How to maximize phone battery lifespan
Now that
you bought a replacement battery for your phone, you must be determined to make
the maximum use of the battery before needing any replacement. This blog post
will deal with increasing the lifespan of mobile phone batteries. battery lifespan is the duration that a rechargeable battery
can be used before it needs replacement. Lifespan of a battery can be several
months or few years.
At the
current rate of producing new smartphones, you may hardly need to replace a
battery. It’s more likely that before the battery needs replacement, you will
upgrade to a newer model! But still if you love the phone you have and don’t
plan to sell it for an upgrade, or you are a phone enthusiast like me who keep
all the phones that you use and boast that all of them are in pristine working
condition, you are sure to find this very helpful!
First thing
to do is know your battery type. You can look at the battery or look up phone
specifications on the user manual for the battery type. Most common battery
types are
Lithium ion battery |
Li-ion Lithium Ion
Li-Poly Lithium Polymer (More precisely Lithium Ion
Polymer)
NiMH Nickel Metal Hydride
NiCd Nickel Cadmium
Almost all
new phones are powered by Lithium polymer batteries. Some new non-smart phones
have Lithium ion batteries. Nickel metal hydride and Nickel Cadmium battery
powered phones are a thing of the past.
The following tips are for all types of batteries
1. Use only batteries and chargers
built for your phone
Each
type of battery charges in different ways. For example, the basic
process to charge a Lithium polymer battery is a constant current until each
cell reaches 4.2 V. The charger must then switch to a constant voltage
mode, and the charging current will gradually reduce while the charger holds
the cell voltage at 4.2 V. In contrast a Nickel cadmium battery is charged
by a steady current.
But there is no harm in replacing the battery with another
battery of the same type and same voltage but higher mili-ampere hour rating (mAh).
This will definitely increase battery life.
2.
Use only genuine batteries and chargers from
your phone manufacturer
You may damage your phone or battery or both and even
make warranty void if you do otherwise! If you have a spare battery and want to
charge it without the phone, always use a charger built to charge that type of
batteries.
3.
Fully charge the battery for the first time.
Usually phone batteries come half charged. So insert
the new battery, switch on the phone and immediately charge fully.
4. Store the battery right
When you
want to store the battery for a long time, charge it 60% - 80% and store in a
cool dry place away from sun, dirt and dust. Don’t keep them un-used for a long
time. Take them for a ‘spin around the block’ once in a while.
5. Never abuse your battery.
Clean
the copper contacts of the battery with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. Never
put the battery in water or fire. Don’t short circuit, use with incompatible
devices, puncture or bend batteries.
6. Never try to squeeze out all the
juice from the battery
Usually
the phone will beep and switch off when battery is too low. It might even say ‘Battery
empty’. But there is little juice left in it to keep the clock ticking so that
you will not have to reset time once you charge it.
If
your phone switched off due to low battery, never ever try to switch it on
without charging. Repeatedly trying to squeeze out all the juice is the
quickest way to destroy a battery!
This applies to all rechargeable batteries,
even for laptop, ipod and camera.
Now I’m going to bust the biggest urban myths
on battery life span. Many believe that draining the battery completely and
charging fully helps to improve battery lifespan.
- For phones using a Lithium ion or Lithium polymer battery
You can use your phone while it is charging. You can charge
the battery at any time and for any duration. You can interrupt the charging
without damaging the battery. In fact, it’s better for Lithium polymer
batteries to have a ‘shallow’ charge and discharge!
But, it’s important to drain the battery fully and
charge it fully once in a few months to recalibrate the battery. Recalibration
occurs automatically once battery is low and the phone automatically switches
off. Recalibration will not increase the battery life or battery lifespan, but
it makes the onscreen battery percentage accurate.
Nickel metal hydride battery |
- For phones using a Nickel Cadmium or Nickel metal hydride battery
The
urban myth is somewhat true for the early mobile phones. The Nickel Cadmium and
Nickel metal hydroxide batteries that were used to power these old phones has a
’memory effect’. This is responsible for significant decline in battery capacity
when repeatedly charged and discharged to the same state of charge. Although
this has been observed in satellites, this has not been observed in mobile phones.
You can find more information in Wikipedia.
These tips have been experimented by me and have some valid scientific basis. I have managed to keep some phones that are about a decade old in good working condition by following these tips. If you want to share your tips, comment below!
No comments:
Post a Comment