With Android phones powering everything from work to pleasure, they have become an indispensable part of our lives. Smartphones have developed throughout time from simple mobile devices to potent devices with cutting-edge features. Larger 120Hz screens, potent CPUs, and ground-breaking AI capabilities are all elements of modern Android phones that require longer battery life. Power management is now more crucial than ever because of this. Lithium-ion batteries haven’t changed all that much like our phones, but minor software adjustments can have a big impact. You can extend the life of your battery without sacrificing the overall user experience by tweaking a few Android settings and making minor adjustments to your usage patterns.
We’ll go over 14 useful suggestions and important Android settings in this article to help you prolong the battery life of your phone. These recommendations are applicable to all Android smartphones, regardless of whether you have a Google Pixel or the newest Samsung Galaxy. Although the manufacturer and Android version of the smartphone may affect the settings and options, the essential elements are always the same.
1. Disable the Always On Display
Particularly on phones with larger screens, better resolutions, and high refresh rates, nothing uses up your phone’s battery more quickly than the display. A useful feature called an Always-On Display (AOD) allows you to quickly view the clock or messages without tapping the device. Although manufacturers of smartphones assert that always-on displays consume the least amount of energy feasible, this depends on the device and how the function is set up. The Always-on Display continues to drain the battery in spite of multiple improvements. DXOMARK claims that turning on the Always-On Display can accelerate a phone’s battery loss by up to four times. You may disable the Always-On Display if you want to extend the life of your Android battery.
Here’s how to disable Android handsets’ Always-On Display:
- Choose Always On Display after opening Settings.
- This option may also be found in the Display or Lock Screen section.
- Turn off the switch by tapping Always On Display once again.
- You can turn on the switch and select As Scheduled or For New Notifications if you want to schedule the AOD or change it for a few notifications.
2. Modify the screen timeout and brightness.
One of the biggest battery hogs is an excessively bright display. It’s acceptable to use maximum brightness when playing games or being outside. However, the battery is strained when brightness is constantly at its highest setting, even while performing simple chores like scrolling or checking emails. One of the simplest and fastest ways to extend the battery life of your Android phone is to lower the brightness of your screen.
You can select a lower brightness level that is comfortable for your eyes by going to Settings > Display. However, doing it by hand all the time might be really laborious. Thankfully, the majority of Android phones come with an Adaptive Brightness feature that automatically modifies brightness levels according to the lighting conditions outside. Go to Settings > Display > Adaptive Brightness (or Automatic Brightness) and activate this function. You can disable this option and manually adjust the brightness if it frequently raises it over what is needed.
By turning off your phone’s display when not in use, you can also prolong its battery life. You must change the duration of your screen timeout in order to accomplish this. When you are not using your phone, this will enable it to take a brief nap. It saves more battery life the quicker it goes to sleep. Select between 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or a minute by going to Settings > Display > Screen timeout. Additionally, Android 15 provides an adaptive timeout function to enhance user privacy and conserve battery life.
3. Install the most recent software upgrades.
You may encounter problems like app incompatibility, sporadic bugs, and sluggish performance if your phone is running an outdated software version. Your battery can possibly deplete more quickly than usual as a result. One of the simplest methods to save battery life and general performance on your Android phone is to keep it updated with the most recent software. New security features, bug fixes, and speed enhancements are frequently included in software upgrades for the Android operating system. New battery-saving features are even included in some upgrades. As a result, you should always update the software on your Android phones. Your smartphone’s battery may temporarily drain once you update the software. This is mostly because your phone is doing more background work while it clears its cache and reoptimizes loaded apps. Your phone’s battery will naturally drain as it uses more resources and processing power in the background. The battery’s performance should return to normal in a few days to a week.
Here’s how to upgrade your Android phone’s software:
- Launch the Settings application.
- Choose System by scrolling to the bottom.
- Select “Software Update.”
- Tap the Install button and adhere to the on-screen directions if there is an update that needs to be installed.
4. Make use of an adjustable battery
One useful feature on Android devices is Adaptive Battery, which helps to prolong battery life by adapting to your phone’s usage and habits. When turned on, Adaptive Battery will control background operations and phone performance to prolong battery life. This feature limits how background programs can operate. It eventually determines which apps are using up the most battery on your smartphone and restricts certain of its features. Additionally, when you don’t need the utmost performance, it significantly slows down the CPU. For example, the adaptive battery feature may reduce performance a little bit to conserve power when you’re doing simple tasks like taking notes or reading emails. Additionally, Samsung and Google advise utilizing Adaptive Battery to save your phone’s battery in a way that suits your needs.
To activate Adaptive Battery on your smartphone, follow these steps:
- Launch the Settings application.
- After selecting Battery, select Battery Saver.
- To activate the feature, tap Adaptive Battery.
5. Turn on Dark Mode
Android phones include a feature called Dark Mode that saves battery life in addition to being aesthetically beautiful. This function can significantly increase the battery life of an Android smartphone with an AMOLED display. The AMOLED panels enable individual pixels to fade or turn off entirely, in contrast to conventional LCD screens. A pixel uses less power when it shows black or a darker hue. This feature also makes it easier on your eyes in low light conditions by darkening the display. Additionally, according to Google, the Dark theme uses less juice, extending the battery life of your device and prolonging the duration of a charge. You can switch to a system-wide dark mode, apply a darker wallpaper, or activate a dark theme on compatible apps like Gmail and WhatsApp.
To activate Dark Mode on your Android smartphone, follow these steps:
- Launch the Settings application.
- To activate the Dark theme, tap Display.
You can opt to activate a darker screen at specific times of the day if you don’t want it to be on all the time.
6. Select the “Power Saving” option.
Another helpful option to extend the battery life of your Android smartphone is Power Saving Mode, often known as Battery Saver. It modifies a few things on your device and turns off some features. Among other things, it disables the always-on display, restricts background activity, postpones notifications, and activates the dark theme. You may experience slower response times and decreased performance as a result. When an Android phone’s battery is low and there is no means to charge it, Power Saving Mode can be a lifeline. You can still use essential functions like messaging and calling, even though it limits some of the device’s capabilities.
To activate Power Saving mode on Android phones, follow these steps:
- Choose Battery after launching the Settings app.
- Select Battery Saver or Power Saving.
- Activate the switch.
By turning off more functions, slowing down processes, and pausing the majority of programs, Google’s Extreme Power Saver on Pixel phones goes one step further. This feature limits the performance of your phone while also enabling you to save more battery. As a result, it makes sense to only utilize our Extreme Power Saver in dire situations when your battery is about to run out. Go to Battery > Battery Saver > Extreme Battery Saver in the Settings app to activate this feature.
7. Turn off background app updates
Even when you aren’t actively using an application, it may still operate in the background. To provide you with the most recent information, these apps constantly sync data with their servers. Although it’s a useful function, the excessive background activity causes your Android phone to slow down and use extra battery. Your Android phone’s battery life can be considerably increased by turning off Background App Refresh. Although Android phones don’t have a distinct “Background App Refresh” feature as iPhones do, they do have a setting that stops apps from running in the background.
To disable background data on Android phones, follow these steps:
- Go to the Settings on your phone.
- Choose Internet & Network.
- Select Data Saver under Data Usage.
- Select “Unrestricted data access.”
- Choose Play Store by scrolling down.
- To turn off background data for an app or service, tap on it.
All of us have a tendency to create new accounts while keeping the old ones intact. Unused accounts might eventually reduce the battery life of your device by enabling power-consuming background operations, data syncing, and alerts. For this reason, we also advise deleting any outdated or unnecessary accounts from your device. It can help prolong the battery life of your Android device in addition to decluttering it.
To delete an account on your Android phone, follow these steps:
- Launch the Settings application.
- Choose accounts and passwords.
- Choose the account you want to delete from the Accounts section, then click Remove Account.
- Once more, select Delete after tapping Remove Account.
- Enter the passcode for your device if prompted.
8. Modify the refresh rate of the screen
With their lightning-fast 120Hz or silky-smooth 90Hz screens, modern Android phones provide a fluid experience. Smoother scrolling and animations, fluid transitions, and an improved viewing experience are all made possible by high refresh rate screens, particularly when playing games or watching films. But they also use more batteries. If you’re just reading documents, texting, or doing light tasks, it’s a great idea to switch to a lower refresh rate. It can prolong the life of your phone without causing a discernible decline. For effective power management, you can switch your 120Hz display to 60 Hz. You may first feel a little choppy, but that’s quite natural and shouldn’t be a problem in most circumstances.
Here’s how to adjust the refresh rate on Android phones:
- Choose Display after opening the Settings app.
- Tap Motion Smoothness on Samsung phones.
- Google refers to it as Smooth Display on Pixel phones.
- After locating the relevant option, select Standard, which has a refresh rate of 60 Hz.
Press Apply.
9. Disable Google’s voice recognition
Without a doubt, Google Assistant is a useful tool that can manage your smart home appliances and provide answers to your questions. But throughout the day, it also uses a sizable quantity of battery. The microphone remains active while you activate “Hey Google” speech detection, continuously anticipating the wake phrase. Your smartphone’s battery gets silently depleted as a result. You can switch off Google Assistant to save battery life if you don’t use it frequently. To be honest, I can’t recall the last time I utilized my phone’s voice assistant. Turning this feature off shouldn’t be too difficult if you’re like me. When you do this, your phone won’t respond to voice commands to activate the Google Assistant; instead, it will only do so manually, like by holding down the power button.
To disable Google Assistant on your smartphone, follow these steps:
- On your phone, launch the Google app, then tap your profile image.
- Choose Google Assistant by tapping Settings.
- To disable voice commands, select Hey Google & Voice Match and disable the “Hey Google” toggle.
- As an alternative, you might say “Hey Google, open Assistant settings” and then disable Google Assistant.
10. Cut back on your alerts
While alerts are useful, getting too many of them might be one of the largest ways to deplete your battery. Your phone’s screen illuminates and uses energy each time it gets a notification. Battery drain may result from these frequent wake-ups. Customizing notification settings to get only necessary notifications is a good idea if you want to prolong the battery life of your Android smartphone. This entails cutting back on notifications for apps that you don’t care about. For example, you can turn off notifications from gaming apps you don’t often use and opt to receive alerts from your social media and messaging apps. In addition to saving battery life, this will lessen distractions, enabling you to maintain concentration and take advantage of a more efficient smartphone experience.
Here’s how to control Android phone notifications:
- Select Notifications after launching the Settings app.
- Tap Manage Notifications or App Notifications, depending on your Android smartphone.
- A list of installed apps will appear as a result.
- To turn off the app’s notifications, flip the switch next to it.
Disclaimer
This article’s content is intended solely for general educational and informational purposes. All of the settings, advice, and suggestions covered here are meant to assist users in enhancing the battery life of Android smartphones through common system functions and prudent usage practices.
Device model, Android version, manufacturer settings, installed apps, and personal usage habits can all affect battery life and performance. Although every attempt has been taken to assure correctness, the author cannot guarantee that every method will function as effectively on every smartphone.
Professional technical, repair, or manufacturer-certified advice is not offered in this article. The user has all responsibility and judgment for any modifications made to the device’s settings. For hardware-related issues, readers are advised to contact authorized service centers and adhere to the official instructions supplied by the manufacturers of their devices.
System settings, functionality, and software updates may evolve over time. Certain settings discussed in this article might not be accessible on all devices or might appear differently. Users should always check the choices according to the Android version and model of their particular smartphone.
Any direct or indirect problems, such as decreased performance, data loss, or altered battery behavior, that may arise from using the information in this article are not the responsibility of the author or publisher. Important data should always be backed up before making any system-level adjustments.
You agree that you are accessing this information willingly and that the author is not responsible for any consequences relating to battery life or device performance.