How to make your mobile battery last longer

1. Activate hibernate

The display is hardest on the battery. The longer it’s on, the faster the battery will go dead. Under “Display” you can define yourself in the settings how quickly your mobile times out when not in use. 30 seconds or a minute are ideal to save the battery. If your smartphone has an “Always on” function, i.e. the time is displayed even when the screen is in hibernation, it’s worth disabling this for the sake of the battery.

2. Reduce the brightness

The brightness of the display makes a difference: the brighter it is, the harder it is on the battery. You can easily adjust the brightness of the screen manually at any time. Or, depending on your phone model, permanently set it to “Dark mode” or activate “True ONE” on your iPhone so that the brightness always adjusts to the environment and thus automatically dims if possible.

3. Disable notifications

Many apps are constantly synchronising data in the background to be able to keep you up to date with push notifications. This unnoticeably uses power. Disable any push notifications you don’t desperately need. As well as extending your battery life, this will also give you much more peace.

4. Identify battery guzzlers

Which app actually requires the most battery power? There’s an easy way to find out: simply go into “Battery” in the settings or click on “Battery”. There you will find a list displaying the battery consumption of each app. Incidentally, newer iPhones will also show you in this section how efficient your battery is.

5. Turn off Bluetooth

Switch off functions such as Bluetooth or Hotspot when you’re not using them. This also saves your battery. Touch tones and vibrations also unnecessarily use up battery power when you type. If you’re out hiking and not currently actively using your smartphone, turn on “Flight mode”: this saves a lot of battery – but still allows you to take the odd photo.

6. Use wireless

Even if you have unlimited data: as soon as you can use a wireless network, do it. This will save your battery, as a wireless network uses less power than a connection via mobile network.

7. Disable location

The location function constantly uses power in the background. No wonder – it always has to be on to be able to locate you. If you don’t need it, switch it off: under “Settings”, “Privacy”, “Location services”. You don’t want your every step watched anyway, do you?

8. Restart your smartphone

If your battery is already in the red, avoid restarting your phone; this uses power. However, it is worth shutting down and restarting your smartphone from time to time. This closes apps and processes running unnoticed in the background that use power.

9. Avoid dynamics

Dynamic wallpapers look great and are popular, particularly with teens — but they use much more battery power than a static background image. If your battery isn’t the fittest any more, it’s worth doing without these gimmicks.

10. Invest in a power bank

Is this all too much for you? Then at least apply the power saving settings recommended by your smartphone (in “Settings” under “Battery”). And invest in a good power bank for emergencies.