The Right Way to Charge Your Phone

A lot of people find batteries as the most ‘boring’ of all tech topics until they are faced with a dead battery. In this piece, we want to look at how you can make the best use of the battery life of your phone.

Majority of us worry more about our phone’s battery getting to 0% especially when we are out but very few care to think about the projected lifespan of a battery, which ranges from three to five years. However, there are tips you can follow to maintain your battery’s optimum performance and make it last for a reasonable period of time.

Note that the lifespan of batteries is not everlasting or eternal. In fact, most producers of handsets quote cycles of 300 to 500 for their batteries. According to smartphone giants, Apple, after a thousand charges, their batteries get to about 80 percent of their full capacity.

Anything after this point will lead to batteries not being able to retain/hold sufficient electricity. Also, it would lead to your battery powering your phone for shorter periods.

Let us look at a few tips to increase the lifespan of your battery. This applies to ALL types and models of phones.

What is the right percentage to charge my phone?

For Li-ion batteries, the rule is to maintain them at a minimum of 50 percent at all or most of the time. If your battery goes below 50 percent, charge it a little. The ideal thing to do is to charge it a little for a number of times every day.

However, try not to top your battery up to 100 percent. Although doing so may not ‘kill’ your battery, engaging in full recharge regularly will lessen/reduce the lifespan of your battery.

Thus, it is advisable to target a range of 40% to 80% when charging a Li-ion battery and to keep it at a minimum of one-fifth or 20% of the battery life.

When should I do a full battery charge?

According to tech experts, you should complete a charge cycle of zero to 100% probably once every month. Doing this will ‘reset’ or recalibrate your battery which is similar to rebooting your computer system.

How damaging is overnight charging?

There are no big risks in charging your device overnight as recent handsets are configured to stop charging when it gets to 100%. Also, a few technocrats suggest removing your phone from its case anytime you plan to charge the phone for a long period. Leaving your device in a case while charging puts it at risk of overheating which is dangerous for Lithium-ion batteries.

When Should I use fast charging? 

A lot of Android phones are equipped with fast charging which Samsung calls Adaptive Fast Charging. Most of the other models term it as Qualcomm Quick Charge.

How does it work? The phones are integrated with a unique code placed in a chip called the PMIC (Power Management IC). The code sends a signal to your charger telling it to transmit power at an increased voltage.

A phone like iPhone 6 lacks this feature but it is integrated with a Qualcomm PMIC which can detect a charger of a higher amp. This makes it safe as a Li-ion battery is at risk of being heated up and prolonged wear and tear when equipped with fast charging.

Can I use a different charger?

It is advisable to make use of your phone’s original charger because you can trust it to give you the right rating. You have to make sure that the makers of the phone approve other types of chargers before using them.

Buying cheap chargers from online stores could damage your phone. We have also heard of fire incidents caused by cheap chargers in recent time.

Why should I care about Battery Memory Effect?

This refers to batteries recording the remaining charge when you prevent them from getting to zero percent most times. Hence, when you charge your battery from 20 to 80%, may not remember the uncharged 40%; this is from 0 to 20% and 80 to 100.

This feature is only common in the old NiMH batteries because the modern Lithium batteries do not experience the memory effect.

Conclusion

The myth which states that leaving your phone plugged after a full charge will weaken your battery is actually wrong according to experts. According to them, you can leave your phone plugged in all the time.

Other experts recommend keeping your phone’s battery between 60 to 80% or just below 100% because of the harmful reactions that occur when the battery is at 100%.

The ideal thing is to keep your device in a narrow range lower than 100% according to technology experts. This contradicts what most people see as practical because they always want to charge their phone all the way to 100%.

What is your take on this issue? Do you often find it necessary to charge your phone up to 100%?