Are you charging your smartphone incorrectly? Facts you probably don't know about modern batteries.

I asked 5 tech-friends... “what is -the best way- the charge your phone?”

They all failed the quiz.

Here’s the thing about today’s Lithium-ion batteries… they are not like the “old” batteries in cell-phones, and the longer you’ve had a cellphone in your life, the more likely you are to believe the old myths about how to charge your phone. [that’s a polite way of saying “old people” have picked up "bad habits” LOL ]  Many young people do it wrong too, because they are overly concerned with “battery-life” and having a “full charge” at all times.

… so lets jump into the reality of "today"s smartphone batteries.  

Old Myth #1 [is the worst one, for today’s phones]  DO NOT let your phone go all the way “dead” before recharging it.  Modern Lithium-ion batteries do not like being “dead” [and staying at 100% while on the charger is not much better.  More on that is next]   If you are away from any charging options and your phone is at 10% or less. Turn it off.  A phone with no charge, and one that’s turned off are equally useless, but a phone that is OFF, won’t damage the battery.

Old Myth #2. Charging overnight is a BAD habit. “In the business”, we call this --Idle Charging--. It’s really bad.  STOP plugging your phone in before you go to bed… and leaving it on the charger for 6-7-8 hours. When a Lithium-Ion battery is “charged”, unplug it.  You never could charge the old NiCad batteries to 115%  but they would tolerate the over-charging abuse. The new Lithium-Ion batteries REALLY don’t like it.  Charge your phone, unplug it and walk away.   These “new” generation, Lithium-Ion batteries like to “live” in the 30% to 80% range of your battery meter. 

Old Myth #3 Every time I charge my phone it needs to “finish” at 100%.  Nope, wrong again. That’s the old battery tech. A mid-day “quickie” is a good thing. LOL   This means it is OK to plug in, and “charge”, when you only have a few minutes.  If you “run the streets” all day, plug the phone in when you wake up, [because it was OFF the charger all night, per #2 above, right?] Let your phone do a small charge while you are dressing and brushing your teeth. Plug in again at the office or a coffee shop. Plug in again at your buddies house.  The point is: worrying about a 100% charge is wrong.  Small “quickie” charge-ups, from 40% to 75%,  up/down, up/down,  all day is better than leaving the house with 100%...and working it down to “dead”, before looking for a power plug.  Charging your battery is “a work cycle” for the battery… and charging the last bit, from 85% to a “full” 100% is when the battery “works” the hardest.   Quickie charges from 85% down to 40% then up to 75% and down to 50%, then up to 80% is a better way to treat your Lithium-Ion battery.

Old Myth #4  Do NOT charge your phone and stream video or “game” at the same time. It’s illogical [until you understand battery technology], but “using” your phone, while charging it,  kills the life-cycle of your battery.  We call this "Parasitic-load". No one like parasites.. right? [Ticks, BedBugs, Lice, Tapeworms, urgh !!]    Modern phones don’t work “better” or game “faster” when plugged in, but your battery is being abused. [There is a lot of tech explanation I could insert here, but lets skip it.] “Charging” and [heavy] dis-charging at the same time is NOT good. Will it kill your phone, today? Nope, but it reduces the total number of “life-cycle” charges the battery will deliver… sometimes as much as by half.  Charge your phone. Watch the videos, and game, then charge the phone again. 

Old Myth #4-(b)  Turn your phone OFF when charging. I know, I know you are a busy, “connected”, super-important person, but when you can, Charge while the device is OFF. It charges “faster” [by about 40% faster] and the battery has an easier job, doing just ONE job, which is charging. 

Old Myth #5 is something that was NEVER good. Heat is the enemy of your phone's battery.  Do not let it sit in direct sunlight on the dash of your car [Duh !! that’s obvious, but]  Overcharging  [Myth #2] and  parasitic loads [Myth#4] create heat in your device by overworking the battery.  Your phone should never feel -Hot- to the touch. If it does, turn it off, let it rest for 10-12 minutes, then turn it back on. 

Old Myth #6 "Fast" isn't "good". Stop buying those “fast chargers”.  They work by jamming as much “charge” down the little power cord as your poor little over-worked battery can handle. If you think… “umm, that can’t be good, you are right !!”  It violates every “Myth” mentioned above.  The difference in charging time, is insignificant, and again… charging to 100% EVERY time isn’t necessary.  Save your money. Those chargers are one less thing to spend $$ on.  

  If you “always” seem to be “low on power”… Try treating your battery with the love it wants and change your perceptions of what “charged” means.  Your expensive smartphone will thank you for it…. and you’ll spend less time shopping for a new phone [or arguing with the warranty/insurance people about getting a “replacement” device. 

Also- When you shop for a phone, next time, look at the “tech specs”…. I know, I know, that’s boring and what you want is the cool color or the status-symbol model, but take a minute to look at the battery “size” too.  This is pretty basic stuff. Bigger battery = good. Smaller battery= not as good. LOL  Phone manufacturers design/ build phones within a very small space limit. Consumers like lightweight and tiny, for some reason.  Bigger batteries take more space/ weight than tiny batteries [generally]  The way to “compare” is a standard of measure that crosses all brands and phone manufacturers. Batteries are measured in [mAh ] Milli-amp-hours.  Bigger numbers are better than smaller numbers.  The largest [commonly available] batteries in the cool new top of the line phones are 5000 mAh batteries. Many mid-prices phones have batteries this big, especially the 2020 Motorola Edge+ model and the “G” model series that "Moto" builds.  LG , Asus and Google’s newest Pixel models use them too. The iPhone 11 and the “11 ProMax” have larger-ish batteries too.  Battery tech is improving and evolving, with each generation getting more efficient phones and better batteries.  The new “5G” phone(s) will be “power-hogs” and the battle to "stay charged" will start all over again [but that’s a different article]  

About the Author:

Tim Horton HKR / SME is a dinosaur, a “connected-nerd”, since before the way-back machine was even invented. His 1st cellphone was a radio-phone, [ before the “cells” were even invented] It was so heavy it was installed in the car. The 1st “portable” phone [using that term loosely] was the Motorola bag phone, that weighed 12 pounds !  For a short time, He worked with a Sat-Phone, that needed it’s own “suitcase”, so it could be carried across the African desert or into that big group of trees, located in Brazil, called the Amazon, before Jeff Bezos re-purposed that name. LOL   

If you are in TampaBay, or a part of the “Start-up” community, Send invitations to “connect” to the edress on the Bio/page.