photos of family or selfies every day.
Most of these backup and sync features are useful, but if you don’t use Google+ Photos, Google Play Music, Movies and many other things in this area, disable them wherever possible to save some battery.
Install Battery Guru
LG G3 comes with a collection of battery saving software, but free SnapDragon Battery Guru software You’ll see better G3 battery life with changes you rarely notice. This app learns more about your usage habits and where you connect to WiFi and more to customize when settings turn on or off. Then it does it automatically. That doesn’t do anything for you either, but it does provide better battery life.
This is an app that works on any Snapdragon powered device and works great on the Galaxy S4, and initial tests show it’s also useful on our LG G3, as it has a powerful quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor inside.
Battery Saver Mode
Last but not least is the built-in battery saver mode. This is a feature below. This feature is customizable and allows you to set when your phone switches to this mode. I set it to 20% when really needed. It lowers the screen brightness when not in use, kills WiFi or data (so you may not receive Facebook notifications, Twitter alerts or Gmail notifications), and even prevents the notification LED from flashing and draining some battery.
It’s a good idea to go in and set this up as you see fit. Once your phone reaches 20% (or whatever point you choose), battery saver mode will kick in and start sipping juice to get you through the last few hours of the day. It’s not ideal, but it will work great in an emergency.
Battery Saver mode is getting more and more popular and it’s a great way to still have a phone for calls and texts when you need it, instead of wasting all your battery looking at Facebook status updates.
Battery and Cases
Then of course you can always buy it. extended battery this will usually be larger than inside your phone. But these are with spare back covers that make the sleek LG G3 fatter, and the buttons on the back are inaccessible. As a result, some cases with built-in battery packs may be your best bet. Again, these make your device bulky and the options are not as extensive as on the LG G3, but some found on amazon.
Other Quick Tips
Above, we’ve outlined a few of the quickest and easiest changes to make a noticeable difference in battery life, but you can always get apps like BetteryBatteryStats to keep track of what’s using what and help identify battery drain issues. Things like rogue apps you might want to remove. Next, a few more quick tips that aren’t everyday options but might be helpful.
Set Airplane mode if needed. This cuts off all radios and disconnects and saves serious battery for days and days. When on a flight or boarding a no-service train, enable airplane mode to record your arrival time. Occasional reboots can also help free up system and memory and give your device a clean slate for the day or workweek. Some may also suggest not using live wallpapers or widgets, but Android is so efficient that it won’t run out of battery. And they look beautiful.
These are just a few of the many different options available to users without going deep into the Android operating system. Anything from custom ROMs and kernels can seriously affect battery life for better or worse. Enjoy the quick list and your LG G3.
