Extending battery life: what really helps and what is a myth

Battery life is about two different things: how long your phone lasts today, and how quickly the battery ages over the years. Different measures help with each of them.

More runtime today: the biggest levers

• Screen brightness: by far the biggest consumer. Switching on automatic brightness and lowering the manual level a little does more than all the other tips combined.
• Shorten the screen timeout: if the display switches off after 30 seconds instead of two minutes, that adds up noticeably over the day.
• Background refresh: switch it off for apps you rarely use. For the few important ones it can stay on.
• Location services: change from Always to While Using. Only a few apps need permanent access.
• Low power mode: not only at 20 percent, but deliberately from the start on long days.

Look at the battery usage overview in the settings first. It shows in black and white which app draws how much. Often a single application is responsible for a large share.

Long term: protecting the battery

Lithium batteries age through charge cycles, heat and extreme states. In practice that means:

• Avoid heat. The single most important point. No phone in a hot car, do not leave it lying in the sun, do not put it under a pillow while charging.
• Leave optimised charging switched on. Both major systems learn your rhythm and hold the device at around 80 percent overnight before charging it fully shortly before you get up. That helps noticeably.
• Avoid deep discharge. Running down to zero regularly puts more strain on the battery than frequent top-ups.
• Store it half full for longer periods. If you put a device away, do so at around 50 percent and top it up every few months.

Advice you can forget

• Swiping apps out of multitasking saves battery. Not true. Paused apps use practically nothing, while reloading them at the next start does cost energy.
• The battery needs to be fully calibrated now and then. That applied to older battery technology, today's lithium ion batteries do not need it.
• Only charge with the original charger. What matters is a capable power supply with Power Delivery, not the brand. More on this in our charger buying guide.

When nothing helps any more

Below a battery health of 80 percent the battery is worn out, and no setting brings that back. A battery replacement then brings the device back into everyday use, usually in about an hour. Whether that is worth it for your model or whether a change makes more sense is worked through in replace the battery or buy a new phone.

Conclusion

Turn the brightness down, tidy up background refresh, restrict location access: that gives you noticeably more runtime today. Avoid heat and leave optimised charging switched on: that extends the lifespan over years. And swiping apps away achieves nothing.