Technology

The Fastest Way to Extend the Battery Life of Your iPhone or Android Phone

Battery discharge is the process of using a phone until the battery is completely depleted, resulting in the phone automatically shutting down. Afterwards, the user will recharge the battery to restore full power to the device. Typically, you would periodically discharge the battery to enhance its lifespan.

Administrator

12 March, 2024

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To preserve and use your mobile phone battery in the best way, please refer to the following steps to discharge your phone battery. You will be surprised by the effectiveness of this method!

Why should you discharge your phone battery?

With the development of Lithium-ion batteries, discharging the battery is no longer recommended and can be harmful to the battery.

However, the usage time and storage methods of users can affect the lifespan and performance of the battery. Once the ions in the battery no longer move between the electrodes, it means that your battery is depleted.

To prevent battery depletion and extend battery life, it is necessary to discharge your phone battery regularly. Developing the habit of discharging your phone battery will help you save unnecessary money on battery replacements.

When your phone battery shows the following signs, it means that the battery is deteriorating:

Shorter usage time between charges compared to before. You will need to charge your device more frequently to maintain usage time.
Fast charging of the battery, reaching 100% in a short period of time.
Rapid decrease in battery capacity during normal usage. The battery may not hold energy for long periods of time.
The device becomes hotter than normal during usage.

To properly discharge your phone battery, follow these steps:

Use your phone as usual until the battery is completely drained and the phone automatically turns off.
After the phone turns off, let the battery rest for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Once the battery is depleted, charge your phone battery to full capacity. Note that you should use a genuine charger to ensure safety and optimal performance for the battery.

Detailed instructions for discharging the battery for each phone model

For iPhone

The Lithium-ion battery in the iPhone performs better when maintained at medium energy levels and charged regularly. However, if you want to discharge the battery to improve performance, you can follow the steps below:

Step 1: Use the battery until it reaches 0% and the phone automatically shuts down.

Step 2: Keep the iPhone turned off for about 24 hours. During this time, you can transfer your SIM card to another phone for temporary use while waiting for your iPhone to automatically restore.

Step 3: After 24 hours, plug in the device to charge until the battery reaches 100%.

For Android phones

For Android phones such as Samsung, vivo, OPPO, do not underestimate the large battery capacity and neglect regular battery discharging. Similar to iPhone, you can follow these steps to discharge your phone battery:

Step 1: Use the phone until the battery is completely depleted and the phone turns off.

Step 2: Do not turn on the phone and plug in the charger for the first 12 – 24 hours. You can temporarily switch your SIM card to another phone for use during this waiting time.

Step 3: End the battery discharge process by charging the battery to 100%.

Some notes you should know

Here are some additional guidelines when discharging your phone battery to maintain performance and battery life:

Prepare a spare phone or computer for communication purposes.
Do not leave the phone turned off for more than 24 hours. Discharging the battery for too long can lead to battery depletion.
The recommended discharge time is about 1 – 2 months/charge.
The power source used for charging needs to be stable and ensure a full 100% charge before unplugging to extend the phone’s battery life.
When the battery is fully charged, let the phone rest for 3 – 5 minutes before using it.
When you first buy a phone, it is recommended to fully charge the battery 100% for the first 5 uses.
After discharging the battery, you should not continue with bad habits such as overnight charging, using while charging, using non-genuine charging cables, etc., to avoid affecting the phone’s operation.

Tips for preserving and using your phone to extend battery life

Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use

Turning off unused connections such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other connectivity features when not needed is an effective way to save battery power. When these connections are enabled, the device continuously searches for and connects to networks and other devices, resulting in energy consumption.

For mobile phones like the iPhone, use power-saving mode when the battery is low or when advanced features are not needed.

Adjust the screen brightness

Adjusting the screen brightness to an appropriate level is an effective way to save battery power. When you increase the screen brightness to drain the battery quickly, remember to lower the brightness again after completion to save energy and extend battery life.

For devices with high screen brightness, reducing the brightness after using the battery drain mode is crucial. This helps reduce energy consumption and save battery power during normal usage.

Power off when not in use

If you don’t need to use your phone for a long time, turning off the device is a good way to preserve battery life. When the power is off, the software and applications running in the background will be temporarily stopped, reducing energy consumption and saving battery power.

In addition to completely turning off the device, another option is to use power-saving mode if your phone supports it. Power-saving mode usually restricts certain phone activities, such as reducing screen brightness, limiting data synchronization, and disabling unnecessary features to prolong battery life.

Turn off unnecessary notifications

Disabling notifications from non-essential apps is a way to save battery power on your mobile phone. When each notification arrives, the screen lights up, and the phone consumes energy to display that notification.

To turn off notifications, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Access the settings of your mobile phone.

Step 2: Open Notification Settings or App Management.

Step 3: Open the list of installed apps on your phone.

Step 4: Tap on the app you want to disable notifications for. Choose to disable or adjust notification options according to your preference.

By turning off notifications, you will reduce the number of times the screen lights up and save battery power. However, you should still enable notifications for important apps such as messages, calls, or other essential apps to avoid missing important information.

Close background apps

Closing unnecessary background-running apps is an effective way to save battery power and improve overall performance on your mobile phone. When apps run in the background, they consume energy and system resources, resulting in battery drain and decreased overall phone performance.

In addition to turning off background running for unnecessary apps, you can also uninstall or disable apps that you do not use frequently. This method helps reduce system load, free up memory space, improve performance, and save battery power.

Charge the battery correctly

Do not let the phone battery drain completely before charging. Charging the battery when the phone is at a relatively high level (above 20% or below 40%) is a good method to protect the battery and extend its lifespan. Furthermore, maintaining the phone’s battery level between 20% and 80% also helps protect and prevent battery depletion.

When the phone’s battery is low, charging from 0% will trigger a full charging cycle, which can affect the battery’s lifespan. Instead, charging the battery when there is remaining energy helps minimize negative impact on the battery.

Charge the battery in a cool place

Charging the battery in a cool and stable environment is a good choice to protect the phone’s battery and ensure optimal performance. High temperatures can be damaging and reduce the battery’s lifespan.

When the battery is charged in an unstable temperature environment for a long period of time, such as on top of a refrigerator, on a computer, or near heat sources like a TV or heater, it can accelerate the chemical reactions inside the battery, resulting in energy loss and reduced charging efficiency. Additionally, the components inside the battery and charging port can also be damaged or malfunction at high temperatures.

If a Lithium-ion battery is exposed to unstable temperatures for a long time, it can lead to dangerous conditions such as explosion or battery leakage. The battery can explode, posing a risk to you and the surrounding environment.

Therefore, it is advisable to charge your phone battery in an environment with a temperature range of 10 – 30 degrees Celsius, with room temperature being ideal. Also, place the phone on a well-ventilated surface to enhance heat dissipation.

Enable Dark Mode for your phone

Enabling Dark Mode or using a black wallpaper on phones with OLED or AMOLED screens can help save energy and extend battery life.

With OLED or AMOLED screens, each pixel emits light individually. When using a black background or dark mode, the black pixels do not require energy to light up, thereby reducing energy consumption on the screen and saving battery power.

In addition, dynamic wallpapers can create motion effects and consume more energy compared to static wallpapers. Choosing to use static wallpapers or Dark Mode for applications also helps reduce energy consumption and extend battery life.

What to do when your phone battery is depleted?

If after implementing battery-saving measures, your phone battery is still depleted, it may be due to the battery reaching the end of its lifespan and needing replacement. You can seek reputable phone repair centers to replace your iPhone or Android battery with genuine components to ensure quality and safety.

Frequently asked questions

There are several ways to extend the battery life of your smartphone. Firstly, adjust your screen brightness to a lower setting as the display is a major drain on battery life. You can also enable ‘Low Power Mode’ on iPhones or a similar feature on Android phones, which reduces background app activity and lowers visual effects. Additionally, turning off features like Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi when not in use can significantly improve battery life.

In addition to lowering screen brightness, you can set a shorter auto-lock time, which will turn off the display when the phone is not in use. Disabling push notifications for apps can also help, as they constantly wake the phone from sleep. Using headphones instead of the speaker, and avoiding extreme temperatures can also improve battery life.

When enabled, ‘Low Power Mode’ (on iPhones) or similar battery-saving modes (on Android) reduce power consumption by lowering screen brightness, disabling mail fetch, reducing animation, and minimizing background app activity. This mode can provide an extra hour or more of usage, making it an effective tool to conserve battery life when needed.

One common misconception is that you should let your battery drain to 0% before charging. This is not necessary for modern lithium-ion batteries and can actually reduce their lifespan. Another myth is that closing apps improves battery life, but this can actually use more power as the phone has to load the app from scratch each time.

It is generally recommended to keep your phone’s battery charged between 20% and 80%. Frequent full discharges and overcharging can reduce the lifespan of the battery. So, it’s best to top up your phone’s charge regularly rather than waiting for it to drain completely.