Smartphones have become an essential part of our daily life, but with powerful apps, high-refresh-rate displays, and constant connectivity, battery drain has become a major issue. While upgrading your battery or phone is not always possible, optimizing power-saving settings can significantly extend your battery life. Most users are unaware that Android and iPhone include hidden or advanced features that can reduce background drain, increase standby time, and keep the device running longer on a single charge.
This article explains the most effective power-saving settings you should enable right now, how they work, and why they make such a big difference.
1. Enable Built-In Battery Saver Mode
Both Android and iPhone come with a built-in Battery Saver or Low Power Mode designed to extend battery life.
Android
Battery Saver restricts background processes, reduces animation, slows CPU performance slightly, and limits apps running in the background.
How to enable:
Settings → Battery → Battery Saver → Turn On
iPhone
Low Power Mode pauses background refresh, mail fetch, visual effects, and automatic downloads.
How to enable:
Settings → Battery → Low Power Mode
Turning this on can extend battery life by several hours, especially when the battery drops below 20%.
2. Reduce Screen Brightness or Enable Auto-Brightness
The display consumes the highest amount of power on any smartphone. Using high brightness constantly can drain the battery fast.
Recommended Setting
Reduce brightness manually
Or enable Adaptive Brightness (Android) / Auto-Brightness (iPhone)
These settings adjust brightness automatically based on lighting conditions, preventing unnecessary battery loss.
3. Lower Display Refresh Rate (Android)
Modern Android smartphones support 90Hz, 120Hz, or even 144Hz refresh rates. While these make scrolling smooth, they consume far more battery.
How to change it:
Settings → Display → Motion Smoothness / Refresh Rate → Set to 60Hz
If your phone supports adaptive refresh rate, enabling it can automatically adjust refresh speed to save power.
4. Turn Off Always-On Display
Always-On Display shows time and notifications even when the screen is off. Although it seems minimal, it consumes power continuously.
Disable it:
Settings → Lock Screen → Always-On Display → Off
This can save up to 5–10% battery per day depending on usage.
5. Disable Unnecessary Connectivity Features
Features like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Hotspot, GPS, and NFC drain battery when enabled continuously.
Turn off when not required:
Bluetooth
Location / GPS
Wi-Fi Hotspot
NFC
Nearby Share / AirDrop
Location services in particular use a lot of power because apps constantly request GPS signals.
6. Restrict Background Apps and App Refresh
Apps running in the background drain battery even when you’re not using them. Social media apps, messaging apps, and map services are the biggest culprits.
Android
Settings → Apps → Select App → Battery → Restrict Background Usage
iPhone
Settings → General → Background App Refresh → Turn Off for unnecessary apps
Limiting background activity ensures the phone only uses power when you actively use the app.
7. Turn Off Vibration and Haptic Feedback
Vibration uses a tiny motor inside the phone, which consumes additional battery power—especially during notifications, typing, and calls.
Disable vibration for notifications and keyboard
Settings → Sound & Haptics / Vibration → Turn Off
Reducing haptic feedback can save noticeable battery over time.
8. Enable Dark Mode
On OLED displays, Dark Mode can save battery because black pixels consume less power.
Enable Dark Mode
Settings → Display → Dark Mode
Apps that support dark themes also reduce battery drain. This won’t have a huge effect on LCD screens, but on OLED phones the difference is clear.
9. Disable Auto Downloads and App Auto-Updates
Apps and media downloading in the background consume both data and battery.
Google Play Store (Android)
Play Store → Settings → Network Preferences → Auto-update apps → Off
App Store (iPhone)
Settings → App Store → Automatic Downloads → Off
You can manually update apps when connected to Wi-Fi.
10. Use Adaptive Battery and Optimized Charging
Many smartphones now use AI-based systems to extend battery life by learning your usage patterns.
Android: Adaptive Battery
Settings → Battery → Adaptive Battery
This feature restricts rarely used apps from consuming power.
iPhone: Optimized Battery Charging
Settings → Battery → Battery Health → Optimized Battery Charging
It slows down charging past 80% to reduce battery wear.
11. Turn Off Widgets and Live Wallpapers
Widgets constantly update in the background while live wallpapers use GPU power, draining battery faster.
Recommended:
Use static wallpapers
Remove unnecessary home screen widgets
This can significantly reduce idle battery drain.
12. Reduce Screen Timeout
A longer screen timeout means your display stays on even when you’re not using it.
Set it to 15–30 seconds for best efficiency.
Settings → Display → Screen Timeout
13. Enable Ultra Power Saving Mode (Android)
Some Android phones like Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Realme include an Ultra Power Saving Mode or Super Saver Mode.
It:
Limits the device to essential apps
Cuts background data
Reduces CPU usage
Switches theme to dark
Turns off animations
This mode can make a 10% battery last for hours.
14. Disable Google Assistant / Siri Always Listening
Voice assistants listening in the background consume power.
Android
Disable “Hey Google” detection:
Settings → Google → Settings for Google Apps → Search → Voice → Voice Match
iPhone
Disable “Hey Siri”:
Settings → Siri & Search → Turn Off “Listen for ‘Hey Siri’”
15. Turn On Data Saver Mode
Data Saver restricts background data usage and stops apps from syncing continuously.
Android
Settings → Network & Internet → Data Saver → On
iPhone
Settings → Mobile Data → Low Data Mode → On
This is extremely effective for users who receive many notifications.
Conclusion
Your smartphone has multiple built-in power-saving options that many users overlook. Enabling the right settings can help you get more screen-on time, prevent battery drain, stop background apps from consuming power, and make your device last longer throughout the day.
Even if your battery health has declined, these optimizations can make a significant difference. Try enabling the settings listed above and monitor your battery performance—you’ll see the impact immediately.
