How to save battery on Android: 14 valid tricks + One useless trick

If like me, you’re almost obsessively controlling the percentage of the battery on your Android smartphone (by clicking here you’ll find out how to display it on OnePlus 6 ) and you’re terrified of being without battery juice, you’ve come to the right place. In this small guide, you will find 14 tips, simple but practical at the same time, which will help you save battery on your Android device.

Surely you have already taken some of these precautions, but who knows that even one of these measures does not help to make the difference. All this without forgetting that at the base of a good battery life there is not only the capacity declared by the manufacturer but also an adequate software optimization. In short, if it’s a theme that’s very dear to you before you change your smartphone, go deeper into this topic.

Ok, here we are. My 14 tips to save battery on Android will be divided into macro-areas: displays, vibrations/animations, apps, connectivity, integrated tools and… a useless final advice.

How to save battery on Android – Part 1, the display

Always bigger, always brighter, more and more… beautiful. The displays of smartphones of new generations are cross and delight, here’s how to optimize them on Android to avoid excessive power consumption.

1. Do not set the brightness of the display automatically. It ‘a feature apparently comfortable, but in fact, it never regulates perfectly the brightness of your panel going many times beyond what is necessary. Among other things, the changes are constant and this, obviously, involves a considerable battery waste. When you are in extreme situations (in the dark or under the sunlight) it is a great effort to set the brightness manually.
2. Set the display to turn off automatically at the minimum value. If you are not among those who turn off the display directly after using the smartphone, set the time at which the device goes to stand-by at the lowest value. On Android this minimum value may vary, on my OnePlus 5T, for example, it is set to 15 seconds. Imagine how many times you turn on the screen of your smartphone: if you leave it on even a few seconds after normal use, at the end of the day will be whole minutes “useless” and that will make a negative difference.
3. Use a black background if you have an AMOLED or Super AMOLED display. These panels of last generation (present on virtually all the top of the range Samsung, for example) work only on coloured pixels, while the black ones are actually turned off. In short, a nice dark theme is what it takes to save battery on Android.

How to save battery on Android – Part 2, vibrations/animations

Here you touch a sore key… and it is appropriate to say it. Even in this case, the small details are actually a real disaster for battery life. Let’s see how we can improve in this area.

4. Turn off haptic feedback. This is the slight vibration you hear when you write, select text, or use the on-screen navigation keys. I understand that eliminating it altogether may seem drastic, but you may want to consider removing it from the keyboard. To do this go to “Language and input” in the Android settings and enter the Google Keyboard tab that I assume you’re using. There you will find the option where you can deactivate haptic feedback.
5. Turn off the vibration. Maybe you do not know that with the vibration your Android smartphone consumes more battery than with the active ringtone. If you really make it a matter of comfort, ok, but if the reason is the energy saving is preferable to silent mode.
6. Turn off animations. To do so, activate the “Developer Options” (the procedure is as follows: go to “phone info” and select “Build Number” continuously until the message “Now you are a developer” or something very similar). You will find the new entry in the settings and, going down, you will find the “Drawing” section: well, turn off “Window animation scale”, “Transition animation scale” and “Animator duration scale” which have a default value of 1x or .5x.

How to save battery on Android – Part 3, the app

This is probably the most complicated point to manage, as a focal point to save battery on Android. Managing apps is crucial, identifying those that work the most in the background is crucial. And periodically try to clean up, uninstall applications that you have not used for a long time. There are certain battery draining apps that can shortchange your battery’s longevity. See 5 apps that drain your smartphone battery the most.

7. Use Lite versions of the applications. Ok, maybe it’s a bit extreme as advice. But if you’re not a fanatic of applications such as Skype, Facebook, Twitter or similar, know that in many cases there are “Lite” versions, lighter, designed for emerging markets with connections still not up to par. You will certainly find a few features less and the design will be less sought after, but the battery will benefit.
8. Make updates. This is a point underestimated by many. The updated versions of the app, in addition to solving any bugs and also fix issues related to the security of your smartphone, are often optimized to save battery on Android.
9. Optimize applications. Go to “Battery”, between Android settings. Then select the three dots that will open a new screen and then choose “Battery Optimization”. Here you will have the complete panorama of the apps you have installed on your device and for each of them, you will know if they are optimized, directly from Android, or not.
10. Install Greenify. It is, in my opinion, the best application to manage the battery. For “general” aspects you will not even have to waste time setting the parameters, for the rest, I’ll give you an appointment to a guide that I will publish shortly and that will explain how to best set up Greenify.

How to save battery on Android – Part 4, connectivity

11. Disable the connectivity entries when not needed. From GPS to Bluetooth, passing through NFC and WIFI: if these options are not indispensable, if they are kept active, they spend time looking for new networks, with very high energy consumption. My advice is to include them in the quick settings so you have them always under control.
12. Air mode. It’s a great option when you’re in places where you cannot even control notifications and calls that arrive in silent mode. Saving money on Android will be easier with proper air mode management.

How to save battery on Android – Part 5, various tools

13. Energy saving mode. Each smartphone has one, they vary according to the models. Try to look between the settings on your smartphone. You will discover some interesting features that will help you save battery on Android.
14. Turn off Google Assistant. I almost never use the “Ok Google” command. Considering that your smartphone is always “listening”, disabling this feature you can recover a lot ‘of battery juice. Among the Google settings choose “Voice” and then “Google Ok detection”: once inside, it deactivates all the individual options.

How to save battery on Android – Part 6, the useless advice

15. Before charging the battery, wait until it is completely discharged. Do not worry, there is nothing true in what over the years has been converted into an urban legend. Twenty years ago, with the first cell phones with nickel-cadmium battery, it could be a valid suggestion. Now let’s smile. What is certain is that a complete recharge cycle can periodically be useful for battery calibration. But do not obsess over and charge your smartphone when you think it’s best.