Extend the battery life of your smartphone with these easy tips

For business owners, having your phone’s battery die isn’t just an inconvenience — it can mean disappointing customers, or even missing out on business.

One of our Business Blog team members had a personal experience last week that reminded him just how important battery power can be. While in the midst of selling his condo, real estate agents representing two different buyers were negotiating back and forth with competitive offers. Then, at a critical moment, one of the agents ran out of battery power.

Imagine having to tell a client you lost the deal because your phone died. The agent was understandably terrified. It was a stark reminder that, for business owners, running out of battery power is a serious problem. Luckily for this agent, someone lent him a charger and the story had a happy ending.

But if you ever find your phone running low on battery power, don’t panic. Just follow these simple tips to keep your phone running.

For iPhone

1. Adjust your screen brightness

Making some simple adjustments to your display can make a big difference to your battery life. Start by making sure the auto-brightness feature is turned on. Just click on your settings icon, then select “Brightness” in the menu, then slide the toggle into the “On” position. You can also manually lower your screen brightness by using the slider in this same menu.

2. Change your notification settings

Every time that little alert pops up to tell you a friend has checked into yet another coffee shop, your battery gets a little closer to dying. Go to your notifications centre in the settings menu and make sure you’re only getting the notifications you care about. Your battery will thank you.

3. Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you’re not using them

This is a simple one. If you’re not using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, just turn them off. This simple change can add hours to your battery life each day.

For Android

1. See what’s hogging your battery

Android phones have a great feature that allows you to see exactly what’s using your battery power. Go to Settings > About Phone > Battery Use. This will show you a list of the features and apps using the most power on your device. The list starts with the biggest power users and continues in descending order. If you see an application you hardly ever use, think about uninstalling it.

2. Adjust your screen backlight

Displays are among the biggest drains on battery power, but you can reduce their impact by adjusting the screen settings. Navigate to Settings > Display > Brightness, and select “Automatically adjust”. Or for extra battery savings you can manually turn down the brightness to the lowest level you find acceptable.

3. Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you’re not using them

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth constantly scan for networks and devices to connect to, draining your battery the whole time. To turn them off, go to Settings > Wireless & networks and adjust their settings in the menu.

For BlackBerry

1. Adjust your backlight timeout

Adjusting the display on your BlackBerry is a great way to extend your battery life. Start by reducing the amount of time before your screen times out — a lower number means your screen won’t stay on as long when not in use. Go to Options > Display > Screen Display to change your phone’s settings.

2. Reduce your backlight

Another simple way to optimize your display is to reduce screen brightness. Go to Options > Display > Screen Display and scroll to Backlight Brightness. We’ve seen people set it as low as 10% or 20% and get amazing battery life as a result. Try different brightness levels to find the one that’s right for you.

3. Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you’re not using them

On all devices, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can drain your battery life by constantly scanning for connections. Fortunately, it’s easy to turn both these features off when you’re not using them. Just click on the Network Settings area on your home screen and uncheck the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi options.

Has your battery life improved?

Do you have a battery saving tip you’d like to share? Tell us about it in the comments below. If you’ve already made some of these changes, let us know if you’ve noticed a difference in the amount of battery life you’re getting.