Every now and again, a customer asks us about how long a phone battery lasts, and how much they should charge a phone soon after buying it.
People understandably want their phone battery to have a long life after every charge. They also want to maximise the number of years they can use the phone before the battery becomes useless.
Here are a few tips about taking care of your phone’s battery:
1. Do you need to charge your battery to full first after buying a phone?
Short answer: No. There’s a belief that before using a phone for the first time, one needs to charge it to full capacity. This is not necessary anymore with modern phones today. All modern phones bought over the last 10 years or so have a Lithium-ion battery. These batteries don’t need a full charge before using for the first time.
Most new phones will have about 60% battery. You can go ahead and start using it immediately without an issue. The advice however is that it is good practice to not let your phone drain all the way to empty. It is also good practice to not charge the phone to 100%. It is said that Lithium-ion batteries should not be maxed out as this makes them work harder. Keep the phone between 20% and 80%.
2. Is heat bad for your battery?
Yes. It is good practice to keep your phone in a cool and dry place. Heat and cold can damage your battery. Avoid leaving your phone in direct sunlight or in a hot car. This shortens its total battery life.
3. Is Fast charging good for your phone?
The rule of thumb here is that where you can, avoid fast charging. Fast charging can heat up your battery, which can damage it. Only use fast charging when you truly need to charge your phone quickly before leaving a place that has a charger.
4. How do you keep apps from draining your phone’s battery
A common belief is that closing apps when you’re not using them is good to maintain your battery. This is not true. Engineers at Apple and Google have all indicated that closing apps usually worsens your battery performance because your phone’s system may end up working more. As such, apps that claim to close apps you’re not using to save battery are likely not helping you at all
That said, there are things you can do within the phone to get good battery. These include: Turning off features you’re not using like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Using a power-saving mode. Most phones have a power-saving mode that can help to extend your battery life. This mode will usually disable some features and reduce the brightness of your screen.
5. Don’t use your smartphone during charging
Using your phone while it charges is bad for your phone because it means you’re introducing more heat at a time when it’s already getting some heat from the charging. It is best therefore to avoid using it for heavy things such as playing gamings, editing videos, photos, and such. Light uses like playing music however should generally be okay.