The following illustration shows a battery that is approved for use in webOS devices (left) and one that is not approved (right).

About your battery

Battery life depends on how you use your device. If you use your device's data features heavily (browse the web, stream video, and so on) or if you hold long conversations, you may need to charge your device longer or more frequently.

When the battery is very low (less than 20%), the battery icon in the upper-right corner of the screen changes to red. When the battery is charged (over 90%), the icon appears full . To view the exact battery charge level, tap the icon.

You can maximize the life of your battery by following a few easy guidelines. This article tells you how to keep your battery charged and provides tips for reducing power consumption.

• How to keep your battery charged
• Settings you can use to save power
• General tips for saving power

How to keep your battery charged

Unlike with some older rechargeable batteries, charging your battery often does not reduce battery performance over time. In fact, it's good for your battery to keep it charged rather than letting it become drained before recharging. Whenever possible, plug your device in to a charger or charge it from a computer via the USB cable. Note that charging your device from a computer may take up to twice as long as using the charger. Having both a Touchstone charging dock and a car charger makes it convenient to charge your device any time.

Settings you can use to save power

Check email less often. How much power checking email uses depends on a number of variables, including the type of account, how many email messages you receive a day, and whether you are downloading a lot of attachments. These guidelines may help you:

• Using a Microsoft Exchange account that is set to receive email as it arrives is generally efficient. However, if you receive many email messages each day, you may be able to reduce power consumption by using an interval such as every 15 minutes or longer. To change the interval, open Email , open the application menu, and tap Preferences & Accounts. Tap the Exchange account name, tap Get email, and set how frequently to synchronize email.
• Using a web-based email account that is set to receive email as it arrives is not as efficient as using an Exchange account. This is true even if you are not receiving a lot of emails. You can reduce battery consumption by using an interval such as every 15 minutes or longer on web-based accounts.

Use Wi-Fi. Updates and applications download much faster over a Wi-Fi network, and therefore use less battery power. In areas with a weak network connection but a strong Wi-Fi connection, you may be able to extend your battery life by turning data usage off in preferences and turning Wi-Fi on (if Wi-Fi is available on your device). If there is no Wi-Fi signal, turn Wi-Fi off to save your battery. See Customizing phone settings and Using Wi-Fi .

Set your device to use a specific network. If you are using a UMTS/GSM device and you are in an area where the network coverage zones do not intersect completely, your device continuously searches for a strong connection, which reduces battery life. Open the application menu and tap Preferences. In Network, turn off Network auto-select. Select the 3G only option (if available) to see if a constant connection to a 3G network is possible. If no 3G option is available, or if a 3G connection continues to drop, select 2G only. Using the 2G only setting means that data connection and transfer occurs at slower 2G speeds and takes longer to execute. Your device continues to connect only to a 2G network until the setting is changed, even if a 3G network is available.

Use a shorter screen-off interval. By default, the screen turns off after 1 minute of inactivity. If you have increased the time to 2 to 3 minutes, you’ll drain your battery faster. Try 30 seconds. To set the screen-off interval, open Screen . In Turn off after, reduce the number of seconds/minutes.

Reduce screen brightness. The default setting is 40% of maximum. Higher settings drain the battery faster. Open Screen . Under Screen, drag the Brightness slider to the lower level.

Turn off data usage when your battery is low. If your battery is low, you can extend the time left that your device can make calls and send and receive text messages by turning off data usage in preferences (see Customizing phone settings .

General tips for saving power

• Sign off from instant messaging when you are not using it. Instant messaging uses power even when you are not sending and receiving messages. If you are logged in and have a lot of buddies, the IM applications are using power to monitor and update the status of all your contacts. Sign off when you are not actively using IM accounts. Open Messaging , tap Buddies, tap next to Available, and then tap Sign off. Note that you cannot reduce the number of buddies from your device; you must do so from your computer.
• Use airplane mode. If there is a weak signal, the device continually searches for a network, which consumes power. When you turn on airplane mode, your device goes into a lower power standby mode, and missed calls go to voicemail. Tap the upper-right corner of any screen, and tap Turn on Airplane Mode. To turn off airplane mode, tap the upper-right corner of any screen, and tap Turn off Airplane Mode.
• Move to an area with a consistent connection. Battery life is shortened in areas where networks have coverage areas that do not overlap, because your device continuously searches for a strong connection. In these areas connectivity interruptions may occur as well. To get a stronger signal, try moving outside or to a different location within the building.
• Change Location Services settings. Location Services provides GPS information to applications and may, depending on the settings, be on continually. Open Location Services , and turn off the services. If you turn Auto Locate off and an application subsequently needs to know your location, a notification appears asking if the application can identify your location. Tap Allow to turn on Location Services for that session only. The Use GPS service improves the accuracy of GPS applications but impacts battery life. For example, when the Google Maps app is in the foreground, it continually tracks your current position using the best available option. This means if Use GPS is enabled, the GPS receiver is used and consumes power. When Google Maps is in the background, tracking is suspended temporarily.
• Store your device properly. Keep your device away from direct sunlight and other sources of heat. Over time, temperatures above 120 degrees Farenheit (50 degrees Celsius) can permanently reduce the capacity and life span of any lithium-ion battery.
• Streaming video and audio. Playing streaming videos from websites like YouTube and listening to streaming audio from websites like Pandora draw more power than other media-rich activities.
• Downloading apps from HP App Catalog. Using Wi-Fi can save power when you are downloading apps from App Catalog. With webOS versions after 1.3.5, it is possible to download multiple apps in the background at the same time, and some applications can be hundreds of megabytes. This amount of activity can cause the battery to drain more quickly. When downloading large apps, put your device on a charger, and use Wi-Fi when possible. Applications download much faster over a Wi-Fi connection.
• Turn off navigation. A navigation application providing turn-by-turn directions onscreen and via voice uses above-average power. If you are using only the voice portion of the directions, you can save power by turning off the screen (press Power). And remember to close the navigation application when you reach your destination. If you don’t, it will continue to use power to monitor your location and check for updates.
• Pause or stop multimedia activities. Playing on-device games or videos and playing music from an online source streaming MP3 drains power at about the same rate as calls. Note that playing local MP3 files uses only about half as much power.

Change the Wi-Fi sleep setting

When Wi-Fi is turned on, a device can normally maintain a Wi-Fi connection while in a low power mode (when the device “sleeps”). This way the device can be awakened by network activity, such as push mail or an IM. However, some Wi-Fi networks can cause the device to wake up very often, which causes the battery to drain.

If you have already tried the troubleshooting and tips provided in this article and are still experiencing less than half the advertised battery life, try the following:

1. Open Wi-Fi , turn Wi-Fi on if necessary, and then select the application menu > Preferences > Sleep Settings > When Phone Sleeps > Turn Wi-Fi Off.
2. Monitor battery life to see if it improves. If it does, that indicates a Wi-Fi network may have been causing the problem.
3. If battery life doesn’t improve, select the application menu > Preferences > Sleep Settings > When Phone Sleeps and set Sleep Settings back to Keep Wi-Fi On.