Does keeping Bluetooth on drain the phone’s battery quickly? Know how Bluetooth Low Energy technology works and what role the screen and GPS play in battery consumption.
A question that comes to the mind of most of the smartphone users is whether keeping Bluetooth on continuously drains the phone’s battery quickly. For this reason, many people turn off Bluetooth every time they use earbuds, smartwatches or other devices. But recent testing and technical facts show that the reality is quite different.
In many tests, it was found that despite keeping Bluetooth on the whole day, there was very little impact on the phone’s battery. According to reports, battery consumption increased by only 1 to 2 percent even when Bluetooth was on continuously. This means that for common users, Bluetooth is not a major reason for battery drain.
How does Bluetooth Low Energy technology save battery?
Smartphones use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. This technology is designed to transfer data while using less energy. BLE sends small data packets, saving battery for both the phone and its connected devices. The special thing is that when Bluetooth only remains on and is not connected to any device, then its power consumption is very low. In such a situation, simply keeping Bluetooth on does not have any major impact on the battery.
Then why does the phone’s battery drain quickly?
If your phone is discharging fast, it is often not due to Bluetooth. According to technical tests, the screen and location services (GPS) consume the most battery.
Keeping the screen on continuously can consume about 40 to 50 percent of the total battery of the phone. At the same time, services like GPS and location tracking can increase battery consumption by 10 to 20 percent every hour. For this reason, experts advise to control the screen brightness to save battery and turn off the location service when not needed.
However, this does not mean that Bluetooth should never be turned off. If you’re not going to be using a Bluetooth device for a long time, it might be a good option to turn it off. But switching Bluetooth on and off again and again just to save battery is no longer as necessary as before.