Top 10 Battery Saving Tips for Android

February 3rd, 2012 by Dan Howley, LAPTOP Staff Writer

The average smartphone run by the little green robot lasts for 5 hours and 38 minutes on a charge, but the average Android tablet stays juiced up for 6 hours 38 minutes. Neither of those runtimes equals a full work day, assuming you spend all day on the phone. You can add some time with a portable power pack, but those will cost you at least $20. Boost your battery life for free by following these 10 simple tips.

1. Turn off those wireless radios.

Just because you’re not using your device’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or hotspot features doesn’t mean they aren’t sucking up precious battery power. Flip the switch on those bad boys and you could save a decent chunk of battery life.

To turn off your Wi-Fi radio:

Open your Android device’s Settings menu and select Wireless & Networks.
Uncheck the box next to Wi-Fi, and your Wi-Fi antenna will shut down.
Next, deselect the Bluetooth box to turn off your Bluetooth connection.

To disable your phone’s mobile hotspot:

Open your device’s Settings menu and select Wireless & Networks.
Select “Tethering & Mobile Hotspot.”
Uncheck USB Tethering and Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot to turn off both.

2. Turn off location services.

GPS and location services such as Google Maps come in handy when you want to find directions or search for local businesses, but they can also use up lots of juice.

Here’s how to turn off location services:

Open your device’s Settings menu and select Location & Security.
Uncheck the boxes for Google Location Services and Standalone GPS Services.
Be sure to also uncheck the box for any proprietary GPS service, such as Verizon’s VZW Location Services.

3. Turn off background data.

Some Web-connected apps, email services such as Gmail and even the Android Market will continuously collect data in the background. Although convenient, this can put a serious strain on your device’s battery.

Follow these steps to switch off background data:

Tap Settings and select “Battery & Data Management.”
Press the Data Delivery tab and deselect Background Data.

4. Switch from 4G to 3G.

Switching from 4G to 3G when not using data-hungry apps or downloading large files can save you serious battery life. Unfortunately, the steps for switching from 4G to 3G differ from device to device and carrier to carrier. Below are the two most common ways to deactivate 4G data on your Android device. Note that if these steps do not work for you, your device may not allow for 4G to 3G switching.

Tap Wireless & Networks under the Settings menu.
Select Mobile Networks and press Network Mode.
Select CDMA Only, and your phone will begin using 3G instead of 4G.

Alternatively, your device may allow you to disable 4G from the Wireless Settings menu. To do this:

Tap Wireless & Networks in the Settings menu.
Uncheck the box next to 4G.

The next time you access the Web, your device will tell you that it doesn’t have an Internet connection and then will immediately connect to 3G.

Certain devices also allow you to turn off your 4G connection in favor of a less power-intensive 2G connection.

To do this:

Tap Wireless & Networks from the Android Settings menu.
Open the Mobile Network Settings menu.
Check the box next to “Use only 2G networks.” Note that you will be unable to access data while in 2G mode.

5. Zap haptic feedback.

Haptic feedback gives touchscreen keyboards the sensation of a physical layout through tiny vibrations. While this feature can make typing feel more natural, it can impact battery life.

How to disable haptic feedback:

Tap Settings and select Sound.
Tap Vibrate and select Never to turn off the Call Vibration function.
Scroll down to Feedback and uncheck Haptic Feedback or Vibrate Feedback to disable feedback for soft-touch keys.