Smartphone Battery Usage 101: 10 Simple Tricks To Always Stay Charged

by Brad Fein
Smartphone Battery Usage

Smartphones are the new age oxygen tanks! We can’t even think even one day without a smartphone these days, a day without a smartphone usage is just like hell to us. But, the same can be experienced even with a smartphone. Yes! It is when your battery runs out.

Most of the smartphone manufacturers are now trying to increase the capacity of batteries, optimizing their Operating Systems to maximize smartphone usage and yet, by the end of the day, we are looking at power banks to save the day!

So for all the tech-savvy smartphone users out there, here we are with some cool tricks to always stay charged!

What is a smartphone battery? And How does that work?

A smartphone battery is popularly known as Li-ion battery, which is a Lithium-ion battery. From removable batteries to today’s fixed batteries, a smartphone battery has been the center of discussion on how mobiles should be designed around them and how mobile app development firms must craft the app that consumes low battery power. Almost all smartphone users aim to use their phone for a long time without plugging it to the charging point, thus it becomes a primary responsibility of the manufacturer and development firms to look into effective ways to come with the effective solution that satisfy the needs of almost all the users.    

How do Lithium-ion batteries work?

A smartphone battery works on the principle of intercalation and deintercalation of the lithium ions from positive electrode material and negative electrode material. Intercalation is the insertion of molecules or ions into materials that are layered in structure. 

Smartphone batteries have evolved over the years and Lithium-ion batteries have been around for quite some time now. But, Li-ion batteries are bulkier and have low power capacity, which is rectified by the usage of Lithium polymer batteries these days.

Lithium-ion vs. Lithium-Polymer:

  • The basic difference between the two, i.e Lithium-ion and Lithium-Polymer is the electrolyte used, while in the Lithium-ion the electrolyte used is LiPF6  – Lithium Hexafluorophosphate, in Lithium-Polymer batteries, use Polypropylene or Polyethylene as a separator. Due to which irrespective of whichever liquid electrolyte is used, it has polymer components.
  • Due to the polymer component, used instead of metal or other components, batteries have become lightweight.
  • Batteries have now become more powerful and possess rapid charging capabilities.

So, how can we maximize the usage of smartphone batteries without too much charging? This question is relevant as these batteries have certain charge cycles and after that, it starts to deteriorate.

  1. Minimal Charging:
    This is quite achievable through the effective use of smartphones, use your smartphones for important functions and reduce the level of other non-relevant activities. 

    The most irrelevant activity we do on smartphones is gaming, though it might be a good thing on a week off or weekend, but, on a daily basis, it consumes your battery. Thus try to avoid playing games during the working hours or unnecessary time, make sure that you save your battery so that you need not have to attach your phone now and then with the charger.
  2. Network consumption:
    Today, most of the smartphones are based on 4G networks and it consumes high power. There are several reasons and some of them include network configurations that drain your battery.

    As the 4G network pauses the 3G network to have a sound connection, it strains your battery and further, when your network is a handover from one tower to another, while you are mobile, it again drains power. So, it is advisable to look for a wireless network instead.

    Display:
    It is quite a common trick used for battery optimization these days to use dark themes or dark-colored wallpapers to minimize the battery drainage by your display. You can check it by yourself as there is a battery usage percentage counter provided in your smartphone.
mobile battery usage stats

As you can see, the same used by me and what I got was a whopping 24.27% of battery usage by the display screens, irrespective of the fact that I use a dark mode on my smartphone.

3. Drainage:
Never drain your battery completely as it could reduce the charge cycles that are possibly already reducing with each of your charges. So make sure that you charge your phone before your battery goes dead. If you let your battery go low each time then it sure that your battery is going to damage very soon, thus always connect your phone to the charger before it goes to 0%.

4. The Airplane Mode:
Optimize your battery by using the Airplane mode while charging or while going to sleep. There are two advantages of using an Airplane mode while sleeping-

1) Your battery does not drain without usage due to network intensity.
2) It can save your body from harmful radio waves of mobile networks, during sleep, as many of us use alarms on smartphones.

5. WiFi & GPS:
Don’t keep your WiFi active without any use, as well as your GPS location, as these two constantly drains your battery. If you are in a WiFi coverage area and you need your GPS location services for maps or any other app, then you should use them otherwise make sure that you switch them off or avoid them, this helps you to save a huge amount of battery and also increases your battery life. 

6. The charging precautions:
Never charge your battery when the internet is on in your phone, as the network intensity resists the charge and creates a strain on your battery, which will be harmful to your battery in the longer run.
Another important trick is to charge with the back cover of the smartphone removed as it will reduce the battery burnout due to high charging temperatures. You should also avoid using your smartphone while charging as it prolongs battery life.

7. The Battery Saver Mode:  
Today almost all smartphones available in the market come with battery saver mode in the mobile OS. This option can prove to be one of the best options to save your battery and prolong the charging cycles of your battery.

8. The Listening Volumes:
Your smartphone already knows, what is the sound level that suits your ears and its battery, it reminds you with an instant pop-up, which you should consider! You must avoid listing high volume as it is not only harmful to your ears but it is also harmful to your smartphone battery. 

9. Brightness:
There is a frenzy in the market about Amoled screens, but, as far as display brightness is concerned, it is necessary to keep it in the recommended format to keep your battery from drainage.

Plugging out:

Smartphone batteries are becoming more and more powerful and efficient. With more platforms designing their digital tools to support minimum battery consumption and optimize battery life, but if you consider some simple tricks then it can help you manage your smartphone battery more comprehensively.

With smart battery settings provided in your intelligent smartphones that can regulate and monitor the battery usage and battery performance can be leveraged for better power management of your device. 

Smartphones with higher battery life and optimized battery settings are changing the network metrics to make it more battery-friendly. So, next time when you think of charging your smartphone just think smartly!

Author Bio

Manoj Rupareliya is an Online Marketing Expert and Blogger. He is an experienced writer with expertise in the field of technology, blockchain, crypto, AI, Digital Marketing and SEO. All the blogs he writes are aimed at providing credible help and insights for readers who want to stay updated all the time.

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