minds of more people than ever. Whether you’re using your device for work or play, we all know that feeling when you see the red battery icon but don’t have any way to recharge. This guide will help you to get the most out of your battery throughout the day, while prolonging its overall life.
- Turn off unused wireless radios: Modern devices come with an array of wireless radios, that let us connect to any number of devices and networks. While very convenient, you’re probably not using all your devices radio, like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, and even your cellular data all the time. Disabling these radios while not using them will prolong your battery life, especially if all you’re doing is typing a document, or listening to an MP3. These radios can simply be turned off individually in your devices settings, or more easily by enabling “Airplane Mode” which will shut them all down.
- Dim your screen: Your screen is one of the single biggest users of battery power on your device.
Turning down your brightness can have a drastic effect on the amount of time you’ll get out of a charge, and one of the easiest things to do in a pinch.
- Disable Push Notifications:
Push Notifications are something many people don’t think about when
trying to save battery. But think about it, every time your phone dings because someone sent you a snapchat, your best friend updated their Facebook status, or you received a new email, your device uses power. Constantly checking the plethora of services we have on our devices is a huge power drain. You can simply turn off Push Notifications in your settings, or change your email to only check for new messages every 10 minutes, instead of notifying you as they come in.
Push Notifications are something many people don’t think about when
- Don’t always leave your device plugged-in: This is most common with laptops, but is true for most
modern batteries. While older batteries we prone to overcharging when left plugged in, modern batteries and chargers use a method known as “trickle charging” when your battery is near its capacity. This keeps your battery fully charged without over charging it when left plugged in after it has reached capacity. But modern batteries are designed to be charged and discharged regularly, and leaving your device plugged in 100% of the time will degrade its life over time. The old adage “use it or lose it” is a great example here.
- Protect your device from extreme temperatures: While its normal for batteries to heat up while being charged, keeping them near room temperature while not charging will not only get you more time between charges, but prolong your batteries overall life. Some easy examples are to use a cooling pad for your laptop to improve airflow. Don’t place your device on or under blankets, or other insulating items that will hold in heat, or block airflow used for cooling. Finally, don’t leave your device in direct sunlight, or in the car during the winter. If it’s unavoidable that your device will be left somewhere where it will get hot or cold, turn it off, and wait for it to return to room temperature before turning it on and using it.