Month: October 2023

Here are all of the things that can contribute to bad battery life.
You’ve no doubt seen or read many articles online about saving battery life. It’s a popular topic because nobody likes tethering a phone to the wall multiple times a day. However, most battery-saving articles give you ideas about what to try in order to improve your battery life. This time around, we’re instead going to identify all of the various things that cause battery drain in smartphones.

The list is actually surprisingly long and that’s probably a good indicator of why so many people struggle with battery life. It is difficult to keep track of every little thing your phone does. However, we hope that giving you this knowledge will help you troubleshoot battery issues and adjust your usage to maximize your battery life. Here is our definitive guide to everything that affects smartphone battery life.

Battery sizeOnePlus 10 Pro top view showing battery statsWe’ll start with the most obvious influence on battery life — the size of the battery itself. Not all smartphones have the same battery size and it’s this size that helps determine how long your phone will go before hitting zero. Smartphone batteries are generally measured in milliamp-hours (mAh). This is mostly simple math. The more mAh a phone has, the longer it should be able to theoretically last. It doesn’t always work that way, but it’s a good place to start.

On the high end, phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Moto G Power have massive 5,000mAh cells while some other phones, like the regular Galaxy S22’s 3,590mAh battery, have smaller cells. Generally speaking, phones with larger batteries tend to have better battery life than ones with smaller batteries.
Of course, there are many other factors to take into account. More powerful processors and larger, high refresh-rate screens will drain your battery faster. More on those factors below. However, if the phones have identical specs, the one with the bigger battery will simply last longer.

DisplaySamsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max front on carpetThere are four different ways a display can affect battery life. The first is the size, as larger screens have more surface area and require more power to light up. Phones with larger displays also usually have larger batteries so there is a bit of a give -and-take there.
The second way a phone’s display affects battery life is the resolution. Admittedly, the differences aren’t huge, but it is objectively measurable. Displays with 1440p resolution have 77% more pixels than a 1080p display and it requires extra processing power (and therefore , more battery) to render those extra pixels. OEMs sometimes include a 1080p mode on a 1440p display to help cut back on the processing power and save battery.

Displays use more battery than any other phone component.Brightness is another significant power draw. This is also a matter of simple math. The brighter something is, the more power it requires. It’s not as noticeable if you go from 50% to 40% brightness. You’ll almost certainly see a difference when going between 80% to 20%, though.

Finally, the display’s refresh rate matters a lot. The refresh rate represents the number of times a screen refreshes every second and is measured in hertz (Hz). Newer phones have 90Hz and 120Hz displays which refresh 50%-100% more frequently than regular 60Hz displays.

That requires a whole bunch of extra processing power and puts further strain on your phone’s battery. Modern phones have adaptive refresh rates to help combat the battery drain, dropping down to as low as 1Hz when viewing static content.
Displays eat up more battery than any other individual component of a device because it is the main way we interact with a phone. This is why most battery-saving tricks revolve around display tweaks. However, lowering your brightness a few percentage points does virtually nothing and the resolution only matters if you have lots of screen-on time. Finally, using dark themes on AMOLED displays doesn’t work as well as most think it does.

ConnectionsSamsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G speed testConnections have a massive impact on battery life. The most common connections are your cell phone signal, data, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and location services. Connections drain the battery in a few different ways and the first one is fairly obvious.
If you enable these connections and don’t use them, they draw unnecessary power over the course of the day. Hardware and software optimizations have minimized this drain and it’s barely an inconvenience these days. It still drains the battery, but not nearly as much as it used to.

Additionally, a weak signal can greatly increase battery drain. It’s also a very difficult problem to fix. Your device regularly checks for signal strength. When the reception is bad, the phone checks more frequently, and this constant checking drains the battery. Usually, this only happens in certain types of buildings and in bad reception areas, but if you live (or work) in one of those places, it can be a constant and nearly unsolvable problem.

Every time your phone connects to something, it costs you battery life.Finally, actually using these connections drains your battery. If you go online and spend five minutes downloading a file, that’s five whole minutes your phone is actively using its networking hardware. The same is true of voice calls as your phone engages its radio for the entire length of the call.

A lot of people recommend using airplane mode to switch off all connections when not using your phone. To be honest, it doesn’t save that much battery and it ends up being invasive and annoying. We recommend staying connected to Wi-Fi while at home (or work). Additionally, the Google Play Store, Google Photos, Amazon Photos, and others all have settings that will postpone backups or updates until you’re connected to a charger. You should definitely check and see what can be put off until your phone is safely charging.

For regular users, the first thing that matters for the chipset is its generation. Every year chips get smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient. The Snapdragon 855 was faster and more energy-efficient than the Snapdragon 845, and the latest Qualcomm chipset , the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, continues the tradition. The same goes for HUAWEI’s Kirin SoCs, Samsung’s Exynos chips, and MediaTek’s silicon. This is a rather complex topic, but the super basic explanation is that newer chipsets can do the same work as older chipsets except faster, with less energy consumption, and with less heat. All of those things affectbattery life.

As phones have become more capable of performing various tasks, allocating battery power has become crucial to maximizing its lifespan, especially if your smartphone is draining fast. Today, our phone’s SoC significantly regulates power consumption between the apps and features we use daily. Even if you don’t have one of the Android phones with the best battery life, you can still extend your device’s lifespan with this feature. Let’s look at how Android’s Adaptive Battery works and how you can ensure it’s turned on.

What is Android Adaptive Battery, and how does it work?

samsung galaxy s22 batterydisplayWhen you are using your phone, it isn’t just the app you have open that is eating up your battery life. Even when you put your phone down and aren’t touching it, many background processes run behind the scenes. For example, many apps actively retrieve information from other apps, such as contacts or location data, not to mention all the external cellular and Wi-Fi connections.

All of these processes and more need varying amounts of energy to function. Without anything to coordinate power consumption, you would notice a big difference between an optimized battery and a device without one. An Adaptive battery is how your Android phone makes it through an entire day of usage or more. Here are a few essential system tools that Adaptive Battery uses.

Limiting background appsThe most common way Adaptive Battery saves minutes to hours of battery life is by restricting how apps run in the background. As mentioned earlier, some apps can consume a lot of power without you knowing it. When Adaptive Battery is turned on and an app is running too heavily, you will get a notification with the option to put it to sleep.

Over time, Adaptive Battery will learn which apps take up the most background usage and limit some of their functions. This doesn’t really affect your phone performance, but it means the battery won’t drain drastically when your phone is idle.
Learning your habitsAnother way Adaptive Batterylives up to its name is by learning the patterns of how you use your phone. After having Adaptive Battery enabled for some time, your phone will keep track of what apps you use the most, how long you use them, and how quickly your battery drains when not optimized.

Eventually, your Android phone will utilize this data to fine-tune how it expends a full battery so that it can last throughout your daily usage. A crucial piece of information in this equation is learning your charging habits. Once the time is regular enough, Android will start stretching your battery life to when it anticipates you will plug in your phone to charge.
Reducing performanceOne of the subtler ways Adaptive Battery improves battery lifeis by slightly reducing performance. Chips take a lot of power, and your battery can last much longer if that power is reduced to match your current needs.
On Samsung Galaxy phones, a complimentary feature to Adaptive Battery in the settings lets you change your device’s processing speed. This tool can save you more battery life than Android’s Adaptive Battery does. The Exynos processor in the flagship S-series devices barely lags in the “optimized” state, either. However, the difference in performance can be more noticeable in other Android devices, but if you are out and about without a charger, that might not be a concern.

How to turn on Android Adaptive BatteryHere’s how to turn on Adaptive Battery on a Google Pixel or Samsung Galaxy phone.
Google PixelNavigate to the settings by swiping down from the top screen and tapping the Settings cog. Then tap Battery. Select Adaptive Preferences, and lastly, hit the toggle on Adaptive Battery.

Pixel Settings Battery
Pixel battery usage
Pixel adaptive batterySamsung GalaxyNavigate to the settings by swiping down on the screen and tapping the Settings cog. Select Battery and device care. You can optimize your battery usage here. Tap the Battery readout near the top, then scroll down to select More battery settings. There, you ‘ll find the Adaptive battery toggle.

samsung adaptive battery toggleAs mentioned, you can adjust the Processing speed under the Adaptive battery option. There are three different speeds: Optimized, High, and Maximum. Select the option that best suits your usage.
samsung processing speedHow to manage battery usage for individual appsAdaptive Battery will treat all apps the same, but you can manually give certain apps exceptions or stricter limitations. Navigate to your Settings and select Apps. From there, select the app you want to manage, scroll down to choose Battery, and select the desired battery usage for that app.

samsung app use detailsOverall, Adaptive Battery is a great feature to extend the life of your Android device. If you find your battery isn’t lasting long enough, try turning it on or limiting the usage of energy-hungry apps. Remember that Adaptive Batteryneeds time to learn your usage habits and may not work immediately, but you should notice results soon enough.

Most of us — casual users and enthusiasts alike — are forever searching for smartphones with the longest battery life. And while fast charging keeps us topped up every day, the absence of replaceable batteries means eventually, the lithium-ion cells enclosed in our phones are going to age and deteriorate, making it harder to maximize battery life.
If you’ve held onto a phone for a couple of years, you’ve probably noticed the battery doesn’t seem to last as long as it did when your handset was brand new. Four or five years down the line, many phones struggle to make it through the day on a single charge. Holding onto a phone even longer can even spell trouble for reliability too as you may face sudden shutdowns.

Unfortunately, battery capacity inevitably declines with age. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to prolong the lifespan of your smartphone’s battery. If you’ve ever wondered what the best way to charge your battery is, here are some scientifically proven tips to maximize battery life.
If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick summary of the best battery life-maximizing tips you should keep in mind:

Avoid full charge cycles (0-100%) and overnight charging. Instead, top up your phone more regularly with partial charges.Limiting your smartphone’s maximum charge to 80-90% is better for the battery’s health than topping up to completely full everytime.Use fast charging technologies sparingly and when your device is cool.Heat has the potential to accelerate battery health degradation. Don’t cover your phone when charging, and keep it out of warmer places.Don’t play intensive games, stream videos, or run other intensive workloads while charging to avoid heat and stressing the battery.Keep reading for a more detailed explanation of what factors will prolong your battery life
Partial charging is a healthy habitGoogle Pixel Stand wireless charging Galaxy S21 UltraOne particularly persistent battery myth is that you need to occasionally fully discharge and recharge to erase “battery memory.” This couldn’t be more wrong for lithium-ion batteries. It’s a leftover myth from lead-acid cells, and it’s pretty undesirable to Charge your modern smartphone in this way.
Partial charging is just fine for lithium-ion batteries and can have some positive benefits for cell longevity. To understand why it’s important to appreciate how a battery charges. Li-ion batteries draw constant current and operate at a lower voltage when closer to empty. This voltage gradually increases as the cell charges up, leveling off at around a 70% charge before the current begins to fall until the capacity is full.

Partial charging is just fine for lithium-ion batteries and even has some positive benefits.Notably, operating at a low voltage is good for a battery’s lifespan, increasing the number of available charging cycles before you’ll start to see a significant reduction in capacity. Roughly speaking, every 0.1V decrease in cell voltage doubles the cycle life, according to Battery University. Therefore, charging up your phone in that 30% to 80% range keeps the voltage lower and might slightly prolong the battery’s lifespan.

Avoid idle chargingGoogle Pixel 7a charging plug and wireless dockCharging overnight or in a cradle during the day is a very common habit, but it’s not recommended for several reasons (the old “overcharging” myth isn’t one of them). First, continuous trickle charging of a full battery can cause plating of the metallic lithium, which reduces stability in the long term and can, in rare cases, lead to system-wide malfunctions and reboots. Second, as we just mentioned above, it leaves the battery at a higher stress voltage when at 100%. Third , and most important, it creates excess heat caused by wasted power dissipation.
Some phones disable or slow down charging when nearing full capacity. Use these options.Ideally, a device should stop charging when it reaches 100% battery capacity, only turning the charging circuit back on to top up the battery now and again — or at the very least reducing the charging current to very small amounts.

While some phones disable charging once full, many continue to pull up to half an amp and sometimes more from the wall outlet. Turning smartphones off doesn’t make a difference in many cases either. While this isIt’s not a massive amount of power, it’s going to stop your phone from cooling down as quickly and will continue to cycle through a small part of the battery, resulting in a mini-cycle.A final point worth mentioning is parasitic load. This occurs when the battery is being drained significantly at the same time as being charged, such as watching a video or gaming while charging.

Gaming or watching videos while charging is bad because it distorts charging cycles.The best way to avoid parasitic loads is to turn your device off while charging. But that’s not really realistic. Instead, it’s best to keep the workload light while the device is plugged in, leaving it idle most of the time. Browsing the web is Probably fine. Also, remember to unplug it once the battery is topped up enough.
Heat is the enemy of long battery lifeASUS ROG Phone 5 product shot of the battery and charging logos up closeAlong with all of the above, temperature is an equally key contributor to longevity and maximizing battery life. In fact, it’s arguably the biggest killer of long-term battery health. Like high voltages, high temperatures stress the battery and make it lose capacity far more quickly than when kept at lower temperatures.

Leaving your phone to fast charge up for 5 to 15 minutes won’t lead to major overheating problems, but I certainly don’t recommend using them for a full charge. Instead, you’d be better off using a temperature-aware fast charging solution or switching to a slower charger, especially if you plan to plug your phone in overnight.

How to maximize smartphone battery health long-termmotorola edge plus charging indicatorLithium-ion battery technology is well understood these days, and smartphones are built around our use cases, but bad habits and myths still permeate the public consciousness. While most of these habits won’t severely negatively impact your phone’s battery life in the medium term , the decline in removable phone batteries means we should take extra precautions to maximize battery life and thus our smartphone’s longevity.

Broadly speaking, smaller regular charge cycles and keeping your phone cool are the key things to remember. Although I should point out that different phone batteries will always age slightly differently depending on how we treat them.

Users are forever in search of the best smartphone that has longer battery life.Gone are the days where batteries are easily replaceable. Today, we have to be conscious of our battery usage to minimize the expensive professional service that comes with smartphones.

Almost all smartphones are equipped with lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and while we all use the same type, no battery has the same lifespan. It all depends on our habits and how we use our phones that can determine how long can we keep the health of our smartphone batteries.

Best Practices to keep your Smartphone Battery HealthyIf you have been with your smartphone for more than a year, you might notice that batteries don’t last long compared to when it was brand new. Down the line, many phones can’t make it through a day with a single charge.

There are various ways to extend your phone battery lifespan. You might be familiar with it or it might sound new to you, but here are some best practices you can follow to keep your smartphone battery healthy:
Partial ChargingMost of us are guilty of fully charging our phones out of habit but in reality, it’s bad for the battery. Also, some are using their phones until the battery goes 0 percent before plugging it in, which should be avoided.
The best way to charge your phone and extend its lifespan is to charge it partially and frequently. For example, you can charge it for up to 80% and use it until it goes to 20% before charging it again. With this charging cycle, you can improve yoursmartphone’s battery life.

Avoid Extreme HeatLi-ion batteries don’t respond well to heat or extreme cold. If you are located in a cold area, its’ best to use thick phone cases that can keep it warm. For hot weather, don’t leave your phone exposed to sunlight. Heat is the worst enemy for Li-on batteries while cold might damage its health temporarily.
It’s best practice not to leave or store your mobile device in an enclosed space where there’s minimum ventilation as it raises the phone’s temperature, especially inside a hot car.

Decrease Screen BrightnessTurning down your screen brightness will save energy. Your smartphone screen is the component that uses battery the most. For iOS and Android devices, it gives you an option to automatically reduce the screen brightness when there’s light, though it still uses a light sensor. It’s advisable to disable auto-brightness.
You probably don’t require the full brightness, so manually setting your screen’s brightness depending on the ambient lighting is best recommended and will save your phone battery life.

Avoid Using Phone While ChargingMost people can’t keep away from their phones because it’s now considered a necessity. However, when it’s charging, it is better to avoid using it. When you use apps that require a large proportion of battery to operate, it’s consuming a lot of energy, thus reducing your battery life in the process.
It can also lead to overheating the device and as mentioned earlier, heat is the worst enemy for Li-on batteries. The best solution is to turn it off while charging, or if it’s really necessary to use it, then keep the workload very light when your phone is plugged in.
Avoid Using Non-Compatible Charging CablesThe most common practice people do is to use a counterfeit or third-party charging cable. You might think that you are saving some money because you bought it for a lower price, but it can seriously harm your smartphone battery.
Accessories that are not manufactured by the original provider are made of cheap materials that don’t work the same way as the original cables. Ensure that you are only using the right charging cables to protect not only your battery but also your smartphones.
Reduce Screen Timeout or Auto-LockSimilar to laptops or computers, your mobile’s screen can automatically turn off if not in use. You can save energy by reducing the screen timeout or auto-lock by 1 minute or even 30 seconds. Both iPhones and Androids have these features and it’s easy to set up.

Check Your AppsAll smartphone apps use power and data even if they are not in use, like Facebook. To extend your battery life, disable the background refresh activities of apps that aren’t crucial and do it regularly. When apps update, some new features are added and might consume more energy, so you’ll notice your battery draining. Make it a bit to monitor apps that consumes power even if you don’t use them.

Nowadays, Lithium-ion battery technology is more understood, but some myths remain in our consciousness. While most of the habit doesn’t severely impact your smartphone’s battery life, the decrease in removable batteries should be a reminder that we need to take precautions to prolong our smartphone’s battery life.