Moto X In Review: 7 More Ways To Increase Battery Life On Motorola's Android Flagship

The Moto X does not feature the same large, 1080p display that can quickly drain the battery life of a larger phone, like the Nexus 5, but nothing lasts forever. After reading IBTimes’s 7 tips for better battery life for the Moto X, you'll enable your phone to last all day (and then some).

1. Put the Moto X in “Airplane Mode”

If you are in an area with poor wireless reception, such as on a subway or in a basement, put your Moto X in Airplane Mode. This immediately turns off all wireless communications, including Wi-Fi, Mobile Data, Bluetooth and GPS.

Airplane Mode uses less juice than powering down the Moto X, and still allows you to complete many offline tasks, while maintaining your battery.

2. Turn off automatic updates

It is very important to make sure that you update the firmware and apps on your Moto X. Oftentimes, app developers will fix a battery-drain issue with an update. However, when the Moto X is configured to update automatically, it can check several times a day.

The Play Store checking to make sure apps are up to date will drain your battery throughout the day. When the updates download over the air (OTA), using your mobile data connection instead of Wi-Fi, it uses even more battery power.

Instead, check for updates manually about once a day when your Moto X is plugged into the wall. To turn off automatic updates on the Moto X, go in to the Play Store. Then tap Menu (three dots) > Settings > Auto-update apps > Do not auto update apps,

3. Use a still image instead of a live wallpaper

While the live wallpapers available for Android smartphones can be very eye-catching, they drain a lot more battery than a still image. Instead, consider a nice landscape that will shift as you sort through rows of apps.

Animating a live wallpaper uses the Moto X’s processor and can lead to significantly shorter battery life. Stick with a still image if you really want to push your Moto X to the max.

4. Turn off vibration

It actually takes significantly more battery power to run the small motors that cause your Moto X to vibrate than to ring. So switch your Moto X to ring. If the noise is a problem, leave it on silent or set it to a very low volume.

Everyone can hear your Moto X when it's on vibrate regardless. The same goes for haptic feedback, which uses the same motors to provide a vibration every time you touch the Moto X. If you prefer it on, be aware that it will use more battery than with it off.

5. Use Motorola Connect

Motorola offers an exclusive feature for users of its smartphones, that allows them to read and respond to SMS text messages from a PC. Using a simple Chrome extension, Motorola Connect allows you to respond to a text without picking up your Moto X.

This is especially helpful for frequent texters who are sitting at work, home or school on a PC. Using Motorola Connect instead of picking your phone up every few minutes (or seconds) can be a major boon to battery life.

6. Reboot every now and then

Some smartphone users plug their phones in overnight, leaving them turned on, and then waking up to their alarms in the morning. For Moto X owners who use Assist to block incoming calls during their sleep hours, this is especially true.

Turning your Moto X off and on every now and then will clear up random access memory, or RAM, which uses battery power. It also will close out apps that may still be running in the background and taking up processor resources, a major source of battery drain. Therefore, restarting the Moto X every day or so can make the battery last longer throughout the day, and even make it run faster and smoother.

7. Do a factory data reset

Factory restores, or data resets, take a Moto X back to square one. For some, going through with a factory restore can be difficult to do, since any local storage will be erased. However, if you have updated your Moto X from Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) to Android 4.4 (KitKat), this will ensure a fresh KitKat install, and help to fix any bugs that may be causing premature battery drain on your Moto X.

To do a factory restore on the Moto X, navigate to Settings > Backup & Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset My Phone.

Here are IBTimes’ first 7 ways to increase battery life on the Moto X. Have any other tips for longer battery life on the Moto X? Leave a comment below or contact me on Twitter @tommylikey.