Hello! Consider this scenario. You’re in a coffee shop, on a train, or on the plane working on your laptop. Then, the battery indicator starts to drop at an alarming rate. You have no way to plug your computer into an electrical outlet. So, you do the usual: turn down the brightness, disable Bluetooth and work faster. However, are these tricks worth anything when it comes to saving battery life? Let’s see what you can really do to save battery life.
There is a lot of legend and misinformation about battery saving in laptops that ends up taking its toll. The most important thing to know is several facts. Firstly, how old is your computer. In fact, if your computer is relatively new, no more than 2 or 3 years old, then there is no major problem. In fact, there is a good chance that the processor architecture is so advanced that you won’t even notice it, but it saves a lot of battery life in itself. You should also remove any application that tells you it will save battery life by activating it. In fact, most of them don’t do anything, unless they are from the manufacturer of the processor your computer uses (Intel or AMD). The YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips has performed some tests with the most popular battery saving methods. Surely these results that will change the way you work.
Disconnect peripherals
Yes, your mechanical keyboard and mouse with colored LEDs can be the best way to use a computer. Especially, if you are one of those who like to play games on them, but they consume a lot of power. Studies point to a 30% battery consumption simply by having a keyboard and mouse with lights. Your keyboard and mouse don’t have lights? Whatever, they still consume power, up to 20% according to measurements.
Disabling ports, camera, or sensors is useless.
Some guides indicate that if you disable USB ports, they stop consuming power and thus impact battery life. The same with brightness sensors or the webcam. However, this is not so true. In fact, they do not consume so much power as to drastically change the available power time.
Do not change the screen resolution
Most modern laptops have displays that are capable of resolutions up to 4K. This is a very high image quality that requires more power from the graphics processor. Interestingly, changing the resolution to a lower one barely saves 6% battery life. Therefore, it is not worth losing image quality for such a small saving.
Deactivates the keyboard illumination.
Yes, that light that comes out from under the laptop keys that is so useful at night is totally unnecessary when you have some light to type with. Also, by disabling the keyboard backlight you can save 16% battery life, which is quite a lot.
Lower the display brightness, but not all the way down.
You may think that lowering the brightness to minimum will save a lot of battery life. In a way yes it is true, from maximum brightness level to minimum, it could save you 20%, but there is a trick. From the maximum level, to 50% of screen capacity, you get a 16% savings. From that 50% brightness, to the minimum level, you barely add 4% savings, so you don’t need to leave your eyesight with low brightness, adjust it to half.
Airplane mode does not save as much battery life
It turns out that the new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips and processors have made power saving one of their priorities. This leads to the assertion that disabling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi doesn’t actually save as much battery as you might think. On the other hand, though, keeping a Bluetooth accessory connected without using it is a waste of energy.
You should be aware that there is one scenario where your battery will suffer using wireless networks. This is when your computer tries to access a Wi-Fi network but has such a bad signal that it keeps trying to connect. These moments can consume more battery power.
Choose the correct streaming video quality
If you are on YouTube watching videos and want to save battery, the solution would be to not watch video, but we know that nowadays that is asking for an impossible. Instead, what you should keep in mind is that streaming video in resolutions like 4K, consumes a huge amount of power. According to LTT, up to 40% battery life with this resolution. The idea would be to choose a lower compression mode, like 720p or even better, 480p. You won’t see a video with the best resolution, but it won’t squeeze as much power.
Use the default browser
Many people like to use Chrome as a web browser. However, the reality is that despite its years and continuous improvements (and complaints), Chrome is a browser that eats up your laptop’s memory and battery. The best solution is to use Edge on Windows and Safari on macOS while on battery.
Activate Windows 10 Energy Saver mode
This feature in Windows 10 saves energy, but there is a trick to it. This mode works by limiting the use of programs in the background, but only in universal Windows programs, that is, those you download from the Microsoft Store. Fortunately, more and more programs can be downloaded from there.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are several tips and tricks you can implement to increase the battery life of your laptop. Some of these include adjusting your power settings, using the battery saver mode, reducing the screen brightness, closing unused applications, and disconnecting unnecessary peripherals. You can also consider upgrading your laptop’s hardware, such as replacing the battery or installing an SSD. By following these steps, you can extend the battery life of your laptop and avoid the frustration of running out of battery power when you need it the most. Remember, a few small changes can make a big difference in how long your laptop battery lasts. Bye!
