Optimise Battery Life for Smartphones with AMOLED Screens

Here’s a quick tip.

If your phone has an AMOLED screen (as opposed to an LCD screen) it’s worth knowing how these displays work.

In a nutshell, LCD screens rely on a backlight and a liquid crystal matrix in front of it which blocks certain colours and allows other colours through. Power usage will be fairly uniform irrespective of what you display on the screen. In contrast, AMOLED screens are built such that each pixel is its own light source which means you can get a better black compared to LCD which relies on the liquid crystal matrix blocking any light from coming through (which may present as a dark grey or a lighter black). As such, power consumption will fluctuate between a maximum (a completely white screen) to minimum (a completely black screen).

Essentially, if you have an AMOLED screen it is best to have as much black on the screen as possible.

A great example of where this works a treat is the Amazon Kindle app for Android. You can choose to have a white screen with black text (ideal for LCD screens) or a black screen with white text (ideal for AMOLED screens).

Amazon Kindle app - White Background with Black Text

Amazon Kindle app - White Background with Black Text

Amazon Kindle app - Black Background with White Text

Amazon Kindle app - Black Background with White Text

It’s small things like this that can help you prolong the battery life in your smartphone if you are going to be a while between recharges.

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