do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

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biscuit5
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do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by biscuit5 »

How do you charge your Android phone? do you charge it to full each day? or only charge every few days?

https://www.slashgear.com/918660/why-yo ... ne-to-100/

Your smartphone's battery life depends on charge cycles or the number of times your battery charges from zero all the way up to 100%. The more full charge cycles your phone experiences, the faster the battery will degrade.

...Most lithium-ion phone batteries have between 400 to 500 charge cycles before a user will need to go shopping for a new one


Like many here I don't buy high end phones (currently a Motorola smartphone bought on sale) though it'd be nice to get a bit more life out of one. Seems over time the battery stops holding charge or the charging port starts to fail due to simple usage.

Have already looked at an array of articles on Google about this, some of course contradict one another :happy

Wondering what your (or the best) charging procedure is. Thanks.
Last edited by biscuit5 on Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
stoptothink
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by stoptothink »

I'm on year 4 of a motorola G-series phone. I'm sure the battery does not last as long as it did new, but it'll still easily last a full day without being charged if I don't use it a lot. Whether or not I fully charge it each day depends on my usage.
zag00
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by zag00 »

Moto G Power - long battery life, lasts all day with moderate use. Minimal use could see 2 days of usage IMO.
I use provided charger nightly (turbo) - battery typically in the 20-35% range depending on the days usage.
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mhc
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by mhc »

My Android phone has a setting to only charge the battery to 85%. I use that most of the time. If I think I may have heavy usage away from a charger, I'll turn off the setting and charge to 100%.

This concept also applies to laptop batteries and other items.
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MikeWillRetire
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by MikeWillRetire »

biscuit5 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:02 am How do you charge your Android phone? do you charge it to full each day?

https://www.slashgear.com/918660/why-yo ... ne-to-100/

Your smartphone's battery life depends on charge cycles or the number of times your battery charges from zero all the way up to 100%. The more full charge cycles your phone experiences, the faster the battery will degrade.

...Most lithium-ion phone batteries have between 400 to 500 charge cycles before a user will need to go shopping for a new one


Like many here I don't buy high end phones (currently a Motorola smartphone bought on sale) though it'd be nice to get a bit more life out of one. Seems over time the battery stops holding charge or the charging port starts to fail due to simple usage.

Have already looked at an array of articles on Google about this, some of course contradict one another :happy

Wondering what your (or the best) charging procedure is. Thanks.
I have a 3-year old Motorola G6 and I charge it every night. The battery still lasts the full day, but I mostly use my phone for texts, e-mails, occasional google maps navigation, and some web browsing. I don't use it to watch shows or movies.
gavinsiu
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by gavinsiu »

Each battery has a limited recharge cycle, so overtime the capacity will decline. To maximize your battery do the following:
1. Do not expose your cell phone to heat. Heat will cause the battery to deteroriate faster. Don't leave your phone sitting in a hot car or play games that heat up the phone.
2. Do not let the battery go to zero before charging. You can extend the battery if charge it when it gets half full.

If you want to be cautious, you can also try using a lower wattage charger for overnight charging. Often slower charging generate less heat. Keep in mind that this may not be necessary with newer models of the phone. In some ways, battery charging technology is moving faster than battery technology. We are still essentially using the same same Lithium Ion techology as over a decade ago, but companies have find way to charge them faster. Many employ various technology to vary the voltage and throttle from heat so that they can safety charge phone with 240 watts (the old iphone use 5w).
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by Clever_Username »

I start the day at 100% in my Pixel 3XL. Most days, it's about 35% when I'm setting down to sleep, and I put it on a charging puck and wake up with it at 100%.
mhc wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 am My Android phone has a setting to only charge the battery to 85%. I use that most of the time. If I think I may have heavy usage away from a charger, I'll turn off the setting and charge to 100%.

This concept also applies to laptop batteries and other items.
I didn't know about this, I'll have to look into that.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by gavinsiu »

Clever_Username wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:15 am I start the day at 100% in my Pixel 3XL. Most days, it's about 35% when I'm setting down to sleep, and I put it on a charging puck and wake up with it at 100%.
mhc wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 am My Android phone has a setting to only charge the battery to 85%. I use that most of the time. If I think I may have heavy usage away from a charger, I'll turn off the setting and charge to 100%.

This concept also applies to laptop batteries and other items.
I didn't know about this, I'll have to look into that.
This is an option offered by some Samsung and Lenovo products. I am no battery expert, but I am guessing that this reduced the number of recharge cycle because you are stopping the charging in the middle and because charging generates heat. However, if this causes your battery to run to zero before you get to a charger, it would be a bad idea.

One more point, I notice that wireless charging generate more heat than wired charging. I would spectulate that wire charging would be better except on port wear.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by dsmclone »

mhc wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 am My Android phone has a setting to only charge the battery to 85%. I use that most of the time. I
Can you describe how you do that? I've never seen that option. Just found it on my samsung. Device Care/Battery/More Battery Savings/Protect Battery
runner3081
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by runner3081 »

Motorola G6.

Goes on the charger each night when I go to bed and stays on there for about 10 hours until I go to work the next morning.

Battery still gets me through the day.

Will say they I have had to replace the batteries in Moto G4's that my wife and daughter have.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by 02nz »

Best practice for li-ion batteries is to 1) avoid deep charging (to 100%) and discharging (to 0; 2) avoid leaving the battery at those extremes for long periods (e.g., overnight); and 3) to avoid heat. I typically charge my phone daily, in the morning, from about 30% to 80%. This is much better for long-term battery health. After almost a year of use, my iPhone reports 100% battery health. To avoid heat, I would avoid super fast charging (greater than maybe 20W with most phones) and wireless charging, which generally produces more heat.
Last edited by 02nz on Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by Raymond »

dsmclone wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:47 am
mhc wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 am My Android phone has a setting to only charge the battery to 85%. I use that most of the time. I
Can you describe how you do that? I've never seen that option. Just found it on my samsung. Device Care/Battery/More Battery Savings/Protect Battery
Thanks to both of you for posting this, just set my Samsung phone to charge to 85%.

Unless I'm anticipating heavy use the next day, I usually only charge the phone when the battery drops down to 30% or so.
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Svensk Anga
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by Svensk Anga »

My Pixel 5a has a setting called "Adaptive Charging". It apparently charges slowly overnight to avoid the damage done by fast charging.

Found this under settings, battery, adaptive preferences.

I am charging at roughly 3 day intervals. I'm not a power user.

My previous phone, a Motorola Play Droid, was still satisfactory after six years. At maybe four years in, I noticed that the charge did not last as long. I switched from the OEM charger to a lower wattage one. Battery health seemed to improve or at least the deterioration rate slowed.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by safari »

I have a Samsung Note20 Ultra, which is 1 year 9 months old. I've been charging it to 100% daily, sometimes twice daily, the whole time I've owned it. I always plug it in before going to bed at night and unplug in the morning. I haven't noticed any degradation in battery performance.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by jadedfalcons »

I bought a Pixel 3aXL in June 2019. Every night, it got plugged in on my nightstand so it'd be topped off the next day. I gave it to my dad recently when his phone got cut off by an AT&T network "upgrade" and while the battery doesn't have as much juice left at the end of the day as it used to, it still gets through the day with plenty of power.

If I cycled it fewer times, sure, maybe it would last longer, but if it's lasted over three years and is still going, I can't complain.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by homebuyer6426 »

I buy refurbished Android phones and charge them every day, but not from 0%. More like 50% most days. The batteries last about 3 years for me. At that point I buy a battery case for the phone, about $50, and get another few years of life out of them that way.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by FrugalInvestor »

I'm currently using a Google Pixel 4a. I use the adaptive charging feature that helps preserve the battery while allowing me to fully charge the phone each night. Here's an article on this feature......

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gad ... 644155.cms
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by bob60014 »

My Samsung S20, which is almost 2 years old, gets charged wirelessly every day. No issues noted.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by bertilak »

My routine is to set it on the wireless charger every night when I go to bed. If this is less optimal than some other scheme, I accept that as part of the cost of owning the phone.
Last edited by bertilak on Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by like2read »

FrugalInvestor wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:18 pm I'm currently using a Google Pixel 4a. I use the adaptive charging feature that helps preserve the battery while allowing me to fully charge the phone each night. Here's an article on this feature......

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gad ... 644155.cms
+1

Thanks for this thread. Made me dig into the settings to see what options are available.

Google Pixel 5a here. Android 12.

Looks like Google has automated much of this with "Adaptive Charging". On/off feature that reads "Charge steadily overnight to preserve long term battery life....."

All the same, I buy into the max number of charging cycles idea, so I charge the phone every couple or few days.

l2r
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by stoptothink »

runner3081 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 11:09 am
Goes on the charger each night when I go to bed and stays on there for about 10 hours until I go to work the next morning.
This is a terrible habit. My wife had batteries in two separate phones essentially explode because she would regularly leave them on the charger for multiple hours. Even if that never happens, it's just bad for the longevity of the battery.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by gavinsiu »

stoptothink wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:20 pm
runner3081 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 11:09 am
Goes on the charger each night when I go to bed and stays on there for about 10 hours until I go to work the next morning.
This is a terrible habit. My wife had batteries in two separate phones essentially explode because she would regularly leave them on the charger for multiple hours. Even if that never happens, it's just bad for the longevity of the battery.
Keep in mind that battery charging has improved on many of the android and iphones recently. Most phones will adjust voltage during charging so that there is higher power during the initial charging, but then level off to nothing as the battery reaches full.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by FrugalInvestor »

like2read wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:14 pm
FrugalInvestor wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:18 pm I'm currently using a Google Pixel 4a. I use the adaptive charging feature that helps preserve the battery while allowing me to fully charge the phone each night. Here's an article on this feature......

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gad ... 644155.cms
+1

Thanks for this thread. Made me dig into the settings to see what options are available.

Google Pixel 5a here. Android 12.

Looks like Google has automated much of this with "Adaptive Charging". On/off feature that reads "Charge steadily overnight to preserve long term battery life....."

All the same, I buy into the max number of charging cycles idea, so I charge the phone every couple or few days.

l2r
I'm in agreement with you but due to my usage and my phone's battery capacity it's pretty iffy for me to get two full days of use out of a single charge. I figure that the adaptive charging is the next best thing to minimizing charge cycles and it is very convenient for me.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by iamlucky13 »

Here's some lithium ion general knowledge:
  • Shallow discharge cycles provides improved cycle life. The effect is non-linear (eg - limited depth of discharge to 50% will result in significantly more than double cycle life
  • Avoiding charging to 100% improves cycle life. Cycling between 30% and 80% state of charge is better than between 50% and 100%
  • Maintaining lower state of charge reduces the loss of capacity and increase in internal resistance from calendar aging. Most chemistries have a step change around 60% state of charge. Below that level, capacity loss over time is significantly reduced.
  • Higher temperatures increase calendar aging, although it actual reduces the cycle wear (hence why Tesla heats their battery packs to enable full performance driving in cold weather, or fast-charging, but also cools the packs at times, I think including when parked in hot weather)
  • High charge and discharge rates increase cycle wear
Rather than invest much time and thought into optimizing my battery use around all these factors, I just do a couple simple things:

I don't usually charge the phone until it gets down to around 15-25%. If I notice while it is on the charger that is over 75%, I remove it, but I don't spend time monitoring it. If it gets to 100%, it's not a big deal. I normally use a wireless charger to make this easy, and to reduce risk of damage to the USB port. It is plugged into a 7.5W USB adapter, so the charge rate is moderate. I don't leave it in hot locations.

Obviously, I make an exception if I will be going somewhere that might limit my opportunities to charge. Then I deliberately charge to 100% before leaving.

A reasonable expectation is that a lithium ion battery charged from 20% to 100% every day will last 2-3 years before capacity loss becomes noticeable, but the expectancy should be roughly doubled with routine observance of practices like the above. I'm a relatively light user (charging every other day, typically), so reduced cycling is already a reason for me to expect 4-5 years of life even without these practices.

As you should expect, individual results will vary, and design or manufacturing defects can occur, too.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by long_drink »

Some tips for protecting the battery (many have already been mentioned):
- Minimize the number of times you charge past 80% or dip below 20%
- Short and frequent charges are preferable to long ones (say from 50% to 60%, rather than from 20% to 80%)
- Turn off fast charging
- Use a wireless charger to minimize wear on the port
- Keep away from extreme heat or extreme cold
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by nisiprius »

I charge my phone overnight every night. I'll bet it's what 99% of all phone owners do.

I read the instruction book and the only thing it says about charging--besides fully charging it before use, using only Samsung chargers--is "Unplug the charging head from the outlet and remove the USB cable from the device when charging is complete." But, no, I don't get up in the middle of the night to check.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by stoptothink »

gavinsiu wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:23 pm
stoptothink wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:20 pm
runner3081 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 11:09 am
Goes on the charger each night when I go to bed and stays on there for about 10 hours until I go to work the next morning.
This is a terrible habit. My wife had batteries in two separate phones essentially explode because she would regularly leave them on the charger for multiple hours. Even if that never happens, it's just bad for the longevity of the battery.
Keep in mind that battery charging has improved on many of the android and iphones recently. Most phones will adjust voltage during charging so that there is higher power during the initial charging, but then level off to nothing as the battery reaches full.
I'm sure it has, both these incidences occurred within the last 5yrs. There is no upside to leaving it plugged in.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by iamlucky13 »

stoptothink wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:20 pm
runner3081 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 11:09 am
Goes on the charger each night when I go to bed and stays on there for about 10 hours until I go to work the next morning.
This is a terrible habit. My wife had batteries in two separate phones essentially explode because she would regularly leave them on the charger for multiple hours. Even if that never happens, it's just bad for the longevity of the battery.
Her only fault was sub-optimal charging habits. The problem is the manufacturer making a phone that doesn't terminate charging at the proper voltage, or using defective batteries. Lithium ion batteries can start fires if if they fail, so if there wasn't some sort of abuse like physical damage, I recommend this kind of event be reported to the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

It is generally better to unplug when fully charged (if not before), but consumer products generally shouldn't require user actions to not burn down a house. At worst, there should be clear warnings what is required to ensure safety.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by Chuckles960 »

What's the big deal? If and when the battery starts failing, get a new battery, problem solved.

(Batteries can be changed even when there is apparently no way to remove the battery. It can be done with an ebay kit, but it takes skill, so it is better to let a pro do it. The fixit-type chains charge a lot, but in cities with immigrant populations, there are shops that will do it cheaper and better.)
Last edited by Chuckles960 on Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by xb7 »

Great stuff --- my wife and I have only Samsung phones and tablets and I was not aware of the option to limit charging to 85% --- turned on now, gratitude to the poster who pointed this out.

I see effective battery life in the context of how long I might want to keep the phone or tablet. For devices sold these days, Samsung offers four years of operating system updates and five years of security updates. For that reason, I reckon that I'll replace these devices roughly every 5 years.

I have in the past used the trick of buying a case for an older phone that includes a battery in the case --- it's a sort of hack to get over the fact that almost none of these companies offer a removable battery anymore (expletives omitted here, but heavily implied ...). A battery case of course makes the combined phone and case a lot heavier and larger so isn't what you might call optimal, but it is a good option to keep in mind. I think that with reasonable care I can keep my batteries working for 5+ years well enough for my use.
Note, however, that I read recently about one new Samsung phone that brings back the replaceable battery:
https://www.howtogeek.com/815022/samsun ... e-battery/

Looking a bit further, here's a list of all Samsung phones that have removable batteries:
https://provscons.com/samsung-phones-wi ... e-battery/

This stuff can be quite subjective and vary by personal situations. I used to do long distance backpacking, where I got intimately familiar with what one must do to optimize battery life for most-important uses when going days without the option to recharge. In those days particularly, the ability to swap a new battery directly into the phone was a godsend. These days I often don't have to charge my phone more than once every 2 - 3 days, so the 85% charge limit should work just dandy for me.

Of course this Li-Ion preservation strategy is worth keeping in mind for any device that uses such batteries. I have a replacement charger for my electric unicycle that allows me to charge it to a user-specified max (in 10% increments if I recall correctly). I personally think that's a good way to go --- allow the user to dial in the max via a mechanical switch on the charger itself rather than have it as an obscure menu items hidden away somewhere in settings.

In any event, great thread, thanks for the information about my samsung devices.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by matti »

I usually charge mine every other day or so.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by dboeger1 »

I don't have data to suggest how valuable this is, but conceptually, most modern processors throttle speeds up and down based on various factors such as load, power, temperature, display activity, etc. It therefore makes sense that significantly reducing app usage, screen brightness, volume, vibration, wireless communications, etc. could/should reduce power draw (unless the base OS itself is power-hungry, in which case there's not much you can do without modifying internal settings, installing alternative images, etc.).

In the past, I've noticed that my battery life has been impacted by apps that spam frequent notifications, presumably because they're constantly polling online services over the wireless network in the background. I have A LOT of these apps. Every one in a while, I find myself frustrated by the sheer quantity of notifications I don't really need because I only ever wanted a specific one and just never adjusted the settings after that, so I'll go through app settings and start disabling a bunch of notifications. After that, my battery usage will sometimes improve, or even if it doesn't, I'll just see generally better responsiveness of the apps I do regularly use without a degradation in battery life. Turning off things like BlueTooth, background location tracking, etc., can also help, although obviously if you use those things it can be a hassle. I'll often turn mobile data off when I'm in a place with WiFi or vice-versa if I'm trying to stretch out battery life; even if those services are efficient when inactive, you never know when apps are just going to spin up a whole bunch of background activity and over-utilize power-hungry communications for purposes you don't really care about.

I'm also in the camp of Samsung users who use the setting to charge to 85%.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by runner3081 »

stoptothink wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:20 pm
runner3081 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 11:09 am
Goes on the charger each night when I go to bed and stays on there for about 10 hours until I go to work the next morning.
This is a terrible habit. My wife had batteries in two separate phones essentially explode because she would regularly leave them on the charger for multiple hours. Even if that never happens, it's just bad for the longevity of the battery.
Maybe 20 years ago.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by JoeRetire »

biscuit5 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:02 am How do you charge your Android phone? do you charge it to full each day? or only charge every few days?
I have an iphone. I charge it every night.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by Keenobserver »

mhc wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 am My Android phone has a setting to only charge the battery to 85%. I use that most of the time. If I think I may have heavy usage away from a charger, I'll turn off the setting and charge to 100%.

This concept also applies to laptop batteries and other items.
This. I have my laptop and Andrioid set to less than 100% charge to preserve long term battery life.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by gavinsiu »

Actually battery replacement may not be that expensive. I believe I updated the iphone on my wife and it cost $50. I have not updated the battery on my android phone but since security update usually run out before the battery life degrades too much.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by Afty »

What I tell other people: don’t worry about it and just charge when convenient, it’s not that big a deal
What I do myself: I set up my charger on a smart plug so that when my phone reaches 80%, it shuts off :D it's also set not to start charging until 5 am so that it doesn’t lose too much charge by the time I wake up
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by MathWizard »

I charge my pixel3a every other day on average.

Sometimes I turn it off at night and just continue using the next day.

I'm going on 3 years with it, and no problems, other than the fact that I'm past the guaranteed updates. I'm hoping to wait for the pixel 7.

I have a backup iPhone SE 2020, so I can use that if needed.
Other than buying the phone, I just refilled service for $175 for
2 years. Limited talk/text/data, but it is my backup and my music player, so don't need much from it.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by harrychan »

Afty wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:40 pm What I tell other people: don’t worry about it and just charge when convenient, it’s not that big a deal
What I do myself: I set up my charger on a smart plug so that when my phone reaches 80%, it shuts off :D it's also set not to start charging until 5 am so that it doesn’t lose too much charge by the time I wake up
Genuis! What do you use to do this? Alexa or IFTTT?
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
jharkin
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by jharkin »

"Android" doesnt matter in this discussion. The same concerns would apply to iPhones, dumb phones,tablets and laptops as well.

The issue is the lifespan of the Lithium-Ion battery. LiIons degrade from (in order from most damaging to least) :
- Heat build up from fast discharge (heavy use) and fast charging
- Spending time at a fully charged or deep discharged state
- Depth of discharge per cycle
- Cumulative charge cycles
- Calendar life

Good reading on this in layman's terms: https://batteryuniversity.com/article/b ... -batteries


To really extend the lifespan, you want to keep the battery as cool as possible, avoid storing it full charged and charge only as often as necessary. In an ideal world you would only top off when necessary and try to keep it around 1/2-3/4 charge state as much as possible.
Afty
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by Afty »

harrychan wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 9:58 am
Afty wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:40 pm What I tell other people: don’t worry about it and just charge when convenient, it’s not that big a deal
What I do myself: I set up my charger on a smart plug so that when my phone reaches 80%, it shuts off :D it's also set not to start charging until 5 am so that it doesn’t lose too much charge by the time I wake up
Genuis! What do you use to do this? Alexa or IFTTT?
Thanks :) I have an iPhone and a TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini. I use the iPhone's built-in Shortcuts app and the plug's Kasa app to automate the routine.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by harrychan »

Great
Afty wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:21 am
harrychan wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 9:58 am
Afty wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:40 pm What I tell other people: don’t worry about it and just charge when convenient, it’s not that big a deal
What I do myself: I set up my charger on a smart plug so that when my phone reaches 80%, it shuts off :D it's also set not to start charging until 5 am so that it doesn’t lose too much charge by the time I wake up
Genuis! What do you use to do this? Alexa or IFTTT?
Thanks :) I have an iPhone and a TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini. I use the iPhone's built-in Shortcuts app and the plug's Kasa app to automate the routine.
Great. You give me some ideas. I have some Alexa smart plugs that I don't use during Christmas time so I am pretty sure I can pull something off. Thanks!
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by iamlucky13 »

dsmclone wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:47 am
mhc wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 am My Android phone has a setting to only charge the battery to 85%. I use that most of the time. I
Can you describe how you do that? I've never seen that option. Just found it on my samsung. Device Care/Battery/More Battery Savings/Protect Battery
I'm quoting this to bring more visibility to it, as it's a simple option to help prolong the phone longevity if you don't need all your capacity (and in the past I looked for such a feature but couldn't find it). Actual path may vary depending on the version of Android and manufacturer-specific customizations (I found this on Android 12 Enterprise for a Samsung phone):

> Settings
> Battery and Device Care (might also just be labeled "Device Care")
> Battery
> More Battery Settings
> Protect Battery - To extend the lifespan of your battery, limit the maximum charge to 85%

I can't seem to make a shortcut directly to the setting. The closest I could do saves three clicks compared to above:

- In "Device Care," open the 3-dot menu in the upper right. Select "Add to apps screen"
- Swipe up to go to the apps screen and long press on the "Device Care" icon.
- A Device Care popup menu should appear: Long press on "Battery"
- A shortcut to Battery Settings will be placed on your home screen.
Last edited by iamlucky13 on Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
dbr
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by dbr »

To have to attend to a maintenance procedure re battery charging is just exactly what no one needs. Like all consumer products the drill is to use it in the most convenient way possible and replace it when it isn't as functional as one would like. That is life these days. Good luck to those who want to swim upstream. Pretty sad, huh? I would not walk off for days leaving anything on a charger.
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quantAndHold
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by quantAndHold »

I put it on the charger when I go to bed, take it off when I get up, and pay $49 for a new battery every 2-3 years as needed.

It’s 2022. Phone manufacturers have put a lot of smarts into their charging mechanisms, and I don’t need to try to outsmart them.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by flyingaway »

I have a Samsung smart phone which is almost 4 years old. I play a lot of games with it and have to charge it twice a day. I charge it whenever I realize the battery is low. I used to buy a new phone about every 4 years, but this one may last more than 4 years.
I have a battery bank to charge the phone when I am on travel, but it has only been used rarely.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by nisiprius »

iamlucky13 wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 7:22 pm...I'm quoting this to bring more visibility to it, as it's a simple option to help prolong the phone longevity if you don't need all your capacity (and in the past I looked for such a feature but couldn't find it). Actual path may vary depending on the version of Android and manufacturer-specific customizations:

> Settings
> Battery and Device Care (might also just be labeled "Device Care")
> Battery
> More Battery Settings
> Protect Battery - To extend the lifespan of your battery, limit the maximum charge to 85%...
I was about to say "Oh, well, I'm willing to do that." Thanks for the tip...

...but on my particular phone, the screen that comes up only has two settings: "Show battery percentage" and
Adaptive battery: Extend battery life based on your phone usage
and that one is already on. Either it was defaulted that way, or I must have turned it on long ago when I opted for "show battery percentage."
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by iamlucky13 »

nisiprius wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:35 am
iamlucky13 wrote: Fri Jul 29, 2022 7:22 pm...I'm quoting this to bring more visibility to it, as it's a simple option to help prolong the phone longevity if you don't need all your capacity (and in the past I looked for such a feature but couldn't find it). Actual path may vary depending on the version of Android and manufacturer-specific customizations:

> Settings
> Battery and Device Care (might also just be labeled "Device Care")
> Battery
> More Battery Settings
> Protect Battery - To extend the lifespan of your battery, limit the maximum charge to 85%...
I was about to say "Oh, well, I'm willing to do that." Thanks for the tip...

...but on my particular phone, the screen that comes up only has two settings: "Show battery percentage" and
Adaptive battery: Extend battery life based on your phone usage
and that one is already on. Either it was defaulted that way, or I must have turned it on long ago when I opted for "show battery percentage."
That's unfortunate. I wonder if it's an earlier version of Android.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by M.Lee »

Its there a problem with having to replace an Android phone battery? I do recharge my phone daily and it's never been below 50%.
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Re: do you fully charge your (Android) phone each day?

Post by dukeblue219 »

M.Lee wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 3:13 pm Its there a problem with having to replace an Android phone battery? I do recharge my phone daily and it's never been below 50%.
Replacing in a 2-3 year old phone can be impractical or near impossible for many phones.

But to answer the original question, I charge to full every night. I let it run down as far as I need during the day, usually to about 20%.
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