Should you charge your phone overnight? Should you charge your phone till the battery level reaches 100%? Are you convinced that overcharging your phone is fine and will not affect its battery life? Should you put your phone on charging only after the battery level reaches 0%? It’s hard to know what to believe or what not to believe when it comes to mobile phone battery charging. Our brains are always cluttered with available information. So, this blog is to clear all your doubts regarding mobile phone battery charging.
Type of Mobile Phone Battery and How does It Work?
There are more than 80 types of batteries available nowadays. Mobile Phones consist of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries. It charges faster than other batteries. There is a chemical process that happens within the batteries when we use(discharge) or recharge the phone. You can get in-depth information about that process in this video.
When Should You Charge Your Phone?
It is always a bad idea to drain your battery to 0% level, or even closer. For long and healthy battery life, you should always connect your mobile phone to the charger as soon as the level reaches around 30-40%. And instead of charging it to the full capacity, charge your mobile phone till 80-90% only. This way it will be more beneficial to the battery’s life span.
So, the best practice to follow regularly is to connect your phone to the charger as soon as it reaches 30% and unplug it around 80%. As mentioned, mobile phones use lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have a limited life span of around 300-500 full cycles. So when you charge your mobile phone from 0 to 100%, it is considered as one cycle. Repeatedly doing so surely reduces the lifespan of the battery.
Expert’s Opinions
Mr. Hans De Vries, senior scientist and the co-author of the research paper Increasing The Cycle Life of Lithium-Ion Cells by Partial State of Charging Cycling, says that “It is possible to prolong the battery life by not completely charging or discharging. So, we’ll stay between the 20% and 80% or so.”
Smartphone manufacturer giant Samsung recommends avoiding fully discharging the battery. They advise that mobile battery levels should not go under 20%. They also recommend maintaining at least 50% of battery level, when not in use for a longer time. Huawei also recommends avoiding draining below 20%. However, they will never officially inform to not to fully charge the battery as it is one of their selling aspects.
You don’t need to teach your phone how much capacity the battery has by going from full to zero, or zero to full, charge.
Google’s recommendation for Pixel
Should You Charge Your Phone Overnight? What Happens If You Charge?
The majority of mobile users’ screen time begins the moment they open their eyes in the morning. They constantly use mobile phones all day and only put them away at night. So, the nighttime is the most suitable time for them to charge their mobile phone. And they put their mobile phone for charge before going to sleep and let it get overcharged for a full night.
Modern days mobile phones have protection chips in the batteries, which stops current from coming in once the battery level reaches 100%. So, once the battery level reaches 100%, your phone stops accepting the current. But, It’s possible that some apps and functions running in the background, even if you’re not actively using them, drain your battery.
When your mobile phone is connected to the charger for a long period of time, as soon as your phone battery reaches 99% the battery accepts the current from the charger and reaches 100%. This thing happens very frequently when the phone is connected to the charger for a long time even after reaching 100%. It is called Trickle Charging. Trickle charging reduces your phone battery’s life span in the longer run. It generates some heat that results in an increase in temperature. Heat and Cold are damaging factors for Mobile Phone Batteries.
Can You Overcharge Your Mobile Phone Battery For Extra Power Backup?
Any normal smartphone battery usually requires one to three hours to reach 100%, and it never overcharges. If you charge your phone battery for 7-8 hours, when it reaches 100%, the battery will automatically stop drawing power from the charger. As mentioned above, modern days mobile phones have protection chips in the batteries, which stops current from coming in once the battery level reaches 100%.
Thus, if you put your phone for charging thinking it would give you power backup beyond 100%, then there is no need to do this. So, now it is clear that Overcharging is not possible with smartphone batteries. Keep a separate Power Bank instead 🙂
Points To Consider To Increase The Battery Life Of Mobile Phones
- Lithium-ion batteries hate too hot and too cold temperatures. So, avoid placing your mobile phones in the heat or cold.
- It is advisable to remove the mobile case before charging so as to eliminate unnecessary heat production.
- Connect your mobile with the charger when it reaches 30%.
- Unplug the charger when it reaches 80%.
- On iPhone, for iOS 13 and later, use Optimized Battery Charging Feature. In analyze your charging habits and waits at 80% level, and only charge full before your estimated time of unplug.
- If you’re not using a mobile phone for a long time, keep your battery level at around 50% and switch off the phone. If you don’t want to switch off the phone, try to maintain the battery level at 50%.
- Avoid using low quality charging adapters and data cables to charge your mobile phones.
- You should not charge your phone overnight on regular basis.
Also Read – 11 Unique Ideas For Creating Strong Passwords
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it fatal to charge mobile battery to full capacity?
No, It is not fatal. It is only advisable to charge the battery till 80-90% for a better life span of the battery.
Can I use a refrigerator or cooler to slow down the heat or microwave to slow down the cold for Mobile Battery?
No. Never try such things. Always keep the mobile battery in the controlled temprature. Too much hot or too much cold temprature is very damaging and harmful for mobile batteries.
Which chargers and cables should we use while charging?
Only use standard data cables and charging adapters that your mobile manufacturer recommend. It is the best product for good battery life span.
Should you charge your phone overnight if you’re travelling on the next day?
Yes. Many people regularly charge their mobile phones overnight. It is just that, for a good and quality lifespan of your mobile battery, you should avoid charging overnight on regular basis. Occassionaly charging overnight won’t make a big difference.
Also Read – How To Do Mobile Radiation Check Within 2 Minutes?
Conclusion
Stay connected with DiGiTAL BiRYANi for more such amazing and useful information. As our esteemed reader, we request you to share your feedback with us. It will help us serving you with a better quality content. You can also drop a comment below and sharec your experience about reading this article.
Awesome blog, yash!
Got some really interesting points and helpful tips too so I am going to utilise them.
Keep sharing more tips in laptops too if available
Good day.
Thanks, Dipak!
Sure, Stay Connected with DiGiTAL BiRYANi for such wonderful info.
Cheers 🙂