# Pop Quiz: Charging strategy to best extend the life of your device's battery



## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

This is almost a rhetorical question because I don't think anyone knows the answer. Some may read an article and _think_ they know the answer, but does anybody really know? It is one of life's deep mystery's.

I am watching the cycle life for my 1-year old smart phone get punier by the week. It's pathetic. I sometimes leave it charged to 100% for days. Other times I let the battery discharge and then charge it up. So I have no idea which one of the practices is killing battery life.

THIS IS WHY I ALWAYS BUY A PHONE WITH A USER REPLACEABLE BATTERY! lol.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

_Tron_ said:


> This is almost a rhetorical question because I don't think anyone knows the answer. Some may read an article and _think_ they know the answer, but does anybody really know? It is one of life's deep mystery's.
> 
> I am watching the cycle life for my 1-year old smart phone get punier by the week. It's pathetic. I sometimes leave it charged to 100% for days. Other times I let the battery discharge and then charge it up. So I have no idea which one of the practices is killing battery life.
> 
> THIS IS WHY I ALWAYS BUY A PHONE WITH A USER REPLACEABLE BATTERY! lol.


Eliminate spyware & Severely Restrict what Apps. Are allowed to do.

Limit your " permissions" under phone settings


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## IthurstwhenIP (Jan 12, 2018)

You have been on Corona lockdown for too long. Did you really finish your whole list down to this item?


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## Uber's Guber (Oct 22, 2017)

Only use a 1a charger to maintain your battery. The 2.1a charger will charge your battery in a quicker amount of time but will cause your battery to degrade faster overtime.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

It's not that it's draining the battery quickly. It's that it's draining the battery quicker and quicker as time goes by.

With no change in my installed apps. Which are at a bare minimum anyway.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

_Tron_ said:


> This is almost a rhetorical question because I don't think anyone knows the answer. Some may read an article and _think_ they know the answer, but does anybody really know? It is one of life's deep mystery's.
> 
> I am watching the cycle life for my 1-year old smart phone get punier by the week. It's pathetic. I sometimes leave it charged to 100% for days. Other times I let the battery discharge and then charge it up. So I have no idea which one of the practices is killing battery life.
> 
> THIS IS WHY I ALWAYS BUY A PHONE WITH A USER REPLACEABLE BATTERY! lol.


The Government does not want You removing batteries.

They WANT TO TRACK YOU !


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## waldowainthrop (Oct 25, 2019)

Typically charging to full and draining it to zero is supposed to stress out lithium ion batteries. I think the best approach is to keep it between 20% and 80% most of the time, if you can. Apple has even experimented with tracking charging patterns to avoid topping up the battery when it doesn’t need it.

The best bet is to not let the battery temperature to fluctuate constantly, and to avoid staying plugged in at all times. Computers that stay on a charger constantly can suffer diminished battery life, especially when the device is constantly hot. For this reason, phone batteries in cars can get worn out from lots of heat and lots of cycling.

Enough cycles over the life of a battery will push it closer to its death, no matter how well you treat it. Batteries have finite lives, just like we do.

I am not an expert but I have stressed out a lot of batteries over the years and read a little bit about it.


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## Uberguyken (May 10, 2020)

Cellphone batteries are so good now that the phone will be so outdated before the battery dies... Your just as good keeping it fully charged....

I haven't replaced a cell battery in 10+ years.... The tech gets outdated first.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

waldowainthrop said:


> Typically charging to full and draining it to zero is supposed to stress out lithium ion batteries. I think the best approach is to keep it between 20% and 80% most of the time, if you can.
> 
> Computers that stay on a charger constantly can suffer diminished battery life
> 
> Enough cycles over the life of a battery will push it closer to its death, no matter how well you treat it.


The 20& 80% rule is a good one. I actually have an EV and a solar system and have had to learn about Lithium cells. But short of a charger that can be set to stop at 80%, it falls to the other two items you mentioned, constantly on a charger and cycle life. These are the questions listed in the post. I have wondered what is _worse_ to put it another way; charging all the time or allowing the battery to cycle (but never to 0%).

Unless someone did a comparison or knows of some Mechanics Illustrated issue where the compared battery life I'm afraid the question is rhetorical. Oh well.



Uberguyken said:


> Cellphone batteries are so good now that the phone will be so outdated before the battery dies... Your just as good keeping it fully charged....
> 
> I haven't replaced a cell battery in 10+ years.... The tech gets outdated first.


Uh, your luck is running good. I doubt everyone gets such great results. Unless maybe they're replacing their phone every two years?


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## Uberguyken (May 10, 2020)

_Tron_ said:


> The 20& 80% rule is a good one. I actually have an EV and a solar system and have had to learn about Lithium cells. But short of a charger that can be set to stop at 80%, it falls to the other two items you mentioned, constantly on a charger and cycle life. These are the questions listed in the post. I have wondered what is _worse_ to put it another way; charging all the time or allowing the battery to cycle (but never to 0%).
> 
> Unless someone did a comparison or knows of some Mechanics Illustrated issue where the compared battery life I'm afraid the question is rhetorical. Oh well.
> 
> Uh, your luck is running good. I doubt everyone gets such great results. Unless maybe they're replacing their phone every two years?


Yeah you're right I forgot about IPhones.... Bahahaha


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

Depends who you ask, and what the "device" is...

Tesla recommends (if I recall) charge 80% max and not fall below 30%. Samsung recommends to not fall below 20%.


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## fraqtl (Aug 27, 2016)

_Tron_ said:


> This is almost a rhetorical question because I don't think anyone knows the answer. Some may read an article and _think_ they know the answer, but does anybody really know? It is one of life's deep mystery's.
> 
> I am watching the cycle life for my 1-year old smart phone get punier by the week. It's pathetic. I sometimes leave it charged to 100% for days. Other times I let the battery discharge and then charge it up. So I have no idea which one of the practices is killing battery life.
> 
> THIS IS WHY I ALWAYS BUY A PHONE WITH A USER REPLACEABLE BATTERY! lol.


It's not a rhetorical question at all.

Charge it to 85%. That's all.


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## Coxpal (Aug 26, 2019)

1, For cell phone, fully charge to 100%, fast charge is safe enough, all phones have intelligent detection circuit, i.e. big current to charge to about 80% and then small current to charge to the last 20%;

2, For other small device, fully charge to 100%, use their original charger, i.e. don't use higher current to charge, possibly damage the device.


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## Wildgoose (Feb 11, 2019)

Now a day, technology is enhanced. All devices ( Laptops and smartphones ) have a circuit that could detect full charged or minimum power that will maintain a device not to get spoil ( but this minimum power is not designed for battery life span )
When a phone is fully charged, that circuit cut off from charging that could help to maintain battery life in good standing.
But for a battery, in order to help best battery life span, it required discharge. Best could be 20 % to 30%. So we should maintain battery power at 70%.
Most of the phone and laptop user forget about one thing that is they have to get their device fully charged before using the device first time. Most of people don't wait and use it anyway. That kills the life span of a battery in the first place.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

My answer is none of the above.

Charge it up to 80%. Don't let it it deplete to less than 20%.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

Here is the tale of 2 iPhone 8 Plus phones.

They are a little over 3 years old and both put in to service at the same time.

Phone 1, wife's phone, is almost always plugged in even if it has been at 100% capacity. If it can be plugged in it is plugged in.

Phone 2, my phone, I keep it charged between 20% and 90%. About once a week I let it drop to below 10% and charge it to 98%.

What is the difference between Phone 1 and Phone 2?

Phone 1 Battery Health Maximum Capacity 63%
Phone 2 Battery Health Maximum Capacity 87%

I'll stick with my method over hers.


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## Johnny Mnemonic (Sep 24, 2019)

https://medium.com/@lauren.c.stephe...e-lifespan-of-your-phone-battery-16c2af5ca59f
I use The AccuBattery app to keep the charge below 80%. And if you have a phone/battery in storage, keep it at 50%.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

FLKeys said:


> Here is the tale of 2 iPhone 8 Plus phones.
> 
> Phone 1 Battery Health Maximum Capacity 63%
> Phone 2 Battery Health Maximum Capacity 87%





Johnny Mnemonic said:


> I use The AccuBattery app to keep the charge below 80%. And if you have a phone/battery in storage, keep it at 50%.


FL, those are hard stats to come by! Thanks.

johnny, thanks for the app recommend. I just installed it. It looks like it is simply going to chime when phone gets to 80%? Or does the app bleed off energy so that % charge never goes above 80%? I guess I'll find out soon enough.


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## Johnny Mnemonic (Sep 24, 2019)

_Tron_ said:


> FL, those are hard stats to come by! Thanks.
> 
> johnny, thanks for the app recommend. I just installed it. It looks like it is simply going to chime when phone gets to 80%? Or does the app bleed off energy so that % charge never goes above 80%? I guess I'll find out soon enough.


They recommend 80, but you can set it at whatever you want. If you don't unplug the phone, it just charges as usual and the chime keeps going off.

There's also a "battery health" graph that calculates how much charge your battery can hold compared to max, but it takes a week or so to calculate the number based on charging time.


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