I was talking with my colleagues this week about my previous column on keeping your cellphone charged when the lights go out, and they asked about my comment that I could get 24 hours out of a normal iPhone charge.
That conversation got me thinking about all the changes you can make to settings on your phone to extend battery life.
These tips pertain to the iPhone, but many can also work on a Droid or Pre.
• The first setting I adjust to save battery life is the screen brightness. Turn off the auto-brightness setting and make a manual brightness setting.
On a normal day, I might set my brightness slider to just less than halfway. When I know I’m going to need more juice, I set it to just above the point where the backlight goes out.
• Never put your phone away with the screen on. Always use the sleep button to turn off the LCD. On my phone, if I set it down with the screen on, it stays on for 60 seconds – that’s wasting power.
• Then I turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Never have Bluetooth enabled unless you’re actively using a headset or other Bluetooth accessory.
• Turn off the phone’s 3G radio and use the Edge network only. This works well if you’re just making phone calls and checking e-mail.
• Turning off push notifications and push e-mail is also a big power saver. Unless you’re on call Inspiron E1405 battery , XPS M140 , I suggest setting your e-mail program to check for new mail every 15 minutes or longer. You can always check mail manually if you are expecting a message.
• Location services (GPS) is also a big battery drain. Turn that off unless you need to find your location on a map.
Feel free to adjust any or all of these system settings to extend your phone’s battery life.