Features

4 simple ways to improve battery life on your smartphone

You don’t need a power bank for this one

Published

October 21, 2018

Gab Orlina

Owning a smartphone has been a need for a lot of people over the past few years — not just for calling and texting your family and friends, but also helping you book a ride or take pictures. It’s essential that your phone is up and running at all times.

But, let’s say the night is still young and your phone’s battery is close to empty, say, around 25 percent left. You or your friends don’t have an available power bank, and there are no charging outlets in sight. You still need your phone to book an Uber or call your parents to tell them how you’re holding up. Say no more, because here are some tips on how you can make your phone last longer.

Force-close your apps

Let’s say you opened a ton of apps over the course of the day, and you kept them idle while using other apps in the process. Having a ton of idle apps open drains your battery despite just being in the background. Your phone is still using power from the battery to refresh your apps in the background, apart from delivering notifications from these apps.

While smartphones have been getting better at managing battery drain from these apps, what you can do is to simply force-close your unused apps. Android smartphones have a built-in feature wherein you can see all the recently accessed apps and regulate their usage. For iPhone users, simply access the Multitasking feature and close your unused apps and turn off the “Background App Refresh” setting.

Turn down your phone’s brightness and screen timeout

Another feature that eats up your phone’s battery is your screen’s brightness. By default, your phone would have the brightness set to automatic, but if you want to see all the colors in full bloom, you would turn the brightness up.

But, for cases wherein your battery is already low, it is advisable to turn it down to conserve energy. Also, you can turn down the screen timeout settings on your phone to the quickest time. The shorter time your phone’s screen is on, paired with low brightness settings, the more your battery conserves energy.

Turn off some phone features when not in use

Apart from idle apps open in the background, your phone also has main processes and features running. Functions such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, cellular data, location services, and auto-sync are normally on by default. You would want to keep these running at all times to stay connected, and obviously in case of emergencies.

However, it’s best to turn some of these features off, especially if you’re not actively using them. Of course, the easiest way of turning off your Wi-Fi and cellular services is by turning on Airplane Mode. For the rest, you have to turn them off manually through your phone’s action center. Doing so stops the background processes for the time being, saving your battery life for a while longer.

Use ultra power saving mode

Let’s say your phone is now bordering on the 10 to 15 percent mark, and you are desperate to keep your phone alive. You’ve tried all the things above but your phone’s battery is still depleting by the minute. Luckily, your phone also comes with different battery saving options accessible through its settings.

When you go to your Settings menu, enter Battery options and you’ll likely notice that your phone has both a power saving mode and an ultra power saving mode. If you want to keep your phone on for as long as possible, turn ultra power saving mode on for good measure. While on ultra power saving mode, you only have access to your calls, texts, and other necessary apps you prefer.

There are other ways to improve battery life, but these are the easiest, most accessible ways to do so. Let’s hope your phone had enough power left to scroll through this article!

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

@manilaconnoisseur

Naka 99 pesos pala ‘yung large Golden Milk Tea ni @highlandscoffeeph until February 28! Oolong base, cream, and okay pala ang chickpeas as sinker along with red jelly. #highlandscoffee #goldenmilktea #oolongmilktea #freeupsize

♬ Kìa Bóng Dáng Ai – Pháo

@manilaconnoisseur

Laging sold out ‘yung fun run? Try The Conqueror Virtual Challenges. Stay motivated in your running era, make every run count, and get cool medals after every completed challenge. You can even get a free run or discounted bundles! @theconquerorchallenges #virtualrun #funrun #runningera #staymotivated

♬ original sound – Manila Connoisseur – Manila Connoisseur

But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

View this post on Instagram

The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

oplus_16

The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.

Smartphones

Unboxing: HONOR Magic8 Pro Photography Kit

A modular accessory setup

Published

February 28, 2026

GadgetMatch

The new HONOR Magic8 Pro isn’t just getting a camera upgrade — it’s getting an entire system built around long-range photography.

At the center of this unboxing is the HONOR Magic8 Pro Professional Imaging Kit. It’s a modular accessory setup designed to push mobile telephoto shooting further. With the attachable 2.35x Telephoto Extender, protective case, and Shot Imaging Grip, the Magic8 Pro reaches an equivalent 200mm focal length. It can also digitally extend far beyond that. It’s a bold attempt to solve one of smartphone imaging’s hardest problems: clear, stable zoom at night.

The hardware story is just as ambitious. The Magic8 Pro features a 200MP Ultra Night Telephoto camera with a large 1/1.4-inch sensor, wide f/2.6 aperture. It also has an CIPA 6.5-rated stabilization — an industry-leading benchmark for optical image stabilization. HONOR says this new system shifts from passive shake correction to proactive prediction, improving micro-shake detection and keeping distant details sharp even in low light.

Color science also gets an upgrade. The new AiMAGE Color Engine focuses on true-to-life tones, balancing complex lighting scenes like blue hour skylines or neon-lit streets. Expect cleaner highlights, preserved shadow detail, and more consistent skin tones across environments.

But the real story of this kit is experience. The Shot Imaging Grip adds DSLR-style ergonomics, complete with a shutter button, zoom lever, and quick-launch controls. There’s even support for 67mm filters, opening the door to more creative shooting setups.

SEE ALSO: