This is plenty for most users, but there may come a time when you need even more life. These five tips can help you extract every second from your tablet’s battery.

Reduce Display Brightness

Most tablets are simply hardware strapped to a display, resulting in the characteristic tablet appearance. This provides a large display with minimal weight, but it also means there is a large viewing area to power. As with large smartphones, the display often draws more power than any other component.

As such, simply dimming the display will have a positive impact on battery life. While there’s often an automatic brightness feature available, it’s usually less aggressive than needed to provide maximum battery life. Taking control of brightness yourself is often a better option.

Turn Off Wireless Radios

Tablets do not rely on mobile data quite as much as smartphones, but they still make heavy use of it. Wi-Fi is standard on virtually all tablets, and many also include access to 3G and/or 4G from a major mobile data carrier.

These radios suck power, however. A 3G/4G radio can have a negative impact on endurance if used often or if used in areas with a poor signal. The solution is to just turn the radio off.

Obviously, disabling 3G/4G will cut of mobile data access unless Wi-Fi is available, but this is a trade-off that will sometimes be worthwhile. Turning of Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth can further improve life, but the impact won’t be as drastic as turning of 3G/4G. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios are built to communicate over shorter ranges and consume less power as a result.

Turn Off Background Data

If you’d like to have access to mobile data on demand, but also want to cut power draw slightly, you don’t have to turn off the radios. Instead, you can simply turn off background data.

Doing this will disable your tablet’s ability to update apps with new information from the Internet automatically. For example, emails will not appear until you specifically open the email app and check for them, and feeds from sites like Facebook won’t be updated until you request it.

Turning off background data may greatly improve battery life, or may not impact it noticeably. The improvement will depend on how many apps you have active that use background data as well as the type of mobile data connection you rely on.

Turn Off GPS

Like a Ninja, GPS can kill your battery before you even know it’s a problem. GPS location data requires communication with satellites orbiting the earth, which are used to determine your exact location. As you can imagine, this isn’t a boon to your battery.

Normally, GPS is kept under control and used only in short bursts. However, it can on occasion go a bit out of control, and it’s easy to accidently cause this by opening a navigation or map app that’s using GPS data. Turning off GPS in settings will make location data less accurate, but won’t eliminate it completely, since your tablet will still be able to obtain location data from Wi-Fi and mobile data networks.

Monitor App Power Draw

If you’ve followed the above steps and your tablet’s battery still isn’t satisfactory, the culprit is probably an app that your tablet is running in the background. Apps are supposed to nicely terminate or suspend themselves when not in active use, but this doesn’t always occur as it should.

Fortunately, it’s not difficult to keep tabs on what is making use of your tablet’s battery life. Android tablets will provide you with this information under Settings->Applications->Battery Use. Apple fans can monitor their iPad’s battery with apps such as Activity Monitor. Once you’ve found the app that is consuming your battery it can be terminated or uninstalled.

Conclusion – Beyond Conservation

All of the tips above will help your tablet’s battery, in some cases providing several additional hours of time away from a power socket. If you’re still not finding that the endurance of your tablet meets your needs, however, consider an extended battery.

These are not common, but some do exist, such as New Trent’s 8900mAh external battery which is compatible with most mobile devices. Some docks also provide additional battery life, such as the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer’s keyboard, which extends estimated battery life from 9 to 16 hours.

Are you a power-user or do you simply need a few quick tips on battery maintenance?

It’s time to get a grip and take control of your power consumption. Below you will find power-saving tips to help squeeze as much juice out of your smartphone as possible.

Discipline Your Display

It’s no secret that your phone’s display is the largest drain on power that your device encounters. The brighter your screen, the more energy is required to power the backlight. By limiting your screen’s maximum brightness, your battery should see less use and you’ll have more power left at the end of the day.

Most models these days come with a light sensor that detects ambient lighting conditions and adjusts the screen brightness accordingly. Whilst this is great at night, or for checking your cell phone in the cinema without blinding everybody, in full sunlight your phone will be maxing out it’s brightness setting, and eating up a lot of power. By limiting the brightness you can stop this happening, though you might need to duck into the shade to read your email.

The time it takes your backlight to time-out can also affect battery life, so to boost your cell phone battery life, try reducing this to no more than a minute (after all, it won’t take you a minute to read a small screen’s worth of text).

Keep A Lid On Bluetooth & Wifi

Unfortunately wireless technology is still not that efficient when it comes to power usage. In a few years we’ll be laughing all the way to the power bank, but for now it’s best to disable Wi-Fi if you don’t intend on using it for a while. Some phones will automatically connect to any public network they encounter, so your phone could be wasting your battery in your pocket with absolutely no benefit to you whatsoever.

As for Bluetooth – I never understood the benefit of leaving it on constantly anyway. Unless your life is incomplete without that little blue “B” in your status area then ditch it, it doesn’t take long to turn on when you need it anyway.

Beware GPS & Location Requests

Similarly, GPS is another big drain on cell battery. Sure, it’s great for checking in on FourSquare or adding your location to a tweet but constant use will severely affect your battery life. Whilst on battery power, it’s best to avoid GPS intensive applications like mapping tools (save them for the car).

On the iPhone if an application or web page requests your location then granting permission permanently allows that app to use GPS. If you never use the location aspect, or simply don’t see the point then denying these requests will limit potential GPS use, thus saving battery. Disabling use of GPS altogether might appeal to those who literally find no use for satellite navigation in their lives.

Consider Disabling 3G

If you find yourself in a situation where you need your phone simply for SMS or calls, and have no idea when your next charge will be, then disabling 3G will help save you precious battery. I have experienced this first-hand on my iPhone, after a day without any 3G (or indeed GSM) use at all I can make it to the evening with around 50% charge. Under similar usage with 3G enabled, a day of my phone sitting in my pocket results in around 25% or less charge in the evening.

If you don’t need the mobile web, aren’t sending multimedia messages or video calling then you won’t need 3G and will inevitably be grateful for that extra juice. If your device supports it, switching off data altogether will leave you without the net but still able to make calls should you desperately need to.

Manage Power & Avoid Power-Hungry Apps

Multitasking on Android and iOS is handled slightly differently by each operating system. iOS freezes the application in its current state, though apps like iTunes and media players will continue downloading or playing in the background. Android operates similarly, but with greater scope for true multitasking with apps able to stay awake in the background, sucking up power more-so than they would on a friend’s iPhone.

To stay on top of greedy applications try an app like Autorun Manager to stop unwanted software starting up when you boot your phone and JuiceDefender to better manage your Android device’s power. Conversely I’m not going to recommend an “app killer” as I’ve read conflicting reports over whether killing background apps is any good or not, considering many consume more power starting up once you’ve killed them an hour or so ago.

For both iOS and Android phones avoid apps that require a lot of resources, such as capturing video or playing games.

Ditch Vibrate & Pointless Notifications

Your phone’s vibrate setting consumes far more power than a simple audible alert, so by disabling it you can save some juice. Similarly notifications in general consume power, switching on your phone or causing it to buzz in your pocket. If you find yourself simply dismissing them constantly then disabling the least useful will save you both battery and patience.

Root Your Android & Jailbreak Your iPhone

Modifying your phone’s software can really make all the difference, especially when it comes to Android phones. Rooting your Android allows you to replace your bloated branded OS to something a little more lightweight without all the power-consuming bells and whistles you never use.

Similarly jailbreaking your iPhone allows you to install something like SBSettings which provides quick access to toggle bluetooth, wireless and so on.

Conclusion

If your battery is still flaking and you’ve put the above plan into practice then perhaps you need to consider that you are a) spending too much time on your smartphone, or b) need to purchase additional batteries or emergency chargers. I’ll let you be the judge of that one…

Did you find these tips useful? Any other advice for saving battery? What phone do you have and how long does it last? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: HTC Desire

Battery lifetime not only depends on the type of battery and its quality, it also depends on how the battery is cared for. In this article I will explain what determines the lifetime of Lithium-Ion batteries, the type of rechargeable battery found in most if not all modern laptops, and what you can do to increase your battery lifetime.

Introduction To Lithium-Ion Batteries (Li-Ion)

Modern laptops are almost exclusively delivered with Li-Ion batteries. They are lighter, offer a higher performance, maintain their charger longer, and are less susceptible to the dreaded memory effect than previous types of rechargeable batteries.

In the US, Li-Ion batteries are classified as non-hazardous for the environment as they do not contain free toxic metals. In the EU however, vendors are required to recycle at least 25% of the batteries they produce. After all, Li-Ion batteries do contain material worth recycling, although the cost of doing so is rather high.

Priming Li-Ion Batteries

The predominant statement you will find is that new Li-Ion batteries do not require priming. Nevertheless, you should fully charge your Li-Ion battery before using it for the first time.

Cycling Li-Ion Batteries

Li-Ion batteries have a lifetime of 300 to 500 full charging cycles or up to 2000 partial cycles. There are reports that cycling a Li-Ion battery after long storage periods, i.e. fully discharging and re-charging it for two or three cycles, leads to to capacity gains. Other sources recommend cycling Li-Ion batteries every couple of weeks. Generally, you should not fully discharge your Li-Ion battery.

Caring For Your Li-Ion Battery

While Li-Ion batteries do not have a memory effect and don’t need to be primed or cycled to maintain full capacity, their lifetime can still be shortened dramatically, if not cared for right. Two things can damage Li-Ion batteries: deep discharges and heat. All of the following battery DOs and DON’Ts are derived from these two major factors.

Li-Ion Battery DOs

• partially discharge and recharge (no memory effect).
• charge at lower voltage.
• take out battery when laptop is running with AC power connected.
• store battery in refrigerator with a 40-50% charge.
• cycle the battery every few weeks or after every 30 partial charges.

Li-Ion Battery DON’Ts

• deep discharge battery.
• trickle charge.
• ultra-fast charge.
• leave fully charged battery in laptop while running on AC power (heat damage).
• freeze battery.
• buy old Li-Ion or spare batteries (Li-Ion batteries age, see below).

Aging Of Li-Ion Batteries

One more thing to keep in mind is that Li-Ion batteries begin aging the moment they are produced and there is little you can do to prevent this. What causes the aging is that the electrolyte slowly breaks down the positive plate, causing the internal resistance to increase to a point where no energy can be delivered. A partial charge and low temperatures slow down this process and hence increase the lifetime of your battery.

Summary

Li-Ion batteries are superior to Nickel-Cadmium or Nickel-Metal Hybrid batteries in that they deliver a higher performance, show a much slower self-discharge, and don’t have a memory effect. However, they do age, withstand only a limited amount of charge and discharge cycles, and are damaged by heat. The best thing you can do to preserve battery lifetime, is to store your laptop battery in a cold place whenever you have reliable AC power available. Alternatively, maintain optimal cooling and airflow to decrease heat buildup. In any case you should perform a full discharge and recharge cycle every few weeks and avoid fully discharing your Li-Ion battery in the meantime.

Sources:

• Wikipedia: Lithium-ion battery
• Lithium ion batteries: High-tech’s latest mountain of waste
• How to Prime Batteries
• Getting the most of your batteries
• How to Store Batteries
• What Causes Lithium-ion to Age?
• Lithium-ion Battery Life and Death

Also check out the following posts on MakeUseOf:

• How To Benchmark Your Laptop’s Battery Life With Battery Eater
• Extend Your Laptop Battery Life With BatteryCare (Windows)
• Two Replacements For The Windows Laptop Battery Meter
• How To Analyse & Reduce Your Computer’s Power Consumption [Linux]

Image credits: beboy, Yuliyan Velchev

One potential solution is Duracell’s myGrid, a wireless charging solution for mobile phones. But does this product really work, or is it not quite ready for prime time?

How It Works

The Duracell myGrid’s concept is simple. Rather than plugging in your mobile phone to charge it, the myGrid lets you charge the device by placing it on the pad’s surface. Your phone will then begin to charge automatically.

It’s like magic, right? Well, not quite. Although the convenience is the driving force behind this concept, you can’t just plop any old phone on the pad. That’s because you need to have a connection between the myGrid and your phone, and that can only be provided by an appropriate adapter.

These adapters plug in via the phone’s mini-USB port and extend around the rear of the phone. Alternatively, you can use what Duracell calls a “power sleeve”.  This is simply a phone case with contacts on the rear side which negate the need for the adapter.

Does It Work?

Yes, usually. The technology here isn’t complex or unheard of. Some brands of electric toothbrushes, for example, have used it for some time in order to charge the built-in batteries via a stand.

However, you’ll may notice that your phone doesn’t charge as quickly with the myGrid as it does with a normal power adapter if you’re charging multiple phones at once. Some reviews also noted that bumping the pad or touching it with a metal object would interrupt charging, which could be a real problem if you wanted to put it on a busy desktop.

Far From Perfect

The Duracell myGrid can handle charging up to four phones at once, so it could ideally let you toss aside four separate power adapters. That’s an impressive reduction in clutter, but there’s a catch – several, actually.

Convenience is supposed to be the greatest advantage of this device, but the adapters themselves can be a pain. Since they take up the phone’s mini-USB port, which in most cases is also used to transfer data between PCs and the device, you’ll have to remove it frequently. In fact, its general bulk and unattractive appearance makes it unlikely you’ll want to leave the house with the adapter attached.

Some phones, like the iPhone, have the “power sleeve” case available – but it is also bulky and unattractive.

These problems are due to the fact that the myGrid uses conductive, rather than inductive, charging. With conductive charging, an actual connection between metal contacts is required to charge a device, which is why the adapters are required.

Oh, and about those four phones at once. While the technology may be capable of pushing power to all of those devices, the mat itself will have trouble fitting them if they’re large. The mat is about 9 inches by 9 inches, so you’ll realistically fit two or three smartphones on there depending on their sizes.

Conclusion

So does the Duracell myGrid charge as well as a power cord? Yes, it does. It will charge your phone just like a power cord. Only you don’t need the cord, which is nice.

But the problem is the price. Duracell’s myGrid costs around fifty dollars, which isn’t a huge sum, but still worth some thought before parting ways. And that’s just for the starter kit. If you want to use the pad with numerous phones you’ll need to buy more adapters or sleeves.

Is gaining the ability to place your phone on a charging pad rather than connecting it to a cord worth the price? Perhaps in a few limited cases, but for most people that’s a lot of money to spend for a different way to charge their phone.

What do you think?  Worth the money or just a passing fad?  Would you seriously consider buying one?

Before we begin, one note. The link above leads to JuiceDefender’s beta version. LaterDroid, the developer, normally offers a free version on the Android Market. However, at the moment they’re having some trouble with the market, and have asked me to link to the Beta version instead. It’s free and quite stable.

When I started the app, the first thing I noticed was the unique look-and-feel of the interface:

Many say Android’s lack of UI guidelines is bad, but this is one app that uses its creative freedom to good effect. The interface blends copious amounts of explanations along with the buttons, in a way that feels natural and uncluttered. As you can see above, it starts off disabled by default, so tap that “enabled” button to get started.

What JuiceDefender essentially does is disable some of your device’s functions at times you’re not likely to notice, thus saving you some precious power. For instance, if you’re not connected to a WiFi network, JuiceDefender will simply disable your device’s WiFi radio. Once fifteen minutes elapse, JuiceDefender will enable the radio again, check for a connection, and if there’s still no connection, it will shut it off again. So you no longer have to remember to toggle WiFi off when you leave the house or the office.

Another example is turning off data during the night – from 2am till 6am (or at other hours you can configure), JuiceDefender can simply disable mobile data. After all, you’re not likely to be reading a lot of emails in your sleep (I hope).

Since there are so many options, JuiceDefender works using profiles. There are three main profiles offering varying degrees of aggressiveness (i.e, which services are shut down and when), plus two customization options (“customize” and “advanced”). Since I’m using the free version, not all profiles are available. However, the interface initially did not make it clear which profiles can be used and which are paid-version only.

For instance, I tapped the “aggressive” profile which should be available in the free version:

Then I tapped “extreme“, which should not be available in this version:

Can you tell the difference? I sure can’t. I figured this must be a bug, and restarted the app. Indeed, after a restart I got a different result when tapping “aggressive“:

This sure makes things clearer. I love the detailed explanation, and how it blends well into the interface. Now let’s tap “extreme” again:

Okay, this is certainly clearer. No “extreme” profile in the free version. Now let’s take a look at the “customize” option:

This opens up a whole new “Settings” tab, with numerous options. However, if you’re using the free version, I suggest you don’t even bother with this tab. Only “Mobile Data” and one other option are enabled. The rest are shown with complete explanations, but cannot be modified. This does, however, give a good sense of what the paid versions of the app (Plus and Ultimate) can do.

That’s right, JuiceDefender has not one, but two paid versions. Plus goes for €1.99 on the market, and allows you to access the Extreme profile, control mobile data and tweak a host of other settings. Ultimate will set you back €4.99 and unleash JuiceDefender’s full power, no holds barred. The app features a handy comparison chart so you can figure out which version to buy:

On its own, the free version of JuiceDefender can be a nice “set it and forget it” way to conserve battery use. You can use it to evaluate the app’s basic efficiency, see if it’s making a difference for your device and get used to the idea of conserving power via an app. But if you’re serious about improving battery life, you would definitely want to go for one of the paid versions.

Let us know what you think of JuiceDefender and if you know of any other alternatives we should be looking at.

Confident you have no apps that run in the background? What about your screen backlight, or the sync frequency of all of your social network apps and email clients? Do you control when and how your phone launches Wi-Fi and GPS, or do those connections control you?

Recalibrate Your Battery

One of the most common solutions that you’ll find on many Android blogs and forums is the battery “wipe.” This is related to the batterystats.bin file in your system which is where the battery indicator data comes from.

Apparently, particularly when you flash a custom ROM on your newly rooted Android, the calibration of the display versus actual charge level of the battery can get a little out of whack. The fix is pretty easy. First, charge up your phone to 100%, then reboot into recovery. For my purposes, I use the trusty ClockworkMod Recovery that comes with ROM Manager. In ClockworkMod Recovery, you can find the battery wipe in the Advanced section.

Just select “Wipe Battery Stats” from the sub menu.

Finally, confirm the wipe and then reboot the system again. To do this you’ll have to go back to the main menu and select “Reboot System Now.”

Keep in mind that this won’t “fix” battery drain issues. If you have something running on your phone that’s sucking juice out of your phone battery, all you’ll notice now is that you have a much more accurate view of how fast your battery is draining.  Ready to troubleshoot and put an end to your battery drain? Read on.

What’s Using Your Battery?

The first thing to do is check out what is running on your phone that’s eating up the battery. It’s easy to look for the biggest battery-draining culprits. All you have to do is go to your phone settings -> click About Phone -> click Battery Use.

Battery use will show you a breakdown of what’s consuming your battery. It’s broken down into percentages, so this is a nice place to come back and see how the different changes you make to your phone affect overall battery use.

See how the display is consuming 77 percent? This is fairly standard – the display is energy demanding, especially when you don’t put a lid on the brightness level.

Low Hanging Fruit

There are a couple of things you can do right now that will easily improve your Android battery life.

To reduce that consumption as much as possible right off the bat, go into Settings -> Display -> Brightness. First, remove “Automatic brightness“.

The next screen allows you to move a slider to adjust screen brightness. Try lowering it down to the bottom level and see if that setting is something you can comfortably tolerate. For most people it’s plenty bright. You’ve just reduced your battery consumption dramatically.

The second low-hanging fruit are your connections. Are you constantly leaving Wi-Fi, GPS or your Data Connection running all the time? Nothing consumes battery power faster than these connections. Ideally, disable them whenever you don’t need them. Go to Settings -> Wireless & Networks and poke around to see what you’ve got running. GPS is under Location and Security.

There are also some useful apps on the market to manage your phone connections – just search for “connection manager” and pick your favorite. Use them to disable your connections when you don’t need them.

What Apps Are Running?

Do you remember the old commercial that went, “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?” The same could be said for your phone – do you know what your apps are doing?

Many people install apps on their phone, often not realizing that some of them are automatically configured to launch upon boot, and they keep running in the background. In fact, many of them automatically launch connections like Wi-Fi, GPS or your data connection. Check what’s running right now by going to Settings -> Applications and clicking on Running Services.

Take a look at all the apps that are running in the background. Any surprises?

Don’t worry, you don’t have to manually kill these all the time, there are apps that help you manage what programs run automatically. One I really like from the Android Market is called Autorun Manager.

It shows everything that’s configured to autostart, and what’s currently running. What’s cool is that you can just tap these individually and disable them for good. Game over. You’ve just reclaimed your phone.

If you’ve tried all of these tips, did you see a longer Android battery life? Do you know of any other useful tips to stop battery drain? Share your ideas in the comments section below!

While that rule seems simple enough, it isn’t always easy to follow. Laptop manufacturers have a tendency to overstate laptop battery life, and sometimes by no small margin. A manufacturer who claims ten hours of battery life rarely confesses that the stated battery life can only be achieved if you leave the laptop running at idle with the display a minimum brightness and WiFi off.

The only way to know what your laptop is really capable of is to benchmark it, and no program is better suited for this task than Battery Eater, one of only two free battery benchmark programs currently available and updated.

The Maximum Load (Default) Test

Once you’ve installed Battery Eater you’ll find it is very easy to use. Opening the program will display a main menu that shows your current battery status. Hopefully the battery will show that it is fully charged and AC adapter is currently plugged in – after all, testing a half charged battery won’t provide very good results!

Click the “Begin test when disconnecting AC” checkbox and then unplug your laptop whenever you’re ready.

Battery Eater will swing into action as soon as you’ve unplugged the AC adapter. The default benchmark is a simple 3D rendering of a battery that moves around your laptop’s display. This will task both your laptop’s CPU and GPU. As the Battery Eater test states, this benchmark is designed to give an indication of the minimum battery life that you can expect. If your laptop achieves three hours, for example, you’ll know that your laptop will last at least three hours no matter what kind of crazy task you throw at it.

The Reader’s Test

If you’re interested in how your laptop battery might hold up during less intense use,  however, you can use the included Reader’s Test benchmark. This can be accessed by clicking on the Options button and then changing the Benchmark Mode to Reader’s Test.

Once that’s done, click on the Load Text button at the bottom of the window and select a text file. The Reader’s Test, once activated, will open the text file and automatically scroll through the file time and time again until your laptop’s battery gives out.

You can also test your laptop’s maximum battery life by using the Idle test, which is again accessed through the Options menu. The Idle test is exactly what you’d think – it just keeps tabs on your laptop battery life while the laptop remains at idle.

Viewing Results

Testing your laptop’s battery will, of course, cause it to run out of juice. When the battery does finally kick the bucket everything on your computer will be shut down and the laptop will automatically go into hibernation.

Battery Eater is one step ahead of your laptop, however. The program automatically generates a report once your computer’s laptop battery can endure no more.. This report is filed in your Battery Eater installation folder and is labeled with the date that you ran the benchmark.

When you open the folder you will be greeted with a .beg file called discharge and a log. The Discharge file has the information you need, but you won’t be able to view it with Excel or any other program. To generate a readable version of the report you must  drag and drop the .beg file onto the Battery Eater executable file (called BEPro.exe.) The report will open automatically in your default web browser.

Conclusion

Battery Eater can be a sobering program to use. Laptops that are supposed to be capable of more than six hours of battery life often achieve less than four hours during the default Battery Eater test. I highly suggest that you run the default benchmark, Reader’s Test benchmark and Idle benchmark.

Yes, this will likely take a while – but remember, Battery Eater makes a report automatically when the laptop battery life gives out. You can turn Battery Eater on before hitting the sack and read the results the next morning. Just remember to modify your laptop’s settings so that it does not automatically sleep or turn off the display, as either function can skew or ruin your test results!

If you know of another way to benchmark your laptop, do let us know about it in the comments.