Get supreme battery life

Keep your mobile going for longer than you thought possible

I heard this trick...

Mobile batteries inspire a whole lot of pseudo-science and nonsense. So: don’t bother letting your battery run down and charging it from flat – battery memory hasn’t been an issue since the move to lithium-ion cells. Don’t freeze your battery or your phone (just don’t). Don’t force-close applications – your phone’s OS is built to manage memory automatically, and you could actually make your battery life worse by meddling with it. And finally, don’t believe any tech that comes in sticker form and purports to boost your battery life – if it looks like a sticker, it is a sticker, not a magic spell.

So what do I do?

Your phone’s components all drain battery. The screen is the most likely culprit, so lower the brightness when possible. Batterykiller number two is Wi-Fi. If you’re walking near wireless networks, your phone will desperately scan to see if it can connect to one. Switch off Wi-Fi when possible and you’ll see a huge improvement. If your phone supports it, underclock your processor: if it’s getting hot, that’s wasted energy. Watch for fast battery drain, too, as this can indicate a rogue background app. Restart your phone if this happens, and you should be good to go.

Sometimes my phone just dies...

We’ve all had it happen – you’re cruising along at 26 per cent and your handset gives up the ghost. This is usually down to one of two things: an ageing battery, or your phone’s OS losing its handle on how much juice you’re packing. An OS reset will usually solve the latter but, sadly, you’ll need to keep a portable charger handy – or a replacement battery, if applicable.