So you went ahead and bought a smartphone. Why? because it has so many functions that it’s like the Swiss Army Knife of the digital age. But what if these functions themselves are the reason why your handset can’t stand a full day on a single charge? Common answers around the web direct you to disable your GPS, change the network to 2G or GSM from 3G, stop listening to music on the loudspeaker, and avoid chatrooms and constant emailing. If that’s right then why would I buy a smartphone when there are plain vanilla phones available at half the price?
This led me to start a quest for workarounds that would let me enjoy a beautiful smartphone experience without any painful ‘Battery Empty’ notifications. Here are the fruits of that quest – wisdom to keep your smartphone juiced up.
1. Keep your cool phone cool
Never leave your phone is direct sunlight or near a heat source. Heat is the number one culprit when it comes to dying batteries.
2. Firmware Updates
Though the tip is universal it holds particularly for Symbian devices. Symbian firmware updates usually have battery performance as it’s number one priority – probably because there’s nothing much to work with that OS.
3. Love GPS modules
Get yourself a bluetooth GPS module like the Motorola MotoNav SIRF 3 gps module. Bluetooth only sips through battery power and when you use an external Bluetooth GPS module for lengthy navigation you actually shift a lot of processing strain from the phone to the module, thus making huge savings on battery life.
4. Get an alternative power source charger
You could go for a mobile phone car charger if you’re someone who carpools or have your own car. Otherwise you could go for a Nexus Battery Pack or a Solar charger depending on your lifestyle. The Nexus battery pack comes with a whopping 2 Amperes of storage cased in a slick black case. I recommend it.
5. Go hands-free
Again there may be nay-sayers who target the Bluetooth wasting power. But I have personally achieved much better uptime for my phone using a Bluetooth headset than without. Moreover, since you’re already using the technology for your GPS module you might as well make the most of it. Make sure to shop for good BT headsets as some are more power efficient than others. My personal favorite is the Sony Ericsson MW600 – it features the ability to pair with 3 devices at a time giving you a lot of flexibility if you’re a gadget freak like me.
6. Power User?
If you’re a power user who makes the most of everything that your phone offers, or if you’re a Nokia N900 user, then I’d suggest installing a battery monitor that tracks your power usage to specific apps so that you can use only the more efficient ones.
7. Transfer data through the USB
Most modern smartphones support charging through USB cables. If you need to transfer files to your computer use the the USB instead of WiFi or Bluetooth. Not only will the transfer be faster but you’ll gain charge instead of losing it.