Google Nexus 5 In Review: 5 More Battery Life Tips And Tricks For The LG Android KitKat Flagship

The Nexus 5 from Google and hardware partner LG Electronics is a great value, with a starting price of $349 for 16GB, and with a 4.95-inch full HD display. Unfortunately, that 1080p display and quad-core processor can sometimes result in less-than-stellar battery life.

If your Nexus 5 is having battery problems, here are a few more ways to help it last longer. But first, make sure to check out our first list of ways to improve your Nexus 5’s battery life.

Then, make sure you have determined the culprit. Go to Settings > About Phone > Battery Use to see what apps or services are causing the problem.

1.) Enable Android Runtime (ART)

As one helpful reader pointed out in our first list of Nexus 5 battery fixes, enabling Android Runtime will improve battery life. This is because ART fundamentally changes the process of how apps are opened.

ART will cause apps to take up 10 to 20 percent more space on your on-board storage, but allow them to open faster. Also, thanks to the diminished processing power it requires to open app, enabling ART will increase your battery life as well.

Remember that Google does not consider the Android Runtime as ready for the masses, which is why it is not enabled by default on the Nexus 5. Also, please note that the International Business Times is not responsible for any damage that tinkering with your phone may cause.

To enable ART on your Nexus 5: Settings > About Phone, then tap "Build Number" 7 times. Then back out and go into the new settings sub-menu that appears, Developer Options, and select ART instead of the Dalvik Runtime.

2.) Reduce The Time Before The Screen Goes To Sleep

Most Nexus 5 users have found that the main feature affecting battery life on the Nexus 5 is its big, beautiful display. Go into Settings > Display > Sleep and reduce the time before your display automatically dims to as low as you are comfortable with – 30 seconds for best results. It is also a good practice to press the power button when you are not using your Nexus 5, instead of waiting for the phone to sleep automatically.

3.) Updated to Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)? Do A Factory Restore

As much of a hassle as it can be on a phone you have adjusted perfectly to your liking, if you received an over-the-air update from Google that bumped your Nexus 5 to Android 4.4 KitKat or 4.4.1 to the newest build of Android 4.4.2, it might be a good idea to do a factory restore.

Taking the OTA update caused bugs for some users, and may cause your Nexus 5 to incorrectly report how much battery life it has remaining. Be forewarned that a factory restore will erase everything on your phone, including the on-board storage, so make sure your photos have been backed up with Google Plus beforehand.

To do a factory restore, navigate to Settings > Backup & reset > Factory data reset to restore your Nexus 5 to factory-shipped freshness. Some users have also reported that a Nexus 5 factory reset fixed GPS issues and other bugs in addition to improving battery life.

4.) Turn Location Reporting And History Off

In addition to using your GPS, Android collects location data from nearby Wi-Fi routers. Scanning for Wi-Fi this way uses up battery life on your Nexus 5 (or any Android device), but allows Google to charge more money for advertising based on your location.

To turn off location reporting, go into Settings > Location > Google Location Reporting and turn both Location Reporting and Location History off. Please note that this will also cause Find My Android to no longer be able to track your Nexus 5 should it be stolen or misplaced, so use this tip at your own discretion.

5.) Use ‘Airplane Mode’ In Poor Coverage Areas

When a smartphone is in a bad coverage area, it uses up a lot of battery power as it attempts to scan the area for signal. If you are in an area where you get poor or no connection anyways, like traveling underground on a subway, put your Nexus 5 in Airplane Mode to save your battery.

Some other good ways to improve battery life include turning off your Nexus 5’s haptic feedback. It uses up battery to run the haptic motor every time you tap, so turn this feature off for longer life.

Let the author know on Twitter @tommylikey or in the comments below if you have a battery tip of your own, and make sure to check out the first 5 Battery Tips for the Nexus 5.