When we are traveling, we often rely to remaining battery capacity in our device. During this situation, it is important for us to look for ways to save power. It doesn’t take a gadget whiz to perform this task and it is actually possible to add more than a couple of hours to our normal battery life. Here are things that we should do:
Disable automatic data exchange: It’s one of the most overlooked fact about smartphone. Our device could consume both data and power silently. As an example, we may habitually enable WiFi, cellular data, GPS and other services while using our device. While traveling, it is a good idea to disable these features. In Android smartphones, the Gmail app could perform automatic email exchanges and display notifications about new incoming email messages. We should open settings to disable these features.
Reduce screen brightness: Smartphone display, especially on models with large, high resolution, require large amount of power even when no apps are opened. During a trip, it is advisable to reduce brightness level to most minimum comfortable level. In a dimmed airplane cabin, it may not be necessary to crank the brightness level to maximum.
Bring portable power storage: During a business trip, it may not be possible to disable WiFi for constant data access, GPS for navigation and automatic email fetching for business purposes. The best option to bring an extra power with us. We could use portable batteries that can be connected to our smartphone through standard USB cable or other proprietary connectors. We should be aware that portable battery could be particularly big and heavy, depending on the amount of charge stored. It means that we should choose a balance between size and power stored. The portable battery could be recharged with standard charger of our smartphone. There are also smartphone cases that include integrated external battery to improve the overall operational time of our device. Smartphones could also be charged with our laptops, but this will sacrifice the normal operational of our laptop. During an outdoor excursion or multi-day camping sessions, we may also bring a solar-powered charging device. During a bright day, a solar panel can be placed on top of our tent and we could charge devices from inside of our tent. However, it means that we should strategically place our tent where sunlight is accessible for most of the day.
Drive and charge: If we travel with a car, it would be sensible to charge while we are driving. There’s a special USB adapter that can be used to convert electricity in cigarette lighter to usable power for our gadgets. The adapter should be affordable enough and it’s a convenient way to keep our gadget fully topped while we are traveling. However, we should be aware that it is not a good idea to leave our smartphone plugged too long because continuous charge from car could damage the internal electronics system.