Comments on: An Exhaustive Guide To Saving Your Smartphone’s Battery http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/10/an-exhaustive-guide-to-saving-your-smartphones-battery/ tips and downloads to help you at work and play Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:25:01 +1100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: KayDat http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/10/an-exhaustive-guide-to-saving-your-smartphones-battery/comment-page-1/#comment-15675 KayDat Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:04:11 +0000 http://www.lifehacker.com.au/?p=343198#comment-15675 @ Use a black or dark theme hint Last I checked, phones use LCD's, not CRT's. Changing themes or overall screen colour to black shouldn't make a difference, unless the phone has dynamic backlight level adjustment based on screen colour. The backlight is on when your screen is on, and the brightness is what you set it to, and it will consume a set amount of power, regardless of what you have on the display. Using a dark theme *does* make it easier on the eye though. As for battery charging, most electronics these days use Li-Ion. Unlike batteries such as Ni-Cd, Li-Ion benefits from regular top ups, as opposed to regular complete depletion, which in fact can reduce battery life. Discharging once a month is a good tip though, because the built in power level gauges need a calibration every once in a while. @ Use a black or dark theme hint
Last I checked, phones use LCD’s, not CRT’s. Changing themes or overall screen colour to black shouldn’t make a difference, unless the phone has dynamic backlight level adjustment based on screen colour. The backlight is on when your screen is on, and the brightness is what you set it to, and it will consume a set amount of power, regardless of what you have on the display.
Using a dark theme *does* make it easier on the eye though.

As for battery charging, most electronics these days use Li-Ion. Unlike batteries such as Ni-Cd, Li-Ion benefits from regular top ups, as opposed to regular complete depletion, which in fact can reduce battery life. Discharging once a month is a good tip though, because the built in power level gauges need a calibration every once in a while.

]]> By: Johnno http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/10/an-exhaustive-guide-to-saving-your-smartphones-battery/comment-page-1/#comment-15457 Johnno Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:03:40 +0000 http://www.lifehacker.com.au/?p=343198#comment-15457 For Nokia S60 phones download Energy Profiler from nokia's website. It gives you a nice real-time graph of exact watts your phone is currently drawing. Capture a baseline value, then start your background apps and see what juice they are using. For Nokia S60 phones download Energy Profiler from nokia’s website. It gives you a nice real-time graph of exact watts your phone is currently drawing.
Capture a baseline value, then start your background apps and see what juice they are using.

]]> By: Jonathan Lim http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/10/an-exhaustive-guide-to-saving-your-smartphones-battery/comment-page-1/#comment-15429 Jonathan Lim Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:38:48 +0000 http://www.lifehacker.com.au/?p=343198#comment-15429 Yup, made me looking for percentage meter on my 3g. Yup, made me looking for percentage meter on my 3g.

]]> By: Jon Underwood http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/10/an-exhaustive-guide-to-saving-your-smartphones-battery/comment-page-1/#comment-15406 Jon Underwood Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:06:48 +0000 http://www.lifehacker.com.au/?p=343198#comment-15406 The first app i always install on my nokia e71 (and e65 before that is Jbak TaskMan. A dated app in terms of looks, its an indispensible way for managing which applications are open (And then closing them), or quickly browsing to the connection manager to kill a unwanted connection (this is about the only way, short of going offline, to kill the always-on packet data annoyance, for example). Birdstep isn't necessarily related to power usage, but it is free for E-series and N-series users, and is a useful access point app for seamlessly switching between 3G network access points, preconfigured WLAN (your wifi at home?) access points, and even unsecured hotspots (there is also some kind of facility for charged wifi spot access, but i've never used that). The first app i always install on my nokia e71 (and e65 before that is Jbak TaskMan. A dated app in terms of looks, its an indispensible way for managing which applications are open (And then closing them), or quickly browsing to the connection manager to kill a unwanted connection (this is about the only way, short of going offline, to kill the always-on packet data annoyance, for example).

Birdstep isn’t necessarily related to power usage, but it is free for E-series and N-series users, and is a useful access point app for seamlessly switching between 3G network access points, preconfigured WLAN (your wifi at home?) access points, and even unsecured hotspots (there is also some kind of facility for charged wifi spot access, but i’ve never used that).

]]> By: Mario http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/10/an-exhaustive-guide-to-saving-your-smartphones-battery/comment-page-1/#comment-15379 Mario Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:42:42 +0000 http://www.lifehacker.com.au/?p=343198#comment-15379 Perhaps, what was failed to mention, that the percentage meter is only available for 3GS iPhones, not the 1st gen iPhones. :) Perhaps, what was failed to mention, that the percentage meter is only available for 3GS iPhones, not the 1st gen iPhones. :)

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