6 Tips on How to Prolong Your Laptop or Smartphone’s Battery Life and Battery Lifespan
When you buy laptops for sale in the Philippines, as well as smartphones and tablets, you do so with portability and mobility in mind. However, if you’re constantly looking for the nearest outlet to charge, then your devices aren’t giving you the portability and mobility that you need.
The key here is to maximize the battery to get the most out of your devices for both work and entertainment purposes. You need to pay attention to two things: the battery life and the battery lifespan. The former is the amount of time that your device can run before you need to charge; the latter is the amount of time that the battery can stay in good shape before you need to replace it.
That said, here are some simple tips to make sure that your mobile devices’ batteries can last as long possible:
Work In An Ideal Environment
All batteries have an ideal ambient temperature range. Usually, it depends on the device and the type of battery, but the most common is around 15°C to about a maximum of 22 to 25°C. Obviously, you can still use your laptop, tablet, or smartphone when the temperatures are higher (the average temperature in the Philippines is around 26°C); it’s just that the battery may not last as long as it should. Do note that colder is better, but you shouldn’t expose your battery to freezing cold either!
Don’t Fully Charge Your Devices
Thanks to modern technology, it’s practically impossible to “overcharge” your devices. When the battery reaches 100% charge, the system will ensure that it stops charging. However, it’s not a good idea to fully juice up your devices all the time.
In particular, smartphones with lithium-ion batteries should ideally be charged only up to around 80%. Don’t let the battery drop down to 20% either, since it will need a higher voltage to charge back up and this can affect the battery’s capacity. For great battery health, keep your devices between the 20% and 80% charge level.
Pay Attention to the Charge Cycles
Laptop batteries usually last about 500 up to 1,000 charge cycles (this is the full round of 0% to 100% charging). The lower the cycle count, the healthier the battery and vice versa.
To keep the cycle count low, you can remove the battery and use the power adapter most of the time. This can be ideal if you’re working from home. However, if your laptop doesn’t have a removable battery or if you’re always on the go, then simply pay attention to the charge percentage and unplug when needed.
You should also keep track of the battery’s charge cycle count. You can usually find the details in your laptop’s battery or power information menu.
Enable Power Saving
To extend the battery life of your devices, you can activate their power saving mode. This usually does a few things, including dimming the screen brightness, lowering the screen refresh rate, and preventing your files from syncing automatically. For smartphones, power saving mode can deactivate location services and activate airplane mode. The Always On display will also be turned off, and background apps will be closed.
Obviously, this isn’t ideal in most situations. However, if you simply want to extend your device’s battery life for a little bit before you need to charge, the power saving mode is your best friend.
Close Unused Apps or Programs
One of the biggest selling points of laptops and smartphones, especially when it comes to productivity, is their capability to run multiple programs at once. The problem is that while your device’s specs might be able to handle multitasking smoothly, it can still take a toll on your battery. This is especially true if you’re running resource-intensive applications like video editors.
To keep your device’s battery from draining too fast and handling unnecessary strain, limit your active apps or programs to about two to three at once. Besides, you’re probably not really using everything all at the same time; closing them in the meantime might also be better for your attention span.
Charge Before You Store
If, for any reason, you have to store your device for about a month or so, you need to keep in mind a few crucial things. First, don’t charge the battery all the way but don’t fully discharge it either. Doing the latter is particularly damaging, since the battery can enter the so-called deep discharge state in which it won’t be able to hold a charge. The best thing to do is to keep the battery charged to about 50% to 60%.
Second, make sure to turn the device off and then store it in a cool, dry place with an ambient temperature that doesn’t exceed 32°C. For more long-term storage, charge the battery to 50% every six months. Once you finally turn the device back on, charge the battery for about 30 minutes before using it.
One last tip is to always charge your devices using the original adapter. These are specifically designed for your device, which can help ensure better battery health overall.