The lithium-ion found inside modern smartphone battery are more dependable, long-lasting, and safe than ever before—at least most of the time. Having said that, we have some advice for maintaining their wellbeing.
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Top It Off
Instead of being completely discharged and then fully recharged, lithium-ion batteries’ internal chemical reactions perform better with shorter charges and discharges.
While waiting for your phone to completely drain before plugging it back in won’t cause it any severe harm, you do run the chance of reducing the battery’s lifespan. The ideal range seems to be between 50 and 80 percent of your phone. Moreover, wherever possible, aim to keep it above 20%.
You’re free to leave your phone fully charged and connected to power at the office during the day or overnight. Today’s smartphones and chargers are capable of detecting when they have reached 100% and, in response, reducing the current supply to a trickle.
Check the Temp
As you may have discovered on the ski slopes or the beach when your phone abruptly turned off in response to the chill or the heat, the lithium-ion batteries within your phone really don’t appreciate extreme temperatures.
Although it may not be sensible to expect you to carry your phone about in a temperature-controlled vacuum chamber, you can make sure it is adequately protected from the cold and excessive heat. Even basic safety measures, like not leaving it in a warm car, can be beneficial.
Although these temperature extremes won’t necessarily cause your phone’s battery to die permanently, they can speed up the natural deterioration that all batteries experience over time, necessitating the replacement of the battery—or the phone—earlier than you would otherwise need to.
Slow and Steady
Wireless charging is quite practical. When you’re short on time, the different fast-charging methods available are incredibly useful. But, when possible, use a regular charger or charge over a laptop USB port to ensure battery endurance.
It’s not that fast charging or wireless charging are inherently dangerous or will cause your phone to catch fire. Nonetheless, a gradual and constant input is clearly preferred by lithium-ion batteries. Whenever it is possible, use the slow and steady method.
If you do rely on fast or wireless charging, be sure to use the genuine charger that was shipped with your phone or a genuine third-party accessory. These chargers will be set up to preserve the health of your phone’s battery for as long as possible.
Meet in the Middle
Half a charge is preferable to leaving your phone fully charged or completely discharged if you won’t be using it for a time. Although while it seems absurd to store your phone away for a time, some individuals do have extras on hand just in case. Even though you could use tablets less regularly, the advice is still applicable to them.
Keep in mind what we said before regarding temperatures as well; if at all feasible, store phones at room temperature. Remember that some poorly designed phone cases may increase the warmth you feel coming from your device, especially when it’s charging.
These are great techniques for extending battery life, once more. Just because you put your phone in a drawer with a full charge doesn’t mean it will be damaged when you return.
Stay Up to Date
The delicate task of managing battery life is one that both iOS and Android are increasingly becoming better at. If you need another reason to keep the software on your phone updated, here is it. You shouldn’t really need one.
It’s growing harder and harder to keep your phone out of date for an extended period of time thanks to many proactive manufacturers’ nudges. The security of your device, compatibility with other apps and hardware, and a whole lot more are all wonderful, not just the battery life. In fact, you ought to enable auto-updates wherever you can.
Your phone’s battery will thank you for installing updates if you’ve been putting them off because doing so will enhance performance and battery management. While Android users can download a utility like AccuBattery, iOS now includes a battery health meter in the Battery section of Settings. Regarding Apple’s Battery Health setting, it will notify you that your battery requires “service” if you replace it outside of the designated Genius Bar channels. There isn’t. That’s merely Apple’s method of warning users against using problematic third-party services, something that supporters of the right to fix have a few things to say about.
Make It Last
Because of the chemistry inside, every battery has a limited number of cycles left in it. This means that the fewer times you go from a full charge to an empty charge, the better. Hence, rather than always having a portable charger with you, you might want to think about making a single charge last.
Here, the standard guidance is applicable: Lower screen brightness, switch to headphones from the phone’s built-in speakers, and leave airplane mode on for as long as you can. By doing so, connectivity to other devices will be disabled and apps won’t keep pinging you for updates.
Also, if you are in a signal-poor location, heed this tip. A weaker signal forces your phone to work more, which causes the battery to discharge more quickly.
