battery-care (2024)

FAQs

Should you only charge your phone to 85? ›

“Many people have this habit and don't realize the damage it causes to their battery.” So, the trick: Don't let your phone's battery drain completely to zero, and when charging it, only let it reach about 85 percent and then unplug.

By restricting charging to 85%, Protect Battery reduces charging wear and maximizes performance. In other words, it stops the charging process as soon as it reaches the stage where your battery is most likely to degrade.

Android devices

To use it: Go to "Health", where a detailed evaluation of your device's battery health will show on the screen. Check the "Battery health percentage (%)". A normal battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its capacity at 500 complete charge cycles if it operates under normal conditions.

After about 500 times of charging the phone, your capacity percentage will usually come down to about 80% of the original capacity.

On regular android devices and on my windows laptop, I am able to cap the maximum charging percentage of my battery to 85% in battery settings to increase the lifespan of the battery significantly. This will make the battery last a lot longer and is better for the environment.

Protects against high temperatures and voltages: Charging your phone battery up to 85% can help protect it from high temperatures and voltages. High temperatures and voltages are known to be detrimental to lithium-ion batteries [3].

You might think that because your iPhone's maximum capacity begins at 100%, it's the only condition that can be considered optimal. However, that's not quite true. Apple considers any iPhone with a battery capacity of 80% or above to be in optimal condition.

By limiting charging to 80 percent, you can reduce the amount of heat and stress on your battery, which can help it last longer," James Herman, founder of MobileTech Addicts, told Lifewire via email.

According to Apple, a battery under normal use retains up to 80% of its original capacity after 500 complete cycle charges. To put it short, the more cycles your battery completes, the shorter life it becomes. In this case, the 80% Limit is just the right feature to minimize the impact on your battery.

It usually takes about two years before you start to see any significant drop in iPhone battery performance. An iPhone that has been lightly used with good battery care can hold onto its original battery for up to five years, and heavy use or constant charge extremes can require an early iPhone battery replacement.

What kills iPhone battery health? ›

It's especially important to avoid exposing your device to ambient temperatures higher than 95° F (35° C), which can permanently damage battery capacity. That is, your battery won't power your device as long on a given charge. Charging the device in high ambient temperatures can damage it further.

The brightest screen settings tend to drain your battery quickly, which forces you to go through charge cycles quickly and lose battery health. Check your background activity in Settings > General > Background Refresh. Too many apps running in the background will drain your battery.

Typically, a modern phone battery's (lithium-ion) lifespan is 2 – 3 years, which is about 300 – 500 charge cycles as rated by manufacturers. After that, the battery capacity will drop by roughly 20%.

So at what percentage should you charge your phone? The best practice for preserving phone battery health is to plug it in at around 20% and charge it up to 80-90%. This is especially important if you use fast charging, as charging from 0% will cause a lot of heat, and from 80% up, fast charging becomes less efficient.

If your cell phone can barely make it to lunchtime without a recharge, you may be tempted to buy a new one. But consider springing for a new battery instead. As long as the phone is in good shape—no cracked screen, for instance—replacing the battery can make the device work like brand-new—and save you money.

For the long-term health of the battery try to keep the phone in the sweet-spot range of 20-80%. Excessive heat damages batteries. Remove the case from your phone when you plug it into a charger and try to avoid using the phone in extreme heat. The optimal ambient temperature range for batteries is between 32℉ and 95℉.

Another reason could be that your phone's charging port is dirty or damaged, preventing a proper connection to the charger. Additionally, it could be an issue with your phone's software or settings, such as a battery-saving mode that limits charging to preserve battery life.