Battery life: frequent micro charges vs more spaced charges - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

What is best in terms of battery longevity?
1 - Wait until battery level fall below a certain level (and which % is ideal to start charging)
or
2- Charge the battery as frequently soon as possible
Thanks for any advice

Lithium batteries last longer if you do not disharge them all the way..
I don't have reference material handy. If you really want some, I will try and find some again..
But basically charge the battery whenever you can or at least do not let it go below say 20 or 25 percent if you are concerned about that. Since our devices have a replaceable battery I do not stress out over it too much. If I cut 6 months off the battery and it only lasts me a year or so, I can always just put in a new one, they are not that expensive..
Now on a device without a replaceable battery is where you really have to be concerned..

Drain till 20% then recharge it. Best way to use lithium battery.

kyokeun1234 said:
Drain till 20% then recharge it. Best way to use lithium battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you gentlement for your advice. So far, I connect the USB cable each time I sit at the desk. Even if battery is 9x% full. I will stop doing this now.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
says it's best to keep the battery charged. best to keep the battery levels at 40-90%

ceejay83 said:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
says it's best to keep the battery charged. best to keep the battery levels at 40-90%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh, I heard it was around 20%~80%...

kyokeun1234 said:
Huh, I heard it was around 20%~80%...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea could be, just don't discharge or overcharge the battery :good:

i haven't looked into it lately. but i'm pretty sure our phones don't discharge the battery till it's technically at 0% (~3V)
i'll run my phone down tonight and check it with a mutlimeter to verify...
i wouldn't be surprised to find out the phone stops charging the battery before it's at a true 100% either. so i guess i'll check that too.

crazy talk said:
i wouldn't be surprised to find out the phone stops charging the battery before it's at a true 100% either. so i guess i'll check that too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was also puzzled by the warning of overcharging issue. I read somewhere that the GalNexus has an electronic which prevents overcharging. I am very interested by your verification if that is true. Because frankly, it would be very inconvenient to wake in the middle of every night to disconnect the charger.

2LoT said:
I was also puzzled by the warning of overcharging issue. I read somewhere that the GalNexus has an electronic which prevents overcharging. I am very interested by your verification if that is true. Because frankly, it would be very inconvenient to wake in the middle of every night to disconnect the charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are wall chargers that have timers on them, they shut off power after a custom time

You can't overcharge a phone by leaving it plugged in all night, the charging circuit only allows it to charge to a certain point. You can overcharge a phone by plugging it in everytime it hits 90% because you're being all OCD about it. Over time that will screw up your battery

The main thing you want to avoid is heat, which will seriously degrade the life of the battery. I only charge my phone once a day(before I go to bed). I've been doing this since I got my first Android device(well, my Nexus S had to be charged like 3 times a day :| ) and have never run into any premature battery failures.

speedyink said:
You can't overcharge a phone by leaving it plugged in all night, the charging circuit only allows it to charge to a certain point. You can overcharge a phone by plugging it in everytime it hits 90% because you're being all OCD about it. Over time that will screw up your battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that's what overcharging mean? Ok thanks.

speedyink said:
You can't overcharge a phone by leaving it plugged in all night, the charging circuit only allows it to charge to a certain point. You can overcharge a phone by plugging it in everytime it hits 90% because you're being all OCD about it. Over time that will screw up your battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite the opposite is true, regarding the second part of your reply, actually.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Actually, it's never a bad time to charge a lithium battery because the charge you are using is always the oldest added. Consider it as a bucket with golf balls and a hole at the bottom. You load golf balls from the top and use them one at a time from the hole on the bottom.
All lithium batteries have circuitry built into them to prevent overcharging but at the same time the circuitry needs power to operate. If you drain your battery down to nothing and leave it uncharged for a long time the circuitry will drain the reserve and you will not be able to charge it at all.
Another fact about lithium batteries is that you can charge them more times than their natural life span. So as soon as a battery is manufactured it starts to go bad just sitting on a shelf. So buy them fresh. They have thousands of charge cycles and only about 2-3 years life. So even if you charge all cells inside 2-3 times daily (remember the bucket analogy) that's only about 1,000 charges in a year.
Also, you could plug your phone in and out 100 times during one day and still not complete one full charge cycle.
Conclusion ; charge it whenever you can, whenever you want. You'll need a new battery in about 2-3 years anyway in which time you'll most likely get a new phone.

Thanks obsanity. Oh wow, this is indeed even better. Thank you very much for the technical background explanation.
So as soon as a battery is manufactured it starts to go bad just sitting on a shelf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are those the cheap batteries you find on eBay, the kind of $20 for 3 batteries?

2LoT said:
Thanks obsanity. Oh wow, this is indeed even better. Thank you very much for the technical background explanation.
Are those the cheap batteries you find on eBay, the kind of $20 for 3 batteries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the cheap ebay batteries use a cheap/inferior chemistry. they may be capable of the same Mah as stock for example when new, but i wouldn't count on it to age as well compared to OEM.

obsanity said:
Actually, it's never a bad time to charge a lithium battery because the charge you are using is always the oldest added. Consider it as a bucket with golf balls and a hole at the bottom. You load golf balls from the top and use them one at a time from the hole on the bottom.
All lithium batteries have circuitry built into them to prevent overcharging but at the same time the circuitry needs power to operate. If you drain your battery down to nothing and leave it uncharged for a long time the circuitry will drain the reserve and you will not be able to charge it at all.
Another fact about lithium batteries is that you can charge them more times than their natural life span. So as soon as a battery is manufactured it starts to go bad just sitting on a shelf. So buy them fresh. They have thousands of charge cycles and only about 2-3 years life. So even if you charge all cells inside 2-3 times daily (remember the bucket analogy) that's only about 1,000 charges in a year.
Also, you could plug your phone in and out 100 times during one day and still not complete one full charge cycle.
Conclusion ; charge it whenever you can, whenever you want. You'll need a new battery in about 2-3 years anyway in which time you'll most likely get a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the clarification!

2LoT said:
Are those the cheap batteries you find on eBay, the kind of $20 for 3 batteries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say they are not only old but also fake claims of capacity. It's actually hard to measure how much a battery can hold so they take advantage of it. Who's going to prove them wrong?

system shutdown occurs on the Galaxy Nexus at 3.39 volts (assumed, measured voltage with no load is 3.42)
in theory you could get a bit better battery life at the cost of cell longevity by running it down to 3.2 volts. assuming the system could continue to function.
EDIT: full system charge is 4.2 volts, as expected. i don't see a practical benefit to modifying the system to run at below 3.4 volts, even if possible.

Related

New battery & how to condition it

I'm ordering a spare battery; what is the best way to give it it's first charge / how should I condition it?
I don't think a lithium ion battery needs to be "conditioned" since it does not have the "memory" effect. It's usually the battery stats on the phone that can mess up the reading.
I would probably just make sure it is fully charged when switching them to be more accurate. But, I'm no expert...
Vangelis13 said:
I'm ordering a spare battery; what is the best way to give it it's first charge / how should I condition it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I'm fairly sure I'd read somewhere that it should be fully charged before turning on the phone for the first time & after that do a couple full cycles (full-empty-full) etc..?
Yes, a full charge before using is recommended (I've also heard to let it sit on the charger for a couple more hours after it is charged helps) and maybe a few full "cycles" after that. But, like I said, I'm no expert and I, personally, have had no issues with my battery
Vangelis13 said:
Thanks for the reply.
I'm fairly sure I'd read somewhere that it should be fully charged before turning on the phone for the first time & after that do a couple full cycles (full-empty-full) etc..?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
live4nyy said:
I don't think a lithium ion battery needs to be "conditioned" since it does not have the "memory" effect. It's usually the battery stats on the phone that can mess up the reading.
I would probably just make sure it is fully charged when switching them to be more accurate. But, I'm no expert...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, it's not for the battery but for the phone stats. Lithium ion batteries are fully conditioned at the factory before being sent out. It's the last step in the actual cell manufacturing process.
Yes, I work for a lithium ion battery manufacturer. We make larger cells (not the tiny ones in a phone battery) but I have contacts and friends that work for other manufacturers that do make the little ones and they're basically all the same.
i ordered too 1800mah batteries cause i couldnt find any 1950s...they both arrived dead i waited 30 mins to charge and turn the phone on, and the other one is extremely dead it shows charging for a few minutes and then the red light turns off
so far the one i charged to 100% isnt working how i would have liked it dropped to 50% within a few hours and i charged it to 100 again and it dropped to 80 very quickly im gonna let it die tonight hopefully i get them to work good
Sorry about your bad experience.
Don't know what you purchased or the vendor, but I purchased a 3200 mAh batt from Siedio and am quite happy with it. I've been using it for over a month and get heavy use of my Atrix. High quality batteries are not cheap. Don't get the $20 dollar specials. (I have no financial interest in Siedio, I'm sure there are other vendors with quality batteries).
Battery calibration has been a challenge but I think I have a solution. I'll know in a few days as I'm presently recalibrating. It would have been so much easier if Moto had added a 5 cent current sensor to the phone.
I wouldn't worry too much about conditioning it. Just use it like you regularly would any other battery. Most horrible battery life comes from the way Android handles the battery stats. In my experience, most Li-ion batteries seem to really get their most effective use cycles after about a week or 2 of consistent usage. If you're experiencing some really drastic battery drops though, that's when it may be time to recalibrate the battery stats or start questioning the rom/radio/kernel that you're using.
k0sun7eash3d said:
I wouldn't worry too much about conditioning it. Just use it like you regularly would any other battery. Most horrible battery life comes from the way Android handles the battery stats. In my experience, most Li-ion batteries seem to really get their most effective use cycles after about a week or 2 of consistent usage. If you're experiencing some really drastic battery drops though, that's when it may be time to recalibrate the battery stats or start questioning the rom/radio/kernel that you're using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. However, unless you're impatient, charging it to full shouldn't do you any harm
For Lithium ion batteries, I've always put them immediately on the charger, let them go to 100%. Then unplug and let it completely die (that is, let it get so low the phone turns itself off) without pluging in. Then charge back to 100%. After that, use as normal. Doing this has gotten me long battery life, both short and long term compared to others I know who dont do that.
When I bought my phone the Bell representative said to fully charge then discharge the battery. I thought that you aren't supposed to do this though because Li-Ion batteries lose some of their maximum life when you do that. Only Ni-Cad batteries needed conditioning like that.
I could be wrong though. Would be nice to know proper procedure for this kind of thing
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
You're right, lithium ion batteries should not be fully discharged but it does help the first time to get the battery reading accurate. After that just charge whenever. It only really becomes a problem if you let it go dead too often.
Sparx10 said:
When I bought my phone the Bell representative said to fully charge then discharge the battery. I thought that you aren't supposed to do this though because Li-Ion batteries lose some of their maximum life when you do that. Only Ni-Cad batteries needed conditioning like that.
I could be wrong though. Would be nice to know proper procedure for this kind of thing
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
live4nyy said:
You're right, lithium ion batteries should not be fully discharged but it does help the first time to get the battery reading accurate. After that just charge whenever. It only really becomes a problem if you let it go dead too often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. There's two reasons store reps tell you to discharge and charge the battery at least one complete cycle before using the phone. The first is that they're stuck in the past and think li-ion tech is the same as NiMH. The second and more sound reason is that it helps to set the battery statistics. If you're one of those people who loves to mod their phones right when they open the box, you could theoretically bypass this step by rooting and charging to 100%, and then just doing a manual battery recalibration by wiping the battery stats.
jbg1 said:
i ordered too 1800mah batteries cause i couldnt find any 1950s...they both arrived dead i waited 30 mins to charge and turn the phone on, and the other one is extremely dead it shows charging for a few minutes and then the red light turns off
so far the one i charged to 100% isnt working how i would have liked it dropped to 50% within a few hours and i charged it to 100 again and it dropped to 80 very quickly im gonna let it die tonight hopefully i get them to work good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah - if these are the Chinese jobs that came with the charger on Ebay, I got them too. They drop REALLY fast down to 5%, then I get at least another 24 hours out of them. It's crazy. I have tried to recalibrate by removing battery stats, but these haven't gotten any more accurate in several full charge / discharge cycles.
I suppose I will use them as spares, and just understand that the meter is not accurate on them. I still get a minimum two days with these cells. Will see how long they last. With batteries, you do get what you pay for.

Best advice for sharging battery for first use out of box?

so what is the best thing to do?
is there any way of charging,dis charging ect to get the best battery life?
or should i just charg it to 100% and use it right away?
i did a charging squence with my nexus s. but duno about the Gn.
for me is to turn on the device and start working until the battery drops to 0-1%.
only then im charging it X2 then needed to go to 100%, you can make it Double if you want.
Well, this is going to be one of those threads where everyone has their own little way to care for a battery and others say their way is better, etc, etc the arguments breaking out which will result in people posting www.batteryuniversity.com in an effort to win said arguments.
Here's mine. On a brand new phone, I put the battery in, boot up, connect the charger, run it to 100%, disconnect charge, run battery all the way down, connect the charge, run to 100% and go about my life charging when I need to.
My two cents. Have no idea if it does any good, but my SGSII is going on 1 day 14 hrs on a single charge, so it must work somehow...
ericshmerick said:
Well, this is going to be one of those threads where everyone has their own little way to care for a battery and others say their way is better, etc, etc the arguments breaking out which will result in people posting www.batteryuniversity.com in an effort to win said arguments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100% Agree. There will be a lot of different opinions.
ericshmerick said:
Here's mine. On a brand new phone, I put the battery in, boot up, connect the charger, run it to 100%, disconnect charge, run battery all the way down, connect the charge, run to 100% and go about my life charging when I need to.
My two cents. Have no idea if it does any good, but my SGSII is going on 1 day 14 hrs on a single charge, so it must work somehow...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My way,
Turn on phone, charge it to 100%, leave it plugged for an extra 20 min, and start using it normally.
The only time I discharge a battery is after a couple of months. Because we never charge it to 100% and they start creating memory and charging less and less every time. The purpose of discharging it completely is to erase its memory. That's why when it is new, I see no point on discharging it completely. Batteries suffer every time they are completely discharged and if they are left 100% for a long period of time, thats why new batteries always come charged about 50%, to extend battery life since they may be stored for a long period of time. (ref. aviation school)
Just my 2 cents.
sstang2006 said:
The only time I discharge a battery is after a couple of months. Because we never charge it to 100% and they start creating memory and charging less and less every time. The purpose of discharging it completely is to erase its memory. That's why when it is new, I see no point on discharging it completely. (ref. aviation school)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That hasn't been true since NiCd's in the 1980s.
Modern Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer batteries have no "memory" and are actively damaged if allowed to discharge fully.
HooloovooUK said:
That hasn't been true since NiCd's in the 1980s.
Modern Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer batteries have no "memory" and are actively damaged if allowed to discharge fully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I may be wrong I'm no expert.
Why do people keep discharging them to 0% if they have no memory? (I'm not been sarcastic)
sstang2006 said:
Why do people keep discharging them to 0% if they have no memory? (I'm not been sarcastic)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally because they don't know any better and they don't realise battery technology has moved on.
Because batteries "back in the days" were quite sensitive to memory. That's why we were all raised by the complete-discharge-mantra, which sticks with you forever. The next generation won't have this problem and will feel free to charge their phones when they want to. ;-)
sstang2006 said:
OK, I may be wrong I'm no expert.
Why do people keep discharging them to 0% if they have no memory? (I'm not been sarcastic)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Becouse android in itself keeps a battery log, it is from this log your device calculates the amount of battery you have left. To keep these values true (calibrated) you should do 2-3 cycles where you on purchase, discharge fully until device auto shut down, start it WITHOUT charge a couple of times and let it die to set the min value, charge up to 100%, use your device again till auto shut down... you dont have to worry about damaging your battery in this case since your device it programmed to shut down with good marginal of battery depletion. What you SHOULD NOT do is leave an empty battery uncharged for a long period of time.
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
Lithium batteries will be damaged if they are stored fully charged or fully discharged for extended periods of time. Thats why the battery is about half charged when its new. They have no memory effect, they just loose capacity.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
Tjotte said:
Becouse android in itself keeps a battery log, it is from this log your device calculates the amount of battery you have left. To keep these values true (calibrated) you should do 2-3 cycles where you on purchase, discharge fully until device auto shut down, start it WITHOUT charge a couple of times and let it die to set the min value, charge up to 100%, use your device again till auto shut down... you dont have to worry about damaging your battery in this case since your device it programmed to shut down with good marginal of battery depletion. What you SHOULD NOT do is leave an empty battery uncharged for a long period of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. While it's important not to fully discharge the battery too often, there is also the issue of calibrating the battery meter.
ericshmerick said:
Well, this is going to be one of those threads where everyone has their own little way to care for a battery and others say their way is better, etc, etc the arguments breaking out which will result in people posting www.batteryuniversity.com in an effort to win said arguments.
Here's mine. On a brand new phone, I put the battery in, boot up, connect the charger, run it to 100%, disconnect charge, run battery all the way down, connect the charge, run to 100% and go about my life charging when I need to.
My two cents. Have no idea if it does any good, but my SGSII is going on 1 day 14 hrs on a single charge, so it must work somehow...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I do, had 14 hours of moderate use today and still had 45% left. More than happy with that. It seems to be getting better each day at the moment.
Crin said:
That's exactly what I do, had 14 hours of moderate use today and still had 45% left. More than happy with that. It seems to be getting better each day at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
78% after 14 hours here, but that's light use.
sstang2006 said:
OK, I may be wrong I'm no expert.
Why do people keep discharging them to 0% if they have no memory? (I'm not been sarcastic)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole "discharging the battery fully" thing doesn't really apply here - because nobody will ever fully discharge it. The Nexus uses a Lithium Ion cell - it's a single cell, with a nominal voltage of 3.6V. When fully charged, it peaks at 4.2V (at which point, the charging circuitry cuts off to avoid overcharging). However, when we "fully discharge" our phones, the cell only goes as low as 3.5V - and then the phone shuts off.
In reality, lithium cells can discharge to around 3.0V before any damage occurs. However, this would yield very little extra battery life. Stopping at 3.5V provides a wide safety margin (lithium cells are potentially dangerous if overcharged/discharged), whilst extending cell life.
In a nutshell - don't worry about running your phone down to 0% (unless you're putting it in storage, in which case leave it at about 60%). In fact, it's a good thing with a new phone, as cycling (charging and discharging a cell) helps to "wake" the cell up and reach it's max capacity more quickly.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
i see some good ideas about charging and discharging.
but it is indeed a fact that 100% and 0%(real) isnt good for our new race of battery's.
but a few posts here already tell how and what.
and its not gonna be a thread of arguments and stuff,if we all keep it in our heads that we just want to share our tip's of how you think its the best way(and have some experience with it)
just to share some info. and not compete the info against each other.
i well know there are different ways. but its always nice to read what experience people have with it to make a choice for my own and any other wanting to know this.
and i posted here in the GN section,instead of the Android section because each phone handles battery different,and this narrows the options down to a single device :3
Just keep in mind it's not just about the battery itself it's about the software registering how much actual power the battery has at a certain time, so if the battery has in actuality 100% charge in it, and the software reads 80 then your phone will die out sooner. So charging and discharging is good because it calibrates the hardware with the software. Just remember to switch off the device then charge it so the software doesn't auto discharge when it thinks the battery reached 100%.
K i just skipped thru the posts, gonna throw in my input real quick.
Basically just run down the battery. Once it turns off, hold the power button to make sure all the juice is gone. Then charge it up to 100% and leave it there for a good hour. Now (root required) download https://market.android.com/details?...yLDEsImNvbS5uZW1hLmJhdHRlcnljYWxpYnJhdGlvbiJd and follow the instructions .. its not exactly necessary but a nice thing "just in case" .
thats my plan anyways.
Nutsonfire said:
Lithium batteries will be damaged if they are stored fully charged or fully discharged for extended periods of time. Thats why the battery is about half charged when its new. They have no memory effect, they just loose capacity.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where does the loosed capacity go? Can it be caught?
And what do you think about charging with the phone being switched on? Is it better to have it switched off?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
juniorbattle said:
And what do you think about charging with the phone being switched on? Is it better to have it switched off?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't make a difference.. Phones are designed to be left on anyway.

Battery Life/Damage

Hey guys I'm often a lurker on here and don't post a whole lot but came across this article and found it interesting. Thought I'd share... Also, I like to leave my HTC ONE plugged in on my desk stand at work with the "Daydream" clock function running (basically using my phone as a desk clock). Do you think leaving it plugged in charging all day running this clock is doing any damage to my battery? It of course fills up and charges to 100% pretty quickly because I never really let it get below 80%. Below is my charging habit...
1. Charges all night at my bedside
2. Take it off the charger in the morning while getting ready for work and my drive
3. Get to work, plug it in for 6-7 hours running Daydream
4. Take it off the charger and go home... (off the charger for about 4-5 hours in the evening)
5. Go to bed, plug it in, and start all over again...
Oh and here's the article :lol:
http://gizmodo.com/going-from-all-the-way-full-to-all-the-way-empty-wont-h-618834847
How To Take Care of Your Smartphone Battery the Right Way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your smartphone is a minor miracle, a pocket-sized computer that can fulfill almost every whim. But none of its superpowers matter a bit if it runs out of juice. With removable batteries becoming more and more rare, you've got to take good care of the one you got. Fortunately, it's not to hard keep the lithium-ion powering your everything machine happy if you follow a few simple rules.
Obviously, the first rule for extending your battery life is not using up all your battery life playing candy crush and walking around with Wi-Fi and GPS enabled when you're not using either and really, really need your phone to last that extra hour. But aside from that, there are some basic rules for care and charging, and they're the simplest baseline for a healthy battery.
Top it off
You may vaguely recall hearing something about rechargeable batteries and the "memory effect." You know, that if you don't "teach" your rechargeable batteries their full potential by taking them from totally full to totally empty, they'll "forget" part of their capacity. Well forget all that. Right now. It's wrong.
To get the most out of a lithium-ion battery, you should try to keep it north of 50 percent as much as possible. For the most part going from all the way full to all the way empty won't help; in fact, it'll do a little damage if you do it too often. That said, it's smart to do one full discharge about once a month for "calibration," but don't do it all the time. Running the whole gamut on a regular basis won't make your battery explode or anything, but it will shorten its lifespan.
So if you're really particular about optimizing your battery's life, you should try to go from around 40 percent to around 80 percent in one go, and then back down whenever possible. A bunch of tiny charges isn't as bad as going from 100 down to zero all the time, but it's not optimal either.
Keep it cool
It's easy to worry about bad charging habits thanks to the training we've had from old rechargeable batteries, but lithium-ion batteries have a worse enemy: heat. Your smartphone's battery will degrade much much faster when it's hot, regardless of whether it's being used or just sitting around doing nothing.
At an average temperature of 32 degrees fahrenheit, a lithium-ion battery will lose six percent of its maximum capacity per year. At 77 degrees, that number jumps to 20 percent, and at 104 degrees it's a whopping 35. Sure, it's not exactly practical (or sane) to keep your phone in the fridge, but it's worth going out of your way to prevent long stays in hot cars and the like.
Avoid wireless charging
Wireless charging is can be incredibly convenient if your phone can do it, but it's not without its disadvantages. The inductive, wireless chargers out there today have this nasty habit of generating a fair bit of waste heat. And while wasted energy is just a bummer in general, that heat will also toast your battery in the process. That's no bueno. It's a little less convenient, but standard plug-in charging is going to keep your battery in better shape, especially if you're some place warm to begin with.
Never go to zero
Obviously, using your battery is going to make it degrade. But it's going to slowly die even if you just leave that iPad in the closet for a bit. There's a trick to minimizing that inevitable aging though: leave it a little bit of juice.
If you're going to be shelving any lithium-ion battery for a long time, try to leave it with at least 40 percent battery power to tide it over. Lithium-ion batteries don't hemmorage power at 30 percent a month like nickel-metal-hydride batteries do; they'll lose maybe five to ten percent of their charge each month.
And when lithium-ion batteries get too low—like, literally zero percent—they get seriously unstable, and dangerous to charge. To prevent explosion-type disasters if you do try to charge one, lithium-ion batteries have built-in self-destruct circuits that will disable (read: destroy) the battery for good, if it reaches rock bottom. And sure, that'll save you from a face full of battery-acid, but it'll also leave you short one battery.
Don't sweat it too much
It's easy to get protective of your battery, but it's also easy to get lazy. And that's fine, because as long as you're not a complete idiot, you'll be OK. Typically, a lithium-ion battery lasts for three to five years, and chances are you're going to want to swap out your gadgets sometime in that window anyway. The slight damage of a technically bad idea like leaving your phone plugged in all night every night, or using wireless charging, might be worth the convenience.
Still, it's pretty easy to keep your battery reasonably healthy just by avoiding particularly egregious torture like letting your phone discharge from full to zero every single day, or leaving it in a hot car all the time. And the next time you make it back home with power to spare, you'll thank yourself for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont agree that your battery dosent like being or performs worse at a 100%. Or that it harms the battery in any way. I keep my phone plugged in as much as possible durring the day, and all night long. But i only use the wall charger that came with the phone, or a smart car charger made for my phone. Because as the article says, these chargers are smart enough to stop charging for awile after the phone has reached 100% to prevent over charging/heating. Cheap wall and car chargers dont have this feature and continuously provide a charge to the phone. Also charging using a usb port on a pc or other device does not provide this overgharge protection.
My last phones battery lasted for almost 3 1/2 years before needing to be replaced. Heres what i do.
Keep it charging as much as possible only with a "smart" charger.
Never let the batter drain all the way down. If it gets to 10% and i cant charge it at the moment, i turn it off.
Never let your device get too hot. Dont leave it in hot cars or sitting in the sun, etc.
Never "bump charge". That is just a way to trick a smart charger into overcharging your battery.
Also over clocking/volting your phone puts more strain on your battery than it was intended to take. It makes its temperatures rise higher, and the charge to deplete in a more rapid fassion. Both of which are bad for your battery.
These are just my opinions of course, but it seems to work out good for me. I think 3 1/2 years is a pretty acceptable life span.
never let it die
I have always left my phone's plugged in constantly and never an issue. Once my phone hits 100% it stops charging and then is very cool to the touch from then on.I heard phone's now has a failsafe that will stop charging and start running the phone off the charger and not battery.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk
What's the best battery conservative rom?
Why do you think you should never fully drain it?
Every 30-40 days, you should fully drain your battery - until your phone automatically powers down - and then fully charge it - and allow it to stay on the charger for 30-40 minutes after it's 100%.
cope413 said:
Why do you think you should never fully drain it?
Every 30-40 days, you should fully drain your battery - until your phone automatically powers down - and then fully charge it - and allow it to stay on the charger for 30-40 minutes after it's 100%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Draining a lithium ion battery all the way can damage the cells causing irreversible damage to the battery. Read this
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
disconnecktie said:
Draining a lithium ion battery all the way can damage the cells causing irreversible damage to the battery. Read this
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery management system in the phone does not allow the cells to go lower than the safe level. For Li-ion cells, that's somewhere around 2.7-3.0volts/cell.
If it did, there'd be not only a huge warranty liability, but also a safety one.
cope413 said:
The battery management system in the phone does not allow the cells to go lower than the safe level. For Li-ion cells, that's somewhere around 2.7-3.0volts/cell.
If it did, there'd be not only a huge warranty liability, but also a safety one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can believe that if you want to but if you actually read that link you will understand. It puts a lot of strain on the cells to go that far down. There is a physical reaction inside your battery of growing and stretching created from the charge/discharge cycle. If you regularly drop the charge to nothing then it makes it harder for it to keep a charge over time. You're more than welcome to do your method of calibration but I'm a firm believer in keeping the battery healthy.
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
disconnecktie said:
You can believe that if you want to but if you actually read that link you will understand. It puts a lot of strain on the cells to go that far down. There is a physical reaction inside your battery of growing and stretching created from the charge/discharge cycle. If you regularly drop the charge to nothing then it makes it harder for it to keep a charge over time. You're more than welcome to do your method of calibration but I'm a firm believer in keeping the battery healthy.
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't say regularly. I said every 30-40 days. I have a lot of experience with lithium cells - both manufacturing and selling.
Before getting the One, I regularly used my HiTec lithium charger on my thunderbolt battery to run a discharge cycle, and then balance/charge it slowly.
No one need be afraid of their phone getting below 10%. It isn't causing any damage.
Well i guess its all a matter of opinion. Me and my wifes first smart phones were the htc incredible. I would never let mine die and the battery lasted fir 3 1/2 years. My wife would let hers die once or twice a month, and it lasted for 14 months before it needed a new battery. Got on her about not letting it die after we replaced the battery, much to my surprise she listened, and the replacement lasted for another 2 1/2 years. Both of our batteries actually still work today just not used to much anymore.
I had the dinc2 and followed the same procedure he used and pretty much nuked a battery from doing that same procedure. In less than a year my battery was bad. To each their own but I still don't suggest running it all the way out.
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
even anker, who is is probably the biggest portable battery manufacturer recommends not letting their products get below 25% because it can reduce the lifespan of the pack. They state that keeping it between 25-75% is ideal.
Interesting article, thanks for sharing OP.
I also leave my phone plugged in while sitting at my desk and let it charge up. Typically I plug into my laptop via usb while at work, once fully charged it shows 'fully charged' and switches the led status light to green.
I try to never let it die either but have to travel for work and do get very low on occasion, once I get down to 10% I typically just shut to phone off to preserve power while I am flying and avoid turning it back on again til I can get it on a charger.
Battery Life
I'm new to this phone,so I'm not entirely sure how the battery life is ... but I heard a while ago that you get the best battery life out of phones when you only plug them in to charge when they are completely dead. I don't do it often enough to see a difference, but has anybody else done it?
You probably get a much more consistent charge while it is dead/powered off. The only problem there is does letting your phone die occasionally ruin your battery or not?
Sent from my One using Tapatalk
danprichet said:
... I heard a while ago that you get the best battery life out of phones when you only plug them in to charge when they are completely dead. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you not read the first message in this thread. wherein it says:
To get the most out of a lithium-ion battery, you should try to keep it north of 50 percent as much as possible.
and
Never go to zero.
Alright, alright - I was merely saying I'd heard a theory stating otherwise.
jpradley said:
Did you not read the first message in this thread. wherein it says:
To get the most out of a lithium-ion battery, you should try to keep it north of 50 percent as much as possible.
and
Never go to zero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My laptop, which is a Lenovo, has 2 settings. Best battery health and best battery life. Best health keeps the battery charged to between 50-60 percent and then stops the charge. Best life goes up to 100.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using xda app-developers app

Battery life dropping rapidly from 100% to 90%

Not sure what's going on here, but I've had my phone on for 45 minutes after a complete charge, and it's already down to 90% with only sending a few texts messages, and no other apps. I've noticed that in the past two weeks or so, the battery life is diminishing, but markedly in the first 10% drop from 100 to 90. Any idea what's going on? I have disabled most "troubling apps" that were pre-installed, and even use greenify. The main culprits according to my battery stats are only Android System and the Screen (which I barely even used in those 45 minutes). Is my battery defective and failing quickly?
Bueller...
There were several studies on the effect of leaving a charger in after it hits 100.
Apparently lithium ion batteries do not like to be fully charged .
Their optimum range for operation is between 40%-80% but it's obvious that we can't keep it on that range with ease.
The reason is that when you charge a battery to full it does not like to be forced to take up a higher charge, but even though the circuit completes itself it has no choice to.
So when it's at 100% it will naturally try to get rid of that extremely high charge.
MiuKing said:
There were several studies on the effect of leaving a charger in after it hits 100.
Apparently lithium ion batteries do not like to be fully charged .
Their optimum range for operation is between 40%-80% but it's obvious that we can't keep it on that range with ease.
The reason is that when you charge a battery to full it does not like to be forced to take up a higher charge, but even though the circuit completes itself it has no choice to.
So when it's at 100% it will naturally try to get rid of that extremely high charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is bs
oneandroidnut said:
this is bs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mad?
MiuKing said:
You mad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not at all i know that isnt true. lot of battery myths out there
oneandroidnut said:
not at all i know that isnt true. lot of battery myths out there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if this is merely a myth, does that mean my battery is slightly defective?
theRZA001 said:
So if this is merely a myth, does that mean my battery is slightly defective?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all. give it some time it will be fine. i have 3 different batteries for my note and i can tell a difference in all of them. the best one is the one i have used the most so far
oneandroidnut said:
not at all i know that isnt true. lot of battery myths out there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the Samsung laptops have a function where it'll stop charging at 80% so you can't fully charge to 100%. That really isn't a myth. Overcharging and charging often is bad for the battery, the real question is by how much.
kimdoocheol said:
Well, the Samsung laptops have a function where it'll stop charging at 80% so you can't fully charge to 100%. That really isn't a myth. Overcharging and charging often is bad for the battery, the real question is by how much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that isnt true. batteries have built in to slow the charge once it reaches a point but it continues to charge but slower. no battery now a days can "overcharge" they all have safety in them now
oneandroidnut said:
that isnt true. batteries have built in to slow the charge once it reaches a point but it continues to charge but slower. no battery now a days can "overcharge" they all have safety in them now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I should have been more specific. Lithium ion batteries can overheat. When it gets to 100% and the smart charge constantly charges and stops charging it can overheat the phone.
Batteries in general have a limited amount of charge.
Breathing oxygen is bad for us too, so who really cares. Haha. It happens with all devices, though.
kimdoocheol said:
Sorry, I should have been more specific. Lithium ion batteries can overheat. When it gets to 100% and the smart charge constantly charges and stops charging it can overheat the phone.
Batteries in general have a limited amount of charge.
Breathing oxygen is bad for us too, so who really cares. Haha. It happens with all devices, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
I mean especially with lithium ion batteries. I probably should have been more specific there.
Lithium ion's technology has more or less been the same in the past few decades. It doesn't like to be topped off at 100%. Period.
If you know anything about electrical engineering you know that as long as the charger is plugged into a phone with a battery in it it will complete a series of circuits and will be forced to supply power to the battery .
The battery supplies all of the power to the phone so the charger can't bypass this.
Essentially what happens is that the charger will trickle charge the battery when it drops from 100% to 99% and keep it there as long as its plugged in.
You have to pull the plug around 90% if you want to prevent your battery from crapping out.
oneandroidnut I suggest you go out and put your pseudoscience mentality back in the coffin and go and do some research before making some finger pointing claims about "bull****"

Is it bad to constantly top off your battery?

Note 7 is my first foray into wireless charging. I figured it would be useful at work for me as I can spend random amounts of time away from my desk throughout the day so when at my desk I can drop it on the charger and then grab it when I need to go. I just wondered if thats bad for the battery?
I already did a full drain and then full charge from there and even that I'm not sure if it's still beneficial to do. But with a non removable battery I want to make sure I'm not doing more harm than good and shortening it's life by having it on and off thw wireless charger often during the day. Thanks.
Its not bad, its actually recommended. Keeping the battery as high as frequently as possible will help in the long run.
Using it while its charging isnt so good though.
imatts said:
Its not bad, its actually recommended. Keeping the battery as high as frequently as possible will help in the long run.
Using it while its charging isnt so good though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recommended by whom? The magic dragon?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app
it can slowly reduce the lifespan of your battery..
imatts said:
Its not bad, its actually recommended. Keeping the battery as high as frequently as possible will help in the long run.
Using it while its charging isnt so good though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my research into battery life what you write is incorrect. There are other threads on this very subject where I precise my findings.
Ryland
Apparently keeping the battery between 50-80% is the ideal scenario. It's probably ok to change to 100 but leaving it on the charger once it's fully juiced makes the battery heat up too much which is bad for it.
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
There has been research that suggests it is better to charge the battery from around 40%-to about 95%, never full.
stas333 said:
There has been research that suggests it is better to charge the battery from around 40%-to about 95%, never full.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked at some of the research people have mentioned and it does seem that between 40 and 80% is the sweet spot on the Lithium Ion batteries. It says not to charge to 100%, but that the phone is smart enough to stop charging ones full to prevent overheating. But regardless I suppose leaving it plugged in overnight isn't the best idea.
But in my case it sounds like multiple charges throughout the day isn't bad on the battery as long as it keeps it in the 40-80% range? I can manage that, just wanted to make sure multiple small(5-10%) charges throughout the day wasn't also shortening its life span.
Hard to say I guess. I was the drain and fully charge guy. Never any issues. My wife is the opposite, she should constantly top it off or close and her battery would drain faster than mine. Eventually hers would die very early. So who knows.
Always been like this with all our phones
I know some firms in the past have built in charge counters in batteries so you could only charge the X amount of times, but that was a fair few years ago and things have moved on since.
but my phones I have charged them multiple times a day and my Xperia Z1 that I got on launch day is still in use by a friend and still has near perfect battery life despite being charged some time multiple times a day and always being left on charge overnight every night. (so thats for about 3 years now?)
my S6 I have ran on the wireless charger since I got the phone on release day, every time I went in the room I chucked it on the pad to keep it charged up, the phone still works and charges flawlessly, the Samsung charging pad unfortunately wasn't as up to the job as the phone was and died last week. but no big loss as I want a fast charging one after I get my note tomorrow.
-The less you recharge your phone, the better
-Keeping your phone between 40-80% is the best theoretical solution for best health. But if you are running your battery down to 40%, and charging back up to 80% twice a day, that's still more wear than just leaving your phone at your desk plugged in at 100%.
Or say you keep it at your desk and you have to move around office 4 times that day. So every time you leave your desk and come back, you charge it back from 90% to 100%. 4 x 10% - 40% is still less wear then the guy doing the 40-80% x 2 a day. Less charging overall.
http://techlife.samsung.com/tips-keep-smartphone-charged-1059.html
Sent from my SM-N930V using XDA Free mobile app
---------- Post added at 05:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:52 PM ----------
According to Samsung.
Sent from my SM-N930V using XDA Free mobile app
imatts said:
Its not bad, its actually recommended. Keeping the battery as high as frequently as possible will help in the long run.
Using it while its charging isnt so good though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong. Going above 80% is a "high stress" situation for lithium batteries. It isn't bad, but the best charging practice for absolute longevity is keeping it between 20%-80%.
hackdrag0n said:
Apparently keeping the battery between 50-80% is the ideal scenario. It's probably ok to change to 100 but leaving it on the charger once it's fully juiced makes the battery heat up too much which is bad for it.
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Leaving it on the charger doesn't heat up the battery. It just keeps the battery in that high stress state, and isn't good long-term. If you are doing intense activities with it plugged in, then yes that is a combo for high heat which is bad for the battery.
dermotti said:
-The less you recharge your phone, the better
-Keeping your phone between 40-80% is the best theoretical solution for best health. But if you are running your battery down to 40%, and charging back up to 80% twice a day, that's still more wear than just leaving your phone at your desk plugged in at 100%.
Or say you keep it at your desk and you have to move around office 4 times that day. So every time you leave your desk and come back, you charge it back from 90% to 100%. 4 x 10% - 40% is still less wear then the guy doing the 40-80% x 2 a day. Less charging overall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. Leaving it at 100% all day is not the best idea. It'd be better to let it run down to 20% and recharge to 80%. Unless Samsung routes power directly to the motherboard when plugged in, instead of passing it THROUGH the battery first, it is absolutely better to not keep the phone at 100% and charging while using it, heating it up further, and it is still cycling the power/wear through the cells.
Does any of this matter? No. Unless you keep your phone for 2+ years, you aren't going to notice any difference. Charge it whenever and however you want. The battery isn't going to **** out on you because of how you charge it.
Thought the manufacturer warranty was two years anyway? Android phones are only guaranteed updates every two years so may as well upgrade every two years. If the battery craps out inside that time just warranty it. It's extremely unlikely though.
Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
TOO MANY MISCONCEPTIONS. Let me clear them up !!!!
1) Lithium batteries like to sit around 50% for prolonged periods.
2) It will NOT hurt to keep your phone on the charger. The charging circuitry cuts off power once the Cell hits 4.35 - 4.4v
3) It will HURT THE BATTERY MORE to keep using it when it is depleted or near depleted. Lithium batteries DO NOT like to go below a certain voltage depending on specific chemistry formulation.
To expand on this. It is BETTER to keep the phone at 95% than it is to keep it at 5%. I personally would NOT want my battery falling low enough that it gives a low battery indication (usually around 15%)
4) High Charge and Discharge LOWERS battery longevity. Lithium batteries prefer to be charged slowly and discharged slowly.
You guessed it. AVOID high charge scenarios such as Fast Charge. AVOID fast discharge scenarios such as gaming with high brightness etc.
5) Lithium batteries do NOT like heat. Again, this is usually caused due to high charge or discharge scenarios.
It also ties in with Fast charge, wireless charge and especially wireless fast charge. Wireless charging is not efficient and energy as wasted as heat.
Personally I disable fast charge and do not use wireless charging. Good old USB Type C already charges quickly enough for me.
I might put this in a new thread.
dermotti said:
-The less you recharge your phone, the better
-Keeping your phone between 40-80% is the best theoretical solution for best health. But if you are running your battery down to 40%, and charging back up to 80% twice a day, that's still more wear than just leaving your phone at your desk plugged in at 100%.
Or say you keep it at your desk and you have to move around office 4 times that day. So every time you leave your desk and come back, you charge it back from 90% to 100%. 4 x 10% - 40% is still less wear then the guy doing the 40-80% x 2 a day. Less charging overall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically what you are saying is you the more you use your phone, the more wear you will put on your battery.
100% to 0% drain (100% total) is still more wear on the battery than 80% to 40% 2x per day (80% total)?
GUYS... Come on.
Nitemare3219 said:
Wrong. Going above 80% is a "high stress" situation for lithium batteries. It isn't bad, but the best charging practice for absolute longevity is keeping it between 20%-80%.
Leaving it on the charger doesn't heat up the battery. It just keeps the battery in that high stress state, and isn't good long-term. If you are doing intense activities with it plugged in, then yes that is a combo for high heat which is bad for the battery.
Not really. Leaving it at 100% all day is not the best idea. It'd be better to let it run down to 20% and recharge to 80%. Unless Samsung routes power directly to the motherboard when plugged in, instead of passing it THROUGH the battery first, it is absolutely better to not keep the phone at 100% and charging while using it, heating it up further, and it is still cycling the power/wear through the cells.
Does any of this matter? No. Unless you keep your phone for 2+ years, you aren't going to notice any difference. Charge it whenever and however you want. The battery isn't going to **** out on you because of how you charge it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nitemare, you are right. Almost no one is keeping their phone here for 2 years.
Hey everyone... All we needed to do was a search: Here is the quick guide to these batteries. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3846897#post3846897
There's a more in-depth article here. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=518861
Just an FYI. These articles are for 2009 but still hold true. battery tech may have gotten a bit better, but the same rules. Both posts have cited sites as well.
Spike96 said:
So basically what you are saying is you the more you use your phone, the more wear you will put on your battery.
100% to 0% drain (100% total) is still more wear on the battery than 80% to 40% 2x per day (80% total)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically yes...batteries have a finite amount of charge cycles.
Charging 2000mah into your battery, whether its all at once, or 500mah x 4, should be roughly the same amount of wear on the battery.
For me, only things i ever worry about is deep discharges and heat. Heat is the worst enemy imho.
Everything else is pretty minor when it comes to wear.
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 10:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 AM ----------
THS1989 said:
TOO MANY MISCONCEPTIONS. Let me clear them up !!!!
1) Lithium batteries like to sit around 50% for prolonged periods.
2) It will NOT hurt to keep your phone on the charger. The charging circuitry cuts off power once the Cell hits 4.35 - 4.4v
3) It will HURT THE BATTERY MORE to keep using it when it is depleted or near depleted. Lithium batteries DO NOT like to go below a certain voltage depending on specific chemistry formulation.
To expand on this. It is BETTER to keep the phone at 95% than it is to keep it at 5%. I personally would NOT want my battery falling low enough that it gives a low battery indication (usually around 15%)
4) High Charge and Discharge LOWERS battery longevity. Lithium batteries prefer to be charged slowly and discharged slowly.
You guessed it. AVOID high charge scenarios such as Fast Charge. AVOID fast discharge scenarios such as gaming with high brightness etc.
5) Lithium batteries do NOT like heat. Again, this is usually caused due to high charge or discharge scenarios.
It also ties in with Fast charge, wireless charge and especially wireless fast charge. Wireless charging is not efficient and energy as wasted as heat.
Personally I disable fast charge and do not use wireless charging. Good old USB Type C already charges quickly enough for me.
I might put this in a new thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much covered it here. Good post.
And avoid high heat scenarios as much as you can.
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
Somewhere in the samsung+ app for note 7, it says always keep the battery between 50 -90 for longevity.
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
My last phone, an HTC One M8, spent every single night on the charger for the last 2 1/2 years. I would also connect it to a charger in the car when I was driving for any length of time, and that was fairly often as I was traveling regularly. The battery life was not appreciably shorter when I retired it last week than when I first got it.
YM, as always, MV.

Categories

Resources