Among the reasons why we regularly replace our mobile phones and other electronic devices are both the technological advancement that offers new opportunities and capabilities, as well as the obsolescence of the parts of our devices.
And it is that, it is a fact that once our mobile leaves the factory it has an expiration date , which can be lengthened or shortened depending on the use and care that we give to the device.
Also, one of the components with the shortest lifespan is the battery . So, if your battery is starting to fail or you don’t have much time left, you can take advantage of these 12 tips to extend the battery life of your Android mobile .
How to check battery status on Android?
One of the versatilities of mobile phones with iOS is that there is standardization between the functions available in the software. In this way, if you want to know the health of your iPhone’s battery, you only have to go to the tool that examines it , and if you can’t find it, it may just be a matter of updating the system so that it appears.
This does not happen on Android, where the wide variety of ROMs means that issues such as viewing the health of the battery require different steps depending on the brand of mobile.
In this sense, if you have a Samsung smartphone, you can see the battery status from the Settings menu or through the Samsung Members app that offers this function .
Also, there is a hidden menu where you can check the battery health status of most Android mobile phones, to open it you just have to follow these steps:
- Open the Phone app and dial (as if you were making a call) the following code *#*#4636#*#* .
- An automatic menu will open from where you can access various test options. So, click on the one that says ” Battery information “.
- Important battery data will appear , including temperature, charge capacity, total voltage, and of course, battery health.
Although this menu is enabled on most Android phones (including Xiaomi, OnePlus, Google, among others), the option may still not appear. If that’s the case, you can always download the AccuBattery app:
Secret menu: discover how to see the health of the battery on a Xiaomi mobile
We mentioned that the Testing menu can be used to see the battery status on most Xiaomi phones and devices and their brands (for example, Redmi or POCO). But, if you find that the battery information does not appear in said menu, you can also try the following :
- Within the Phone app, dial the following code *#*#6485#*#* .
- A menu full of Mandarin codes and words will open. Do not panic! It’s just the FactoryKit Test menu, from there you can check the general status of some components of your mobile.
- Pay attention to where it says MB_06 , it will mark the battery health in words (eg Good or Bad).
- As final data, the MF_02 code represents in units the number of times the phone has completed a full charge cycle. This gives you an idea of how long the battery is or how long it requires to be charged.
Guide: 12 tricks to extend the battery life of your Android mobile
If you have already discovered that your mobile battery has little left or you are just looking to extend the charging hours further. You just have to take advantage of these tricks that work on most Android phones that are currently available:
Take advantage of dark mode
Most of the battery charge goes through the screen . In addition to this loss, the one that represents the most weight is the brightness.
Therefore, do not hesitate to use the Dark Mode or at least activate the automatic brightness function that most Android ROMs offer.
Turn off real-time location
Keeping the real-time location function enabled helps us in various situations, such as determining the position of a mobile phone that was stolen. But, it also represents a constant drain on the battery .
So if you can afford it, feel free to turn off the Location Access option .
This can be found in the Notifications slider menu. An alternative is to limit the number of apps that have access to your location , this can be done from the mobile Settings in the Location section.
Limit apps open in the background
Many of the apps that you have on your mobile at the moment are running in the background without you even realizing it. This represents a constant consumption of the phone’s power.
To avoid this, you only need to disable each app from running in the background . You can check it from the Applications menu in Settings.
Avoid apps that consume a lot of energy
Certain apps, such as video game apps, require the maximum capacity of the mobile to be able to run, this translates into greater wear on the battery and the rest of the hardware components.
For this reason, if you want to extend battery life, you should avoid such apps. Similarly, regularly check the battery consumption of the apps you have installed to find those that consume more mAh of the battery.
Disable Google Assistant
The voice-activated virtual assistant Google Assistant can be very useful if you like to search or control your devices without using the keyboard. But, it is also one of the apps that consumes the most energy . You can deactivate Google Assistant from the internal settings of the app.
Use mobile WiFi instead of data
If you have a mobile that uses 5G or 4G networks, but you do not need to use the bandwidth offered by those networks, configure the mobile so that it only uses 3G or 4G networks . Remember that the coverage of these networks is becoming scarcer and they will be closed in Spain by 2023.
Don’t use a fast charger!
The 150 W charger of the Realme GT Neo 3 is very practical, since it will charge up to 50% of the battery in only 5 minutes. But, these types of fast chargers (both 150W and lower voltage) significantly degrade the battery .
For this reason, if you want to avoid having to replace your phone, try to only use 30W or average chargers .
Charge your mobile battery up to 80%
Something surprising is that, for more than 20 years, a group of scientists found that charging the mobile battery (and in general any device with lithium ion batteries) to less than 80%, can extend the life of the same by 200% .
This is because a battery full of electrons heats up and depletes exponentially faster than ones that hold a charge less than a third of their full capacity.
Prevent your mobile from overheating
Heat is never good for any electronic device , which is why we now have all kinds of technologies that are responsible for dissipating heat. But, even so, it may not be enough to prevent the mobile from overheating, for which it is recommended that you do the following:
- Don’t leave your phone on hot surfaces or in direct sunlight.
- If you are going to use a high-consumption app (for example, video games), keep it in a cool environment or one that is ventilated.
- Similarly, try to use portable fans to cool the back of the phone.
Change account synchronization
On the same mobile we can have a variety of synchronized accounts, both from Google and from different apps. Most of the time these synchronizations represent a great drain on the battery , as they require the phone to update notifications for each account separately.
Whenever possible, use only one Google account on your phone and disable automatic app syncs from Settings.
Do not use unauthorized accessories
It can be tempting to buy a charger for less than 5 euros, but you should be aware that unauthorized accessories can pose a risk of wear and tear on your mobile . Mainly because poor quality brands can provide irregular loads with alternating high and low voltages.
Avoid downloading apps from unknown sources
Currently, there are countless apps that seek to introduce viruses or take advantage of the phone’s hardware to mine cryptocurrencies in the background, this brings with it a large consumption of the mobile’s processor and battery resources .
Therefore, whenever you are going to install and use an app from unknown sources, you must have at least some certainty that it will not end up enslaving your phone, to get an idea of this, look for comments or ratings of the same app and do not blindly trust it either. none.
Now that you know how to check the battery health of any Android mobile, don’t hesitate to take care of it with all these tips to save battery .
