Enable This Setting to Squeeze Extra Juice Out of Your Smartphone’s Battery
Despite all the fancy new features that companies add to their upgraded smartphones every year, the one thing everyone really wants is better battery life. Still, it’s an unpredictable feature: some newer phones have good battery life, while others need to be recharged in the afternoon. However, if you’ve bought a smartphone in the last few years, there’s a setting that can help you squeeze a little extra power out of your iPhone or Android every day.
There are many factors that put a strain on your smartphone’s battery: screen brightness, resource-hungry apps, video streaming, camera usage—all of these activities affect power consumption by one percentile at a time. This means that there are many strategies you can use to keep your phone running longer , from dimming your screen to limiting how long you can play without a charger. But there is one slightly opaque feature that you may not even be aware that your battery is running low: 5G.
5G is a relatively new addition to smartphones. Given how long iPhones and Androids keep getting software updates these days, you might not have a 5G phone yet. But if you’ve bought a smartphone in the last two years , chances are it’s 5G ready. It’s good for your connection speed – 5G, especially mmWave 5G, offers faster speeds and stability compared to 4G LTE, so you can do things like download apps and stream videos faster and better than before. Unfortunately, a side effect of 5G is its negative impact on battery life. All that extra power, especially the power provided by mmWave 5G, puts a strain on your smartphone’s battery even when you’re not doing anything demanding. Streaming Spotify or Apple Music won’t be much different in 5G than 4G, but it will hurt your battery more.
As such, the best thing to do for your battery is to disable 5G completely . But it’s not fun. 5G does offer benefits, especially when you’re trying to upload or download data in a hurry. That’s why smartphone developers have added a third option into the mix: Instead of choosing between 5G or no 5G, you can let your smartphone decide – both Android and iPhone have a setting that lets you do just that.
How to enable automatic 5G on iPhone
On an iPhone 12 or later and with a regular SIM card, you can go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Options or Settings > Mobile Data > Mobile Data Options . If you’re using dual SIM, you’ll find this option in Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data under the specific number you’re using. Either way, select Voice & Data , then switch to 5G Auto.
How to Enable Automatic 5G on Android
This feature may vary depending on your specific Android device. Let’s take pixels for example. You’ll find this setting on your Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 under Settings > Network & Internet > Adaptive Connection .