06 Jan How To Look After Your Samsung To Make It Last Longer
A great smartphone should last you for several years but the longer you own your device, the more likely it is that it will run into some problems. To help extend the lifespan of your smartphone, experts at mobile phone retailer Fonehouse have shared their top tips about how to look after your Samsung, making it last longer before it’s replaced.
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Charging
It is normal for your smartphone’s battery to decline over time because as lithium-ion batteries chemically age, they hold less charge. However, you don’t want to speed this process up. To maximise your Samsung’s battery life, you want to keep your battery charged to somewhere between 30% and 80%. Charging above 80% can cause the battery to age faster, similarly, letting your battery get below 20% involves drawing out more current, causing the battery life to decrease.
A full recharge is not fatal but fully recharging every time will eventually shorten its lifespan. You should also ideally turn off your device whilst charging, or more realistically just don’t use it during.
Manage Battery Usage
You can easily manage your device’s battery life, by viewing the usage used by each app (Settings > Battery and device care > Battery). Apart from trying to cut down on battery-draining apps, other ways to reduce battery usage and optimise your battery life include:
A Samsung’s backlight is a huge drain on the battery so turn your phone’s brightness down or switch to Dark Mode.
To stop rarely used apps running in the background, you can maintain a sleep status for certain apps (Battery > See more > Settings > Sleeping apps > Add to select apps you want in sleep status > Add).
Turn off location services on apps that don’t need it (Hold the chosen app icon > App info > Permissions > Location > Deny).
If an app frequently wakes your display with notifications, you can turn off push notifications for the app (Settings > Notifications > See all > You will be shown the apps that most recently sent you a notification. If you can’t find the app you want, tap Most recent > All > Search for the app whose notifications you want to block > When you’ve found your app, tap the switch next to it)
Always keep Wi-Fi on as it uses less power than a cellular network or if you have poor mobile coverage which can affect your battery life, turn on Airplane Mode.
Switch your device to Power Saving Mode.
Adjust the screen time out so the display of your device will go dark if the device has not been used in a certain length of time (Apps > Settings > Display > Screen Time Out > Select the desired delay length).
Temperature
It’s important to make sure your Samsung isn’t exposed to high temperatures as this can permanently damage its battery capacity. When using your device in a very cold environment, you may also notice a temporary decrease in battery life. Samsung’s work best at 0°C to 35° C.
Replace A Broken Battery Instead of the Phone
You may find yourself with a battery that over time refuses to hold its charge. Instead of replacing the entire phone, try replacing the battery instead as a cost-effective way to add more time to your Samsung’s life.
Update The Device’s OS
It is important to update the operating system, to fix bugs, resolve security issues and add new changes and features to improve the overall performance of your device so it works smoothly and quickly.
To make sure that your device is always up to date, it’s recommended to switch on auto-update (Lollipop/KitKat devices) or Download updates automatically (Marshmallow devices and above).
Streamline and Update Your Apps
Routinely uninstall any apps you don’t need to save storage and prevent apps from running in the background. For the apps you do use, make sure they’re always up to date. Samsung devices have the option to auto-disable unused apps that have been unused for 30 days (Battery > See more > toggle Auto disable unused apps).
You should only force close an app only if it’s unresponsive, as even if you don’t close apps, you won’t run out of memory or battery as Samsung’s operating system manages these automatically.
Free Storage
If your Samsung has started slowing down, you should look at the amount of storage you have available. To help free storage, delete any unwanted photos, videos, music, files or documents or back them up to cloud storage. Old text messages and voicemails also take up a lot of storage on your device so go through and delete them where necessary.
Delete Phone Cache
Over time your phone will collect a large amount of cached data that you don’t need, putting a strain on your phone’s memory. Clearing out your phone’s cache occasionally will help to free up some storage space and will likely improve your device’s overall performance.
To clear app cache on a Samsung, go to Settings > Apps > Click on an often-used app > Click on Storage > Click on the Clear Cache icon.
Samsung Accessories
Ensure you have a screen protector and a sturdy case on your smartphone to prevent against any drops, scratches and impact damage. Where possible, use the charger that came with your Samsung, or one that is Samsung-approved.
Clean Your Charging Port
One of the most common causes of charging problems is dust and dirt in the charging port. Shine a light into the port and if you cannot see the metal charging contacts or lint and dust is clearly visible, you need to clean the port. To do so, use a toothpick to gently scrape the inside of the port.
