4 habits that make smartphone batteries degrade faster

It is inevitable that smartphone batteries will degrade over time. However, you can completely 'slow down the aging process' of the battery by limiting harmful habits. Find out below.

Use a cheap or damaged charging cable

One of the worst and most dangerous habits that many smartphone users often make is using cheap or incompatible charging cables with their phones. If you've ever heard the story of a phone spontaneously catching fire, it's usually the cable or the charger's fault.

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It's best to use charging accessories from your phone manufacturer, or trusted brands. Avoid super cheap, less popular accessories as much as possible. iPhone users can count on products labeled 'Made for iPhone' to feel safe. All of this also applies to wireless chargers.

Let the battery drain to 0%

The charge cycle is the factor that most affects the life of the battery. Continuous charging and discharging cycles will gradually degrade, or simply 'bottle' the battery. It will be worse if you often have a habit of letting your phone drain to 0% before starting a recharge cycle.

It's best to charge your phone at 20-80% as often as possible. Some smartphone models today have features to help you do this, but you should also pay extra attention. In short, shorter charge cycles are better for the battery, so don't let it go below 20%, or worse, 0%.

Plug in the charger even when the battery is full

Always plugging your phone in at 100% is as bad as leaving it at 0%. Charging your phone overnight isn't necessarily bad, but you shouldn't leave it plugged in for too long after it's fully charged.

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When the battery reaches 100% charge, the system protects itself by disconnecting the power. However, as soon as the battery drops to 99%, it will be recharged to 100% again. This little cycle repeats over and over and it's not good for battery life.

The good news is that iPhones and some Android phone models now have "Adaptive" or "Optimized" charging features to reduce these short charging cycles overnight. They keep the battery at around 80% most of the night and then finish the last 20% around the user's usual wake-up time.

Let the phone overheat

Most electronic components are not thermophilic. This is especially true for batteries. Excessive heat can shorten the life of the battery quickly. That's another reason why using your phone while plugged in is something you should absolutely limit.

Heat can also come from other sources. Playing resource intensive games, leaving your phone in a hot car or in the sun. All these things can overheat your phone and damage the battery.

Still know that 'one life, three lives it', but limiting the harmful habits mentioned above is not difficult at all, while it can bring you many benefits.

Marvin Fry

Update 26 May 2022