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5 everyday mistakes that could be destroying your phone battery
Whenever I talk to family or friends about why they had to upgrade to a new phone, the number one reason I always hear is that their old phone’s battery wasn’t lasting long enough anymore. It's not that the phone runs slow, or it's out of storage, or they don’t like the look of it. The key culprit is always battery life. People rightfully care about their phone’s battery and want it to last all day.
The truth is that phone batteries will naturally degrade no matter what you do. That's just how the science behind the lithium-ion cells in most phones works. While it’s impossible to stop battery degradation completely, there are things you can do to help mitigate it and slow it down. Smartphone batteries have gotten a lot better over the past decade, whether you use an iPhone or an Android.
The hardware and software on phones has become more efficient in aiding battery life and health, but there are still things you can do to help preserve your phone’s battery life and achieve that extra bit of longevity you may desire. Here is what to take note of and look out for when it comes to preventing damage to your smartphone battery.
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Letting your phone die
But make sure you plug it in before it hits zero
We’ve all had it happen before, and it’s not the end of the world if your phone battery completely dies occasionally. But the easiest way to protect your phone’s battery is not to let it drain all the way to zero.
Doing this frequently will degrade the battery and reduce its health and charging capacity. How, you may ask?
The best way to prevent your phone from getting too close to zero is to plug it in when you get the low battery notification...
Fully discharging the battery regularly will accelerate its chemical degrading process, as the materials in the battery are more strained when the device is recharging back to life. This strain on the chemicals reduces the battery’s health, therefore slightly increasing the rate at which the battery is naturally degrading. The best way to prevent your phone from getting too close to zero is to plug it in when you get the low battery notification, typically when it has a 20% charge left. Doing this will help preserve your phone’s battery health.
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Extreme temperatures aren't great
Look out for overheating and frigid conditions
Extreme temperature conditions can damage your phone’s battery. Phones are designed and tested to operate and charge in specific temperature conditions, and your phone battery will be affected when exposed to extreme heat or cold.
Apple states on its website, “Avoid using or charging your device in ambient temperatures higher than 95° F (35° C), which can permanently reduce battery lifespan.” The heat accelerates the chemical reactions in the phone’s lithium-ion battery, causing it to degrade faster. This isn’t to say using your phone during the summer or in the heat will kill its battery health, but just be mindful when charging it and using it. If it’s getting too hot, let your phone cool down. Most phones will notify you if it is too hot to operate.
For example, I recently received a notification on my iPhone that it had stopped charging because of heat. It was a hot day, and I had to wait for my phone to cool down before I could charge it safely without damaging the battery. This only took a few minutes, but it shows that heat affects the battery and charging.
The cold does affect your battery, too. Typically, extreme cold slows down the chemical reaction in your battery rather than speeding it up. This makes your battery less efficient and reduces its capacity, as the phone uses more power to keep the battery and its components warm and at an optimal operating temperature. To protect your phone’s battery, be mindful of the weather conditions and let your phone recover if it gets too hot or too cold.
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Bad chargers and cables are a key culprit
Use the manufacturer's charger or a trusted brand
Using a trusted phone charger and cable is an easy way to prevent damaging your phone’s battery. Typically, the one included with your phone from the manufacturer is always the best bet. But, there may be some instances where you no longer have the original and need a new cable and wall brick.
A lousy charger could damage your phone’s battery if it does not apply the correct voltage, degrading it more quickly. So, when in the market for a new phone charger and cable, buy from the manufacturer or a trusted third-party brand, such as Anker and Belkin, that will safely provide the correct voltage and adequately charge your phone battery.
Avoiding cheap or flimsy cables to charge your phone protects it and its battery.
Cables are also something to look out for. For instance, I once bought a cheap cable from a convenience store to charge my iPhone in my car. Little did I know the cable was not up to par and caused my phone to heat up and barely charge at all. Simply by switching to my regular Apple charging cable, my phone charged perfectly fine. Avoiding cheap or flimsy cables to charge your phone protects it and its battery.
The Ugreen 300W 48000mAh Power Bank doesn't quite meet its promised charging numbers, but it is still well worth having on hand.
Not using optimized charging
Let your smartphone protect its battery itself
Most phones have built-in protective measures that automatically stop charging once they reach maximum capacity. Therefore, overcharging your phone and destroying the battery is more of a myth than a fact.
However, there is still a chance of your battery becoming slightly degraded from continually charging your phone at 100%, as it is still cycling a little bit of energy and power to stay topped up at 100%.
Most phones now have adaptive charging settings to help manage charging and optimize it based on your usage. On iPhones, this feature is known as Optimized Battery charging. On Pixels, it’s called Adaptive Charging. On Samsung phones, it’s called Battery Protection. While they may have different names, they all have the same intention: to optimize battery charging and prolong battery health.
...dont worry about keeping your phone plugged in overnight or for 100% too long
On my iPhone, I take advantage of Optimized Battery charging every day. When I plug my phone in at night, it automatically stops charging at 80% and starts charging to 100% closer to my scheduled alarm; that way, my battery is fully charged just in time for me to wake up.
To sum up, don’t worry about keeping your phone plugged in overnight or for 100% too long. Its risk to battery health is minor, and phones are more intelligent than ever; they’ll optimize your charging and reduce the risk of trickle charging and degrading your phone battery.
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Keep an eye on time
The age-old answer is still key
Time is simply the most significant factor in damaging your battery. No matter how well you care for your phone’s battery, how many optimization settings you use, or how conservatively you use your phone and charge it, the passage of time will degrade the battery; that’s life.
As your phone’s lithium-ion battery depletes and is charged daily, its chemical materials deteriorate naturally. The more charging cycles the battery goes through over time, the less charge it holds, resulting in reduced battery life.
Most phones have the option to let you view your phone’s battery health in the settings menu, or by using an app, so you can monitor it over time. Mine typically degraded about 10% in two years on my last two iPhones, from 100% to 90%. It’s just time.
While you can’t prevent the passage of time, you can mitigate its effects on your battery by looking out for things that damage your phone battery, like the ones I’ve mentioned in this story.
