Lithium-ion batteries in modern gadgets lose capacity because of tiny deposits that build up inside them. After about one and a half years of use, these deposits start to damage the battery’s structure. People often make this worse by letting the battery run completely flat or charging the device to its maximum capacity. To help your battery last longer, experts say you should follow the ’25–85% rule’ because extreme temperatures can be really hard on the chemicals inside the battery. They also say it’s best not to leave your phone on charge overnight. If you want to cut down on how often you have to charge your phone, it’s also a good idea to tweak your daily settings. Enable automatic screen brightness adjustment, turn off background GPS and unnecessary push notifications, and switch to power-saving mode when you need to.
The lithium-ion batteries in smartphones have a mechanism that eventually ‘kills’ them, as their capacity begins to drop sharply after around 500 charge cycles.
At the same time, people are shortening the lifespan of their devices without realising it, even expensive ones, according to Blikk. But experts say there are a few easy tricks you can use to slow down this wear and tear.
They explained that if you use your phone a lot, the battery will reach its limit after about a year and a half, after which it will start to discharge much more rapidly.
The publication explained that the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries in phones, tablets and laptops is measured in charge cycles. A full cycle is when the device charges from 0 to 100%, and the more cycles the device goes through, the faster its capacity decreases.
Every time you charge the battery, tiny deposits are created inside it because of chemical reactions. After about 500 full cycles, these deposits reach a critical level and damage the battery’s structure so much that its capacity drops a lot.
Don’t worry about getting it to 100%
To make your phone last longer, experts say just try to keep the charge level between 25% and 85%.
They explained that the two extremes for lithium-ion cells – fully discharged and fully charged – put the most strain on the battery. Also, if you leave your phone on charge overnight, this makes the battery wear out faster.
Other ways to protect your battery
If you don’t want to get too close to the ‘critical percentages’, it’s worth adopting some simple daily habits:
- Optimise brightness: reduce the display brightness or use automatic adjustment;
- Disable unnecessary features: turn off GPS running in the background and push notifications from unnecessary apps;
- Power-saving mode: if you know you’re in for a long day, don’t wait until the battery runs out – switch to power-saving mode straight away.
These changes can really help to make your phone’s battery last longer, so you won’t need to replace it as quickly or buy a new one.