Make Your Cell Phone Battery Last Longer

While many of us now use mobile phones instead of land-line phones in our homes, these mobile phones come with lithium batteries which require some maintenance as long as they are used. Once you know how, you can optimize your phone's battery life fairly easily.

Steps

Increasing the Time between Charges

  1. Turn the phone off. Only do this if it's going to be for several hours; turning a phone on/off actually uses a massive amount of power itself. This will probably be the most effective and simple way of conserving your battery’s power. Why? This will help conserve energy and also charge your phone. If you don't plan on answering the phone while you're sleeping or after business hours, just turn it off. Do the same if you are in an area with no reception (such as a subway or remote area, since constantly searching for service depletes the battery fairly quickly).
    • Some phones have an automatic power save feature, but it takes about 30 minutes with no service to kick in. By then, much battery power has been used. If you are using a smartphone and have no reception, disable the phone functionality (flight/airplane mode).
  2. Stop searching for a signal. When you are in an area with poor or no signal, your phone will constantly look for a better connection, and will use up all your power doing so. This is easily understood if you have ever forgotten to turn off your phone on a flight. The best way to ensure longer battery life is to make sure you have a great signal where you use your phone. If you don't have a perfect signal, get a cell phone repeater which will amplify the signal to provide near perfect reception anywhere or simply turn on flight (airplane) mode (as said previously).
  3. Do not follow the method of full charge and full discharge. Avoid letting your cell phone's battery run all the way down. Unlike nickel-based batteries (such as the NiCd or NiMH rechargeable AA batteries seen in most supermarkets), lithium-based batteries are designed to be charged early and often, and letting them get too low can damage the battery. With lithium-based batteries, doing shallow discharges and frequent charging prolongs battery life.
  4. Switch the vibrate function off on your phone. Use just the ring tone. The vibrate function uses additional battery power. Keep the ring tone volume as low as possible.
  5. Turn off your phone's back light. The back light is what makes the phone easier to read in bright light or outside. However, the light also uses battery power. If you can get by without it, your battery will last longer. If you have to use the back light, many phones will let you set the amount of time to leave the back light on. Shorten that amount of time. Usually, one or two seconds will be sufficient. Some phones have an ambient light sensor, which can turn off the back light in bright conditions and enable it in darker ones.
  6. Avoid using unnecessary features. If you know it will be a while before your phone’s next charge, don’t use the camera or connect to the Internet. Flash photography can drain your battery especially quickly.
  7. Keep calls short. This is obvious, but how many times have you heard someone on their mobile phone say, "I think my battery’s dying," and then continue their conversation for several minutes? Sometimes, the dying battery is just an excuse to get off the phone (and a good one, at that), but if you really need to conserve the battery, limit your talk time.
  8. Turn off Bluetooth. It will drain your battery very quickly. Only turn Bluetooth on when needed.
  9. Same goes for WIFI, GPS, and infrared capabilities, if your phone has these features built in. Keep them off except when you need them.
  10. Turn the brightness of the display to the lowest setting possible.
  11. Adjust your network settings when possible. Use 3G (HSPA, HSPA+, UMTS) or 2G (GSM) rather than 4G (LTE). Using your phone in 4G will drain the battery quicker than if you just use 3G or 2G. Turn 4G (LTE) off when there is weak to no 4G signal in your area. When using 4G, both the 3G and 4G radios are turned on therefore it will use a lot of power. You may also turn off 3G and use 2G if there is weak to no 3G.
  12. With a smartphone, avoid using moving or animated pictures or videos for your background. Animated backgrounds will drain the battery faster.
    • Use a black background whenever possible. AMOLED screens use a lot less power displaying black instead of white [1].

Prolonging the Life of Your Battery

  1. Initialize a new battery. New batteries should be fully charged before their first use to obtain maximum capacity. Nickel-based batteries should be charged for 16 hours initially and run through 2-4 full charge/full discharge cycles, while lithium ion batteries should be charged for about 5-6 hours. Ignore the phone telling you that the battery is full—this is normal but is not accurate if the battery is not initialized.
  2. Avoid fully discharging a lithium-ion battery! Unlike Ni-Cd batteries, lithium-ion batteries' life is shortened every time you fully discharge them. Instead, charge them when the battery meter shows one bar left. Lithium-ion batteries, like most rechargeable batteries, have a set number of charges in them.
  3. Keep the battery cool. Put the battery in the fridge. Your battery will last longest if used near room temperature, and nothing wears on a battery like extended exposure to high temperatures. While you can’t control the weather, you can avoid leaving your phone in a hot car or in direct sunlight, and you don’t have to carry your phone in your pocket, where your body heat will raise its temperature. In addition, check the battery while it’s charging. If it seems excessively hot, your charger may be malfunctioning.
  4. Charge your battery correctly, in accordance with its type. Most newer cell phones have lithium-ion batteries, while older ones generally have nickel-based batteries. Read the label on the back of the battery or in the technical specifications in the manual to determine which yours is.
    • Nickel-based batteries (either NiCd or NiMH) don't generally suffer from a misunderstood phenomenon known as the "memory effect." As described in Wikipedia and many expert sources,[2] the term "memory effect" has been widely mythologized to describe any and all deterioration of NiCd (and other battery chemical processes), in many cases misleading consumers into further shortening the lives of the batteries through over-discharging to "recondition" them.[3]
    • Lithium ion batteries can be preserved by careful charging and storing them at a partial charge. They do not require "reconditioning."
    • Regardless of the battery type, use only a charger rated for your battery, and discontinue use of a charger that causes the battery to heat up excessively.
  5. Store batteries properly. If your battery will be out of use for a while, disconnect it from the phone and store it in a cool and dry but not freezing place (an airtight container in a refrigerator, but not a freezer). Don't keep it with metal objects that might move around and short-circuit the terminals. Lithium ion batteries are not rated to operate at refrigerated temperatures, so let the battery sit outside the refrigerator for at least an hour before using it again. Lithium ion batteries oxidize least when they are stored at 40% charge. Never store a lithium battery at low voltage. Recharge batteries after storage.
  6. Clean the battery contacts on the battery and on the phone. Over time, contacts may accumulate dirt which reduce the efficiency of energy transfer. Clean them with a cotton swab and rubbing or isopropyl alcohol. If the contacts are two different metals, such as gold and tin, accelerated corrosion known as "galvanic or bi-metallic" occurs. Cutting the corrosion from the contacts often requires solvents, such as acetone or nail polish remover. Be careful: these solvent dissolve plastic, so use a Q-Tip to avoid damaging the battery housing or the phone.

Battery Failure Indicators

  1. Know how to avoid battery failure:
    • The usable time after recharging is shortened.
    • The battery becomes unusually warm during a recharge cycle.
    • The battery becomes unusually warm during phone use.
    • The battery case may become swollen. This is detectable by feeling and viewing the inside/phone-side of the battery case. Also, when the battery is placed inside/phone-side down on a flat, smooth surface, it will rock and will sustain a spin motion. The case of a healthy battery is flat, and the battery will not a spin easily.
    • The battery develops a hard spot. This is detectable on the inside/phone-side surface of the battery by gently pinching about the surface between one's fingers.

Tips

  • Check to see if your phone has a "Battery Save" option. If so, you can turn this on to increase the life of your battery.
  • While charging your phone, keep it on any non-heat absorbent material such as wooden table, plastic shelf, book, metallic table most effective ( as it is conductor of heat, it takes away minor heat generated by battery).
  • When you are about to restart the phone for any network malfunction, first try to switch the flight mode ON and OFF, instead of restarting the phone, as restarting the phone takes more battery.
  • If your phone is connected to your email, make sure it's not set to check your email every 15 minutes or half an hour. This means that every time it checks, you lose a little battery. Set it to where it doesn't check automatically, and you'll save a lot of battery this way.
  • You should not have to turn off your phone to charge it. Most battery chargers deliver more than enough current to power your phone and charge it at the same time. Doing so will not lengthen the charge time, and leaving a phone on allows the user to be aware of its fuel gauge, so that you can remove it when the battery is full.
  • When using a car charger, do not charge the battery when the inside temperature of your car is hot. Wait until the car has cooled before you plug in the phone.
  • Regardless of how well you care for your battery, it will die eventually. When it does, you may be able to have it refurbished by sending it to the manufacturer or bringing it back to the retailer. If it cannot be refurbished, or if you just want to get a new battery, be sure to recycle it, either by returning it to the manufacturer or retailer, or by bringing it to a recycling center. Most major retail electronics stores have drop-off boxes for recycled phones.
  • mAh is an abbreviation for milli-ampere hours which are units of electrical charge. Larger values, for batteries of the same battery voltage, indicate that the battery has a larger capacity and will power your phone for a longer period of time before charging.
  • Turn power saver on and charge the phone while it is on. Also be sure to not charge the phone too much; it may reduce the life of the battery, requiring you to buy a whole new battery.
  • There are numerous battery retailers and discounters that will answer questions you have regarding prolonging the life of your cell phone battery.
  • Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries naturally get quite warm while charging, unless you use a specialized "slow charger". If your phone uses a NiMH battery, do not worry about the heat generated during charging unless it becomes so hot that it is uncomfortable to touch.
  • Turn the phone's screen off as soon as possible after making a call.
  • Charging your phone on airplane mode could make your phone charge faster, depending on the type of charger used and the telephone's internal charging circuit.
  • If you're in no wifi area , turn off the wifi
  • Go to Settings - General - Usage - Battery Usage and check what apps are killing you're battery.
  • Don't keep opening apps! After using every app, delete the tab. Don't leave a load of apps open.
  • Charge your phone to 80 percent and charge it again at 40 percent.
  • If possible, put battery on low saving mode.
  • Do not use your phone for a very long time while charging. It can cause battery and charger defects. This can also cause the "memory effect".

Warnings

  • Avoid leaving your phone exposed to the sun. The direct contact between sun rays and your cell phone for a long duration can also affect your battery performance, so try to keep your phone out of reach from sun rays.
  • Do not store a lithium battery with a very low charge for a long time, the battery monitor will draw a small current, which might cause a 'deep discharge' which may cause damage to the battery.
  • You should only turn off your cell phone if you use it to text and if you don't have much contacts on your phone. If you frequently use it don't turn it off unless necessary as people trying to call you on your mobile number when you're out of the house won't be able to reach you and the call could relate to something important.
  • Never dispose of old batteries in the trash. Batteries contain toxic metals, and electronic waste from batteries and other electronic components is becoming a major problem. Improper disposal of toxic batteries is illegal in many jurisdictions.[4]

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_LED
  2. ↑ https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=%22memory+effect%22+myth&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
  3. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_effect
  4. ↑ Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation
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