Do you find yourself needing to charge your phone multiple times a day? If you find yourself frequently running out of battery life, you may want to think about changing your charging habits. Take a look at our tips and tricks for boosting your battery life and ask yourself if you need to rethink the way you charge your devices.
Battery charging works in stages – Lithium Ion batteries charge in two stages with drastically different voltages. When your battery charge is lower, it charges much faster. Once your battery hits about 70%, it charges at a much slower rate at a steady voltage until it hits 100%.
You should always keep this fact in mind when looking for a charging cable. Be wary of “miracle chargers” that claim to charge your phone in seconds. These chargers won’t help prolong your battery life and may even put stress on your battery by charging it too quickly.
Your battery charge should be “just right”– Lithium ion batteries don’t need to be fully charged, but they shouldn’t be operated consistently at a low charge either. States of high voltage can shorten your battery life by wearing the battery down, so you may be better off charging your phone to about 70%-85% instead of the full 100%.
Additionally, constantly using your phone on a low charge can chip away at your battery life by running down the total number of charging cycles the battery goes through. Every time your battery completely discharges (aka runs out of power), this counts as a full charging cycle.
Keep your battery at a comfortable temperature – you wouldn’t leave your loved ones or pets in a car on a hot summer day or during the freezing winter months, so why do it with your phone? Make sure your phone is always above freezing and below 90°F. If you ever feel your phone overheating while charging, stop charging it immediately.
Be conscious of your peripheral devices – If you use a peripheral device that’s connect to your phone such as an Apple Watch, make sure the device is switched into a power saving mode or that battery draining apps (such as the Activate feature on the Apple Watch) are turned off. While these functions may not be the primary battery draining culprit, every little bit helps when it comes to conserving battery life.
