What’s battery saver in Android Lollipop?

Battery life is a concern for almost all smartphone users. Nobody wants to see a dead phone when you want to make a call or check some important messages. This battery saver guide was tested on Nexus devices with Android Lollipop (Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7, Nexus 9 and Nexus 10) , and Motorola Moto devices with Android Lollipop (Moto X, Moto X 2nd Gen, Moto G, Moto G 2nd Gen, Moto G LTE, Moto E, and Moto E 2nd Gen).

What’s battery saver in Android Lollipop?

Battery saver in Android Lollipop can help you extend the battery life so that you can use the phone until you have a chance to charge the phone.

To achieve this, battery saver in Android Lollipop, if enabled, will restrict background data, reduce the performance of the device. For most apps, you will not see the difference because Google use some complicated algorithms to minimize the impact on the user experience. Only for some CPU or GPU intensive apps, you may feel the small (usually acceptable) lagging when resource usage is throttled.

Battery saver in Android Lollipop can be turned on when you need it. For example, you will have a long field trip and you probably cannot access a charger until you come home 10 hours later. In this case, before leaving home, you can turn on battery saver in your Android Lollipop device.

But for most smartphone owners, battery life is usually longer enough for one-day use. You can let the phone turn on battery saver automatically only when battery level is lower than 15% or 5% so that you know it is time to limit the usage of the phone.

Please note, different Android device vendors may have their own battery saver features, e.g., Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6 all have Samsung’s battery saver feature.

Update: in Android Marshmallow, in addition to battery saver, a new battery optimization feature was added.

How to enable battery saver in Android Lollipop?

Step 1: Go to Settings—Battery as shown below.

Step 2: Tap Menu button.

In the battery usage page, tap the menu key in the top right (as shown below).

Step 3: Tap battery saver as shown below.

Step 4: Tap battery saver automatically.

Normally, you may want to turn on the battery saver in Android Lollipop only when the battery level is low. This can be done automatically.

Tap the Turn on automatically as shown below.

Step 5: Set the battery level at which you want to turn on Android Lollipop battery saver automatically

Tap at 15% battery (or 5% if you want) as shown below.

Once this is set, the Android Lollipop battery saver will start automatically in your device when the battery level is reaching 15%.

It is NOT necessary to turn the switch on. The Off/On switch is for you to instantly turn on/off battery saver.

How can I know whether battery saver in Android Lollipop is enabled or not?

Whenever battery saver in Android Lollipop is active (i.e., is working), you will see:

1. the status bar (top) and navigation bar (bottom) will change to orange (and opaque) as shown below.
2. a battery icon is shown in the left of the status icon as shown below.
3. a notification messages telling you battery saver is on as shown below.

 What are the side effects of battery saver in Android Lollipop?

Battery saver in Android Lollipop saves battery by forcing the CPU running in a lower frequency (therefore less power consumption) and restricting background data. In most devices, for most apps, you will not notice the performance degradation.

But for a few CPU or GPU intensive games, you may notice the lagging.

Some apps that rely on background data sync may not update the data. You meed manually open the app to get updated info.

Another side effect of battery saver is the orange strip for status and navigation bars. It may looks funny if you get used to the transparent status bar.

Anyway, for most users, you should not worry about the performance for most apps.

Have you tried Android Lollipop battery saver in your Nexus devices with Android Lollipop (Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7, Nexus 9 and Nexus 10) , or  Motorola Moto devices with Android Lollipop (Moto X, Moto X 2nd Gen, Moto G, Moto G 2nd Gen, Moto G LTE, Moto E, and Moto E 2nd Gen)?

Please let us know in the comment box below, if you have any questions on using Android Lollipop battery saver for your devices.

For more Android Lollipop guides, please visit on Android Lollipop Guide page.

For questions on Android Marshmallow (Android 6.0), please check Android Marshmallow guide page.

For question on Android Nougat (Android 7.0), please check Android Nougat guides page.

For other Android questions or problems, please check Android 101 page.