Nowadays our phones have that many features on them we never seem to use them all. One of the areas where manufacturers of mobile phones are struggling is that of battery life.
One question that we should ask ourselves is "Which features do we REALLY need?"... And how many of them do we actually use?
Nokia are soon to introduce phones which encourage people to unplug them once charged. This should not only help owners receive a better battery life but also helps us become more energy efficient.
One feature that we all have on our phones but very rarely use is that known as "3G". This essentially means that day or night, providing you have a 3G signal, you're able to make a video call or use internet access as higher speeds than that of the normal GSM network. Whilst this seems like a great idea, very many of us rarely use it and is a feature we could easily switch off.
A popular feature is that of Bluetooth, especially since the introduction of legislation; requiring drivers to be 'handsfree' when driving their cars. This will weigh heavy on your battery life when not in use and should be turned off if not required.
How bright is your mobile? Unless you're using it to see in the dark, you'll find that your mobile phone doesn't need to be as bright as it is. Most phones should give you the option to adjust your brightness, thus saving further battery life.
It's debatable whether people should be allowed to have their ringtones enabled in public places or not. Unfortunately this does happen and many of us would prefer them to place it on silent, vibrating when they receive a call. Both of these are bound to use your battery at equal levels, so my suggestion would be to place it on either a low volume or silent mode with vibration enabled.
Once you've finished with your phone, the most efficient thing you can do is recycle your phone. Depending on how you do this, you can either donate it to charity and let someone else benefit or you can cash your phone in and put the money towards other new but cheap mobile phones.