Smartphones are like an extension of our soul. Our day doesn’t feel complete when we don’t have our phone on our sides. From fulfilling our professional to personal needs, our phones have become our convenient assistants to keep up with our lifestyles. So it’s only normal for us to charge it every time the battery’s drained so it can serve its purpose longer.
But little do we know that most of our charging habits are damaging our battery’s life.
To prevent this from happening and keep your beloved phone on its optimum level, avoid these 9 charging mistakes ASAP. When you steer clear of these mistakes, you’re guaranteed a longer lifespan for your battery. You might notice an improvement in your phone’s performance!
1. Waiting for your phone’s battery to drain
The older generation of mobile phones required us to drain our batteries first before plugging the charger in. But that was the case before with nickel-based batteries.
Today, you don’t need to drain your battery to 0% to charge your phone. Once it reaches 50% or so, you can grab your charger and power it up for a day’s worth of use.
This is due to smartphones using Li-ion batteries instead. The more you drain your phone’s Li-ion battery, the more you shorten its lifespan.
It doesn’t have the same battery memory as the nickel-based ones too, so when you drain it completely, that’s it. You won’t enjoy some saved battery power when you turn it off for a while, unlike our Nokia phones back then.
2. Charging the battery to 100%
Another charging mistake we unconsciously make is draining our battery, then charging it to 100%. Li-ion batteries perform best when the battery charge is around 30% to 80%. When you “deep charge” it to reach 100%, the high voltage from the electric current stresses your battery, causing it to overheat and gradually decrease its lifespan.
Smartphones only have a limited number of charging cycles, so if you exceed beyond that, you might stress your phone more. It’s ideal to charge your phone when it drops below 30, and plug it off when it reaches 80.
3. Leaving your phone charging overnight
We’ve had those moments when we’re too busy to remember our phone’s plugged in on the outlet. But little do we know that leaving it charged overnight or for a long period can overstress your battery life. When this happens frequently, your battery’s performance decreases, and you may notice your battery draining faster than usual when in use.
Also, when you leave it charging while you’re sleeping, the battery may overheat and might explode.
No matter how convenient it may look, don’t charge your phone when you’ll be away longer. Smartphones only take two to three hours to charge at 80%. If you can wait or plug it in an outlet or power bank near you, the better.
Even if your smartphone can cut off power once it’s fully charged, it’s still ideal to plug it off when it reaches 80%.
4. Leaving your phone case while charging
Smartphones can overheat while charging, so if you leave your phone case on, the heat gets trapped. If that happens, the temperature rises and the battery becomes stressed.
And if your phone case is made of plastic, it might burn and damage your smartphone more.
So before charging your phone next time, remove your phone case first. This might help increase your phone’s performance too because the battery’s functioning well in an ideal environment.
5. Using a different charger (and a low-quality one)
Misplaced your charger somewhere? Better keep looking for it or buy a replacement at a recognized seller instead. When you use a different charger designed for a different model or brand, the circuit control doesn’t match with your smartphone. They might not recognize the amount of power the battery requires too.
As a result, the different charger may recharge your phone slower than usual. Or worse, it may deliver the same power as your real charger but causes the battery to overheat instead of recharging it.
Also, remember not to settle for a low-quality charger. These cheap replacements are made with flimsy materials. They don’t have a circuit control to stop the electrical charge from flowing when it reaches 100%. In turn, they have a higher chance to overheat and burn while in use.
6. Using battery-saving apps
Unless it’s pre-installed or recommended by the phone’s manufacturer, stay away from those apps advertised for battery optimization. The only things they’re good at are consuming your phone’s space and deliver unwanted ads. Some apps can even strain your battery more than intended, failing its promised job to optimize your battery.
Most phones already have a built-in battery saving mode anyways, so no point in installing an app for that. Try checking your settings if your phone has one.
7. Quick-charging frequently
Powerbanks usually have the quick-charge feature, where it delivers more electrical power to charge your phone faster than your usual charging time. While it may sound convenient, it’s not ideal in the long run. The power surge from quick charging causes battery strain. If you keep charging in this mode, then you’re slowly killing your battery.
However, if your phone comes with a fast-charging feature, then you have nothing to worry about.
8. Using your phone while charging
Draining your battery while refilling the battery’s power is not an ideal way to prolong your smartphone’s life. Imagine the confusion your battery is in when you use it while charging. Should I recharge my power or use it to support the phone’s activities? It’s severe stress for your battery.
9. Thinking twice before consulting an expert for your battery problems
When you notice something’s different with your phone’s performance, consult a repair specialist immediately. You never know, you might be one charge away from a bigger problem, like an exploding battery or a fried smartphone.
Some repair specialists sell authorized battery replacements for some phone models too. Or if not, they can recommend the authorized sellers you can buy a replacement from.
