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TIRED OF YOUR ANDROID PHONE RUNNING OUT OF BATTERY? CHANGE THESE 10 SETTINGS

There are a million and one ways you can improve the battery life on your
Android phone, but we've sifted through them all to highlight the 10 most
effective - plus an obvious bonus.
Written by Max Buondonno, Contributing Writer May 29, 2024 at 1:24 a.m. PT

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June Wan/ZDNET

I've spent much of my life figuring out new ways to save battery life on Android
phones. That estimate might sound like an exaggeration, but growing up with
access to nothing but poorly made Android devices means I've always tinkered
with their settings to figure out the best ways to maximize charge and push my
phone's battery life to the limit.



Also: The best Android phones for 2024: Expert tested

So when I started writing this guide on the settings you should use to save
battery life, it all came naturally to me. These settings are the most
effective, easiest, and quickest ways to save battery life regardless of the
Android phone you're rocking, whether the latest device from Samsung, a fancy
Google Pixel, or a cutting-edge OnePlus device. Plus, you won't have to
sacrifice the high-quality experience of using your phone.

Note: While all these settings are available on practically any Android phone
you can buy, the process for adjusting them can vary between devices. Keep this
in mind when following the steps I lay out because the approach might be
slightly different depending on which phone you're using.



NEWSLETTERS

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1. TURN OFF THE ALWAYS-ON DISPLAY

One of the biggest battery drainers for any smartphone is the always-on display.
Companies will regularly tell you that this display setting only drains about 1%
to 2% an hour, but let's be honest -- it's always way more. It may be nice to
glance at your phone while it sits on a table to check the time, but it's
probably not worth sacrificing your battery life.

Also: How to create Android Routines (and a few of my favorites to get you
started)

How to: Open the Settings app and locate the Lock Screen portion of the app,
whether it's in the main list of settings or under "Display." From there, you'll
find the option to "always show info" or a simple toggle to enable the Always On
Display. Either way, turn the option off and check to make sure your screen goes
completely blank when you lock it.





2. ENABLE ADAPTIVE BATTERY

There's a handy feature built into Android called Adaptive Battery, and it's
available on most devices. Adaptive Battery can automatically manage the
performance and efficiency of your phone in the background using special
processes to extend your battery life. For example, when you don't need maximum
performance for something simple like scrolling through your inbox, the setting
will throttle things down and save you some juice.

How to: Go to Settings > Battery > Adaptive preferences and check to ensure
"Adaptive battery" is enabled. If it's not, flick it on.


3. SWITCH TO DARK MODE

Over the past few years, many mid-range and budget Android phones have followed
in the footsteps of their flagship brethren in adopting OLED displays. The
technology allows individual pixels to dim or completely shut off on their own
when not in use, which is far more beneficial for battery life than traditional
LCD screens with one big backlight. By switching to your phone's dark theme,
those pixels will be dimmer far more often and, in turn, save some juice.



Also: How to clear the cache on your Android phone or tablet (and why you
should)

How to: Go to Settings > Display on your Android phone. There, you'll find the
option to switch between a light and dark theme, and an option to have dark mode
turn on automatically at a certain time of day. To maximize battery life, I
recommend keeping dark mode turned on all the time.




4. ADJUST YOUR DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS AND SLEEP TIME

It's common knowledge that cranking down your display's brightness can help save
battery usage, but it's worth repeating. With modern phones, you have plenty of
brightness and it's often unnecessary to turn the setting high to scroll
Instagram or check your email. Also, it's important to shorten the time it takes
for your phone to go to sleep. Users often set the sleep time to a minute or
more, which can drain your battery when you aren't using your phone, and set it
down on a table without locking it. Make these two adjustments and you'll be on
the path to better battery life.



How to: Swipe down once or twice from the top of your phone's display to visit
the quick settings menu. You'll see a slider with a picture of a sun or other
source of light next to it. Drag the slider to the left to decrease your
brightness. To reduce the time it takes for your phone to sleep, go to Settings
> Display and change "Screen timeout" to anything below a minute.


5. REMOVE UNUSED ACCOUNTS

We've all done this at some point in our lives: you set up a new account for a
social media app or email service, which you forget about, and then you create
another account that becomes your primary account for that service or platform.
I've gone through this process numerous times. If you set up accounts on your
phone, all the old accounts remain, constantly refreshing and draining your
battery life in the background. If you think you may have some old accounts
worth removing from your phone, you should take action sooner rather than later.




Also: How to clear the cache on your Android phone or tablet (and why you
should)

How to: Go to the Settings app and find the accounts section (on Samsung phones
it's called "Accounts and backup", while Pixel phones use "Passwords &
accounts"). You'll find a list of all the accounts synced to your phone. Tap on
one of them and scroll down to the "Remove account" button. Tap it and the
account will disappear.


6. TURN OFF KEYBOARD SOUNDS AND HAPTICS

If you're using your phone, chances are you're typing on the keyboard pretty
often, whether to post to social media or respond to your friend's messages. If
you have sound and haptic feedback enabled, your battery may suffer because your
phone needs to make a series of vibrations and noises every time you tap a
letter. Hearing and feeling the keyboard as you type is a nice experience, but
it's not ideal if you want to eke out some extra juice from a full charge.



How to: Open the Settings app and locate "Language and input." This section is
where your keyboard settings live. Find the section where you get to choose your
default keyboard, then tap the gear icon next to it to manage settings. If
you're a Gboard user (like most people), you'll then go to Preferences > Key
press and disable "Sound on keypress" and "Haptic feedback on keypress."


7. REDUCE YOUR NOTIFICATIONS

You might not realize it, but notifications can be one of the biggest drainers
of your phone's battery life if you get lots of them. Not only is your phone
buzzing and dinging all day, but the apps themselves are constantly refreshing
in the background, looking for new notifications to send your way. Most apps
have ways of limiting the amount of notifications you get, but the easiest way
to turn them off is through your phone's Settings app.




Also: How to turn on Private DNS Mode on Android (and why you should)

How to: Go to Settings > Notifications > "App notifications" to see a list of
all the apps installed on your phone. There are toggles next to each of them
that, when flipped, will disable all notifications for that particular app.


8. TURN OFF "HEY GOOGLE" DETECTION

If your phone is constantly listening for you to say "Hey Google," chances are
your battery is draining away. Your microphone is active, waiting to hear you
say those two magic words that trigger the Google Assistant, and it takes a fair
amount of energy to run that process all day. Disabling the feature is a
no-brainer for anyone who doesn't use the Assistant daily. And let's be honest,
how many of us use the assistant daily?



How to: Open the Google app on your phone and tap your profile picture in the
top-right corner. Then, visit Settings > Google Assistant > Hey Google & Voice
Match and flick off "Hey Google." Now your phone will only trigger the Assistant
if you hold down the power button or via another method.


9. REDUCE YOUR SCREEN'S REFRESH RATE

There's no question that phone screens have gotten really good over the past few
years, thanks in part to the faster refresh rates manufacturers have been
including. Whether it's 90Hz, 120Hz, or even faster, increasing the times a
screen refreshes helps make animations, scrolling social media, and everyday
interactions feel smoother and more responsive. Unfortunately, a high refresh
rate also means increased battery usage -- you might sometimes be better turning
the feature off.




Also: Change this Android setting to instantly double your phone speed

How to: Open the Settings app and navigate to the Display section. Here, you'll
find the settings to configure your refresh rate. Most smartphones call the
feature something different; Google labels it "Smooth Display" while Samsung
calls it "Motion smoothness." Find the setting associated with the refresh rate
and revert to the standard rate. Your screen will likely seem a bit choppier as
a result, but that's completely normal. It simply means it's operating at 60Hz,
which every phone used to run at just a few years ago.


10. TURN OFF THE WIRELESS FEATURES YOU AREN'T USING

I've never been a proponent of turning off wireless features, such as Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, or location services, to save a phone's battery life. So many apps
and services rely on those connections that your Android experience can diminish
quickly. If, however, you don't use anything that needs Bluetooth or don't use
your phone for GPS, it might be worth disabling some of these features to extend
your battery life.



How to: On basically every Android phone ever made, you can swipe down once or
twice from the top to access quick settings, where you'll find icons for Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, location, airplane mode, and more. Touch them once to turn them off,
and touch them again to turn them back on. You can also control all these
settings through the Settings app, although quick settings is the easiest way to
access them.




BONUS: USE LOW-POWER MODE

I didn't include this feature in the primary list because, well, it's an obvious
one. The low-power mode built into your phone will vary by device, but the
general premise remains the same: the mode will disable some features in the
background, limit how often apps are refreshed, lower your screen brightness,
reduce the refresh rate, and more to save battery life in a pinch.



How to: There are several ways to enable low-power mode on your Android phone,
but the most common is swiping down twice from the top of your screen to get to
quick settings, and then tapping the battery shortcut. The shortcut should look
like a battery with a plus sign or something similar. You'll then get notified
that low-power mode (or whatever it's called on your phone) has been enabled.
You can follow the same steps to disable this mode.

SMARTPHONES


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