3 Tips for Properly Charging Your Smartphone’s Battery

If you ask five people, you’ll get at least six opinions (if not more) on the best way to charge a smartphone’s battery. Be it an Apple iPhone, an Android device, or a BlackbBerry, myths abound including not letting it charge overnight and not using it while charging.

Your smartphone isn’t only smart when it comes to acting like a small computer but it also excels in the charging department. It knows when to stop charging the battery and it’s unlikely you’ll ever shorten the battery life by thoughtless charging practices.

Because lithium-ion batteries don’t have what is called “memory,” a condition in which certain types of batteries including (NiCd and NiMH) gradually lose their capacity if they are repeatedly charged after partial discharge, you can charge your devices with abandon.

Here’s what you need to know about charging your smartphone’s battery.

1.) You can charge overnight

Since modern smartphones will stop charging once 100% capacity is reached, it’s fine to charge your smartphone overnight. Unless you’re the type of person who runs out of juice every day, however, you might want to skip overnight recharging if it has 50% or more left as batteries will last longer if recharged less frequently.

2.) Don’t repeatedly drain your battery until it’s dead

While lithium-ion powered phones don’t suffer from the memory effect, they do perform better when charged. Allowing them to fully discharge repeatedly will cause them to eventually become unstable as a result of every battery having a limited number of charge/discharge cycles.

3.) Avoid extreme heat and cold

While charging temperatures should be kept within reason (32-113° F, or 0-45° C) it is safe to say that occasional trips to the beach are unlikely to cause harm, since lithium-ion batteries are happiest in conditions where you cannot fry an egg on the sidewalk.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)