How to keep your accessories charged

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Here's how to keep your accessories charged when you are on the go

Here’s how to keep your accessories charged when you are on the go

Running out of juice always seems to happen when you need it most. The frustrating part is that it?s easy enough to prevent, but charging electronics is rarely top of mind until it’s too late. Luckily there are simple solutions to this most modern problem.

As much as we?d like them to, batteries don?t live forever. There are multiple tricks for how to keep your accessories charged. Choose what works for you and never again be caught madly dashing for the nearest outlet.

Carry an external charger

You?ll forget an external charger is in your bag until your phone dies minutes before an important call. All you need to do is keep this extra power bank charged and you’ll never have to scramble. They?re small, lightweight and will supply your phone with multiple charges.

These external chargers go by multiple names ? portable charger, portable power pack and emergency pack. Look for one that?ll re-charge any device with a USB. These handy gadgets are small enough to slip in a bag and are capable of charging just about anything except a laptop computer.

Maximize every charge

Manuals may not be the most fascinating reading material, but it pays to read them once. Take a little time to get to know your phone, MP3 player and other gadgets you rely on. Many will have settings you can tweak to extend the battery life. The more power you get from every charge, the longer the battery will last and the less you?ll have to worry about re-charging.

Disable services

One of the simplest answers to how to keep your accessories charged is to disable power-hungry features and services when you?re not using them. For example, WiFi is a great big power hog. If it?s on it?ll zap your power in no time. Turn it on as you need it then off when you?re finished.

Turn the brightness of your screen to the dimmest it?ll go. Go through once a week and turn off popular mobile phone apps you don?t use otherwise they?ll keep running and eating up your power. This also includes GPS and live wallpaper.

Ba-bye push

Turn off the push notifications on your phone and you?ll be amazed at how much power you save. Though fun to get to constant updates, they consume a disproportionate amount of energy. Do you really need to check every Facebook update the minute it’s posted?

Disconnect once it?s charged

It?s a good habit to charge the phone, tablet and other devices once the power goes below 50 percent, ideally wait until they’re down to 10 percent. Unplug as soon as the power is back to 100 percent. Overcharging shortens the lifespan of a battery and reduces the amount of power it can hold at a time.

Keep it on

Did you know tablets and phones consumer more power turning back on than when they simply hibernate? Instead of turning them off constantly power cycle the device about every two days. This means turning it off for about a minute then back on to reboot it.

Take good care of it

It can?t go without saying that taking good care of your devices helps. Avoid keeping them in areas with extreme temperatures. If possible, carry a spare battery for heavy-use devices to give hot batteries a rest. And always keep the ports where the battery connects to the charger clean of crumbs and dust.

Update

Constant updates are annoying, but they do help devices operate at maximum efficiency. Update the software if you haven?t recently and within three days you?ll notice an improvement on battery life.

Knowing how to keep your accessories charged gives you the freedom to enjoy even the busiest of days free of worry.