PITTSBURGH -- Battery life is important to any cell phone user.

The life of a battery can vary by manufacturer and the age of the battery.

According to the Telecommunications Research & Action Center (TRAC), there are some things you can do to extend the amount of time between battery charges and the overall battery life of the phone.

TRAC recommends:

Turn off the phone when you are not expecting calls, particularly when in roaming mode. Searching for a signal drains battery life quickly.

Don’t use the vibrate function unless it’s needed. This uses more electricity than an audible ringtone.

If possible, set the handset’s options to keep the display backlight on as little as possible.

Avoid using a camera phone’s flash capability when it’s not needed.

If Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or GPS reception are not going to be needed, turn these features off.

Keep the phone stored at room temperature, when possible.

TRAC said if a cell user doesn't want to do these things, they can buy a battery-powered charger such as the “Clipper Gear.”

The device provides around one minute of talk time for every one minute of charge time, and comes with four different adapters making it compatible with Nokia, Siemens, Motorola and Sony Ericsson phones.

Read CNET’s review of Clipper Gear CNET
For more tips on extending a cell phone’s battery life click here