Batteries cause some of the biggest headaches where smartphones are concerned, with older devices losing their charge quickly and needing increasingly frequent top ups. So, if your device is showing its age, you can use some of these tricks to get your device to stay charged for longer.
First, don’t leave your device charging overnight. When you do this, the phone activates a process known as ‘trickle charge’, where it waits until the battery life dips just below 100%, then tops it up slightly. This is incredibly taxing on the battery – which is an even greater concern when considering it continues all throughout the night. With new devices offering much faster charging and batteries that are able to go from flat to full in less than half an hour, this could pave the way for less trickle charging, and longer battery lifecycles.
Similarly, it’s worth always keeping your device between 20% and 80% charged – according to wired.co.uk. Smartphone batteries work at their optimum at exactly 50% charge. This is because ions (which hold the charge) move between a battery’s two layers – from the graphite side to the lithium cobalt oxide one. Therefore, when the battery is at 50% charge, the ions are in equilibrium and the battery is working most efficiently. Maintaining this state for as long as practicable will benefit a battery’s longevity.
Finally, smartphone users are advised to have a play around with certain settings. Some devices have a battery saver mode that it’s worth activating, as this acts as a catch-all for improving battery life – usually by modifying app settings and keeping CPU usage down. If this isn’t an option, you can always take the same measures manually, by lowering the screen brightness, using WiFi where possible, and even using aeroplane mode if you don’t need connectivity. WiFi is 40% less of a drain on your battery than 4G connectivity, and devices lose 5% of charge in aeroplane mode compared to 15% when idle, meaning these could add up to provide a huge battery boost. It’s also very worthwhile using these tricks when on a speeding train, as your phone will otherwise spend the time constantly searching for networks to connect to – which results in a huge drain on your battery.
