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Your phone's battery lifespan vs the normDoes your phone’s battery last as long as it should? Typically, a modern phone battery’s (lithium-ion) lifespan is 2 – 3 years, which is about 300 – 500 charge cycles as rated by manufacturers. After that, the battery capacity will drop by roughly 20%. But does yours seem to get shorter way earlier? If yes, then perhaps your charging habit all through the years has been silently wrecking your phone’s battery health How often you charge will affect the battery life, for better or worse. In short, the more often you top up your battery, the better. To REALLY minimize battery degradation, top up for every 10% drop in battery level. And keep your battery level as close to the middle (50%) as possible. Impractical and unrealistic, yes they are. But these are only for maximizing battery health. There are much room for tweaking to add more convenience into the mix. Why are these recommended? Because unlike the old Nickel, lithium-ion batteries get stressed by:
The widespread, outdated beliefs about batterySurely, you must had also heard the opposite, which are:
And these two suggest that frequent charging will degrade battery capacity instead, which WAS true—for the Nickel-based batteries; for they are cursed with memory effect. Simply put, they will “forget” their full capacity if they aren’t discharged and charged from 1% to 100%. Now, cycling your lithium-ion battery from 1% to 100% habitually will take a chunk of its battery life away. How deeper discharge & low battery level degrade battery capacityTo clarify, battery by itself, regardless of your habit, will deteriorate. Even when just sitting on a shelf. As you cycle the battery, irreversible internal structure changes happen. The lithium count gradually drops as more and more get lodged onto the anode during normal usage; they form a restrictive layer (named solid electrolyte interface) that grows and increases battery’s internal resistance, which ultimately lowers the battery capacity. Tying this to your charging habit, the restrictive layer grows faster with the following factors:
Worse is, the degradation of deep discharge escalates the further the battery is in its life cycle. The older your phone is, the more your unhealthy charging habit damages your battery. How much discharge is considered deep?There is no boundary: the deeper you discharge it, the more stress it inflicts on the battery. Meaning that topping up frequently extends battery life for lithium batteries. In this regard, doing a full discharge, which is to run your battery down to 0%, is the most stressful. The table below detailed the number of usable cycle depending on the habitual depth of discharge.
(Source: Battery University – How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries) What battery level is considered low?Something we’re all too familiar with … Definitely a standard you can fall back on. Plus it’s convenient: your phone will never fail to remind you when it gets this low. Though if you’re feeling particularly protective of your battery, you can recharge before it gets to 20% battery. The exception to the ruleThat you should, on certain occasion, run your battery down to 0% (full discharge). What occasion?
If these happen, do a full discharge followed by a full charge for recalibration. To calibrate your phone’s battery:
Note: this does nothing to save battery life; in fact, it achieves the opposite … Why does this happen?Battery readings are thrown off because unlike the actual electrochemical battery, the digital battery (the smart chip on the battery) that shows us the reading doesn’t age. The graph below visualizes the inconsistency between the two created over time. (Source: Battery University – How to Calibrate a “Smart” Battery) How often should you calibrate your battery?
Now, putting everything together. How often should I charge to prolong battery life?It’s a matter of balancing convenience with battery longevity. To recap … The best but unrealistic way:
But that defeats the purpose of using a smartphone, which is CONVENIENCE. That said, what you can do instead are:
There’s no absolute rules to follow. Most suggest the 20 – 80 rule, which you can definitely follow. You can even do 45 – 75 or others. As long as you understand what’s harmful to your battery, you can tailor your charging habit according to your needs and daily routine. Because while you can definitely improve battery life significantly, it’s pointless if it demands sacrificing your enjoyment and convenience, which is what your smartphone is supposed to bring you. P.S. If you prefer charging to 100% for maximum runtime, check out the cable that auto disconnects the battery at full charge for you.
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Leave a CommentWhen you get a new phone do you have to charge it to 100%?Almost all reputable phone manufacturers ship the phones with their batteries charged around 60%. 3. There is no real need to charge the phone before use because they are already around 60% charged. 4.
At what percentage should I charge my new phone?She says the sweet spot to keep your battery charged is at 25-85 percent. “Lithium-ion batteries can be stressed at the extremes. One of the biggest contenders for destroying your phone's battery health is letting the phone charge past 100 percent,” says Hamilton.
How long should you charge a new phone before using it?Stop being superstitious for 8-12 hours charging
A new smartphone lithium battery can be charged for about 2-4 hours, while a phone with super-fast charging can be filled within an hour. After charging to 100%, extend the charge for about 15 minutes.
Should I charge my new phone for 8 hours?The simple answer here is that you no longer need to charge your phone for 8 hours or more for the first time or during subsequent charging cycles. Besides having smarter batteries, the software built into our phones help monitor the charge state and charging rate to extend their lifespan for as long as possible.
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