5 quick tips to get the most out of your BlackBerry Z3 battery

If you've picked up a BlackBerry Z3 as your smartphone of choice, chances are that the battery life probably won't be an issue as it comes packing one of a reasonable size - 2500mAh. Saying that though, there's nothing worse than running out of juice and as the Z3 battery is non-removable it's worth tweaking the settings to maximize things.

We all use our BlackBerry in different ways so battery life always varies from user to user. But these days, when we have to be connected, a low or dead battery is some peoples worst nightmare.

So below is a short list of simple tips and tricks to make your BlackBerry Z3 last as long as possible.

Turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth & NFC

If you're not using it then it's worth switching off the above features as they will eat up some battery life. Looking at Wi-Fi for example - while it's is on but not being used the BlackBerry will continue to search for Wi-Fi connections - hence why you'll use up some juice. In addition, if you can use Wi-Fi you should as this too is kinder on your battery.

• Go to Settings > Network Connections to enable/disable

Change refresh settings

Some BlackBerry 10 applications, social ones in particular, will automatically refresh in the background. With most of them you have the option to change how frequently this happens. It's logical that the more often an app pulls in new data, the more battery it will use. So increase how often this happens from within the settings of the app. I tend to set mine to refresh every hour although I manually update them each time I open said app.

Dim the display

Like with any smartphone, the brighter the display, the faster your battery will drain. If you don't need the screen to be super bright why not dim it?

• Go to Settings > Display to alter the brightness

Change the screen timeout

Once you finish using your Z3 and put it down the screen will continue to be on for a set time. Within the settings you can change how long it stays on for and from experience it makes sense to change this setting to prevent the display from being on for too long.

• Once again go to Settings > Display to see the options available

Close Active Frames

As mentioned already, some BlackBerry 10 apps will auto refresh while in their Active Frame state. Applications like battery or weather apps will want to do this on a regular basis and although it doesn't use a ton of battery it will consume some. Closing Active Frames will sort this problem and give you that extra bit of power should you need it. Just long hold on the cross at the bottom right of the Active Frame to close it down.

Charged and ready to go

And that's my top five tips for your new BlackBerry Z3 owners. Like with any new device, it can take a little while to get things adjusted so you're getting the most from your handset. While the battery on the Z3 is pretty awesome anyway, the above tips may come in handy for you at some point.