No matter how powerful your phone’s battery is but if you are stuck to social media apps like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or if your work requires you to be on the phone all day, the battery is sure to drain quickly.
Apart from Apple, smartphone manufacturer Samsung is also slowly moving to non-removable Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries that have a limited capacity. Mobile phone batteries (Li-ion) have approximately 1000 charge cycles of life after which the battery begins to drain quickly.
However, if used with proper care your phone’s battery can last for a good 3 to 5 years.
Here Are 5 Big Mistakes To Avoid While Charging Your Phone…
Never Charge The Phone Overnight
Most of us end up doing this. We plug in our device before going to bed, leave it plugged in all night and the device continues to charge for hours at a stretch. Overcharging the device shortens the battery life.
Plugging in your phone for 2-3 hours is enough as, Li-ion batteries quickly charge. They can reach 100% charge in over 2 hours.
In fact, overcharging the phone can also prove to be dangerous because the temperature rises when the battery is overcharged. Just like any other device, mobile phone batteries heat up too when overcharged and this can lead to an explosion.
Li-ion batteries contain a lot of Li-ion cells and these cells have a certain temperature. When it reaches a critical temperature due to external heat or overcharging, the cells begin to release a ton of heat.
Depending on the speed of this process, the battery could easily catch fire or lead to a minor explosion. It is also believed that smartphones are called smartphones for a reason. When a Li-ion battery reaches 100% of its capacity, charging stops on its own.
That usually happens within an hour or two. However, this does leave the phone overheated and when the phone displays an overheating alert, its best to get the battery changed and stop charging the device for longer hours.
Avoid Frequent Charging
May be your smartphone battery barely lasts a day but that does not mean you keep charging it every few minutes when you see the battery drop by 10%. Frequently charging the phone can harm the battery’s life.
Also, charging the device from zero to full and then completely draining the battery on a regular basis is a bad idea. Remember, the more you plug in the device, the more the device warms up, so try not to keep it plugged in all the time.
It’s best to keep the battery charged up to 80% but never charge from zero to full and then completely drain it on a regular basis or the battery’s lifespan can suffer in the long run.
Li-ion does not need to be fully charged, because a high voltage stresses the battery and wears it away in the long run.
Do Not Use Different Chargers
Never buy second hand chargers or use another device’s charger to charge your device.
You may not realise it but you are actually causing harm to your phone’s battery by doing so. Always carry your charger in your bag and if you’ve lost the original charger or have forgotten to carry it, avoid charging your phone using someone else’s charger as much as possible.
If you must buy one, ensure you buy only an original charger from an authorised store. Some people may find it useful that most smartphones use a micro USB for its chargers.
However, this does not necessarily mean that all chargers and phones are compatible. Some phone chargers are designed to cut-off the power it supplies once your device reaches 100% charge, while others don’t.
Since most smartphones these days have similar micro USB connectors, people assume it’s ok to charge the device with any charger that fits in properly. This can cause serious damage to not only your smartphone but also the battery.
Stick to the same charger that came with your device in the box. They were designed together and tested together, so ideally they must work optimally together.
Never Unplug The Phone Unless It’s 80% Charged
For years, it’s been believed that letting your phone charge all the way to 100% can result in the battery degrading faster compared to unplugging once it reaches 80%. At the 100% mark, certain reactions occur within the battery that ultimately degrade the electrolytes and further depreciate the battery.
Keeping your device below 100% and within a narrow range is ideal, but fully charging it is more practical for most people, especially if you have a field job.
On an iPhone, you can access low power mode through your battery settings. It will limit background app refreshes and automatic downloads.
It will also limit visual effects and turn your auto-lock to 30 seconds. Samsung includes a similar power-saving mode on its phones, so does Google with its Pixel phones.
You can take advantage of these settings when you are running low or need to conserve battery. It’s fine to fully charge it if you think you may not get to charge it all day but we’d still recommend avoiding it as much as possible.
Avoid Charging Using Power Banks
Power banks come in different sizes and the mAh figure explains the total capacity of the batteries. In other words, the more mAh the Power Bank has, the more the energy.
For instance, iPhone 8 Plus has a battery capacity of 2675 mAh, so if you want to have it fully charged, you should be using a power bank with more mAh than your phone’s capacity.
Lithium-ion, including lithium-polymer batteries used in power banks and smartphones eventually lose their capacity over time, typically after 1000 cycles depending on the battery quality. The bigger the battery, the less cycles you will need to charge it and the longer it will last.
Smartphones discharge their battery daily, thus they have shorter battery lifetime than a large capacity power bank. Power banks should essentially be used only when necessary.
Using power banks to constantly keep your phone at 100% charge will over time damage the battery, which will lead to your phone not being able to retain its charge for long.