The article on June 25, 2021 is edited and reprinted.
Reprinted from life hacker [Japanese version]
What is the most reasonable way to charge a smartphone?
You may want to charge it while bedtime and be 100 % regularly, but then you will damage the battery and reduce the battery life.
Here's how to increase the life of a smartphone battery and why you shouldn't charge it all night.
The life of the battery is determined by the number of charging cycles
If you buy a smartphone, you want to use it for as long as possible.
But if you play with the device without permission, the warranty will be disabled.
Most people think it's troublesome to replace the battery built into the smartphone by default, so it's more and more important to use the battery.
The capacity of rechargeable batteries gradually decreases according to the number of years of use (even if it is not used).If you use it normally, the capacity should be reduced in about a year.If you use it for two years, it will be almost impossible to maintain the battery all day with a single charge.
The smartphone manufacturer identifies the average life expectancy of the smartphone through the "charging cycle of the battery".The "charging cycle" means that the battery is charged from 0%to 100%and then discharged from 0%.
The "expected number of charging cycles" is the number of charging cycles experienced by the battery before the battery capacity begins to decrease significantly.
Most rechargeable devices use lithium-ion batteries.Lithium -ion batteries are used in some form, including smartphones, steam humidifiers, laptops, teslas, and even chainsaws.
The most popular lithium -ion battery is 18650, which can pass through 300-500 full charge cycles before the capacity decreases to about 75 %.And when the capacity is reduced to 75%, an easy -to -understand problem begins to occur.
Why the lithium -ion battery deteriorates
Smartphones and tablets use lithium-ion battery variations called lithium-ion polymer (Li-poly).
Batteries using lithium polymer are characterized by high safety, small size, and fast charging speeds, but the same rules are applied to other lithium -ion batteries for battery life.
If you charge more than 80 % or less to 20 % or less, the battery deterioration will be the fastest.The amount of charging that the device works best is 50 %.
If you want to extend the life of the battery, avoid extreme things.Every time you charge up to 100 %, it is counted as one charging cycle.
If you charge or discharge between 20 and 80 %, you can perform the full charging cycle more than a thousand times before the battery capacity is significantly reduced.This is for three years when charging every day.
Why is that so?It is due to the lithium -ion battery mechanism.
The lithium -ion battery is made of cobaltic acid lithium layer and graphite layer, and emits energy when lithium ions move from the graphite layer to the lithium layer.
When the battery is charged, the ion returns to the graphite layer.Therefore, if lithium ions increase extremely to either layer, the battery will damage the battery.Excessive stuffing lithium into one layer will increase the internal resistance and impairs the integrity of the cell.
How to handle smartphone batteries correctly
So how do you handle smartphone batteries?
You may already have a bad charging habit, such as inserting a charging plug while sleeping at night.Fortunately, such bad habits can be improved without much time or effort.
Reasons why you shouldn't charge all night
When you go to bed, pull out the smartphone charging plug, get up and charge it.
Charge your smartphone is a routine when you wake up in the morning or when you're watching TV at night.
It may take about an hour to charge the device, but if the charging plug is inserted into the device while bedtime, the condition connected to the charger lasts for a long time.
Smartphone batteries cannot be overcharged.Smartphone manufacturers are taking precautionary measures to prevent overcharging.
However, if you charge up to 100 %, "Trickle charging" will be added.
In other words, enough energy is added to make up for what devices use by default.If you charge up to 100 % and leave the plug inserted, it will consume energy when you do not need it, and you will use too much battery.
In other words, 80%of charging is encouraged, but if the charging plug is inserted all night into the device, it will definitely exceed 80%.
Charging for a long time may make the battery hot, and the battery will naturally deteriorate.
In addition, it is dangerous if the smartphone is sleeping with the smartphone under the pillow, and the battery gets extremely hot.
Therefore, please do not sleep with the device under the pillow.If there is no air flow, the battery may not only hurt, but also increase the risk of fire.
In any case, don't expose your smartphone to all extreme situations.If you put it in a cold place or more than 158 ℉ (70 ° C) than 32 ℉ (0 ° C), the deterioration of the lithium -ion battery will be deteriorated.Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to put your smartphone sideways and sunbathe, or leave it in the car on extremely hot or cold days.
Can I use the app while charging my smartphone?
Do not put a heavy load on the device while charging.
In fact, many people have done it, but if you often do that, it can lead to irreparable damage.This is equivalent to overclocking the PC CPU.
Consider the adverse effects of running many apps at the same time.The smartphone gets hot and does not work correctly.This is also added to "Trickle charging".
You may want to watch YouTube videos, play your favorite game, and reach the next level with your smartphone plug in your smartphone, but it's not worth the battery.
Of course, this depends on how long you want to use your smartphone.Some people think that the contract is updated, and usually change the device every two to three years.
If you use the app regularly during charging, the speed of your smartphone will be significantly reduced in the second year after purchasing a smartphone.If you want to use your smartphone for a long time, do not use the app while charging.There is no problem to check messages and emails, but do not need a lot of energy.
How to stop charging at 80%?
Smartphone manufacturers rarely intend to make users full of battery capacity full.It's stupid to lose the extreme lithium ions on one layer.Still, if you charge up to the maximum amount that can be charged, the display will be displayed as 100%.
What should I do to prevent the device from charging beyond the recommended 80 %?There is one absolutely certain method.
It is to carefully monitor the device.
Did you surprise you, "Well, is there such a primitive way?"Of course, it is also possible to change charging habits using software.
In the case of an Android smartphone, Accubattery can show hints to improve the battery and set the percentage of capacity in the alarm.
In the case of iOS, there are not many options, but using FruitJuice can at least extend the life of the Mac.
Some laptops have a BIOS setting that can adjust the maximum charging rate of the battery.For example, Lenovo can be easily done on Windows with software called Lenovo Energy Management.
If you install this software and select "Optimization of Battery Life", the laptop battery will stop charging at 80 %.
How to not waste batteries
In addition to paying attention to the temperature and charging rate of the device, it can further extend the battery life by reducing the frequency of charging.
The lower the number of charging times, the less the charging cycle, and the longer the device.Reducing the time to time out of the screen and lowering the brightness settings can have the greatest effect.
In addition, most smartphones and some laptops have a "battery saver" option.The use of the device is rarely damaged, and the screen time of iOS is one of them.
This allows you to set the screen darker if you do not use the device for a few minutes, and you can restrict the apps, so you can promote better habits for the battery.
Incredibly, connecting to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi does not consume much battery power.However, disabling GPS and mobile data can significantly reduce battery consumption with most devices.
An environment suitable for storing smartphone battery
Even if you don't intend to use the device for a long time, the battery needs to be treated carefully.
When storing the battery, avoid the extreme environment and keep it in a cool place.The battery prefers a slightly colder environment than a hot environment.If that is not possible, put it in the same environment as the surrounding room temperature.
Also, do not charge it before storing the smartphone somewhere.50 % is the best, but there is no problem if you discharge it in a range of 40-60 %.
Upgrading smartphone devices will have a huge impact on the environment.If you use the same device for a long time, you can contribute to the global environment.
How to extend the battery life
So how do you extend the life of a smartphone battery?I listed what I could do easily.
・ Keep 20-80 % without full charge.
・ Shorten the time when charging is 100 % by not charging during bedtime.When it comes to 100%, the battery deteriorates the faster.
・ Keep the device at room temperature and avoid extremely hot and cold environments.
・ Turn off unnecessary services and reduce battery consumption.If you use a battery saver, the battery will last longer with one charge.
In the short term, you may not notice much difference.However, I would be happy if I could use my smartphone all day with a single charge one year later.
