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Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives, and undoubtedly, we all want to maintain our phone's battery life for as long as possible. However, some practices to conserve battery life and maintain battery health are outdated. In this article, we'll debunk some of these misconceptions surrounding smartphone batteries.
Only keep frequently used apps running in the background
Typically, users tend to keep numerous apps running in the background on their phones, which can help conserve battery life to some extent. However, there are some considerations to keep in mind. While we often have several apps running simultaneously throughout the day, it's better to let frequently used apps run in the background. For less frequently used apps, it's advisable to close them entirely.
In reality, app developers have optimized their apps to use as little data as possible when running in the background and to suspend operations entirely after a period of inactivity. Constantly force closing apps can waste time and impact battery lifespan and performance, particularly for heavy app users.
Should you drain your battery to 0% before charging regularly?
In reality, it's not advisable to let your phone's battery frequently drop to 0% as it significantly impacts the battery's lifespan. Charging your phone before it completely runs out of energy helps prolong the battery's durability.
However, once or twice a year, it's recommended to fully discharge the battery in your smartphone to allow the lithium-ion battery to recalibrate itself. This practice doesn't affect the battery's lifespan and ensures the phone's software can accurately report the battery percentage.
Avoid using your phone while charging
Using your phone while it's charging is a habit many people have fallen into. Smartphones' batteries are not suited to high temperatures, meaning charging increases their temperature, and using them while charging further raises it. The ideal temperature range for phone batteries is between 25 to 30°C.
This also implies that constantly pressing buttons on your phone, or gaming under the hot sun, significantly impacts the lifespan of your phone's battery.
Fast charging and wireless charging reduce battery lifespan
There have been numerous opinions stating that using wireless charging and fast charging deteriorates the battery due to excessive heat generation, causing degradation of various aspects of the battery. Technically, this is true because fast charging produces more heat in a short period compared to regular charging.
However, nowadays, wireless charging and fast charging are becoming increasingly common, and manufacturers have developed them to make charging through these methods safer. But in terms of durability, it's still not as impressive as regular charging.
- Learn more: Is wireless charging becoming more popular, but is it the “culprit” behind smartphone battery degradation?
Overnight charging harms your device
With the mechanism of charging to 100% and then stopping, followed by discharging the battery slowly and recharging to 100%, this cycle repeats throughout the night and it will affect your phone. Currently, there are still some smartphone models that do not have the capability to manage charging according to this algorithm, although the number is small. Feel free to plug in your charger before diving into sleep to have a fully charged phone ready for the next day's use.
Turning on Bluetooth, WiFi, etc., drains battery
It's probably something every smartphone user knows: turning on any feature on your mobile phone consumes battery power, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, background data, mobile data, etc.
When you put your phone in airplane mode and turn it into a brick, your phone will conserve the most energy, but that's unnecessary. The battery consumption when enabling these features mentioned above doesn't significantly affect our overall usage time. Therefore, there's no need to overthink this issue.
Overall, smartphones today are becoming increasingly expensive. We have to spend a lot of money to own them. However, ultimately, phones are only meant to serve our usage purposes, so let's use them smartly without excessively pampering them to the point of dependency and unnecessary protection.
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