Generally speaking, the li-ion batteries of smartphones on average lasts around one working day only. BlackBerry smartphone owners who are looking to boost this standard, can follow the following several useful tips provided by BlackBerry Buddies, in order to get the most out of their battery.

BlackBerry Buddies are a dedicated team of people tasked with assisting users in making their  RIM devices more efficient and also to advise customers of the latest BlackBerry developments.  

Here are a few top tips:

Closing apps and games

It is important to remember that multitasking (running multiple apps and games simultaneously) places heavy demands on your smartphone’s battery. An easy way to see which applications or games are running is to press and hold the Menu key, which causes the App Switcher to appear. You can then switch to the app or game you are not actively using and, after pressing the Menu key, select the “Close” option to exit that app or game.

If you are using a BlackBerry 7.1 operating device, you can also download the new Application Resource Monitor (ARM) app for free from BlackBerry App World. This application has been designed to identify and alert users if idle apps are draining battery life and automatically closes these. ARM will only trigger an alert for apps that are running but not in use, or are running while the device has been idle.

Turn off network connections you aren’t using

A quick way to save some battery life is to review and turn off any network connections you are not currently using. For example, by switching off the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth functionality while you don’t need it might save some battery life.

To review and modify network connections on a BlackBerry smartphone, click the connections area along the top of the home screen, or select the “Manage Connections” icon from the home screen. You can then enable and disable network connections by checking or clearing the checkboxes.

Review backlighting options

An easy way to improve battery life is to customise the backlighting settings on a BlackBerry smartphone. Users can optionally change the brightness, the amount of time the backlight stays on, and the ability to automatically dim the backlight. Review and customise these settings using the following steps:

• On the home screen or in a folder, select the “Options” icon.
• Select “Display” followed by “Screen Display”.

• To change the brightness of the backlight for the screen, change the “Backlight Brightness” field.
• To change the length of time that the backlight stays on when you’re not touching your BlackBerry smartphone, change the “Backlight Timeout” field.
• To stop the backlight from adjusting to lighting conditions, clear the “Automatically Dim Backlight” checkbox.
• Press the Menu key and select “Save”.

• On the home screen or in a folder, select the “Options” icon.
• Select “Device” followed by Auto On/Off.
• In the “Weekday” section, select the “Enabled” checkbox if desired.
• Specify the times when the BlackBerry smartphone should turn on and off on weekdays.
• In the “Weekend” section, select the “Enabled” checkbox if desired.
• Specify the times when the BlackBerry smartphone should turn on and off on weekends.
• Press the Menu key and select “Save”.