Practical management secrets to double your smartphone battery life

For modern people, smartphones have become an indispensable necessity even for a moment. However, everyone has probably experienced at least once that the battery that was full on the way to work turns red in the afternoon and becomes anxious. As the latest smartphones improve in performance, their power consumption also increases, making battery management more important. Today, we will introduce practical maintenance tips that can dramatically extend the life of your smartphone battery and keep it running like new for longer.

3 key causes of reduced battery life

Before knowing how to take care of your battery, it is important to first understand why our smartphone batteries wear out quickly and their lifespan is shortened. The lithium-ion batteries currently installed in most smartphones are vulnerable to the following environments.

1. Extreme temperatures (especially heat)

Batteries are very sensitive to temperature. In particular, high temperatures are the biggest culprit in rapidly shortening battery life by abnormally accelerating chemical reactions inside the battery. Conversely, at extremely low temperatures below freezing, the internal resistance of the battery may increase, which may temporarily accelerate the discharge rate or cause the battery to turn off.

2. Fully discharged (0%) and fully charged (100%)

Discharging a battery completely to 0% or leaving it at 100% continuously places great stress on lithium-ion battery cells. There is a common misconception that batteries must be fully discharged before charging due to the 'memory effect' of the old nickel-cadmium batteries, but this is a misconception that does not apply to lithium-ion batteries.

3. Excessive background app activity

Apps running out of sight may be the culprit. Apps that continuously track location information (GPS), receive notifications in real time, or refresh data in the background constantly wake up the smartphone's processor and drain the battery.

Proper charging habits to extend battery life

So how should we charge our batteries to keep them healthy in our daily lives? The key is to maintain a section that minimizes stress on the battery.

‘Plateau charging’ that maintains the range of 20% to 80%

This is the charging method that battery experts unanimously recommend. Ideally, keep the battery level at least 20% and stop charging between 80 and 85% if possible. The recently released Samsung Galaxy (battery protection function) and Apple iPhone (optimized battery charging) have a built-in function that limits charging to exceed a specified percentage, so we strongly recommend that you actively activate this function.

Recharge frequently and frequently

Charging little by little often puts less strain on the battery. The 'deep cycle' method of waiting until the battery is discharged and then charging it to 100% at once is the main cause of shortening the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries. When you are at the office or at home, place it on a wireless charging pad and recharge the battery from time to time.

Avoid charging in high temperature conditions

You should absolutely avoid playing high-end games on your smartphone or turning on the navigation system and charging it on a car dashboard in strong sunlight. The heat generated by the battery itself, heat generated by device use, and external heat can cause battery deterioration to progress rapidly. If your phone gets hot, it is best to stop using it and allow it to cool before charging.

Reduce battery consumption by optimizing smartphone settings

In addition to your physical charging habits, you can significantly extend the time you can use your smartphone on a single charge by tweaking your smartphone's internal settings.

Adjust display settings

The display is the most power-consuming component in a smartphone.

• Lower screen brightness: Turning on the auto-brightness feature or manually lowering the brightness to 50% or lower can save a lot of battery.
• Use Dark Mode: In the case of newer smartphones with OLED displays, the pixels in that area are completely turned off when displaying black. Therefore, setting system settings or frequently used apps to dark mode can dramatically reduce battery consumption.
• Shortening the screen auto-off time: When the smartphone is not in use, set the screen-on time to a short period of about 30 seconds.

Block unnecessary connections and background tasks

• Manage Location Services (GPS): Only set location permissions to 'Allow while using the app' only when absolutely necessary, such as for maps or navigation apps. You need to make sure that unused apps don't continue to track your location.
• Limit background app refresh: Disable background refresh for apps whose notifications are not important to prevent them from secretly draining your battery.
• Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi: If you do not use Bluetooth earphones when going out or are in a place where there is no Wi-Fi to connect to, it is recommended to turn off the function. The battery is also drained as the device continuously searches for signals around it.

Conclusion

Smartphone batteries are essentially consumable items whose lifespan decreases over time. You can't keep it in its original state forever, but if you practice small habits introduced today, such as avoiding extreme temperatures, maintaining the 20-80% charging range, and turning off unnecessary settings, you can significantly delay the battery replacement cycle by 1-2 years or more. We hope that you will abandon your bad charging habits and use your smartphone longer and more comfortably through proper battery management.