Motorola ATRIX 4G Batteries & Cradles

The hottest new Android smartphones draw a lot of juice. A device like the Motorola Atrix has a dual-core processor, a 4.0-inch HD screen, Wi-Fi capabilities and a host of other features. But it only comes with a 1930mAh battery, and Motorola markets it as providing less than 9 hours of talk time. So this article looks at how today’s cell phone users can conserve battery life without diminishing the overall smartphone experience too much. Cutting-edge Android smartphones demand a great deal of power. Take the Motorola Atrix, for instance. It has a dual-core 1000MHz CPU, a 4.0-inch HD display, Wi-Fi capabilities, Bluetooth, two cameras, video recording capabilities and so forth. But in order to keep overall price and weight down, Motorola includes a 1930mAh battery, which is good for about 9 hours of talk time. Talk time doesn’t factor in using apps, watching videos and listening to music. So let’s examine at how cell phone users can conserve battery life. We’ll focus on the Atrix, but much of this advice will be universal. Like all popular smartphones, there’s a wide array of Motorola Atrix accessories on the market. A Motorola Atrix case and Motorola Atrix screen protector rank among the most popular. But unlike most smartphones, the Motorola Atrix has a built-in charger, and you can simply snap it into a docking station on a laptop. This is the wave of the future, but right now, the Motorola Atrix is one of the few smartphones offering this capability. So the first step an Atrix user can take to conserve juice is to have it connected to the laptop whenever possible because the laptop battery has more life and drains slower than the smartphone battery.

Another important step that all cell phone users can take is to condition the battery, and this is something you should do with any new smartphone. To do this, run through the initial setup, and then pull the battery. This will turn the device off completely. Now you can reinsert the battery, leave the device off, plug it in via an AC charger and let it sit like that overnight or at least 4-8 hours. Then use the phone until it you discharge it completely. Do this 3 times or at least twice, which will ensure that your smartphone battery operates at its maximum capacity. The next step is to configure your smartphone’s services. Android devices in particular are notorious for a large number of default always-on services that you won’t actually ever use. Each of these services drains a little power, and while it might not seem like much, it adds up quick. So go through them all, look those up online if need be, and shut off all the ones you don’t need. Don’t worry about making a mistake since you can always turn them back on. And if you install an app that needs the service, it will usually take care of it or prompt you. The most power-hungry aspect of any device, including the Motorola Atrix, is the screen, so turn screen brightness down considerably. On a high-quality device like the Atrix, you can turn the screen down to as much as 30% and still have it be usable and look great. Another step you can take is to turn off email notification. For most people this is a waste of juice because they check their email so often anyway. Take these steps and you’ll be sure to get the most out of your cell phone battery.