The smartphone has become an indispensable tool in our daily lives, from scheduling of tasks to surfing the web, to connecting with our loved ones through social media, we use it for virtually all things imaginable. It has really changed how we go about our activities.Most people have become so over-reliant on their smartphone. An over-reliance and extreme amounts of time spent on it to fill the void of physical connection with real humans has been categorized as a mental health disorder.Well, that is also a topic for another day. The average smartphone user who might be holding onto his or her phone for a couple of years, I am sure will be interested in practices to ensure good battery health over the period of time he or she is willing to hold onto it.
Delving right into the issue, the modern smartphone battery is made up of a chemical substance called Lithium-ion or Lithium-Polymer. This material was adopted as an industry standard some years back when nickel-based batteries was where scientific research had halted. Basically the smartphone’s battery is made up of materials that can degrade over a period of time, this is why all smartphone batteries no matter how enormous its battery capacity is, or power efficient its accompanying hardware and software has been designed, eventually dies. This degradation, however can be delayed if we adopt certain usage patterns in the handling and charging of our phones. Below I will outline some practices and burst bubbles of some commonly held myths in battery maintenance.
EXTREME TEMPERATURES
One of the greatest contributing factors of smartphone battery health degradation, is extreme temperatures. The lithium-ion battery inside your phone is averse to both heat and extreme cold temperatures as this has a negative impact on it.
Some of the worst places you could leave your phone are on;window sills and vehicle dashboards. Try as much as possible to avoid charging phones in cars when the weather is hot.
If you will be outdoors in the hot weather, you may bring a piece of material like a small towel to wrap around your heating phone or you can place it beside a cool water bottle in an enclosed portable space. In certain instances, smartphones may automatically shutdown to self-protect when it detects extreme temperatures.
FAST CHARGERS
With the adoption of quick charging standards in the industry like the Qualcomm Quick charge and Apple’s USB Power Delivery, we are seeing our smartphone batteries being filled in a breath. Quick charge is a technology that charges up our smartphone faster than a conventional 5 or 10 watt charger. People have held different opinions on how fast-charging our phones contribute to smartphone battery depletion. From my research I can confidently say that, if you are using the industry-specified fast charger for your phone and also follow the tips I will be providing in this write-up, you should be fine.
CHARGING HABITS
Modern smartphone batteries have been designed in such a way that one cannot overcharge once it hits 100%, electric flow to the phone is cut-off, so technically you cannot overcharge your phone to a point where it will explode unless there are existing issues, as it was in the case of Samsung note 7(Samsung’s flagship some few years back that had a fatal battery issue to the point of explosion).However, charging the battery to 100% stresses the battery and depletes the health over extended periods of time. Researchers who are into batteries suggest that, to get an outstanding battery health, it shouldn’t be drained all the way to zero and charged all the way up to hundred but rather should be kept charged between 30 and 80%,which in real life may sound impractical but hey smartphone battery technology has not advanced to the point where there might be a work around to this.However they recommend charging it fully and draining it completely ,once in every few months to calibrate the battery.
MISMATCHING CHARGERS
So the truth about mismatched chargers is that, they will not hurt your phone, on the condition that they are original and compatible with your phone’s hardware in accordance with industry standards. The only downside might be that, it may not charge as fast as the original charger bundled with your phone. More importantly invest in original chargers so as to avoid any harm to your phone’s battery. The temperature of your smartphone battery rises whenever you are charging it-which is normal. It is therefore not advisable to have thick coated covers on whilst charging as it inhibits heat dissipation.
THE EXPERTS’ JOB
Do not try removing your in-built smartphone battery if you are not absolutely sure of what you are doing or better-still let a qualified service personnel handle it, as this (amateur servicing) may affect the effective performance of your phone.
A lot of factors account for the reason why our smartphone batteries may not hold up its charge over its expected lifespan but I believe I have touched on some salient points that adresses the issue. If you seldom change phones unlike some techies or people who may easily afford the latest flagship in town, I guess this maybe worthwhile considering.