You might have heard that turning on the battery optimization feature on your electronic device will help you save your battery. But what exactly does optimize battery usage mean and how does it help your battery last longer?
Read on to find out what optimized battery usage means and how to use it to your advantage.
Table of Contents
How Does Optimized Battery Charging Work?
Optimized battery charging is available on both Apple and Android devices and it helps to save your battery so it lasts as long as possible. While rechargeable batteries will last for several years, they will eventually stop holding charge as they reach the maximum number of charge cycles.
Enabling battery optimizations helps your battery last the maximum number of cycles. How does it do it? It does it by preventing the chemical aging of the battery. It ensures that the battery will not deplete quickly and that it is charged safely. It does all this by using machine learning based on how you use your electronic device.
Your device learns your habits, including active time, charging time, and idle time. When it learns the pattern, it can predict when it will be left plugged into a charger for a long time and delay charging when the battery reaches 80%. It will then reactivate charging before you unplug the charger to ensure your device is fully charged.
Optimized Battery Charging For iPhone
All iPhones running iOS13 or above have a built-in battery optimizer enabled by default. If you ever need to turn it off or want to check that it is on, here is how to find it. Go to settings and choose Battery. You will now see a menu for the battery. Choose Battery Health and Charging. Now you can toggle the optimized charging feature on and off.
When you have enabled the optimized charging on your iPhone, you will receive a notification informing you of the approximate time when charging will be completed. If you would prefer to turn off optimization, tap the notification and hold until you see the option Charge Now. Press that to continue charging the phone normally.
For more information on battery charge optimization on iOS 13, you can watch this video.
Optimized Battery Charging For Android Phones
Most Android phones come with the option to optimize or limit charging, but how you enable the function differs slightly.
1. Google Pixel devices
Start by opening the Settings app. Tap Battery and from the menu that opens, choose Adaptive Preferences. This will open a screen where you can enable the optimized charging mode.
2. Samsung Galaxy
Samsung smartphones have the option to limit charging rather than optimize it. This option means that your device will limit charging to 85% to protect the health of the battery. You can find the option in Settings – Battery – Device Care – More Battery Settings. From there, enable the Adaptive Battery setting.
3. OnePlus Devices
OnePlus phones have an optimized night charging function and you can also improve the health of the battery by using sleep standby time. To access this function go to Settings – Battery – More Battery Settings. Tap to enable Sleep Standby Optimization and Optimize Night Charging functions.
4. Other Android Smartphones
If you have a different Android phone than mentioned above, most of them will offer a battery charging optimization function. Since the operating systems on Android phones are very similar, look for the mode in your battery settings. If your phone does not have it already, you can try installing a battery optimization app from Google Play Store.
Optimized Battery Charging For Mac
You can improve the battery life on your MacBook as well as on your iPhones. To enable it on your MacBook, open the System Settings, or System preferences depending on the model, from the Apple menu. From there, select battery and you will see an option to enable or disable battery charging optimization.
To further improve your battery’s longevity, check the Manage Battery Longevity feature which is at the bottom of the Battery Health section.
Windows Devices
The battery-saving option on Windows devices is called Smart Battery Charging. You will find this on all Windows laptops and devices. When the Smart Battery Charging function is enabled on your device, the battery’s level will be set lower, which is better for the battery.
What this means is that the device may not charge up to 100% but to a lower point which is better for your battery’s long-term health. You cannot enable this feature manually. Instead, your device will determine when to smart charge automatically. You will know the device is smart charging when a heart icon appears on the battery icon.
Other Ways to Optimize Battery Life on Your Device
As well as optimizing battery charging, there are additional ways to save battery power. You can reduce the brightness of your screen as brighter screens use more battery. If you have keyboard backlights, turn them off if you don’t need them. Many devices have adaptive brightness options for screen and keyboard lights.
You can also save battery by turning off notifications and location services for apps you don’t need to use them for and deleting unused apps. Turning off Bluetooth when you don’t need it will also help save battery power. If you are using your device to watch videos on the move, download them instead of streaming them on the go.
If you are using a MacBook or a laptop with Windows, don’t keep your device plugged into the main power all the time. However, you should plug them in if you are doing high-intensity activities which can quickly drain the battery.
Conclusion
The optimized battery charging feature is a great way to save power on lithium-ion batteries. It will slow down the charging of the battery when it is 80% of the full charge to prevent overcharging. While some devices have the optimized charging mode enabled by default, with others it is easy to switch on from the battery usage setting.
If you have anything you would like to ask about optimized battery usage, write your questions in the comments box.