A few weeks ago, I received a comment on one of my posts stating that a good way to improve battery life is to change your current background image to a black background. Naturally, I immediately changed my background to a small black image I found on the web. In addition, I made sure I tracked my daily battery life changes through screen shots. Furthermore, I ran these tests using the Galaxy Nexus standard battery and the extended battery.
Normally, the standard Galaxy Nexus battery would get me 11-13 hours of normal daily use. I am, of course, a pretty heavy user. Once I changed my phone background to black, I achieved over 16 hours of the same heavy daily use.
Normally, the extended Galaxy Nexus battery would get me 14-16 hours of normal daily use. Once again, I am of course, a pretty heavy user. Once I changed my phone background to black, I achieved just about 20 hours of the same heavy daily use.
The numbers don't lie, changing my background to black helps get me close to 5 extra hours of battery life.
Keep in mind that these results are from my daily usage on a Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65″ screen that normally steals up to 50% of my battery (Compared to the other factors). Additionally, my old background was very colorful and I spend a lot of time there. If you do not spend any time on the home screen, your results will most likely vary.
To whomever wrote the comment on one of my older posts, thank you!
