Why and how does a black wallpaper save your battery?

There are many ways to improve the autonomy of a smartphone. You may have already heard of the trick of the black wallpaper, supposed to improve the battery of a mobile. We explain how and why a dark wallpaper can save battery, and how effective it is.

Battery life: AMOLED vs LCD

The vast majority of Android smartphones have AMOLED or IPS LCD screens. We have already explained the difference between the two, in this guide on the differences between the types of screens (LCD, TFT, IPS, etc). Depending on the screen technology used, it may be useful to use a black wallpaper … or not.
To sum up, if your smartphone has an AMOLED panel, then it is better to use a black wallpaper and, if possible, dark themes in the applications and menus. In short, as much black as possible. Why? The principle of AMOLED technology is that LEDs do not emit light when they display black. LCDs do not have this advantage, because the LEDs are on, whether the displayed color is black or not. For IPS panels, the black screen is therefore used for nothing.
According to an experiment made by a user and published on XDA Developers, an AMOLED screen at 20% brightness consumes 6% of battery per hour. With maximum brightness, consumption increases to 8% per hour. Of course, these results were obtained with a screen constantly on.

Where to find a black wallpaper?

To find a black wallpaper, you can do like me and take a photo by blocking the sensor, so the display will be black.

To summarize, if your device has an AMOLED screen, it is in your best interest to opt for a dark wallpaper, ideally black, whether for the phone or for a particular application. You will see the results on your autonomy.

Read Also: How to install new Android updates

Do you know any other tricks to save battery?

Originally published at https://mobilephonetechnology.info on January 3, 2020.