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No more battery problems: How a smartphone simply has more staying power

8. February 2021 Published by Jana Greyling

The best way to ensure a long runtime is a strong battery – that much is known. But the correct charging of the batteries also plays an important role in the overall life of the products. Tests have shown that a 10 percent reduction in the maximum charge can extend the overall battery life by up to 50 %. That’s why the latest Gigaset smartphones now come with a preset charging limit at 90% of battery power. But because not everyone has a Gigaset device, we have put together the best tips for general battery care – so you don’t run out of power even after a long day of streaming, messages and photos.

Protect the battery with the Gigaset Battery Save Initiative

Even the best and most powerful battery will give up the ghost if handled incorrectly. The keyword is therefore prevention. If you handle the battery correctly, you’ll also make sure it has staying power. Batteries are at their best with a charge status of 30% to 70%.

You should ideally avoid leaving the smartphone on the charger all the time. In the long run, it will impair the battery performance. Many smartphones have a charging limit of 80-90%. However, this can be deactivated in the settings and – if handled incorrectly – then lead to problems.

In order to provide customers with up to 50 % longer battery life – as proven by internal tests – Gigaset charges the current smartphones with 90 %. This does not result in any loss of comfort for the customer. The example of the GS4 makes this clear: fully charged, it offers 350 hours of standby and 25 hours of continuous talk time; with 90 % charge, it is still 315 and 22.5 hours. Of course, Gigaset does not want to dictate anything to its customers – the charging limit of 90 % can be lifted by the customer at any time.

“Gigaset is committed to sustainability,” says Anne Dickau, SVP Product House at Gigaset. “It doesn’t always have to be a big thing. Small, smart measures can also help to make a sustainable difference. The amount of wasted electrical equipment and battery waste is growing worldwide. At Gigaset, we don’t want to simply accept this. We focus on repair and replacement. If a battery lives longer in the first place, then that’s good for the customer and the environment.”

The start of the winter season, in particular, presents many users with daily problems. Batteries are usually vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and therefore need to be adequately protected, especially in the winter. The colder the ambient temperature, the faster batteries lose power and reduce the ability to absorb energy effectively. This occurs due to chemical processes within the batteries that are significantly slowed down at temperatures below freezing point. This can often be seen in everyday life when the smartphone automatically switches itself off the longer it has been exposed to cold temperatures.

Comfortable climate for the battery

Every technical device has a temperature range within which its performance and battery capability are ideally balanced. Basically, large fluctuations in temperature should be avoided for technical devices in order to primarily protect the sensitive components such as the battery and display. That’s a problem that crops up more frequently in the winter months when the smartphone moves between cold outdoor and warm indoor temperatures. In the cold, the battery loses energy faster and the display’s response is delayed.

It’s mostly only in the high-end and outdoor sector that new smartphones offer very effective weather and water protection, like the Gigaset GX290, which has energy for several days thanks to its powerful 6300 mAh battery. The particularly stable housing with Corning Gorilla 3 safety glass makes the device not only waterproof but also resistant to shocks and temperature fluctuations. The Gigaset GX290 can also be used as a power bank for charging other devices via a USB connection.

Charging the battery properly

The rule of thumb is to only charge the device when it’s at room temperature. If you come home on a frosty winter’s day, you’ll need to be patient. If the cold smartphone is charged immediately, heat is generated, as with every charging process. That can lead to condensation forming in the device and damage in the long term. Experts therefore advise first letting the smartphone reach room temperature so that the battery and the device can then be charged gently.

Charging tip for advanced users

Switch off functions not in use: Anyone who’s online is consuming power. To keep the battery performance high over the long term, it’s advisable to deactivate mobile data and Wi-Fi when they’re not needed.

Download content in Wi-Fi: You can also stream offline. If you already download your favorite video or latest podcast episode at home, it protects the battery and makes sure it will last a long time.

Watch out for the background: Lots of apps are always active even if they’re not currently in use. And that costs energy. Background services like these can be switched off in the settings. Power-saving apps also help identify battery guzzlers.

Only as bright as necessary: The display is one of the hungriest power consumers in the smartphone. Reducing its brightness by just 10 percent will already lengthen the battery life.

A powerful battery is a powerful battery

The best way to ensure a long runtime is to have sufficient power: “No more hectic searching for sockets because the battery already ran down after a day. […] I’ve bought a GS290 for my son. The boy now just grins when his friends are fighting over sockets,” writes our customer Alfred Schmidt on our website.

Powerful batteries are simply a must for us. The new Gigaset GS4 also packs a substantial 4300 mAh – so you’re ready for any situation. And at the end of its lifecycle, users can also exchange the battery themselves. That also supports sustainability.