The Fairphones, like most modern smartphones, come with a lithium-ion battery. However, unlike most modern smartphones, your Fairphone has a removable battery!

The capacity of your Fairphone's battery should be more than enough to last you through the day:

The Fairphone 4 battery holds a typical capacity of 3905 mAh.
The Fairphone 3(+) battery holds a typical capacity of 3060 mAh.
The Fairphone 2 battery holds a typical capacity of 2420 mAh.

Regardless of how big a battery is, some apps and settings may drain the battery faster. Below, you'll find some tips for extending your battery life.

General

Update you phone

Make sure that your phone and the router you're trying to connect to are up to date.

If you are not running the latest software, or you are not sure, update your Fairphone to the latest Fairphone OS.

Avoid extreme temperatures

Batteries need an optimum temperature to keep the chemical processes inside going. So avoid extreme heat and cold. Do not put your phone in direct sunlight when warm, close to a radiator, or in a fridge. If the temperatures are below zero degrees, keep it inside a pocket as much as possible.

SIM card

Make sure your SIM card is newer than 2 years and undamaged. An old or damaged SIM card may cause your phone's processor work harder to keep up and can even cause unexpected issues.

Long storage

If your battery/device is fully discharged for a long time, it may require up to 20 minutes or more of charging before you can notice any difference. Even more, if you have a weak charger. If you do not see any change after a couple of hours, the battery might not work anymore.

If you store your battery/device for an extended period, keep it at room temperature, and make sure to charge your battery between 50% and 80% every couple of months.

A fully discharged battery could fall into an over-discharged state. This will severely diminish its capacity to hold a charge.

Charge regularly

We recommend to keep the charge of your battery between 20% and 80% to increase its lifespan. So there is no need to always have it topped off to 100%, but also do not wait until only 1% is left!

Optimize your settings

You can use the Quick settings menu to enable or disable some power-consuming features quickly.

Display settings

Your screen requires a lot of energy when in use. By adjusting some settings, you can significantly extend your battery life.

Adjust your brightness

Fairphone has an Adaptive brightness feature. It will optimize the brightness of the screen according to your activities and your environment.

Adjust your screen timeout

To save energy, you can also shorten your Screen timeout. If you set a Screen lock, a shorter interval will also increase the security of your device if you leave it unattended.

Go to Settings → Display.
Tap on Advanced and then on Screen Timeout.
For a good balance, we advise you to select between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.

Wallpapers

Choose a static image (instead of a Live Wallpaper). To select a new wallpaper:

Touch and hold a blank space on your home screen, and then tap Wallpapers at the bottom.

Connection settings

Data connections can also use up energy. If your mobile signal or Wi-Fi is weak, your phone will consume more energy to stay connected. Move where you have a better signal. Or, if you’re not using it, turn off the data connection.

Wi-Fi, Mobile data, Bluetooth

Swipe down, twice, with a finger from the top of the screen. You will open the pull-down Quick settings menu.
Tap the desired icon: Wi-Fi , Mobile data, or Bluetooth .

-IMPORTANT-
Be aware that most of the Coronavirus monitoring apps require Bluetooth to be enabled.

Location service

The Location service can also impact your battery usage. When you don't need it, you can disable it using the quick settings menu.

Swipe down, twice, with a finger from the top of the screen. You will open the pull-down Quick settings menu.
Tap the Location icon to enable or disable it. You might need to add the shortcut by tapping on the Pencil icon (as we explained previously in this article).

-IMPORTANT-
Some apps or services need to know your position to work. Examples are navigation apps, delivery apps, vehicle sharing apps, geotagging apps, etc.

Airplane mode

An alternative way to conserve energy without completely turning off your phone is via Airplane mode. Note, you won't be able to receive messages or calls during this time.

Swipe down, twice, with a finger from the top of the screen. You will open the pull-down Quick settings menu.
Tap on the Airplane mode icon.

Battery settings

Battery usage

You can see the details of what uses the most energy in your phone. The battery graph shows the pace of energy consumption. Below the graph, the system lists your applications in order of use.

To see the details:

Go to Settings → Battery.
Tap on Battery usage.

Go to Settings → Battery → tap the three vertically aligned dots on the top left corner → Battery usage to see a graph of your battery usage and the list of the most power-draining apps.
Tap the three dots on the top left corner to Show full device usage. Now you can see details on which hardware component is using the most energy.

You may see drops in the battery report graph when you first start using your Fairphone. No need for concern: your battery needs to complete a few charging cycles before it calibrates appropriately.

Battery Saver

To quickly enforce diminished battery use:

Swipe down, twice, with a finger from the top of the screen. You will open the pull-down Quick settings menu.
Tap on the Battery Saver icon. You might need to add the shortcut by tapping on the Pencil icon.

-IMPORTANT-
When Battery Saver is on:

The battery icon in the status bar on the top will show an orange outline.
You might get fewer/slower updates because the apps might update less often. This might also cause the Location services to become less accurate.

If after reading the article you need more help, contact our Customer Support.

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