Last Updated on April 9, 2017 by Mathew Diekhake
The Samsung Galaxy S2 was the flagship for the South Korean giant announced in February of 2011 and released April 28 of the same year. If you wanted a mobile with high-resolution camera, fast mobile data support, HDMI connector for TV-out, small dimensions and a dual core processor this was up there with the best of them in the Android range. Now, nearly 3 and a half years on, the smartphone battery is undoubtedly not what it once was. There are several solutions to this problem. Today we’ll run your through everything including what’s causing the battery to not last as long as it could, how you can save the battery life until you upgrade the phone and how you can replace the battery and start over again with a brand new one.
Think of a smartphone as a living thing. The more us humans use our legs or body parts the more tired we get. The same thing happens to a smartphone battery. Essentially, the more tasks you have running on the phone the quicker the battery drains. Furthermore, it comprises the longevity of the battery pack. They don’t last forever on any handset and yet arguably the most common problem people have with their smartphones is the battery.
The Samsung Galaxy S2 battery comes with 18 hours talk-time, 29 days stand-by time, 9 hours talk-time using the 3G network and 25 days stand-by time using the 3G network. Those stats are from when the handset was brand new. We know you are not producing times anywhere near that three years down the track and that’s normal.
Apps
Firstly, various apps can drain the power. To find the problematic apps you can try uninstalling the ones you hardly use and watch how much of a different it makes. You will notice the less apps you have available from the app drawer the better performance. Something to think about when shopping for your next device if you buy a phone with a great deal of storage space with the intent of using it on applications and not photos, videos and music.
Screen Brightness
The easiest way to save power is by adjusting the brightness of the display. The darker the screen the less power you are using. If you don’t need to view the display perfectly always turn it down. That’s why you notice the display darker when you first buy the product. It’s optimized for a happy-medium between visuals and power. All too often people turn it up because it looks better, but then the draining occurs.
Features
You probably noticed Sammy offering some fantastic features on the smartphone that also helped persuade you to buy the mobile. However, many of the same are the root to draining issues. It’s a great idea to only enable 3G, WiFi, Sync, Bluetooth and GPS when you need them. The next paragraph teaches you how to easily switch off anything you don’t need all at once so keep reading.
Power Saving Mode
The S2 comes with its own power saving mode so you don’t have to navigate around and turn each individual feature on and off every day. You can find the mode by stopping over at the Applications > Settings > Power Saving. The mode automatically gives out what it thinks is the best way to save power. However, you can take this one step further and creating your own custom functions list. To create a custom power saving menu you must tap the “Custom power saving settings” option. As you can see from the list, it doesn’t mean turning off WiFi forever. It turns it off automatically when you aren’t using the WiFi connection.
Software Updates
Samsung regularly updates the software. You can install software updates manually by downloading the files when they are readily available, using Samsung Kies or waiting for the OTA notification to arrive. If you think there is a software update waiting for you, navigate to Settings > About Device > Software Updates > Check For Updates and see the results. Now the S2 is coming toward the end of the software and firmware updates. Nonetheless, we know the phone carriers and manufacturer have rolled out many since it’s come out. Software is often to blame for a battery running out quicker than it should. These bugs are often addressed as part of the “bug fixes’ in future updates to the OS. That’s one reason why it’s always best to stay up to date.
Battery Replacement
When all else fails and you simply cannot get enough life out of the power unit to see through your day sufficiently, it’s time to look at replacing the battery pack all together. That sounds daunting, but’s it’s simple to do. You will find many re-sellers who offer third-party batteries to replace the original S2 battery. Moreover, some offer more power than the original. You can start shopping online from websites such as eBay.