In the past, we were not so concerned about the autonomy of a mobile. We also didn’t care how or how long it took to charge. However, the fact that smartphones consume more and more resources and we know more about the technical aspects of their batteries has made us aware of the most recommended charging habits. And it is that maintaining good battery health is important.
And charge the mobile up to 100%, either coming from 0% or any other higher percentage, not always recommended. We anticipate you since nothing will happen to do it sporadically, but we do warn you that the battery health could be negatively affected if this is a constant. In this post, we tell you the reasons.
Taking longer to consume charge cycles will make the lifespan longer
Let’s start with the key question to understand all this, what is a battery cycle or charge cycle? A charge cycle occurs when a mobile is fully charged from 0 to 100%. It is understood that each mobile phone has a certain number of cycles in its battery and, once that number of cycles has been exceeded, the battery could already be considered obsolete.
And it’s not that the charging cycle is bad in itself, since in the end it is an indicator. The negative comes from what happens at the physical level in the batteries while they are being recharged, with the movement and accumulation of electrons being the main agents of battery deterioration. That is why lithium cell phone batteries they will always wear outsince that is its nature. And the more wear they suffer, the less autonomy they will offer.
And even knowing that it is impossible to use a mobile phone without consuming charging cycles, it does not mean that we cannot do something for stop this degradation. If instead of consuming a full charge cycle at once we make it be consumed in different charges, we will be causing the battery to end up extending its useful life.
And how is this done? Well, fundamentally, by making it take longer to consume a full charge cycle. Hence it is best to keep the battery between 20 and 80%. You may occasionally read that 40-80% and even 40-60% is appropriate, but various studies and manufacturers have come to standardize on the 20-80% range.
Furthermore, it is from 80% when the load is more sensitive and hence in most mobiles a slower load occurs. Without going any further, manufacturers such as OnePlus or Apple offer charging options that from that 80% limit the charge and only recharge it when, through artificial intelligence, they detect that it is necessary to reach 100%.
Keeping the mobile up to 20% and removing it from the charger when it reaches 80% also means that we are not consuming a full charge cyclebut a part of it. Specifically, 60%, having to do at least one and a half loads for that cycle to be consumed.
Without sounding contradictory, since the recommendation is still not to let the battery run out and not charge it to 100%, we must tell you that nothing happens either by charging it up to 100% sporadically. If you plan a day of intensive use, you are going to be away from home or you face any other situation that implies having the maximum autonomy possible, you can charge the mobile up to 100% and even let it run out.
We insist, neither reaching 100% charge nor waiting for it to turn off due to lack of battery are good habits and involve consuming a full charge cycle and, consequently, the useful life of the battery will be shortened. Although it is evident that in specific cases nothing happenssince you will not notice the effect too much if you do it very sporadically.
As additional advice and conclusion to this post, to say that keeping track of charge cycles is something highly recommended also for keep track of the battery status at all times. There are applications on Google Play that allow you to obtain clear information about it, such as Ampere, AccuBattery or Charge Cycle Battery Stats.
