iPhone refurbishment expert weighs in on the internet’s most popular battery-saving tips
Sofie Selenius | 13 Oct 2026
Battery-saving tricks have been around for as long as people have wanted to squeeze a few more minutes out of their phone. Some work, but actually, many don’t.
So we asked Pavel Tšukrejev, Swappie’s Head of Operations, whose team refurbishes iPhones every day, to give his expert verdict on the most popular battery-saving tips that the internet swears by.
Turn your screen black and white to save power
Pavel says: “On LCD screens, the backlight uses the same power no matter what colours are on-screen, so greyscale saves nothing. On OLED screens, grey pixels still light up, so the effect is minimal there too. For real savings, lower the brightness, and on OLED models switch to Dark Mode, because black pixels are fully off.”
Verdict: ❌ FALSE
Take the case off while charging to keep your phone cool
Pavel says: “Heat is the biggest enemy of lithium-ion batteries, and Apple itself advises taking some cases off if the phone gets warm while charging. This matters most with thick or rugged cases, wireless charging and overnight charging. It protects long-term battery health more than it gives you extra hours today.”
Verdict: ✅ TRUE
Swap your live or animated wallpaper for a still image
Pavel says: “Usually, Live Photo wallpapers only animate when you press them or the screen is on, so the energy cost is negligible. Screen brightness matters far more than what’s on the screen.”
Verdict: ❌ FALSE
Switch to Aeroplane Mode so your phone charges faster
Pavel says: “Technically true, it helps with faster charging: With the radios off, more of the incoming power goes into the battery. With a modern fast charger you save only a few minutes, so it’s worth it only with a weak charger or poor signal. You’ll also miss calls. However, it doesn’t help extend battery life.”
Verdict: 🤔 IT DEPENDS
Turn off always-on voice assistant listening to save battery
Pavel says: “Listening for ‘Hey Siri’ and Android’s voice assistant runs on a dedicated low-power chip, not the main processor. Turning it off saves next to nothing.”
Verdict: ❌ FALSE
Turn off keyboard vibration
Pavel says: “Apple’s own support page says keyboard haptics can affect battery life. The effect is real but small, so don’t expect hours back.”
Verdict: ✅ TRUE
Restart your phone every day to ‘reset’ battery drain
Pavel says: “A restart doesn’t ‘reset’ battery drain, and the boot itself uses some power. Restart only when you notice unusual drain, because that can clear a stuck app or process.”
Verdict: 🤔 IT DEPENDS
Download an app that saves battery for you
Pavel says: “On iPhone, third-party apps can’t control other apps or system settings, so they can’t save power. On Android, ‘task killers’ often backfire because the closed apps relaunch. The built-in Low Power Mode or Battery Saver is the one that works.”
Verdict: ❌ FALSE
Put a dead battery in the freezer to bring it back to life
Pavel says: “This trick comes from older NiMH batteries and never worked for lithium-ion. Cold temporarily reduces capacity, and condensation as the phone warms up can damage it. Phones are happiest at roughly 0–35 °C.”
Verdict: ❌ FALSE
Dial a ‘secret code’ to get 50% more battery
Pavel says: “No code can add capacity a battery physically doesn’t have. The famous ‘*3370#’ code from the early mobile phone era actually switched on a higher-quality voice codec, which used slightly more battery.”
Verdict: ❌ FALSE
Charge your phone with a banana, a lemon or a potato
Pavel says: “A banana isn’t a power source, and a charger plugged into one gets nothing. Pure internet hoax. A potato or lemon cell with zinc and copper electrodes produces about half a volt and a tiny current. It’s a great school experiment, but you’d need hundreds wired together to charge a phone.”
Verdict: ❌ FALSE
So what actually works?
Pavel’s advice keeps coming back to the same three habits: turn the brightness down, keep your phone cool and use the built-in Low Power Mode when you need it. No fruit required.
It’s the same know-how that goes into every iPhone refurbished by Swappie. Our experts inspect and test each one, and every phone comes with a battery health of at least 86%. Great tech, handled by the experts.
