You probably wonder why your battery dies out shortly after you’ve charged your phone to the maximum, even when you haven’t used it for any major activity. Several things can drain your battery without you even realizing it, and taking control of them can keep your battery fuller for longer. Let’s take a look at some of the things that seem insignificant yet drain your battery in so many ways.
High Display Brightness
Screen brightness significantly affects phone battery life. Setting it to max can be detrimental, especially for those with impaired eyesight. To save battery, switch frequently used apps’ display to dark mode and the general display to black. This doesn’t drastically darken the screen but switches the standard white menu and app backgrounds to black, saving battery without compromising brightness.
Unnecessary connections
Unnecessary phone connections drain battery power over time, but optimizations have minimized this. Wrong signals can increase battery drain, especially in bad reception areas. Phones constantly check signal strength, draining battery. Downloading files or making voice calls takes up active networking hardware. Airplane mode is recommended but not efficient. Stay connected to Wi-Fi while at home or work. Google Play Store, Google Photos, and Amazon Photos have settings that delay backups or updates until connected to a charger.
Constant camera use
Cameras are essential phone hardware, but can significantly drain battery due to their unique nature and power requirements.
The majority of battery drain comes from display and processor usage, post-processing, and camera features. Frequent camera use can lead to below-average battery life, while video processing is more battery-intensive. 4K video requires more power than 720p video. Shutterbugs and apps heavily reliant on cameras can cause greater battery drain with prolonged use.
Phone temperature
Excessive use of your phone in hot cars or while charging can negatively impact its battery life. Ironically, cold batteries have lower capacities, while warmer ones offer better performance. Over time, excessive time spent at extreme temperatures can cause permanent battery degradation. To prevent excess battery degradation, avoid using your phone while charging, charge less frequently, and avoid playing heavy games that heat up your phone. While there are phones with replaceable batteries, this should not be a major concern when buying a smartphone.
Battery health
Battery health is crucial for a phone’s longevity, as it can degrade quickly after two or three years. The phone may not notify you when it detects a decrease in battery quality, but a short battery life is a common sign. Battery replacement is a cheaper option, but prices may vary depending on the phone. If the phone is getting old and has multiple faulty parts, it might be time for an upgrade. Phone repairs can be costly, so upgrading may be a more cost-effective solution.
Location-tracking apps
Numerous apps, including Google Maps, Bumble, Postmates, and Uber, can track your location, but this constant monitoring can drain battery life. To deactivate location tracking, turn off your phone’s location in your Android device’s dropdown menu or hold down the location icon. If you want certain apps to continue tracking your location, you can disable it individually in each app’s “Permissions” section. This allows you to control which apps access your real-time location.
