Android phones are sometimes notorious for poor battery life. The problem was prominent when the platform was starting out, but in modern times, many manufacturers seem to have figured out that the best way to tame the issue is by packing large cells in phones.
Specifically, the majority of low- to mid-range phones do not have battery performance issues. For instance, Transsion, BBK Electronics, and others such as Xiaomi’s entry-level line of phones have humongous juicers.
However, high-end phones are still far from being road warriors. They have many features, including powerful cameras that take a hit on battery. It is for this reason that a costly phone is not a go-to device for people who want exemplary battery life.
Also, bear in mind that phone screens are packing more pixels, they are brighter now, refresh faster, and other features, such as mobile gaming and 5G are slowly becoming popular. These developments never go easy on the battery.
Of course, there is fast charging, some of which can top up your phone in under 12 minutes (Infinix Concept Phone comes with a 160W charging brick!), but that does not excuse battery performance hits that people experience.
Nevertheless, here are some simple ways that you can take advantage of to boost battery life on your beloved Android phone.
Be keen on battery usage
All Android phones have a feature where you can check battery usage. The setting visualizes which apps or services are draining battery the most.
If there is an app that consumes a lot of power, you can force stop it, or uninstall it you do not use it often.
The setting can also show that your screen or phone app (phone calls) are using substantial power. You can then make the appropriate changes based on what you see on battery usage page.
There are apps that are also very good at monitoring your battery performance, such as AccuBattery. They give a more detailed overview of which apps and services are draining your battery so fast.
Police newly installed apps
Often, people use the same set of apps and rarely install new ones.
However, there are cases where a person needs a certain feature or function, and would therefore search for an appropriate app. Some of these apps are notorious because they behave in a mischievous way. For instance, you would notice that your battery performance was good prior to installing a new app or apps. To this end, there are high chances that the new apps are hurting your battery life.
In such a case, just delete the apps and monitor the battery again.
Don’t use 5G, yet
In the Kenya case, 5G connectivity is very limited. Heck, only one carrier, namely Safaricom, is testing the service, and there are high chances that locals will start seeing that 5G icon on their 5G-capable phones sometime in 2022.
The market is also selling a ton of phones that ship with 5G, including the S21 line from Samsung, the iPhone 12 series, and a couple of other phones by Nokia and Xiaomi.
Just go to your preferred network settings, and make sure your phone is on 4G/LTE and not 5G.
Also, those who are lucky enough to access 5G should also know that the technology’s signal strength isn’t the best, which causes a high battery drain.
Check out features that you don’t use and toggle them off
Your phone has many features; Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, location services, name them. The features use a ton of your juice, so it would be a good idea to turn off those that you do not use.
For instance, you don’t need to turn on Bluetooth at all times unless you are actively using it.
Location services are very good, and some apps such as taxi apps cannot work without them. They are also key to finding your phone in case you lose it. However, if you don’t use them, just turn the feature off.
Your notification shade is the best way to find the features that you might need to turn off, so check it out.
Activate battery optimization
Battery optimization was launched alongside Android 9 a few years ago.
The feature enables users to optimize battery sage for every single app.
For instance, if an app is power-hungry, you can enable battery optimization for it rather than deleting it if it important to you.
Battery optimization basically means that an app’s background activities would be restricted when it is not in use.
The feature can be accessed from the App Info section of any application.
Adjust your screen settings
Your phone screen uses a lot of power, so you might need to change some of its settings.
One option is using Auto-Brightness. The feature ensures that your phone screen dims when you are indoors (not a lot of light) and brightens when outdoors. This is done automatically.
Secondly, you can ton down your screen refresh rate.
Another option is to reduce your screen time out.
If your phone has it, please use dark mode at all times.
Also, you can keep your screen at 1080p because anything higher than that could hurt your battery.
Battery saver modes
All phone companies have some kind of aggressive battery-saving mode.
Samsung’s implementation kills the majority of apps and features, and only leaves the basics such as the Phone app.
OPPO’s ColorOS is equally aggressive, and its Super Power Saving Mode can extend battery life for many hours.
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Overall, when used collectively, the tips should help you squeeze some additional battery life. However, you should note that a user has little to do if say, their phone’s battery is tiny or the software is not polished enough to support good battery performance.
