Different Answers,Opinions - What is the Truth based on Scientific Data?

Off-topic Chatter
1

This is regarding taking care of a CELL PHONE battery the best possible way.From the moment of purchase.

Several years ago on the loved CPF (!) there was an extensive thread.Do not hold me to it but I think that guy Gauss( can not remember the 3 numbers after his name) either started it or was a huge contributor. He was very intelligent,sometimes too intelligent.Remember him challenfing HKJ…Eventually a few years ago He deleted ALL his posts from here!

According To the thread.The Two best ways to charge and discharge the battery was 90% charge and 40% discharge.Only using 50% of the battery.The better alternative was 80%/ 30%.I can not recall the numbers in terms of how much longer the battery will last. Supposedly it was scientifically tested and proven.

There are obviously more ways to have a longer lasting battery.Do not charge over night.Do not charge while watching Netflix or other videos.There were 2 reasons for that.I only remember One.It generates More heat while charging and using it. The other reason was something like battery gets confused as far as the charging status.

Another tip was turn the phone off while you’re charging it.

All those tips seem realistic to me and they’re the ones that I practice.There were many more, there were ones that contradicted each other so I’m not a hundred percent sure which is actually the best method. But this is what I do.

I charge 80% discharge to 30%.

Never charge while watching videos or Netflix.I did that all the time with my last phone.I sincerely think it degraded the battery I noticed after just 6 months of that.

Turn off phone while charging.

I NEVER charge overnight.Charger is removed as soon as it hits 80%.

Recent articles I read, there were Three that agreed 80% to 20% is the best. I’m doing it 80% to 30% that’s even less stress on the battery. I’m following CPF Thread suggestion!

Sure there are few more tips that I can’t think of but those are the main ones.

I just got a new Samsung S20FE on Friday the 13th!..8.13.21.

If there was threads about this, I apologize.

What are your thoughts?

2

My cellphone has a huge battery, it’s an ancient Xiaomi 4x. Quite close to EOL technically, but keeps running for 3 to 4 days typical use. Several years in my possession now.

I charge it when it wants to be charged, not caring for how long it’s on the charger. Often over night.

I’ll stay with this brand, just making sure the next phone will also have a large capacity.

3

I don’t know about Samsung, but I always fully charge my Apple stuff (phone, iPad, laptop) overnight and any time they get low, and I’ve done it since those devices first came out.

I’ve never had to change a battery, or had one lose capacity to any significant degree, and I use them until they’re technologically obsolete. For instance both my wife and I are still using iPhone 8’s, and they’re still going strong. Battery capacities are showing 86%.

I think these appliances are pretty tough. I doubt you’ll need any special procedures to get a full life span out of them.

4

I try to adhere to the 80 max/30 min rule as much as possible. If it is top priority that I have a charged phone in a particular instance without monitoring, or that I have a fully charged battery, I may break the rule. For example, if I am going out hunting I may fill the battery completely since the extra capacity matters then. Sitting at a desk at work? Yea 80% is fine for sure.

If the 80/30 rule makes using your phone a royal pain then it probably isn’t worth it. I imagine that if I had a job further away from outlets I would just fill it most of the time.

I speculate that phone manufacturers in some cases may already under-report the capacity of cells and limit it via software to increase battery life.

5

No, I actually don’t read CPF mostly because they are a blocked website where I work lol. But I think I set my phone to go into battery saving mode at 30% because otherwise I know myself and I would push it further. This way I get a clear and early indication that the battery is getting low.

6

Do not know if there is a right or wrong way.There is your way,my way and others ways of charging!

I do not think one can argue that the LEAST amount of stress on the battery is best.

Then again, you have dozens of type A personalities and numerous people who are very opionated and know it all and its there way or the high way!

7

Thanks for the graph.I think I saw that before but can not remember where! That happens when one is over 60!

8

Full charge then full discharge when I first put a cell into service. Then I do an approximation of 80/20.

My last phone lasted me 6 yrs. on the original cell. I only took that phone out of service because it didn't support voLTE and, 3G is going away. My current phone has a 4,000 MAh cell. I have a very old .180A (180 mA) Bluetooth headset charger I use to charge them both with. Slow? Yes. However, I don't use my phone much, 'cause I don't turn it on unless I leave the house. I figure slow charge is kinder to the cell than blasting it with 2 amps & don't really need faster charging.

slmjim

9

Well, I have had my iPhone for 3 years now. I use it extensively every day but here's the thing. Since day one, I've been charging up to 80%, and once a month or so it'll get charged to 100%. The last time I checked battery health, it still has 95% Maximum Capacity!

10

Your tips are correct. You just don’t have to worry so much.
I use AccuBattery for charge alarm, but it would be nice to be able to limit the maximum percentage via software, like on some sony smartphones.
You can get more info here

11

These rules of thumb regarding cellphone batteries made sense years ago. Since then, things have changed. Not only in terms of superior battery chemistry, but also more intelligent charging management in smart phones.

My Google Pixel 5 is capable of a quick charge… pretty much flat to full in about 90 minutes. Now, quick charge is a battery killer if it’s leveraged a lot. I discovered that my Pixel will do “adaptive charging,” where it’ll charge but not at the fastest rate. You can override this if you really do need your battery charged as quickly as possible. The best scenario is a slow-charge. And I have a an old Apple USB A/C adapter giving out a paltry 0.7A… and when I use this for my phone, I get an indicator “slow charging.”

That whole thing of “don’t leave your cell phone charging overnight!” is a bit of a hold-over myth, depending upon your phone. Most WILL turn off charging and NOT do a repetitious trickle charge (meaning, wait for some minutes then top-off again). So, it’s not harmful.

That said, I tend to let my phone run down to around 20% and then recharge to nearly full. Not always totally full. Occasionally, it’s good to let the battery run down to the point where the phone is giving you dire warnings of imminent shut-off. It’s sometimes referred to ‘exercising’ the battery chemistry. I tend to do that about 2~3 times a year, usually by accident (being forgetful on checking my phone’s charge level).

The “Battery University” site doesn’t look to have been updated much. Here’s a link last updated in 2017, regarding “”Tweaking of Mobile Phone Batteries”:https://batteryuniversity.com/article/tweaking-the-mobile-phone-battery”.

12

Simple answer, you phone will be obsolete way before the battery is permanently depleted.

13

Mine goes to 38% in 10 minutes with the supplied 65w fast charger :open_mouth: . The charger I use is about 2.4A and I try to keep it between 20-80% but sometimes I forget and it goes to 100%

14

That’s an okay percentage for a 4 yr old phone. Still have lots of capacity left. Let’s see if you kept your phone another 4 yrs, it’ll go down to just 72%! :smiley:

15

Not necessarily. Smartphones are now so ubiquitous and with 5G now performing at really fantastic usable speeds, the impetus to upgrade is not nearly as great as it used to be. I had my last phone for 3 years and upgraded because the battery was underperforming… to the point where the firmware had a hard time predicting the true charge level. There was also the need to change to a 5G capable phone, as my cellular provider had a better plan offering. I actually went from an average monthly cost of $32 to now $18. Saving about $170 a year. I plan to keep this phone for at least 4 years. Hopefully the smart charging tech inside it will result in a useful battery even up to that point.

16

I agree…it is kinder,but Time is of the essence!

I forgot the other tip about charging rate.I charge my Samsung Galaxy S20FE 5G at 2 amps….that is the charger I got with it.It would probably serve the battery better to use my 1 Amp Charger.I am not going to do it. At the moment it is my Only phone,computer and texting device.So I use it more than most people…no Desk top,tablet or laptop.

It is 245pm and I just charged it for the second time.Possibly one more time before bed!

EDIT: At the rate I am charging it , it will have well over 1000 charge cycles.by November.2022 when I am done paying for it and will get another phone.Who knows what shape the battery will be in by then.I need to find out what the charge cyle expectation is for this.It is a 4500mAh battery

17

My newest phone has a battery care mode where it stops charging at 85% when you turn that feature on. That happens to be 4.2 volts as opposed to the normal full charge of 4.35 ish v. The percentage indicator that you can display still shows it as 100% when you’re in battery care mode. But with GSam battery app I can look at the actual voltage. With the new pixel phones if you plug it in overnight it learns your habits and will only charge to 80% or so until right before your alarm goes off and then it finishes going to 100% right before you wake up. The idea is to limit how much time the battery spends at 100% or full charge. There’s no question that these manufacturers are looking to make customers happier by having batteries that can last in a phone for two, three or more years. My last phone was full at 4.2v and I believe zero battery percentage was somewhere around 3.3v. For flashlight batteries whether I’m using them on a regular basis or if they’re sitting unused in the house or in the vehicle summer, winter and all year round there’s no question that the battery is “happier” at 4v rather than 4.2v. I typically recharge before I get to 3.5v. So you can say that they’re cheap enough and not worry about charging to 100% or dropping down until low voltage protection cuts off on the battery or the flashlight or your phone but it’s not good for the battery no matter how you slice it.

18

The newest iPhones (all?) with iOS 13 and above also have what is called Optimized Battery Charging which only goes to 80, when the phone suspects or knows based on previous usage that it will be connected to the charger for a certain length of time and then apparently right before your alarm goes off (?) or it suspects, based on previous usage, it will be unplugged it goes to 100. The goal again is to limit how many hours per day the battery is sitting at 100%. You can override it. Location needs to be turned on.

19

80% is a good top end, 30% a good bottom end.
There is research showing the 80% part, the low battery stress is often repeated but i have not read much proving it.
If you have an android device install Accubattery, it will beep to tell you when you hit 80% and it has links to some research.

Watching netflix while its charging is no big deal, at worst it slows the charge rate. Thats not going to hurt the phone, in fact high charge rate is bad for the battery. All those fast chargers that charge more than 25% per hour are adding stress, 50%/hr is okay but not great but above that is not good for the battery. Also you can check the charge and discharge rate in real time with Accubatery and other similar apps.

Also Accubattery will let you know how much capacity you have left. Apple has capacity remaining kicking around in the settings.
It also has smart full charge, if you plug it in overnight it holds it at 80% and only goes up to 100% just before you wake up. But if you can do without 100% charge then you can do so.

I have only charged my last phone to 100% a handful of times over almost 3 years, the current phone once for testing purposes.

20

Ting. It’s an MVNO for Sprint/T-Mobile. I get good service, as the network is vast after the merger. Really great rates. It’s “pay as you go,” but done by tiers across voice, data, and text. Excellent customer service. They do support a large array of existing phones you can port over, or buy one of their offerings. I bought my Google Pixel 5 elsewhere and activated it on Ting. Here’s a link to try it with $25 free credit towards your balance: TING. No contract. You can cancel at any time with no penalties.