Battery Drain: Hacks For Bluetooth Headphones (Explained)
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Your Bluetooth headphones are probably your most prized possession. But there’s still one very frustrating thing we’re all familiar with.
And it’s having to hear your headphones shout low battery when you’re trying to blast some music. Bluetooth headphones batteries tend to get weaker as they age.
But before you lose all hope, I’m here to tell you that there’s a way to make your Bluetooth headphones last longer.
If you’re among those who’re annoyed by their Bluetooth draining battery, then stay tuned.
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How Much Is Your Battery Is Your Bluetooth Draining?
The general norm with Bluetooth is that your gadgets will automatically have shorter battery lives. Most wireless connections take a toll on your device’s battery. The battery expense with a wireless WIFI connection is far greater than with a Bluetooth connection.
An average Bluetooth connection is actively only using about 30mA tops.
How To Find Out The Battery Usage of Your Phone?
If you want to find out precisely what percentage of your phone’s battery is being drained by your Bluetooth connection, there’s just a few easy steps. Just follow these steps.
Determine The Battery Usage in 4 Easy Steps (Android Users)
- Pull down the Quick Access bar.
- Tap on the Battery Icon.
- Choose the Battery Usage option.
- From the list of all background apps, toggle to the Bluetooth Icon. You should be able to see the exact percentage of your total battery usage by your Bluetooth connection.
Can You Extend Your Battery-Life?
So is there any realistic way of extending your battery life while on Bluetooth? The answer to that is yes. There are many minor tweaks you can do. Besides, your usage habits can also be an excellent hack for improving your battery life.
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The Ultimate Hacks
While you might be cursing at your Bluetooth for the excessive battery drain, many other factors are at play here. The best approach is to get back and take a good look at all the things you could potentially be doing wrong.
To do that, you need to know all the things that might be taking a toll on your battery. Both phone and your headphones.
Network and Data
Have you had a look at your phone at the end of the day and seen all your networks have been on all day? Ever thought to wonder that that little oversight might cause red on your battery?
You’d be surprised to know that the 4G and the WIFI connection running in the background take up more battery than your Bluetooth connection.
Having your 4G and WIFI running while you run errands will make your battery red a lot sooner than it usually would’ve.
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Background Applications
Your mom keeps complaining about how her phone keeps running out of battery. She keeps charging it properly, yet it still somehow runs out.
You go through her phone, and the first thing you see is 23 apps running in the background.
Sounds familiar?
Well, even when we’re not using those Snapchat filters or posting over Facebook, you shouldn’t keep them running.
Having these background apps running is a death sentence for your phone’s battery. It would be best if you periodically kept on having a look at your background applications.
You’ll see a considerable improvement in your battery life once you start practicing checks on your background applications.
Dark Mode
Most people prefer dark mode over classic light mode. With dark mode on your phone is never too bright to be uncomfortable. Even when the screen brightness is high, your eyes won’t feel the instant discomfort they usually would with the light mode on.
But that’s not the only advantage you get with dark mode on. Look into your phone’s specs. Look for the type of screen your model has. If your phone features an AMOLED or OLED display, then there’s good news.
For phones with AMOLED and OLED displays, dark mode will lower your battery consumption significantly.
With the AMOLED and OLED display, the pixels displaying the blacklight have turned off whenever you toggle on the dark mode. This way, these pixels have stopped using your phone’s battery.
However, this kind of display is only available with newer models. Unfortunately, there’s very little that dark mode can do for an old phone’s battery.
Turn off Location Services
In this day and age, nobody stops their car for directions. We’ve very conveniently shifted to asking Siri for directions.
The go-to app for Android users is Google Maps.
Apps like Life360 are great for women traveling alone or for anyone in general concerned about their safety. With Life360, your friends and family will know your live location.
Plus, whenever you’re in trouble, you can easily ping your family members and the authorities. But there’s a catch.
Whether it’s Google’s location services or any other third-party tracking services you’re using, it’s not your Bluetooth draining battery; it’s them. Whenever you’re at home or any other place when navigation isn’t a priority, keep these location services turned off.
You’ll be doing yourself and your phone’s battery a considerable favor.
Screen Brightness
Screen brightness is an essential factor in determining your phone’s battery life.
While seeing your phone’s screen is impossible in bright daylight without the brightness on high. It’s never the most promising idea while you’re indoors or during the evening.
Your screen brightness at the highest level puts a strain on your eyes. You’re likely to face headaches and general discomfort if the brightness is tweaked up too high.
Other than the very obvious health hazard, constantly high brightness isn’t the best idea for your battery either. Your phone’s screen has to put in more work.
Since your pixels are having to put in so much work, so does your battery.
At the end of the day, what you’re left with is a red bar on your battery icon. All this for something you didn’t need in the first place either.
What we recommend is, you should keep your adaptive brightness on. With this feature, your phone can detect how much brightness you’ll need depending on the lighting conditions.
Silence Mode
When your phone is on sound mode, it means the speakers are working every time your phone rings.
But you could use vibration mode, right?
While that might appear to be a battery-saving alternative, the constant buzzing itself drains your battery. But that’s not it. Sound mode and vibrations mode drains your battery, and they can be pretty annoying as well, especially if you’re in the middle of something, like taking a class.
The best option for those concerned about battery life is to go for silent mode. Silence mode saves up the battery, and it doesn’t get in your way. Suppose you want to take an undisturbed nap. Turn your phone to silence mode and sleep tight.
While it’s not the most practical way of extending battery life, it still works. Especially when you’re in the mood to listen to music, your phone’s battery life should be the last thing on your mind.
Wallpapers
Live wallpaper, 3D wallpapers, and perspective wallpapers are beautiful. And while you might be tempted to try them out, we’d recommend otherwise.
These wallpapers do take up a lot of battery. Especially if they require your screen to remain on constantly, your battery won’t be happy. Remember the thing about pixels having to be put in work? It comes into play with this one.
Try another 4Kor UltraHD alternative for your favorite wallpapers. There are a lot of great options that are just as cool as the live version.
Overcharging
Another lesser-known evil behind your headphone and phone’s diminished charging capacity is overcharging.
Those keen on charging their headphones and phones overnight while they sleep should try to get rid of this practice. You might not even notice it at first, but overcharging regularly will make your batteries swell up. But that’s not the case with all batteries.
But there’s an even more significant risk you’re running. Regardless of whether your battery swells up or not, regularly overcharging your Bluetooth headphones or your phone will take a toll on your battery.
Even the most minor power spike could mean a potential explosion, especially at night when you’re fast asleep. You won’t even be able to react in time.
Although these explosive hazards aren’t fatal, people have reported sustaining injuries. We recommend you avoid overcharging whenever possible. Even if you do want to charge your phone overnight, keep it far away from your bed.
Leaving your Headphones On
We’re all a little bit lazy sometimes. You might be tempted to take off your Bluetooth headphones and leave them on your desk while the music still plays.
Your headphones keep running even when they’re not in use. By the time you get back to listening to your music.
The headphones have used up some unnecessary battery. You might even leave your headphones on and forget you were even using them.
Although most headphones nowadays come with built-in technology that identifies whether you’re wearing your headphones. It’s still a better practice to replace your headphones back in their case once you’re done using them.
Another advantage of turning your headphones off is that you’re saving up your phone’s battery as well. All in all, being a little mindful will only do you good.
READ MORE! Is it OK to leave Bluetooth on all the time?
Download Music
If you’re listening to music online, your phone has to work twice as hard.
It’s maintaining a stable connection with your Bluetooth headphones and streaming music over the WIFI. In this case, both functions are running. Your battery will drain faster as well.
The best idea is to listen to music offline after having it downloaded. You’re no longer streaming music this way. Thus, your WIFI isn’t draining much power.
How to Revive Dead Bluetooth Headphones On The Go
Imagine going on a road trip. You pull out your headphones to jam to some music, but all you can hear is a recorded message telling you that your headphones aren’t charged.
For days when you forget to charge your gadgets, you’d think it isn’t much you can do about it. But don’t stress, there’s a straightforward fix.
Power Bank: The Life Saving Hack
Power banks are hands down among the best purchases for people who travel a lot. This is essentially a portable charger.
The best part is you don’t even need a power plug for this. Just make sure you’re carrying the appropriate charging cords for your gadgets.
Plugin the power cord of your Bluetooth headphones and watch the magic happen. Most power banks come with multi-charge slots. You could simultaneously charge your headphones and your phone.
There is a limit, however. Most power banks offer up to three total charges (for phones), given that your power bank was fully charged as well.
You can check out different power banks from Amazon here.
Headphones Pod
In case you haven’t noticed, your headphones pod serves a dual purpose.
Each pod is designed for a specific model of headphones. It doesn’t just keep both the pieces secure in one place. But it also serves as a mini portable power bank. Also, it’s the only way you get to charge your headphones with a power plug as well.
All in all, you can rely on your headphones pod to save the day.
Final Thoughts
While we might find ourselves complaining about the Bluetooth draining battery most of the time, that might not even be the case.
In this article, I’ve covered all the little things other than your Bluetooth that are draining your battery.
You’re also aware of ways of fixing these issues by taking simple steps. Try looking at different aspects and simple ways of improving them.
So now we’ve debunked the Bluetooth draining battery myth. Try our recommended fixes, and we’re sure you’ll see noticeable results.
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Espen
Espen is the Director of ProPairing and has written extensively about Bluetooth devices for years. He is a consumer product expert and has personally tested Bluetooth devices for the last decade.