How-to: get better battery life in your Samsung Galaxy SIII

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is one of those legendary smartphones that most everyone is interested in having. It is equipped with a super fast quad core processor and a screen that is nearly five inches across. Samsung gave the S3 a slightly larger battery than other upper level models. But it is still nowhere near what some Motorola smartphones are packing. It is probably a good idea to get acquainted with the tricks to get better battery life in this super phone rather than to be left in the dark.

Some of those tricks are just common sense, but they are still worth mentioning. Using the Samsung Galaxy S3 less is the first thing to consider if you are trying to get longer battery life. If that is not possible, there are plenty of other options. One is to turn down the brightness of the S3 screen. That screen is 4.8 inches of very good resolution and is usually the largest user of battery power. There are two ways to turn down the brightness of the smartphone screen, manually and automatically. They are both found in the menus of the S3. In the "Display Settings" menu, under "Settings", there is a choice to manually turn down the brightness or have the handset do it on its own. Of course, turning it down to the lowest setting you can bear is going to save more battery juice. While you are in that menu, check out the "Screen Timeout" setting. Turn it down to something quick, so that the display will not be on very long. Another tip is to use a black or simple background for the home screen. A black background uses less battery energy than an animated one.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses Google Android for the mobile operating system. The developers were looking ahead to those who wanted their battery to last longer between charges. They created a "power widget" that makes it easier to turn on or off those things that use battery juice. To get the widget working, simply make a long press on the background of a screen. Up will pop a menu with the "power control" option. Select it to put the control at your fingertips instead of having to rummage through menus to do the same thing.

The "Account Settings" menu is another place to look for battery power management. Email settings that check to see if you have an email too frequently can be turned down. To find out where to change the frequency that the Galaxy S3 seeks email updates, go to the email application itself. Go to "Account" and then to "Account Settings". There you will find the "Email check frequency" option. Change it one hour or longer if you know you will not be getting any emails. Changing the other update frequencies is also a good idea. Depending on the service, the app may or may not have a setting to adjust. Seesmic has an adjustable rate and so does the Twitter app. Turn down the update intervals on third party social apps and your battery will reward you with longer life.

An important feature to watch is the GPS because it will suck plenty of battery juice. Not to worry though, it can be turned off. You will need to plan ahead though if you want to turn it off. Many apps use the GPS feature and can not operate correctly without it. For example, Google Maps can not operate with the GPS turned off. If you are not worried about things like that, by all means turn the GPS off and enjoy longer times between charges.

If you like long musical ringtones you may want to skip this paragraph. They use more battery juice than a short "beep". If you have half of the latest Lady Gaga tune for a ringtone, it is a bad influence on battery life. Choose a simple ringtone that is short and sweet and get a kick out of longer battery life. While you are at it, do not use the vibrating alerts. They use a small electric motor that is not friendly towards batteries. If you are in a meeting or in at the cinema, instead of using a vibrating alert, set the screen to blink. It is not just quieter than the vibrating alert, it uses less energy as well.

Smartphones and electronics in general do not like heat. It can also make your battery die a quicker death, not just lose a charge. Never leave the Samsung Galaxy S3 on the dashboard of your car in direct sunlight. The glove compartment is not going to be much better either. Do your best to keep the smartphone at room temperature ( 72 degrees farenheit ) and it will provide you with better service.

There are other things you can do to improve battery life on the S3. Look up the integrated battery usage screen that android has from the factory. You will find it in the "Settings", "About Phone" and then the "Battery" menu. Third party apps are out there on the Google Play Android market if the battery usage screen is not good enough for you. Some names to be interested in are, "Android Assistant", "JuiceDefender" and "Memory Booster".





For a condensed version of all the above:

• Turn down the screen settings and use a black background
• Turn down or turn off all radios, including GPS
• Turn down or turn off all updates, including email
• Use short ringtones and avoid using the vibrating alert
• Avoid high temperatures for the S3
• Try using third party apps

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