@brennyn Current best practice for phones is to not let it get too too low. High teens to low 20s is time to charge. Then you don’t want to consistently charge too high either, about 80% is ideal.
Charging up to 100% is best to do only when you are going to actively use the battery very shortly after reaching the full charge. i.e. you don’t want to let it sit there plugged in at 100% for any longer than absolutely necessary.
I have a Kasa smart plug that I program to last just enough to bring my phone up to 80% for typical charging. Then, on days when I know I’ll need the extra capacity, I set the charger to start the correct number of hours prior to me waking up so it’s just reaching 100% shortly before I start using it.
Bit of a hassle to some, but I get considerably longer life from the batteries on my devices compared to what folks are used to nowadays.
Also, it’s fine to do partial charges… to bring it up 10-20%, say from 30 to 50% in the middle of the day. No real need for charging to be in one single longer session of going from 20 to 80% every single time. The charging cycles that determine the useful life of a battery are counted based on full discharge to full recharge. Partial charges count as partial cycles.
@brennyn@jester747 If you only charge to 80%, do you still need to unplug it right away? I’ve found that charging it while I sleep is the only way I’ll remember to charge it. If I wait until it’s getting low, I invariably forget and end up heading somewhere with 11% and no way to charge it.
@brennyn@lisagd Not likely, you’re probably fine. I think it was MKBHD that did a deep dive on battery charging practices and I seem to remember an issue with certain phones, especially those a few years old, bungling the way they keep a phone at a certain charge level. They would short-cycle the changeover from charge/stop-charging and cause other issues leading to the universal recommendation of just charge to actually charge a discernible amount (at least 5-10% increase). They did mention that many (most?) brands resolved the short-cycling though. There are some very informative videos on YT about this stuff, you might find some even related to your specific phone model. My iPhone (as impressive as its battery life is) has a pretty lame battery optimization approach that tries to gauge my daily schedule to determine when to charge beyond the 80% itself. Uh, yeah, that’s not gonna happen. Even I don’t know at what time I need to get up beyond a couple days. It might work fine for folks on a predictable schedule though. HTH
No option for like pretty much all the time? My iphone battery is 6 years old and I’ve been putting off having Apple replace the battery forever. I can’t leave home without a battery pack.
Every night. But now that looks to be bad as it says slow charge now and the percentage doesn’t go up. The only way I can get a charge is if the phone is off.
This is only at home though. If I charge while in the car, I have no issues.
@chienfou At first I thought it was the cable so when I changed it, it gave me the same slow charge prompt in the car twice so I thought for sure it was the phone. Every day since then, however, it charges fine with the new cable in the car just like before.
@chienfou@JT954 That sounds like a charger with sagging output, not an unusual thing at all. I’ve had to replace a couple of them for similar lack-of-performance reasons over the years.
I charge to 80% while I’m doing my morning computer stuff, and on a typical day I’ll have 30% remaining the next morning. But on days I think I’ll need it, I carry a power bank to top it up.
@fultonmartin@mcanavino@jester747 Android has a setting that forces the phone to never charge above 85% - then you can just leave it on the charger and not worry about it.
@kalma I have that turned on, too. It took some searching through the Settings for Battery to find the toggle. It does make me feel better about dumping it on the charger and forgetting about it for a couple of days.
Mine goes on thge charger every night, and sits on the wireless charging stand-up pad when I’m eating. I frequently get below 10% by the end of the day otherwise.
I don’t really “plug” it in when I use the Qi chargers.
I charge it daily at work
I’m still trained to wait until it’s pretty low to recharge it even though I know it matters a lot less with modern batteries.
@brennyn Current best practice for phones is to not let it get too too low. High teens to low 20s is time to charge. Then you don’t want to consistently charge too high either, about 80% is ideal.
Charging up to 100% is best to do only when you are going to actively use the battery very shortly after reaching the full charge. i.e. you don’t want to let it sit there plugged in at 100% for any longer than absolutely necessary.
I have a Kasa smart plug that I program to last just enough to bring my phone up to 80% for typical charging. Then, on days when I know I’ll need the extra capacity, I set the charger to start the correct number of hours prior to me waking up so it’s just reaching 100% shortly before I start using it.
Bit of a hassle to some, but I get considerably longer life from the batteries on my devices compared to what folks are used to nowadays.
Also, it’s fine to do partial charges… to bring it up 10-20%, say from 30 to 50% in the middle of the day. No real need for charging to be in one single longer session of going from 20 to 80% every single time. The charging cycles that determine the useful life of a battery are counted based on full discharge to full recharge. Partial charges count as partial cycles.
@jester747 Thanks, this is super informative. I haven’t looked up things for real since the early oughts.
@brennyn @jester747 My Android phone has a setting that will only charge up to 85% instead of 100%. I guess I should make the switch.
@brennyn @jester747 If you only charge to 80%, do you still need to unplug it right away? I’ve found that charging it while I sleep is the only way I’ll remember to charge it. If I wait until it’s getting low, I invariably forget and end up heading somewhere with 11% and no way to charge it.
@brennyn @lisagd Not likely, you’re probably fine. I think it was MKBHD that did a deep dive on battery charging practices and I seem to remember an issue with certain phones, especially those a few years old, bungling the way they keep a phone at a certain charge level. They would short-cycle the changeover from charge/stop-charging and cause other issues leading to the universal recommendation of just charge to actually charge a discernible amount (at least 5-10% increase). They did mention that many (most?) brands resolved the short-cycling though. There are some very informative videos on YT about this stuff, you might find some even related to your specific phone model. My iPhone (as impressive as its battery life is) has a pretty lame battery optimization approach that tries to gauge my daily schedule to determine when to charge beyond the 80% itself. Uh, yeah, that’s not gonna happen. Even I don’t know at what time I need to get up beyond a couple days. It might work fine for folks on a predictable schedule though. HTH
No option for like pretty much all the time? My iphone battery is 6 years old and I’ve been putting off having Apple replace the battery forever. I can’t leave home without a battery pack.
Every night. But now that looks to be bad as it says slow charge now and the percentage doesn’t go up. The only way I can get a charge is if the phone is off.
This is only at home though. If I charge while in the car, I have no issues.
@JT954
Sounds like a charger issue maybe rather than a phone issue…
@chienfou At first I thought it was the cable so when I changed it, it gave me the same slow charge prompt in the car twice so I thought for sure it was the phone. Every day since then, however, it charges fine with the new cable in the car just like before.
@chienfou @JT954 That sounds like a charger with sagging output, not an unusual thing at all. I’ve had to replace a couple of them for similar lack-of-performance reasons over the years.
I wait for it to get down to about 20% and put it to charge to no more than 80ish percent.
with the plugs that fit, most of the time.
About every 5 or 6 days.
Every other day or so
If you wanted to be pedantic, and I do: if it’s on and not charging, it’s dying. So A.
I panic at 50% and plug it in right away. I probably have an irrational fear of having some sort of emergency and not having a phone to call anyone.
@BreezyT Luckily I know an internet deal site that sometimes sells powerbanks!
I aim for the recommendation of at 20-40 charge to 80%, but not sure it’s super critical.
I charge to 80% while I’m doing my morning computer stuff, and on a typical day I’ll have 30% remaining the next morning. But on days I think I’ll need it, I carry a power bank to top it up.
When I am home, it sits on a qi charger. Other than that, it doesn’t get charged. So, 30-50% when I get home, 100% and ready to go when home.
@fultonmartin @mcanavino @jester747 Android has a setting that forces the phone to never charge above 85% - then you can just leave it on the charger and not worry about it.
@kalma I have that turned on, too. It took some searching through the Settings for Battery to find the toggle. It does make me feel better about dumping it on the charger and forgetting about it for a couple of days.
Mine goes on thge charger every night, and sits on the wireless charging stand-up pad when I’m eating. I frequently get below 10% by the end of the day otherwise.