5 Top Tips to Preserve Your Smartphone Battery

We are all aware that as we use our smartphones, the battery degrades and the tipme between charges falls, but is there anything we can do to keep them working for longer?

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Every smartphone owner is conscious of the sight of the battery icon turning red before the day is over.

It's a universal frustration, the feeling that your device is no longer holding a charge the way it used to.

It's often tempting to blame a cheap battery or planned obsolescence, but the truth is that a phone's battery life and health is largely determined by the habits of its user.

The lithium-ion batteries have a finite lifespan measured in charge cycles and they are susceptible to degradation from chemical reactions.

Fortunately, by adopting a few simple, science-backed habits, it is possible to dramatically extend the battery's health and get more life out of your phone.

5 top tips to extend the smatphone battery life

Here are five essential tips, along with other crucial strategies, to preserve a smartphone battery.

1. Embrace the 20-80% Golden Rule

This is perhaps the single most important change you can make to prolong the life of your battery.

The best range for a lithium-ion battery is between 20% and 80%. Consistently charging your phone to 100% or letting it drop to 0% puts significant stress on its internal chemistry.

When a battery is at either extreme, the lithium ions inside are under the greatest strain. Charging to full capacity forces the ions to "pack in," which can cause micro-damage to the anode.

Conversely, allowing the battery to fully discharge puts immense pressure on the cells.

By keeping the charge within this comfortable middle ground, you are engaging in "shallow charge cycles" that minimize this stress.

Many modern smartphones even include a "battery protection" feature that can automatically limit the charge to 80%, so you don't have to manually monitor it.

2. Keep Your Cool: avoid getting the phone (and battery hot)

Heat is a major enemy of a smartphone battery. Lithium-ion batteries degrade much faster when exposed to high temperatures, and this degradation is permanent.

The most common source of damaging heat is the combination of charging and heavy usage.

These include using the smartphone to play a graphics-intensive game, stream a high-definition video, or use navigation, your phone's processor generates a significant amount of heat.

If you're doing this while also fast charging, the heat from both processes compounds, pushing the battery temperature to a high level.

This accelerated heating can permanently reduce the battery capacity and overall health over time.

The solution is simple: don't use your phone for processor-heavy tasks while it's plugged in - easier said than done in some instances, but balace the usage against the degradation that can be tolerated. Let the phone charge and cool down, then pick it up to use again.

Similarly, avoid leaving the phone in a hot car or in direct sunlight wherever possible.

3. Fast Charging: use it only when really necessary

Fast charging is great when you are in a hurry, but it’s not so great for the batteries and it is not really ideal for daily use.

The technology works by pushing more power into the battery in a shorter amount of time, which naturally generates more heat.

While modern phones and chargers have sophisticated systems to manage this heat, constant exposure to it will still take a toll over the long run.

If you are always fast-charging your device, you are subjecting the battery to a higher temperature more frequently, which will accelerate its degradation.

For overnight charging or when you have a few hours to spare, opt for a standard, lower-wattage charger. This slower, gentler approach minimizes heat generation and preserves the battery's health more effectively.

4. Charge Small and Often: move away from the full charge concept

The idea that of completely drain the phone battery before charging it is an outdated concept that was ideal for nickel-cadmium batteries, but it is not good for the lithium ion batteries used in smartphones.

For modern lithium-ion batteries, the opposite is true. Small, frequent charges throughout the day are far healthier than waiting for these battery to hit 0% and then charging it to 100%.

As mentioned with the 20-80% rule, avoiding the extremes is key. A "top-up" from 40% to 60%, for example, puts far less stress on the battery than a full charge from 5% to 100%.

Think of it as a constant snack for your battery rather than a massive feast and subsequent famine. This habit keeps your battery in its sweet spot and prevents the kind of deep discharging that erodes its capacity over time.

5. Keep the software updated

It might not be immediately obvious, but software updates can sometimes play a role in battery longevity.

While the initial reboot after a major update might cause a temporary dip in battery performance as the system re-optimizes, these updates sometimes contain critical bug fixes and performance improvements.

Operating system developers are constantly refining their battery management systems to make phones more efficient. An update may fix a bug that was causing a particular app or process to run in the background unnecessarily, leading to a significant reduction in power consumption.

By keeping the phone software and its apps up to date, it is possible that the device is kept running with the most optimised, power-efficient code available.

Other tips for a healthier battery

To round out your battery-saving toolkit, consider these additional tips:

Adjust Your Screen Settings: The screen is the single biggest battery drainer. By lowering the screen brightness, enable auto-brightness, and shorten screen timeout. If the phone has an OLED screen, using Dark Mode can save a surprising amount of power, as it keeps black pixels completely off.
Manage Background App Activity: Many apps continue to refresh and consume power even when you're not using them. In your phone's settings, you can restrict background activity for apps that don't need to be constantly running, such as social media or shopping apps.
Turn Off Unused Connectivity: When you're not using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or your cellular data, turn them off. Your phone constantly expends energy searching for these networks. Use Wi-Fi whenever possible, as it's generally more power-efficient than cellular data.
Disable Unnecessary Notifications: Every time your screen lights up for a notification, it uses power. Go into your settings and turn off notifications for apps that you don't need instant alerts from.

By making these simple, mindful changes to how to use and charge the device, it is possible can take control of your battery's fate. The phone will not only last longer on a single charge but will also maintain its overall health and performance for years to come.