Mobile phones and tablets are becoming daily a more customary part of business life. If either of these devices are a part of your daily routine, you know well the risk of running out of battery power before you have opportunity to recharge. Practice these five tips to keep your phone or tablet running just a little longer to make it until the next charge comes through.
Tip 1: Turn off wireless access not being used. Mobile phones and tablets can come with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities. If you use any one of these and then close the app without turning off the access service, it will continue to run in the background using or searching for the access point. This takes battery power with no benefit to you. Better to turn off the service you are not using. There are utilities and apps that will help you do that.
Tip 2: Activate your screen lock. Most devices have screen locks or screen savers that you should use. The battery power necessary to light your screen is considerably more than that used to transmit data. Set a very short lock time (1-2 minutes) because the sooner your screen turns off, the more battery power you’ll save.
Tip 3: Adjust your screen brightness. Adjusting your screen brightness to the dimmest possible setting is a great battery saver that is in action even when you are regularly using your device. The greater the light on your screen, the greater the battery power necessary to drive that light. That’s why many devices come with an auto-dim feature. Check your screen background. By using a darker screen background your device will use less energy.
Tip 4: Turn off the vibration and keypad tones. These more mechanical device requirements take a good deal more battery power than the purely electronic elements. While it may seem a small thing, if you can do without the phone vibrating or beeping when you type or dial, in the end it makes a difference to battery conservation. If you know there’s a chance your battery will not make it, extend your battery life by removing this power drain.
Tip 5: Completely drain your battery. Once in a while it is a good thing to allow the battery to completely run out. The battery indicator on your device might be giving you the wrong battery level reading due to irregularities in the charge/drain cycles. It’s a good idea to completely drain the battery so that the next time it’s charged; you’ll get a more accurate reading of its capacity. The night before that morning when you plan to sleep in, violate all the above tips so the phone will go dead while you sleep. Then when you wake up, charge up. And don’t forget to reset for maximum battery conservation!