Smartphones: how to save energy?

As you may have noticed, energy prices have skyrocketed in recent months. As a result, electricity bills are getting higher and higher and we are asked to be more energy-efficient.

Although small, our smartphones are energy guzzlers. Wouldn't it be the perfect moment to change our habits and try to optimize our batteries? Here are a few tips for saving energy.

Charge your phone with the original charger

The first mistake we often make is to use a random charger to fill the battery of our phones. But no charger is more suitable for your smartphone than the one supplied by its manufacturer. So make it a priority to use the latter.

Although trendy, wireless chargers also consume more power than traditional chargers. Try to avoid them.

Avoid charging your smartphone at night

Charging our phones all night long is convenient. What is better than waking up with a 100% battery to start the day without a hitch? However, this is not a recommended habit. Why not?

• First of all, charging all night long consumes electricity unnecessarily. Indeed, once fully charged, your plugged phone will still consume electricity: 2.2 watts when the battery is full (compared to 3.6 watts when charging). This is avoidable waste.

• But also because it is recommended not to reach 100% charge on our modern smartphones. The lithium batteries installed in most of our electronic devices do not appreciate going above 80% charge and falling below 20%. Therefore, multiple short charges throughout the day are preferable to a single long one.

By following these tips, you will increase the life expectancy of your smartphone while saving energy.

Remove your charger from the outlet

You already knew those first pieces of advice? Then you should know that you can go even further to save energy.

How? By unplugging your charger from the outlet once your phone has been charged. Indeed, a charger connected to a socket still uses up precious watts even with no smartphone plugged to it. Opting for a power strip with an on/off switch makes this task easier.

Use Low Power Mode to save battery life

Whether your Team Android or Team iOS, smartphones all offer a "Low Power Mode". As the name suggests, it saves your phone energy and therefore reduces the number of charges needed. This mode can be found in your phone's settings and works by regulating screen brightness, location and automatic updates activation for instance.

Disable unnecessary features

Automatic updates, notifications, location… They are often active in the background of our smartphones without us really realising it. Sorting out those features saves a lot of battery life and can sometimes avoid unwanted interactions such as notifications that we are not interested in.

Use Wi-Fi over 4G or 5G when possible

Our smartphones are now connected to the network all day long thanks to high-performance packages that offer attractive data capabilities. However, staying connected with 5G consumes energy: three times more than with a Wi-Fi connection. It is therefore worthwhile to use Wi-Fi when possible, for example at home. In addition, you save on the data envelope of your package.

So it is important to find a package that suits your needs. With Orange Luxembourg's Love Packages, this is possible: you build your package with a Fiber offer, the mobile plan of your choice and you can even add Orange TV if you want so.

Here were some small gestures that will benefit both your wallet and the planet! Do you want to know more about eco-gestures? Don't hesitate to read our detailed article on this topic.