You want to keep your battery in top condition, but at the same time, a dead one renders your phone useless. Have your charging habits stayed the same throughout your smartphone history? Have you been doing things right or wrong when it comes to keeping the juice flowing to your phone? Your battery’s performance will decline over time no matter what, but there are ways to slow down the process. Many of these tips also apply to laptops. Now, let’s finally end the never-ending debate of whether you should charge your phone overnight.
What manufacturers say
Apple spells it out plainly, saying that when your iPhone or iPad “remain at full charge for prolonged periods of time, battery health can be affected.” Do you know what also eats away at your charge? Greedy apps. Check out 5 apps that drain your iPhone battery. Android phone manufacturers such as Samsung have similar advice: “Do not leave your phone connected to the charger for long periods of time or overnight.” Huawei says that “keeping your battery level as close to the middle (30% to 70%) as possible can effectively prolong the battery life.” So there you have it. The official word is to keep your phone charged but not fully charged. Your battery will stop charging at full charge, but once it drops to 99%, it will need more energy to get back to 100. This is unnecessary and it eats away at your battery’s lifespan. If you must go to 100%, unplug your phone from the charger as soon as you hit the max. This is obviously not possible if it happens while you are sleeping, which is why it’s not a good idea to leave your phone charging overnight.
Battery saving tips
Don’t drain your battery completely. You may have heard that your battery works best when you consistently charge from 0% to 100%. So if you keep charging your phone from 25% on, your battery will only “remember” that last 75%. This may have been the case with old nickel-cadmium batteries, but smartphones are now equipped with lithium-ion batteries, eliminating cycling memory. Some smart plugs and smart outlets automatically stop charging your phone when it reaches maximum capacity. Some apps do the same job, in addition to monitoring your battery usage. Make sure to charge the battery to 50% when leaving your phone stored for an extended period of time. Turn it on every few months and charge it back up halfway if needed.
Don’t bring on the heat
Your smartphone battery is sensitive when it comes to temperature, especially heat. Don’t leave your phone lying out in the sun or under your pillow. This is not only bad for your battery health, but it is also dangerous. High heat can break down the battery’s internal cells and cause a short circuit. This can make the battery itself heat up and melt, swell, or even explode. Modern phones have safety features to prevent these extreme occurrences, but your battery will still be damaged if it gets to that point. .
