Back to Top

Hello, and welcome to FORO!

You may be familiar with FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). My blog tackles FORO, the Fear Of Running Out of battery, helping people find ways to get as much juice as possible out of their phones' accumulators. Frankly, there are only three effective ways to achieve that goal.

11. Reduce battery consumption

Smartphone screens use a lot of energy, and modern devices tend to utilize larger and larger displays. To reduce battery usage, make sure to turn down screen brightness.

22. Keep the software updated

Buggy mobile operating systems drain batteries by keeping some components active even when they should be turned off. Be sure to update the OS and all the installed apps.

33. Use an external battery

It's the only solution that is guaranteed to keep your phone running longer, no matter what happens. For best results, choose an accumulator which uses lithium-ion cells.

Best battery saver apps for Android phones

The future of mobile phone batteries

Lithium-ion batteries have served our needs quite well over the last two decades. They pack an impressive electrical power into a small package, and this has made them the phone manufacturers' preferred battery solution so far. Their performance has been constantly improving, while costs have gone down significantly. According to data-alliance.net, energy capacity per price has grown from the initial 0.3 watts-hour to over 3 watts-hour per dollar. Also, battery capacity has increased almost 10 times since the first prototypes have hit the market.

However, the current technology is really close to reaching its limits. While battery manufacturers are testing new solutions which will reduce risk hazards, for example the aqueous lithium-ion battery, there aren't too many things that they can do to increase Li-ion's energy density even further. So, let's take a look at some of the most promising batteries that utilize new technologies.

Solid-state batteries look very good in my book. They utilize a solid electrolyte, and this allows manufacturers to use lithium for the anode, thus having the ability to increase battery capacity while reducing safety risks. Actually, the technology isn't that new; people have been trying to create solid-state batteries since the 1950s. Nevertheless, those early prototypes had a very high internal resistance, and this has made them useless for real-life purposes.

Read more

Top tips to boost your phone's battery life

powerUninstall power-hungry apps

You will have to identify them first, of course. Fortunately, modern mobile operating systems include advanced power management mechanisms which make it easy to discover the apps that misbehave.

refreshReduce app refresh frequency

Some applications connect to the Internet and check for updates every few minutes, using a lot of power. To increase battery life, ensure that these apps' data refreshing intervals are set to their biggest values.

backgroundDisable background apps

Many developers make their apps load at startup, and then keep them running in the background, even when it isn't necessary to do that. Be sure to uninstall all these invasive apps, or turn them off for good.

darkUse a dark theme/mode

OLED screen don't use any energy when they need to display a black color. Also, darker pixels use much less power in comparison with the white ones. So, choose a dark theme and you'll increase battery life.

radiosDisable the unused radios

Your phone's NFC radio doesn't need a lot of power, but you should disable it if you don't use it. Also, turn off Wi-Fi when you access the Internet using mobile data, stop the GPS when you don't use location services, etc.

vibrationTurn off vibration mode

Your phone includes a small motor that's off-balanced, making the device vibrate whenever you receive a call or a notification. Still, this motor needs a lot of power to run, so disable it and you'll boost battery life.

appsPurchase ad-free apps

Ads disrupt user experience, utilize a lot of mobile data and introduce security risks. Also, video ads use a lot of battery power. So, do yourself a favor and purchase the full versions of the apps you can't live without.

brightnessTurn down screen brightness

The screen uses the largest chunk of your battery's power. To reduce energy consumption, activate your phone's auto brightness mode, and then set it to a lower level. Tweak the screen timeout value as well.

Battery news

coatingNew coating could have big implications for lithium batteries

A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy have built a new coating method which can keep the cathode conductive for a longer time, thus making it possible to increase the number of charging/discharging cycles for Li-ion batteries.

Read more

clean energyAnother step forward for a promising new battery to store clean energy

Renewable energy sources replenish naturally but have a limited flow; they can provide power only when the sun is shining, for example. Potassium-oxygen cells can store more power in comparison with their Li-ion counterparts, though.

Read more

nanoSmaller, faster, better: nanoscale batteries may power future technology

A group of researchers at MIT have developed nanoscale hydrogen batteries which use water-splitting technologies. These batteries charge faster, have a longer life and waste less energy. More than this, they can be laid out in any shape.

Read more