Mobile Phones > Android 594 594 people found this article helpful How to Make Your Cellphone Battery Last Longer Try these 7 tips for improving your phone's battery life By Melanie Uy Melanie Uy Writer Queens College Harvard University Extension School Former Lifewire writer Melanie Uy has 5+ years' experience writing about consumer-oriented technology and is an expert telecommuter. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on July 29, 2022 Reviewed by Jon Fisher Reviewed by Jon Fisher Wichita Technical Institute Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Turn Off Unused Features Use Wi-Fi Adjust Screen Brightness & Timeouts Turn Off Push Notifications Stop Signal Searching Buy Those Apps Keep the Phone Cool Frequently Asked Questions What to Know Turn off unused features > turn off Wi-Fi in wireless networks > reduce screen brightness.Or turn off push notifications > disable data-fetching > turn on Do Not Disturb.Turn on Airplane mode > use paid apps instead of ad-supported apps > don't let phone get too warm. This article explains seven of the most effective things you can do to avoid walking around with an adapter looking for a place to recharge. Turn Off Features Not in Use Turn off Bluetooth. Disable GPS when not in use. Shut down Wi-Fi. You might even consider disabling your hotspot features. These are some of the biggest battery drains on smartphones because they are always looking for possible connections, networks, or information. Turn off these features in your phone's settings except when you need them to save power. Some phones, such as Android smartphones, have widgets that offer toggles to turn these features on or off so you can switch on Bluetooth when you're in the car for hands-free driving or GPS navigation and then turn it off to save your phone's battery life. Turn On Wi-Fi When You Can Connect to a Wi-Fi Network Having Wi-Fi turned on drains your battery if you're not using it, but if you're on a wireless network, it's more power-efficient to use Wi-Fi than to use cellular data, so switch to Wi-Fi instead of your mobile network when you can to save your phone's battery life. For most people, that means when you're at your house, use Wi-Fi, but when you aren't near any Wi-Fi networks, turn Wi-Fi off to keep your phone running longer. Adjust the Display Screen Brightness and Screen Timeout As with laptops and TVs, the screen on your phone drains a lot of its battery life. Your smartphone probably auto-adjusts its brightness level, but if your battery starts dipping to levels that make you anxious, adjust the screen brightness lower to conserve battery life. Another setting to look at is the screen timeout. That's the setting for when your phone's screen automatically goes to sleep—1 minute, for example, or 15 seconds after not getting any input from you; the shorter the time frame, the better the battery life. Adjust to your level of patience. Turn Off Push Notifications and Data-Fetching One convenience of modern technology is having everything delivered instantly, as it happens. Emails, news, the weather, celebrity tweets—you are constantly getting updates. Besides being bad for your sanity, the constant data-checking depletes your phone battery. Adjust the data-fetching intervals and push notifications in your phone's settings and apps. News apps and social media apps regularly check in the background for new information. Set those to check manually or hourly. If you don't need to know the second every email comes in, changing your email push notifications to manual can make a difference in your phone's battery life. At the very least, you can turn on Do Not Disturb to prevent the screen from waking up each time your phone gets an alert. Don't Waste Battery Life Searching for a Signal Your poor phone is low on battery, and it's trying to find a signal. When you're in an area with a weak cellular signal, turn cellular data off by going into Airplane mode. Airplane mode turns the cellular and data radio off on most phones, but it leaves Wi-Fi access on for some devices. Buy Apps Instead of Using Free, Ad-Supported Versions Shelling out a couple of bucks for apps you use may be worth it. Research suggests free, ad-supported apps drain battery life. In one case, 75 percent of an app's energy consumption was used just to power the ads. Even in the case of Angry Birds, only 20 percent of the app's energy use may go to actual gameplay. The other option is to use an ad blocker to see if it reduces the drain on your battery. Keep Your Phone Cool Heat is the enemy of all batteries, whether it's your phone's battery or your laptop's. You might be able to eke out a bit more life from your phone if you take it out of a hot case or your pocket, don't leave it overheating in a hot car, and can manage to find other ways to keep it cool. As a last resort, turning your phone off when it is not in use can cool it down and conserve the battery. What's Draining Your Android Battery FAQ How long should the average phone battery last? Cellphone batteries typically last between 3-5 years. To maximize your battery's lifespan, avoid extreme temperatures and avoid completely draining the battery to 0% or fulling charging it to 100%. How do I check my Android battery's health? To check your battery health on Android, use a third-party app such as AccuBattery. Tap Settings > Battery > Battery Usage to learn which apps are using the most power. How do I make my phone charge faster? To make your phone charge faster, turn on Airplane Mode or power down your phone. If your device supports it, use USB-C chargers that speed up charging time. Don't use your phone when it's charging. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit