The Samsung Galaxy S3. A couple of months into usage and if you’re anything like us, you’ll have noticed that your battery isn’t quite what it once was. Background apps, heavy web browsing, hardcore gaming and tethering all sap the S3 bone dry. Don’t despair though, with the GS3 being such a monster seller already, manufacturers haven’t spared a second in getting battery boosters onto the market, and we’ve had the phone long enough to figure out some ways to make our Galaxy S3 last a little longer. Read on for two accessories and five tips to get the most out of yours.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Battery Accessories
Starting with accessories and we’ll kick off with the Power Bank battery pack. This is a simple case that slides open for your Galaxy S3 to slot into. It then seals shut connecting to your S3 via microUSB. When switched on, it charges the S3 thanks to the 2200mAh cell on board, flashing blue the entire while and indicating how much charge is remaining on the Power Bank. Charging the case itself is a piece of cake with a micro USB port at its base, as with the S3. For all you media hungry S3 fans out there, there’s also a kick stand around the back, though it’s thin and prone to wobbling on moving surface, so won’t be perfect for trains, plains and bouncy castles.
The Power Bank does undeniably add bulk as you’ll no doubt make out from the video, both in terms of length and girth. So, for our girth adverse readers, another option would be the Samsung Extra Battery Kit. This doesn’t charge your S3, it charges a spare battery that’s bundled in with it. Taking the form of a handy desk dock, in the back is a compartment for a GS3 battery. There’s also a micro USB port on the reverse, so just plug it in and your spare’s charging. The design is great, with the high gloss plastic complementing the S3 nicely and desk stand function being very handy, though it does love finger prints.
Given the choice, we’d go for the Extended Battery Kit ourselves. The Power Bank is solid (aside from the kick stand) and the soft touch feels rich, but the additional size won’t be for all, especially on a 4.8-inch device. We can see ourselves throwing the Battery dock in a bag with a Mophie portable charger powering it up, while the slender S3 sits in our pocket, bulk free. If you don’t quite feel ready to buy one of these great bits of kit though, here are a few tips for getting the most out of your Samsung Galaxy S3 battery.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Battery Tips
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Drop the screen brightness
With the new Samsung Galaxy S3 update, it’s never been easier to drop your brightness and save your battery. Just pull down the notifications bar and slide your brightness bar as low as it will go for comfortably viewing. Alternatively, you can activate auto-brightness.
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Turn off Smart Stay
Smart stay is the eye tracking tool that keeps your S3 switched on until your eyes switch off. It’s clever and even works on occasion, however it does activate the front facing camera every time your S3 is about to go to sleep. To stop it and save energy, just jump into your Smart Actions menu in the settings and uncheck the corresponding box.
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Off with the radio
We’re not talking FM here, we’re talking about your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios not to mention your GPS. Make sure these are turned off using the toggles in the notification bar. While you’re at it, if you want to be really frugal, deactivate your data and you’ll guarantee no background syncing processes saving that little bit more.
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Black out your background
The HD Super AMOLED technology on the Samsung Galaxy S3 doesn’t emit light when displaying blacks. A perfectly formatted pure black image set as the background may therefore help reduce the strain the screen has on the battery. To take advantage of this, just download this 720p black wallpaper we made, view it, click options and set it as your wallpaper for both lock and homescreen.
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Power saving
Samsung have pre-loaded a power saving option on the S3. This limits the max performance of the CPU and screen, tweaks your background colour in your email viewer and web browser and also turns off haptic feedback. What’s great about this is that Samsung give you the options to activate whichever of these power savers you so wish to use at any given time.
Hopefully these seven ways to get more life out of your Samsung Galaxy S3 have helped. If you’ve got any questions about anything we’ve covered in this article, fire us a comment below and check out Mobile Fun for more information on the Power Bank, Extra Battery Kit and a full list of Samsung Galaxy S3 accessories.
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