Our everyday habits on our smartphones can make a big impact on the overall health of our phone batteries, even if we think of something like charging as not all that important. Everything from the accessories that we use to power up our devices to the amount of time we spend charging our phones matters. It all adds up and affects the heath of our battery — so it’s better to get good charging habits under our belts asap.
These four seemingly harmless charging habits are more damaging to your battery than you may think. Try to get these under control and you might just benefit from a longer-lasting battery and phone that performs more efficiently and doesn’t need to be replaced every few years.
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1. Charging Overnight
Gone are the days when our phone’s lithium-ion battery truly suffered from trickle charges when left to charge overnight. In the past, there were even news stories about phones catching fire from this practice. Even though our modern batteries can withstand this better, it’s still a good idea not to charge your phone overnight, especially if you tend to leave it on your bed or by your pillow. Extreme temperatures are bad for the battery, and having it charge while trapped under blankets can damage the battery.
2. Using Cheap or Broken Chargers
You don’t have to break the bank for charging accessories, but you also shouldn’t buy the cheapest one you can find and settle. Nor should you continue using chargers long after they’ve frayed (this is a fire hazard). These chargers won’t always provide your phone with the exact charge necessary to sustain its battery, and if they charge too fast can cause overheating.
3. Using Your Phone While It’s Charging
Try to keep your hands off of your phone while it’s charging and not use it. It’s okay to check a text message or email, but using battery-consuming apps like games and social media while it’s charging will just make the charging process take longer and put unneeded strain on your battery.
4. Letting Your Battery Drain Constantly
Once your phone reaches 20 percent battery, you’ll receive an alert about it. This is a good time to find a charger or, if a charger isn’t nearby, to put your phone into Low Battery Mode to sustain its charge. Constantly allowing your phone battery to dip down to zero percent charge taxes it and makes it work harder to get back up to the level you need.
