How VPN affects your smartphone battery and what you can do about it

VPN (virtual private network) services can be a great option for providing a little bit of anonymity online. But don't forget that there are two sides to every coin. So while a VPN ensures your anonymity, your smartphone may be quietly "suffering".

OBOZREVATEL tells the truth about how VPN services affect the battery life of your phone and whether they can drain the battery.

How VPNs affect the battery

Experts note that using a VPN does cause the smartphone battery to drain faster. On average, this figure is about 15% of additional battery consumption.

The biggest impact on the battery is:

Encryption and decryption of the signal

Encryption is what provides the anonymity that everyone wants online. But encryption means more data packets that your smartphone has to send and receive. So it's no surprise that the stronger the level of encryption you use, the more it drains your battery.

In addition, your gadget's processor is forced to decrypt the received data, which is hidden to prevent spying on you. This factor also affects the battery charge.

Ensuring signal strength

When you use a VPN, your smartphone accesses the Internet through an intermediate server that requires a high-quality connection. And receiving a Wi-Fi or mobile network signal does not happen by itself and requires significant energy consumption. The further away you are from the network access point, the more powerful your smartphone's receiver needs to be to ensure its connection to the server and avoid losing data packets.

Ensuring a stable connection

How a VPN maintains a connection also plays a role in battery consumption. Some services run constantly in the background, while others connect on an as-needed basis. So, if your VPN is running in the background, it will continue to connect even when you're not using it and drain your battery.

Smartphone configuration

Surprisingly enough, your smartphone itself can also cause a VPN to drain your battery. This may be due to the fact that your gadget is not powerful enough to provide high-quality service, and therefore is forced to use its "stuffing" to the fullest.

How to reduce the impact of VPNs on your smartphone battery

While you won't be able to completely eliminate the impact, you can minimise it.

To do this, you should only switch on the VPN when you plan to use the Internet, and not keep it on all the time. You can also configure the service so that it is activated only with selected applications.

Avoid or minimise the use of VPNs over mobile data. Searching for a mobile network is already a drain on your battery, and if you add the additional activity of a VPN service to the mix, you won't be happy with your battery life.

Don't be fooled by a free VPN, as it never performs as well as you'd like it to. If you really need a service for everyday use, consider signing up for a subscription.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL also talked about how a VPN service can affect the speed of the Internet on your smartphone.