By Sebi Makis
Long gone were the days when phones had replaceable batteries, and the potential of your phone lasting beyond its service years was far into the future. Now, there are two to three handsets that will allow you to change batteries. And you’ll have to look for these phones if they even sell them in your area. But, the good news is that batteries have advanced tremendously relative to the power of a typical smartphone. It’s typical that a flagship phone with the best processor, sharpest screen, and most features can last a day, and that’s more than enough. Most people end the day by charging their phones, juicing them up for the next day.
Speaking of charging, an awful lot of people have surprisingly creative and unorthodox ways of caring for their phones’ batteries. Other users, however, don’t look after their phones’ batteries, which is disheartening. The battery powers your phone, and you can’t replace it unless you bring it to an official service provider or a cell phone repair shop. Either way, it’s worth exploring what kinds of things benefit or degrade a phone’s battery.
Slowing Death to a Halt
From the moment you first turn on your phone, its battery will start to degrade. It’s the truth for any storage, electrical, or not when it’s being charged/loaded and discharged/unloaded. But, since we’re talking about devices that cost upwards of $500, it’s time to develop good habits for charging your battery.
What better way to do that than nitpicking what other people do with their phones?
One of the best things mindful smartphone owners do when it comes to charging is their discipline of not letting their phones fully discharge and only charge up to a certain percent. Basically, maintaining a cycle like this puts less stress on the phone’s battery, a finicky part of any modern smartphone. There’s really no other way to manipulate charge/discharge other than using your phone less often, and that’s not a choice for people dependent on apps for work or school. Nonetheless, this way allows for longer battery life. Whether your phone is worth $500 or twice as expensive as that, this is a good habit to have.
On the other hand, trickle charging is a battery-killing habit that a lot of owners are guilty of doing every single day. Why is this bad? A phone’s battery function is to switch free electrons from negative to positive and vice versa. This is the process that degrades the battery, and if you do it more than what’s suggested, this can only mean that you’re charging your phone more times than you should and not really maximizing its capacity. Heat and constant charging are not batteries’ best friends. This is why a spectacular quoted charging speed of any phone isn’t always good. In fact, if they only offer charging speed and no proprietary software or hardware to route power directly to the components, you best believe that the battery in that phone will degrade so much quicker.
Balance is key, and it’s already figured out. Don’t let the battery reach 0% often, and don’t always charge it to 100%. This may seem confusing, but battery life is nothing but complicated. But with a few rules to live by, making it last long shouldn’t be a problem.
