Sometime last year, I wrote in complaint about the deemed-inefficiency of the battery that powers my Samsung Galaxy SII smart phone. This phone is just over a year old in my possession and I’ve frequently found myself having to recharge the battery on a daily (nightly) basis. I tried various tips at the time of writing that post – some of which, have helped to prolong the duration of the battery’s charge, albeit minutely. But I now believe I’ve found a more definitive solution.
Time to switch off.
It’s obvious, really. I mean, with each of my four previous phones, I’ve been able to wait comfortably for four days or more between charging cycles and that includes sending regular texts and making the odd phone call. So, what separates the smart phone from the more classical style of mobile? A lot of people may tell you ‘it’s the apps‘ but to me, it’s quite simply, the internet.
So, I’ve been experimenting recently… Turning off Wi-Fi when I’m away from an available and accessible hotspot and likewise; switching of the all-exhaustive mobile date (see above) when I’m connected to wi-fi or, just not looking to be made aware of the latest Facebook status updates or breaking stories on the news feed of Twitter.
Wi-fi must be disabled (…In an area where you’re unable to connect).
In short, with both of these features disabled during an average working day, I’ve noticed that I can reduce my battery consumption down to about 20% (taking in to account a small amount of social media usage in the evening). It’s the internet that does it.
This can also become a means of ‘disciplining‘ yourself if, like me, you can be a little overly addicted to checking regularly for e-mail responses or refreshing your count of the number of people who have viewed and liked your latest YouTube video!
There’s a lot to be said for ‘disconnecting’ and allowing ourselves that extra time. Some will go to the extent of switching their phones off or leaving them behind but I like the idea of communication being available for when its necessary. Practising this at work is, at least, in my experience, quite easy… You start by ‘disconnecting‘ from the start of your day until your morning break; perhaps only a couple of hours. After break, you then abstain until lunch. From there, you might only have a few hours until home time or, you may even have another short break to divide the time further.
Making things simple helps to make them achievable.
Anyway, I find that switching off the data services has made a huge different to me and my phone. So much so, that I’m no longer concerned with purchasing and trying a brand-new battery.
Thanks for reading. I hope this may be of help to others.