Increase Battery Life on Your Nexus 5 Without Installing Any Apps

Google Nexus 5 is one of the popular Android smartphones in the market. It is packed with amazing features and has one of the best displays among all Android devices. However, having all these fancy new features have its drawback on its battery life.

If you are looking for ways to avoid the pitfalls of having strained battery, here are some tips to prolong the battery life of your Google Nexus 5.

10 Tips to Increase Battery Life on Your Nexus 5 Without Installing Any Apps

Tip 1: Turn Off Everything You Do Not Use

One way to conserve precious battery life is by turning off every feature you are not actively using, especially the features that constantly search for signals to connect to such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Location Services.

To turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, simply swipe down from the top of your screen to access your Quick Settings tiles, or open the Settings app, and then toggle these features off.

As for Location Services, set it to battery saving mode to minimize the number of reference points used to find your location. To enable Battery Saving mode, go to Settings>Location>Mode, and then enable Battery Saving.

You can also turn on Airplane Mode to automatically disable all these features. However, turning on Airplane Mode will also disable all the signal transmitting functions on your Nexus 5, which includes your capacity to place or receive calls and messages.

Tip 2: Turn Off Wi-Fi During Sleep

If you prefer to keep Wi-Fi enabled, you can turn off Wi-Fi during sleep to conserve battery. To do this, simply follow these steps:

STEP 1: Go to Settings, and then tap Wi-Fi (not the toggle button on the right but the word itself).

STEP 2: On the next screen, tap the menu icon (3 dots) located on the lower-right corner of the screen, and then tap Advanced.

STEP 3: On the Advanced Wi-Fi screen, tap Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep, then select Never (increases data usage), and then tap OK to confirm your choice.

NOTE: Turning off Wi-Fi during sleep will increase your cellular data usage, which is not good if you have limited cellular data plan. To avoid this, turn off 3G/4G/LTE if possible.

Tip 3: Turn Off Wi-Fi Scanning

In addition to turning off Wi-Fi, it is recommended to turn off Wi-Fi scanning as well, unless you are within range of the Wi-Fi signal you want to connect to. To disable Wi-Fi scanning, follow these steps:

STEP 1: Go to Settings, and then tap Wi-Fi (not the toggle button on the right but the word itself).

STEP 2: On the next screen, tap the menu icon (3 dots) located on the lower-right corner of the screen, and then tap Advanced.

STEP 3: On the Advanced Wi-Fi screen, uncheck the Scanning always available box.

Tip 4: Disable Auto Brightness and Lower Display Brightness

Nexus 5 has a 1080p screen display and is deemed one of the best screens among all Android devices. Unfortunately, having a bigger screen and higher resolution can drain more battery life. To conserve your battery, lower your screen brightness and turn off auto brightness so you can manually manage the luminosity of the screen.

To disable auto brightness and lower the display brightness, simply go to Settings, tap Display, and then tap Brightness. From there, tap Auto to toggle the auto brightness off. Now use the slider to adjust the brightness level to your liking. You can also access this option by swiping down from the top of your screen to access your Quick Settings, and then tap Brightness.

Tip 5: Disable NFC

Near-Field Communication (NFC) is the technology used in Android Beam. It allows two Android devices to share files and links between them and it is used to power the tap-and-pay functionality of Google Wallet.

If you are not using any of these features, you can turn of NFC to save your battery life. To turn off NFC, go to Settings, tap More under WIRELESS & NETWORKS, and then uncheck the NFC box.

Tip 6: Disable Unwanted System Apps

Nexus 5 came with pre-installed system apps that you may or may not like. These apps run in the background and consume battery life. To conserve your battery, disable any preinstalled system apps that you do not want and use. To do this, simply go to Settings, tap Apps, swipe to the ALL tab. Tap any unwanted system app, and then tap Disable.

Tip 7: Turn Off Google Now

Google Now is one of the popular features of Nexus 5. It is Android's equivalent to Apple's Siri. Unfortunately, it is one of the battery-drainer features it has. To turn off the Google Now feature, go to Google Now>Settings>Voice, and then disable Hotword Detection.

Tip 8: Turn Off Automatic Updates

Nexus 5 keeps your apps up-to-date by automatically downloading available updates without you having to visit the Play Store. This is a very ingenious feature and a big time saver. Unfortunately, it is a huge battery drainer since it requires each app to regularly check for updates. To turn off automatic updates, follow these steps:

STEP 1: On the Home screen, tap Play Store.

STEP 2: Tap the Menu icon, then tap Settings.

STEP 3: Tap Auto-update apps, and then tap Do not auto-update apps.

Tip 9: Disable All Vibrate Alerts

Vibrate alerts drain the battery much faster than it does when the phone rings or beeps. To disable all vibrate alerts, simply follow these steps:

STEP 1: From the Home screen, tap the All Apps icon.

STEP 2: Tap Settings, then tap Sound.

STEP 3: Uncheck the Vibrate when ringing box.

STEP 4: Finally, scroll down and uncheck the Vibrate on touch box.

Tip 10: Use Static Wallpapers

Animated wallpapers may look cool. However, they tend to drain your battery much faster than a still image. To conserve the much needed battery life, select a static wallpaper instead.