If you are like everyone else, you probably do not give a thought about your smartphone battery until it stops working. Nowadays most devices come in an aluminium design or all glass design. This removes the possibility of easily removing your battery when it dies and replacing it with a new one. The new smartphones need to be given to an authorized dealer who will then disassemble the device to install a new battery. This is a process that consumes a lot of time as well as effort.
But few people know that, by taking care of their mobile phone batteries, they can greatly increase the life span of the batteries. A common issue with old devices is the memory effect. It is quite difficult to explain. For an instance, if you charge your device whenever it hits 30% and you remove it from charge when it is at 80%, the phone tends to consider 30% as 0% and the 80% as 100%. When this happens, you tend to lose half of your battery. This does not apply to Li-ion batteries which are fit into new smartphones.
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You are advised to stop letting your device run till its dead and then charge it till 100%. This can have adverse effects on your smartphone battery. Ideally, your phone should always hover around 50%. You can charge the phone with small top-ups to ensure it does not spend too much time charging and is always around 50%. The simple reason for this is that a phone battery comes with a useful life. The life of the battery is dependent upon the charge cycles. A charge cycle is when your device goes from 0 to 100%. On average, a phone battery comes with 400 cycles. This is why small top-ups are advised.
Another advantage of small top-ups is that the battery does not heat up that much. This brings us to the next point. Stop charging your device all night long. Charging it all night causes the battery to heat up.
When storing your phone away for a long period of time, remind yourself to regularly take it and recharge it. This is because the Li-on battery inside a phone has its own self-discharge rate. The self-discharge happens with all batteries at differing rates. What this means is that regardless of if you are using the battery or not, it will continue to lose charge. When you allow a Li-on battery to die off completely when the device is switched off, there is a chance the battery will die off completely and not work again. This is dependent on the internal circuit, hence why it is best you always charge a device even if it is not going to be used.
Another common mistake that smartphone users make is not using the charger and cable supplied by their manufacturer. If your charger or cable breaks buy an original from the same manufacturer. Also if you are buying a new device, it is best that you buy new cables to accompany it.
