MP3 Player Battery Care

Here are some handy hints and tips for getting the best performance out of the battery within your MP3 player.

 

Initial Charge

 

When you first receive your new MP3 player it’s best to ensure the battery is fully charged before it is used.

 

Although the battery will have some power when it arrives, do check through the manual and see what the manufacturer suggests with regards to the initial charge.

 

Often to ensure the battery is fully charged they will advise to leave the battery trickle charging for slightly longer for the initial charge.

 

Battery Life

Manufacturer’s will often quote a battery life time in the specifications of the player, but please remember that the battery life you obtain with the player will depend on what functions you are using.

 

For example, for the battery life Cowon state for their range of music and media players they use the following conditions during their testing:

 

- Volume 15

 

The audio amplifier that drives the headphones in the MP3 player is very power hungry. If you have the volume up loud this will require more power and as a result reduce the battery life.

- Standard earphones

 

Again, depending on the power requirements and impedance of the headphones you use with the player, this will reflect on the power required by the audio amplifier to drive them.

- Playback of a 128kbps MP3 file

 

The amount of computational work being carried out by the MP3 player’s CPU will depend on the type of file, for larger bit-rate files more computation time is required and the CPU will require a slight increase in power as it will be idling less.

- No BBE+ or Equaliser settings

 

Having extra effects on the output, such as equaliser settings or BBE+ effects will require additional processing power, resulting in the CPU drawing slightly more power and will affect battery life.

- Screen off

 

One of the more power hungry components of the MP3 player, LCDs will require more power than more modern AMOLED displays due to the additional backlight. But, with either type having the screen on constantly will significantly affect the length of time the battery lasts between charges.

Battery Care

With the modern Lithium Ion batteries used in MP3 players it’s always recommended to keep them as charged as possible rather than let them run empty before charging. This helps prolong the battery life and performance over time.

 

We would also recommend that you disable any sleep mode on your MP3 player. Often if the player is put to sleep rather than being fully turned off it’s only the screen that is powered down, with the main CPU still running in the background and slowly draining the battery.