We’re all on the hunt for longer battery life. Even though fast charging allows us to enjoy our smart gadgets for longer, the absence of replaceable batteries places strain on the lithium-ion battery cells that are enclosed within our devices – leading to age and deterioration.
The average phone begins to lose its ability to hold a single charge by the time it’s two years old. In fact, holding onto a phone past three years is kind of pushing it because battery capacities decline with age. This doesn’t mean that you can’t maximize its performance. Following are some scientifically proven ways to prolong your batter life.
Charge…well, Partially:
When you use your phone at a low voltage, it helps increase your battery’s lifespan and increases the number of available charging cycles before you notice a reduction in capacity. Charging your phone between 39% to 80% keeps the voltage lower and prolongs the battery life.
Smaller discharges within the region of 60% rather than 100% between refuelling may double the lifespan on your battery. Using only 20% can double your device’s lifespan.
When the battery life is close to gone, lithium-ion batteries draw in a constant current and operate at a lower voltage. The voltage gradually increases as the cell charges more, and levels off at around 70% charge before the current begins to fall until it reaches full capacity.
Topping Up is the Way to Go:
You might be thinking, how can I operate a device at 20% without having to run to my charger every few minutes. Well, the alternative is to top up (your battery, that is). When you top up after you’ve used about half of your battery, you will see an improvement in your battery life over a long period of time, specifically if you avoid charging it up to full each and every time.
Don’t Charge While You Sleep
Most of us charge our devices while we’re sleeping so that we can have a full battery upon waking up. This is not recommended for several reasons. One is because the continuous trickle charging on a full battery causes plating of the metallic lithium.
This process reduces stability in the long term, leading to malfunctions and increased need to reboot the device. The battery also experiences a higher stress voltage when it is charged at 100%. There’s also the risk of overheating caused by excessive power dispersion.
Don’t Charge Your Phone While Watching a Video:
When your battery is significantly drained and you happen to be watching a video or playing a game, it can lead to parasitic loads. This is bad for batteries because they distort the charging cycle by making the battery continuously cycle and deteriorate at a faster rate than the rest of the cell. The best solution is to turn off the phone while it charges, or to leave it idle most of the time it is on charge.
Don’t Leave Your Device in a Hot Environment:
Most of us know this, but don’t necessarily abide by it. Don’t leave your phone under your pillow, or to charge on the dashboard of your car on a hot day. You just don’t want to do that.
These were some of our tips for today, do you have any other tips for how to charge your devices? Let us know in the comments below!
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