How Sony’s STAMINA Mode works

How does STAMINA mode work?

Battery life is one of the aspects of smartphone design that still requires significant improvement. One way to facilitate this will be through hardware technology breakthroughs, one of which we recently covered here. The other approach to improving battery life, however, is by optimising the software used on handsets. With handsets such as the Xperia Z, Sony has tried to do just that with STAMINA mode.

An easy assumption to make when it comes to smartphone battery life is that placing your handset on standby will stop apps from running and therefore stop power consumption. This is incorrect – apps still run in the background and there are constant synchronisation requests for things such as message updates and notifications.

Using STAMINA mode, Sony does its best to address the problem of apps running in the background. It achieves this by blocking data traffic a minute after the handset is placed on standby. Whilst doing this the phone automatically logs your IP address, meaning you are instantly connected once the phone is powered on again.

When STAMINA mode is activated, you will still receive phone calls, text messages and picture messages. However, you should be aware that notifications that require an internet connection will stop.

So, if I have STAMINA mode on, I won’t get alerts such as Whatsapp, Email, Facebook, etc?

That’s correct. By default, STAMINA mode will block apps such as those above from syncing. However, there is the option to whitelist specific apps so that they are not blocked by STAMINA mode. If you still need email to sync, whitelist your chosen email client and you’ll still get your emails come through. It’s worth noting that if you have push email enabled your battery will be drained much quicker than if you have the handset to synchronise periodically, such as every hour. It really depends on how urgently you need to check email. You will be able to find synchronisation options in the setting of your email app.

What else does STAMINA mode do?

As well as disabling mobile data when your screen is turned off, STAMINA mode also has a few other features to offer. You can set it to show (as a percentage) how much battery life you have left with an icon in the status bar (for non-Xperia users, Battery Widget Reborn also offers this). There’s also the option to disable certain functions once battery reaches a critical level, or you can automatically enable Wi-Fi when in range of a preferred network – connecting to Wi-Fi drains the battery a lot less than scanning for 3G/4G networks.

As well as offering the above features, STAMINA mode will also pop up with suggestions as to how you can improve battery. For example, if your device is left dormant for 6 hours and STAMINA mode is off, you’ll get a notification in the status bar to recommend that you turn it on.

Which handsets have STAMINA mode and how do I turn it on?

At the moment, those handsets which offers STAMINA mode include Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia SP and Xperia L. By default, STAMINA mode is turned off, but you can activate it by going to Settings > Power Management.

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