3 Smartphone Battery Myths Debunked

[dgstorm]

Most of our savvy members will already know that most of these smartphone myths are bogus, but not everyone has the same level of experience or knowledge as the hardcore smartphone fans among us. To that end, we wanted to share a quick roundup of the biggest myths regarding smartphone batteries.

Here's the list of myths:

1. You should charge your phone only when the battery is dead - this is patently bunk. You smartphones use Lithium-ion batteries. These do not "develop a memory" if you charge them at different intervals. Basically, the myth is that if you regularly charge your phone with 50% battery left, then the phone's battery will "think" this smaller amount is the new normal and you will never get large charge amounts again. This may have been true of Nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries that you could find in old school cordless home phones, but it is completely false with current cell phone battery tech.
2. Keeping your phone plugged in damages the battery - there's a common misconception that if you leave your smartphone plugged in and charging overnight, then the battery will be "overcharged" and eventually lose its capacity or be damaged. While it is true that eventually all current battery technologies will wear out and lose charge over time, those charge amounts are literally thousands of times before you should see any difference. Furthermore, the phones today have built-in technology that stops pulling a full draw of power when they reach 100% charge. Basically, you do not need to worry about leaving your phone plugged in overnight.
3. Do not use your phone while charging - this one is another bogus flight of fancy. The battery in your device will not be affected if you use it while it is plugged in. You may experience the phone heating up a bit as it will be charging while it is discharging, but it won't damage the battery. Just remember not to do this while sitting in a bath-tub or you could be electrocuted! Duh!

Feel free to add any other myths/tidbits of battery misinformation that we might have missed. Remember, "truth" can subjective, but facts are not!

 

[94lt1]

Yeah...I would wind up with scocd "smart phone charging obsessive compulsive disorder" if I believed those..LOL...wow

 

[bruben7886]

I can't believe @FoxKat hasn't chimed in yet.

 

[Jeffrey]

For years I have read do this don't do that. I just charge my battery when necessary.

 

[bkdodger]

I just ignore all those what to do's.. Haha
Use and charge the phone as you will..

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[94lt1]

The one that I like to do, because I know I will be tinkering heavily with a new phone, and with turbo charging its a lot faster now....is to charge my new devices to 100% before I use them...that way its ready to go be used and not just sit on the charger while I Jones to toy with it..

 

[TisMyDroid]

The one that I like to do, because I know I will be tinkering heavily with a new phone, and with turbo charging its a lot faster now....is to charge my new devices to 100% before I use them...that way its ready to go be used and not just sit on the charger while I Jones to toy with it..

That is the one thing I still do. The quick start guide on my Note 5 actually says, "before turning on your phone, charge it fully." It must say that for a reason.

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[Jonny Kansas]

They don't even fully charge them when you buy in store & they activate. They turn them right on.

How can you let a brand new phone just sit there & charge, unused? No thanks. [emoji14]

 

[Jeffrey]

They don't even fully charge them when you buy in store & they activate. They turn them right on.

How can you let a brand new phone just sit there & charge, unused? No thanks. [emoji14]

I do it all the time..lol... I open the box plug the phone in and turn it on when it's charged... Probably due to swapping phones every few months.

 

[pc747]

Plus the average consumer don't keep a phone long enough to experience battery degradation. Year 4 or 5 is when you may see maybe a 5% degradation. Of course I need to consult with our chief battery expert @FoxKat to see how off I am.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[TisMyDroid]

They don't even fully charge them when you buy in store & they activate. They turn them right on.

How can you let a brand new phone just sit there & charge, unused? No thanks. [emoji14]

So funny, I must be very anal about this because I was livid when BB tried telling me that I couldn't leave the store until they activated it. I argued with them that if I bought it online, I had the right to charge it fully and activate it on my own. I ended up telling them they could plug it in to charge and that I would shop and return when it's fully charged. Quick charging sure made that easier. They probably thought I was nuts.

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[Jonny Kansas]

So funny, I must be very anal about this because I was livid when BB tried telling me that I couldn't leave the store until they activated it. I argued with them that if I bought it online, I had the right to charge it fully and activate it on my own. I ended up telling them they could plug it in to charge and that I would shop and return when it's fully charged. Quick charging sure made that easier. They probably thought I was nuts.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Yup. You're nuts alright. I've never charged one up all the way before powering on for the first time.

They ship them with charge in the battery. They're ready to go. I may charge them WHILE setting them up, but not before turning on.

And I've never had any issues with battery performance that can be blamed on that.

 

[PereDroid]

While I agree, Tis is nuts to go that far at the store I get a phone, plug it and they usually turn on right away, of course. I will then make sure it powers off and charges before I activate it or do anything on it.

It's not that long to wait.

 

[mountainbikermark]

When buying a new electronic device with internal battery, if it's dead when first powered on it has been sitting for MANY months and you should ask for one that hasn't been sitting so long. Lithium ion batteries can become damaged, less capacity, if allowed to drain fully and stay drained for any length of time. If it's around 40% or higher is a pretty fresh battery and should last for years if treated half way correctly. Don't start a charge if it's already above 85% and minimize the number of times you let it fall below 10% for better long term battery health. These are very generic instructions without getting into any details as to why to follow them. You can find why easily by searching Battery University, or similar, sites that explain how LI batteries and modem chargers work.

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[TisMyDroid]

Yup. You're nuts alright. I've never charged one up all the way before powering on for the first time.

They ship them with charge in the battery. They're ready to go. I may charge them WHILE setting them up, but not before turning on.

And I've never had any issues with battery performance that can be blamed on that.

While I agree, Tis is nuts to go that far at the store I get a phone, plug it and they usually turn on right away, of course. I will then make sure it powers off and charges before I activate it or do anything on it.

It's not that long to wait.

I know you all are right... I'm nuts! But if there is a problem with the battery, I know it won't be because I didn't fully charge it on the first run. And the stupid thing was probably turned on a ton of times without a full charge before it even landed in the box to be sold, lol!

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