Boost your battery

You’ve undoubtedly had this experience: just when you need your phone or tablet, the battery turns out to be dead. So your device has to be charged up again before you can use it. Fortunately there are several easy tips for unburdening that battery as much as possible and allowing it to last as long as possible.

1. Reduce the brightness of your screen

   No part of a phone consumes as much power as the screen. So set the brightness as low as possible; you’ll notice that it has an immediate effect on the battery life.

2. Use only the connections you need

   Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G, etc.; a phone nowadays is equipped with many antennas for making connections. If you are, for example, somewhere where there is no Wi-Fi or no Bluetooth device, you can feel free to turn off these connections in the Settings menu.

3. Put your router in a central location

   If you use Wi-Fi at home, be sure that the router (the box that provides the wireless connection) is centrally located, and not for example in the garage or behind a cabinet. Not only does that improve the speed, your phone will also have to transmit at a much lower power to achieve a connection.

4. Turn off notifications and vibration

   Apps that constantly give you notifications consume a little power each time. If you turn off those notifications your battery lasts a lot longer. The same goes for the vibrate function, which is handy if your phone is in your jacket, but it’s best to use it only for phone calls and messages, not for apps.

5. Avoid heat

   Keep your phone out of the sun, don’t leave it in a hot car and don’t keep it in your back pocket all day. The warmer the battery, the faster it runs down.

6. Don’t start up too often

   It may sound strange, but constantly turning your mobile phone on and off is also not so good for the battery. Starting up always consumes quite a bit of energy. So it’s better to put it in standby.

7. Use an app

   With apps like System Status, Battery Doctor or Battery Defender you get a quick overview of the biggest power consumers on your phone. Usually you can then turn them off quickly with one push of a button.