You’ve been charging your phone wrong, but here's how you can fix that
PROTECTING the battery inside your smartphone – be it an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Nokia – is key to the longevity of your device. Here's some advice from the experts to help you do exactly that.
Experts claim leaving your smartphone on charge overnight causes stress on the battery
If you leave your smartphone plugged in and charging overnight, you might be doing more harm than good.
This is according to battery company Cadex, which issued some important battery health advice to ShortList magazine.
It said: “Li-ion (lithium-ion) does not need to be fully charged as is the case with lead acid, nor is it desirable to do so.
“In fact, it is better not to fully charge because a high voltage stresses the battery.”
In a nutshell, once your smartphone has reached capacity, it will start to administer “trickle charges” to the battery, to prevent it from getting too low.
Most smartphones use lithium-ion batteries which deteriorate over time
According to Cadex, this can put the battery under unnecessary stress.
To prevent this, you’ll need to unplug your device from the mains as soon as it hits 100 per cent charge.
Granted, this can be a little tough to do when you’re fast asleep.
According to Cadex, the preferable alternative is to charge your device intermittently throughout the day rather than in eight-hour burst overnight.
That’s certainly not as convenient, but the battery firm believes it could help your battery life go further in the long run.
Other charging tips –
Use a mains plug, rather than a plugging the phone into your laptop
Switching your phone to aeroplane mode can help your smartphone charge faster
Using a fast charger all the time can damage the health of your battery