Get extra in-depth ZDNET tech protection: Add us as a most well-liked Google supply on Chrome and Chromium browsers.
I’ve spent massive parts of my life searching for methods to increase the battery life on my Android telephones. Admittedly, that sounds slightly dramatic, however rising up with solely finances fashions meant I used to be consistently tweaking gadget settings to squeeze each little bit of juice out of their batteries.
Due to this micromanaging, I efficiently pushed the batteries on all my previous smartphones to their absolute restrict. I do not need to hoard this information to myself, so I’ve determined to share it with everybody.
Additionally: The very best Android telephones to purchase in 2025
There are various totally different strategies for saving battery life. Nonetheless, there are 12 key settings which you can change proper now to see enhancements instantly. The next listing highlights the best, best, and quickest tweaks to enhance gadget longevity whatever the Android telephone you are rocking, whether or not it is the most recent mannequin from Samsung or a fancy Google Pixel. Plus, you will not should sacrifice the high-quality expertise of utilizing your telephone.
Though the facility settings are virtually the identical on each Android telephone you should purchase, the method for adjusting them can differ between units. Remember to maintain this think about thoughts when following the steps I lay out as a result of the method is perhaps barely totally different relying on the mannequin you are utilizing.
1. Flip off the always-on show
One of many greatest battery drainers for any smartphone is the always-on show. Firms commonly inform you that this show setting solely drains about 1% to 2% an hour, however let’s be trustworthy — it is all the time far more. It could be good to look at your telephone whereas it sits on a desk to examine the time, but it surely’s most likely not price sacrificing battery life.
Additionally: How you can manufacturing unit reset your Android telephone with out unlocking it first
How you can: Open the Settings app and find the Lock Display portion. You may possible discover this portion in the primary Settings listing or underneath “Show.” From there, find the choice to “all the time present information” or a easy toggle to allow the All the time On Show. Both approach, flip the choice off and examine to ensure your display screen goes utterly clean whenever you lock it.
2. Allow Adaptive Battery
There is a helpful function constructed into Androids known as Adaptive Battery, and it is accessible on most units. Adaptive Battery can mechanically handle your telephone’s efficiency and effectivity within the background utilizing particular processes to increase your battery life. For instance, when you do not want most efficiency for one thing easy like scrolling by your inbox, the setting will throttle issues down and prevent some juice.
How you can: Go to Settings > Battery > Adaptive preferences and examine to make sure “Adaptive battery” is enabled. If it isn’t, flick it on.
3. Activate Battery Saver
Alongside Adaptive Battery, Battery Saver mode is one other useful function that may lengthen the longevity of your smartphone between costs. The function makes sweeping modifications throughout your gadget’s software program, like limiting visible results, proscribing apps within the background, and turning on darkish mode if it is not already on.
Additionally: I by no means journey with out these common chargers – they usually can energy laptops
Pixel telephones take this effort additional by having an Excessive Battery Saver, which deactivates extra options and pauses most apps. Nonetheless, as a result of this feature tremendously restricts an Android telephone’s efficiency, I like to recommend solely utilizing Excessive Battery Saver when it is completely mandatory, akin to when the telephone’s cost is within the single digits.
Most, if not all, Android telephones possess a Battery Saver operate, though they could have totally different names. On Galaxy telephones, for instance, it is known as Energy Saving mode. Others could check with it as low-power mode. Remember to go to your telephone producer’s help web site for assist in your mannequin.
How you can: On Pixel telephones, go to Settings > Battery > Battery Saver. You may as well select a schedule for when the function will activate or flip off mechanically. On Galaxy telephones, go to Settings > Battery and Gadget Care > Battery. Flip the toggle swap subsequent to Energy Saving to activate the function.
4. Swap to darkish mode
Over the previous few years, many midrange and finances Android telephones have adopted their flagship brethren by adopting OLED shows. The expertise permits particular person pixels to dim or utterly shut off when not in use. This function is much extra useful for battery life than conventional LCD screens with one large backlight. By switching to your telephone’s darkish theme, these pixels shall be dimmer way more typically and, in flip, avoid wasting juice.
Additionally: The very best energy banks you should purchase in 2025: Skilled examined and reviewed
How you can: Go to Settings > Show in your Android telephone. There, you may discover the choice to modify between a light-weight and darkish theme and to have darkish mode activate mechanically at a sure time of day. I like to recommend holding darkish mode turned on on a regular basis to maximise battery life.
5. Modify your show brightness and sleep time
It is common data that cranking down your show’s brightness may help save battery utilization, but it surely’s price repeating. Fashionable telephones have loads of brightness, and it is generally pointless to have the brightness stage so excessive whenever you’re solely scrolling Instagram or checking your electronic mail.
Additionally, it is vital to shorten the time it takes in your telephone to fall asleep. Customers typically set the sleep timer to a minute or extra, which may drain your battery whenever you aren’t utilizing your telephone, and set it down on a desk with out locking it. Make these two changes, and you will be on the trail to a greater battery life.
How you can: Swipe down a few times from the highest of your telephone’s show to go to the fast settings menu. You may see a slider with an image of a solar or different supply of sunshine subsequent to it. Drag the slider to the left to lower your brightness. To cut back the time it takes in your telephone to sleep, go to Settings > Show and alter “Display timeout” to something beneath a minute.
6. Take away unused accounts
We have all accomplished this sooner or later: you arrange a brand new account for a social media app or electronic mail service (which you overlook about) after which create one other account that turns into your main account for that service or platform. I’ve gone by this course of quite a few instances.
Should you arrange accounts in your telephone, all of the outdated accounts stay, consistently refreshing and draining your battery life within the background. I extremely advocate eradicating some outdated accounts out of your smartphone sooner slightly than later.
How you can: Go to the Settings app and discover the accounts part (on Samsung telephones, it is known as “Accounts and backup,” whereas Pixel telephones use “Passwords & accounts”). You may discover a listing of all of the accounts synced to your telephone. Faucet on one among them and scroll right down to the “Take away account” button. Faucet it, and the account will disappear.
7. Flip off keyboard sounds and haptics
Should you’re utilizing your telephone, chances are high you are typing on the keyboard fairly typically, whether or not to submit to social media or reply to your buddy’s messages. If in case you have sound and haptic suggestions enabled, your battery could endure as a result of your telephone must make a collection of vibrations and noises each time you faucet a letter. Listening to and feeling the keyboard as you sort is a pleasant expertise, but it surely’s not superb if you wish to eke out some additional juice from a full cost.
Additionally: This keyboard case for my Android telephone is the last word productiveness instrument – the way it works
How you can: Open the Settings app and find “Language and enter.” This part is the place your keyboard settings dwell. Discover the part the place you get to decide on your default keyboard, then faucet the gear icon subsequent to it to handle settings. Should you’re a Gboard person (like most individuals), you may then go to Preferences > Keypress and disable “Sound on Keypress” and “Haptic suggestions on Keypress.”
8. Cut back your notifications
You won’t understand it, however notifications might be one of many greatest drainers of your telephone’s battery life. Not solely is your telephone buzzing and ringing all day, however the apps themselves are consistently refreshing within the background, searching for new notifications to ship your approach. Most apps have methods of limiting the quantity of notifications you get, however the best method to flip them off is thru your telephone’s Settings app.
Additionally: Why I want this rugged Samsung telephone over flagship fashions (and it appears to be like simply nearly as good)
How you can: Go to Settings > Notifications > “App notifications” to see an inventory of all of the apps put in in your telephone. Subsequent to every entry are toggles that, when flipped, will disable all notifications for that individual app.
9. Flip off “Hey Google” detection
In case your telephone is continually listening so that you can say, “Hey, Google,” chances are high your battery is draining away. Your microphone is energetic, ready to listen to you say these two magic phrases that set off the digital assistant, and it takes a good quantity of vitality to run that course of all day. Disabling the function is a no brainer for anybody who does not use the Assistant day by day. And let’s be trustworthy: how many people use the assistant day by day?
How you can: Open the Google app in your telephone and faucet your profile image within the top-right nook. Then, go to Settings > Google Assistant > Hey Google & Voice Match and flick off “Hey Google.” Now your telephone will solely set off the Assistant in the event you maintain down the facility button or by way of one other methodology.
10. Cut back your display screen’s refresh price
Telephone screens have gotten actually good over the previous few years, thanks partly to the sooner refresh charges producers have applied. Whether or not it is 90Hz, 120Hz, and even sooner, growing the instances a display screen refreshes helps make animations, scrolling social media, and on a regular basis interactions really feel smoother and extra responsive. Sadly, a excessive refresh price additionally means elevated battery utilization — you may generally be higher off disabling the function.
Additionally: I modified 8 settings on my Pixel telephone to considerably enhance the battery life
How you can: Open the Settings app and navigate to the Show part. Right here, you may discover the settings to configure your refresh price. Most smartphones name the function one thing totally different; Google labels it “Clean Show,” whereas Samsung calls it “Movement smoothness.” Discover the setting related to the refresh price and revert to the usual price. Your display screen will possible appear a bit choppier consequently, however that is utterly regular. It merely means it is working at 60Hz, the velocity at which even the greatest telephones used to run a number of years in the past.
11. Flip off the wi-fi options you are not utilizing
I’ve by no means been a proponent of turning off wi-fi options, akin to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or location providers, to avoid wasting a telephone’s battery life. So many apps and providers depend on these connections that your Android expertise can diminish shortly. Nonetheless, in the event you do not use something that wants Bluetooth or do not use your telephone for GPS, it is perhaps price disabling a few of these options to increase your battery life.
Additionally: I modified 10 settings on my Pixel telephone for an immediate efficiency increase
How you can: On virtually each Android telephone, you’ll be able to swipe down a few times from the highest to entry fast settings. Right here, you may discover icons for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, location, airplane mode, and extra. Contact them as soon as to show them off, and contact them once more to show them again on. You may as well management all these settings by the Settings app, though Fast Settings is the best method to entry them.
12. Use low-power mode
Low-power mode can barely differ from Android telephone to Android telephone, however the basic premise stays the identical. This mode disables some options within the background, limits how typically apps are refreshed, lowers your display screen brightness, reduces the refresh price, and extra to avoid wasting battery life in a pinch.
How you can: There are a number of methods to allow low-power mode in your Android telephone, however the most typical is swiping down twice from the highest of your display screen to get to fast settings after which tapping the battery shortcut. The shortcut ought to seem like a battery with a plus signal or one thing related. You may then get notified that low-power mode (or no matter it is known as in your telephone) has been enabled. You may observe the identical steps to disable this mode.
