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There are many myths surrounding the best battery practices. Already in this thread, there are so many conflicting replies regarding how to charge the batteries. So let's take a deeper and clear look.
Should I charge my phone overnight before the first use?
No. Not really required. Most brands ship their smartphones with battery at 50-80%. You can start using the smartphone right away after unboxing and charge it later.
Do the batteries stop charging after reaching 100%? Is it ok to leave phones plugged in overnight?
It's partially true. Although it stops the regular charging mode, it goes into trickle charging mode and tops up the battery whenever it drops below 100%. And it continues to draw a minimal amount of current even after reaching 100%. This is called idle charging. That will lead to excessive stress voltage and increased temperature on the batteries which eventually reduces battery life. So it's not a good decision to leave the phones plugged in after reaching 100%.
Do we need to go for a 0-100-0 charging cycle everytime?
No. That's not a good practice. It leads to quicker ageing of batteries. Will discuss details below.
What's the best charging practice?
Do small bursts of top up charging throughout the day. Don't go for long sessions of charging. Rather than charging 0-100 in one stretch, charge when it is around 30 and do a top up charging for short duration. Multiple short bursts of charging is better than one long session of charging.
What is top up charging and how it helps?
Top up charging is where you charge the phone for short period of time to gain considerable battery life. For example, instead of waiting for your battery to drop to 0, you charge it for 20-30min at 50% to get it back to around 80.
This top up charging method increases battery life because it prolongs the charge cycle. Your battery life depends on the number of charge cycles. Each battery is designed to withstand certain number of charge cycles and this top up charging extends that.
Can i use the mobile while plugged in?
You can. But don't use any application which would drain batteries faster. That is, watching videos or playing games with the phones plugged in, is definitely harmful for the batteries as well as you. If you have to send a short message to your boss, or a quick chat with friends, or grab a number from contact then it's ok. Because when you use apps which rapidly drain batteries, it leads to mini-cycles and hurts the batteries.
Overall view about optimal battery usage?
Current generation of Li-Ion batteries age depending on the number of charge cycles. A charge cycle is complete when you use 100% of the battery life. Let's say you have battery at 100%, you use it for a day and have 60% left, charge it again to 100 next day, and end of day 2 battery at 50%. Now you have used only 90% of actual battery life span over 2 days and the charge cycle is not yet complete. It will be completed on 3rd day. That's how batteries work. It's a myth that frequent charging hurts batteries. It actually helps. Number of times a battery is charged doesn't affect it's life, only the number of charge cycles affect it.
Note: Although it's a completely self written answer, you can verify the facts from internet before you actually believe it. I can only assure that I always try to give as much genuine information as possible.
Should I charge my phone overnight before the first use?
No. Not really required. Most brands ship their smartphones with battery at 50-80%. You can start using the smartphone right away after unboxing and charge it later.
Do the batteries stop charging after reaching 100%? Is it ok to leave phones plugged in overnight?
It's partially true. Although it stops the regular charging mode, it goes into trickle charging mode and tops up the battery whenever it drops below 100%. And it continues to draw a minimal amount of current even after reaching 100%. This is called idle charging. That will lead to excessive stress voltage and increased temperature on the batteries which eventually reduces battery life. So it's not a good decision to leave the phones plugged in after reaching 100%.
Do we need to go for a 0-100-0 charging cycle everytime?
No. That's not a good practice. It leads to quicker ageing of batteries. Will discuss details below.
What's the best charging practice?
Do small bursts of top up charging throughout the day. Don't go for long sessions of charging. Rather than charging 0-100 in one stretch, charge when it is around 30 and do a top up charging for short duration. Multiple short bursts of charging is better than one long session of charging.
What is top up charging and how it helps?
Top up charging is where you charge the phone for short period of time to gain considerable battery life. For example, instead of waiting for your battery to drop to 0, you charge it for 20-30min at 50% to get it back to around 80.
This top up charging method increases battery life because it prolongs the charge cycle. Your battery life depends on the number of charge cycles. Each battery is designed to withstand certain number of charge cycles and this top up charging extends that.
Can i use the mobile while plugged in?
You can. But don't use any application which would drain batteries faster. That is, watching videos or playing games with the phones plugged in, is definitely harmful for the batteries as well as you. If you have to send a short message to your boss, or a quick chat with friends, or grab a number from contact then it's ok. Because when you use apps which rapidly drain batteries, it leads to mini-cycles and hurts the batteries.
Overall view about optimal battery usage?
Current generation of Li-Ion batteries age depending on the number of charge cycles. A charge cycle is complete when you use 100% of the battery life. Let's say you have battery at 100%, you use it for a day and have 60% left, charge it again to 100 next day, and end of day 2 battery at 50%. Now you have used only 90% of actual battery life span over 2 days and the charge cycle is not yet complete. It will be completed on 3rd day. That's how batteries work. It's a myth that frequent charging hurts batteries. It actually helps. Number of times a battery is charged doesn't affect it's life, only the number of charge cycles affect it.
Note: Although it's a completely self written answer, you can verify the facts from internet before you actually believe it. I can only assure that I always try to give as much genuine information as possible.
