You know, we’ve made exceptional progress with cell phone batteries over the past 10 years. I remember around that time, in the late 90s, when I had friends with cell phones for emergencies. But they could never be reached at their cell numbers, because their phones were never on. If they had left them on perpetually as we do today, the battery would be dead in a matter of hours. So even though it was deemed “emergency only,” it didn’t serve that purpose all too well. However, the technological expansion of the next few years provided us with lithium ion batteries which could stay on for hours and hours — even days — without fully draining. And so begun the wireless golden age in America.
Yet, there are still many complaints about battery life, particularly that it diminishes over time. Sometimes, these problems come on faster than others, but the overall complaint remains: After a certain period of time, battery life just ain’t what it used to be.
You might hear explanations for this: You keep the charger plugged in even after the battery is charged full (as in, overnight), or let it discharge fully before recharging it. But let’s look at these issues a little closer.
Keeping your phone plugged in will reduce battery life
This might be true, though it equally might not. The issue here is not the constant feeding of a charge. Once your cell phone battery hits 100 percent, that’s it. It stops accepting a charge from the wall. So no, without considering other circumstances, keeping your phone plugged in will not cause battery discharge.
Ah, but there are always other circumstances. The real issue here is heat. The higher the temperature, the faster a battery life decays. So if your phone runs hot while charging — and I know many do — your battery will be at risk if you keep it plugged in for prolonged periods of time. And since it doesn’t take eight or even six hours to charge, if you leave it plugged in overnight, you’re going to see some negative effects because of the raised internal temperature.
This is a pretty simple issue to fix. It might be a foreign or even shocking comment to some (I kid, I kid), but you can — you know — turn off the phone. True, this might not be possible for some people. Sometimes, we’re always waiting for that dreaded call in the middle of the night. But if you don’t plan to answer your phone overnight, just turn it off. This will keep the phone at a cooler temperature while charging, and even after the battery is fully charge. After all, it can’t run hot if it’s not running at all.
Letting your phone fully discharge before recharging
It almost seems like this was the way batteries were meant to be charged. You let the battery drain all the way to the end, and you charge it all the way back up. I’ve even heard salespeople at cell phone stores tell customers to do this all the time, as to have the longest possible battery life. Unfortunately, they’re handing out bad advice.
Fully charging and discharging actually taxes your battery more than if you charged it before full discharge. There is still room for full discharge before charging, though. If you do it once every 30 charges or so, you’ll not only keep your battery running longer, but you’ll keep your battery gauge properly calibrated. This is important, since an improperly calibrated battery gauge can lead to your phone being shut off while there is still actually a charge in the battery.
This knowledge isn’t unfounded, though. Nickel-based batteries preceded lithium-ion models, and yes, nickel-based batteries do have memories. The optimal way to charge one of those was to fully discharge before charging. However, the lithium-ion models are quite different in this regard.
Now that we’ve looked at two of the bigger issues in battery life, let’s look at a few smaller ones.
Vibrations drain your battery
Yeah, most people aren’t going to turn off their vibration function just because it drains the battery quicker. Still, if you’re looking for ways to save battery life, this is one big area you can improve in. Oh, and by the way, putting your phone on vibrate is not the same as putting it on silent. I can hear your phone vibrating from across an amphitheater. Please turn off that vibration.
Searching for signal is even worse
When I jump on the subway and I’m in for a decently long ride, the first thing I do is turn off my radio. I’m not going to get any service down there anyway, so it’s not like I’ll be missing any important communications. And at the same time, I’m not draining my battery. Searching for signal can really take a toll, and the more constantly you’re doing it, the greater battery drain you’ll see. If your phone has the option to turn the radio off, make sure to do it when you’re going to be in an area without signal for a while.
Keep the backlight off as much as possible
It takes battery power to turn on your phone’s lights. When your screen is on, it is draining battery. In order to avoid this, set your backlight to time out after a certain period. It might be a slight annoyance to bring it back on, but in the end it will save you from the perils of a drained battery.
Extras like GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth are battery drainers
When you’re not using your Bluetooth, turn off the connection (unless you’re in the car, of course). Just having your phone’s Bluetooth setting on can cause some serious battery drain. WiFi is also a known battery killer — as a laptop user I can profess to that. And excessive use of GPS, while sometimes unavoidable, will do the same.
Tips for prolonging your battery life
Avoiding battery-draining practices is only part of the battle to combat battery drain. You also have to take proactive steps in order to keep your battery in proper working order. So…
- Keep your battery at a cool temperature. Don’t put it near the heater, or anything hot, really.
- Don’t buy a spare battery. Even if you keep it in the packaging, it can naturally drain. If you do have a spare one already, you should store it in your refrigerator — not freezer — at about a 40 percent charge.
- Only fully discharge your battery every 30 charges. I know I said it before, but it’s worth repeating.
- Turn your phone off while charging. Once again, worth a repeat. This will keep the battery at a more ideal temperature.
The ultimate hope, of course, is that they advance battery power enough in the near future to support the growing innovations in cell phones. They’re turning into mini computers, but don’t have nearly the amount of battery required for them to be so. But for now, just do whatever you can to stave off battery drain and improve battery life.
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Some great tips! I always seem to run by battery raw as soon as I get a new one, so these tips will help out a lot! Thanks!
Though it is true that heat causes decay in the modern Lithium Ion batteries, leaving it charged overnight is not a problem. Many modern batteries have an IC that controls the rate and the amount of electricity in the battery. When the battery is fully charged, the IC will stop charging the phone and the phone will not overheat. Also, discharging your phone before recharging is not a good idea with these new batteries. They like to be kept charge and will actually deplete the battery life if it is constantly discharged and recharged. The best thing to do is to keep it charged as often as you can.
I used to always keep my cell phone plugged into the charger. Weather it be over night, or if I’m not doing anything that weekend. But eventually, it seemed like I was charging it more and more, so my habit of keeping it plugged didn’t improve at all. Until finally, the thing woundn’t even turn on. Though I would like to think that the batteries never wear out, I can assure you, they most definately do.
I have had numerous cell phone store clerks and service guys tell me to shut the phone off once a day, and turn it back on for better phone function. They also have said that it’s a good idea to remove the battery and then put it back in the phone to keep the phone working optimally. I have never seen this info in written form. Is there any truth to either of these?
Good questions, Tom. I agree that turning your phone off and turning it back on is a good practice. Maybe not once a day, but at least every couple of days. Just like turning off, or restarting your computer allows it to run through its startup tasks and perform system checks, turning your phone off then back on will help it perform better.
As far as removing the battery and putting it back in, this isn’t necessary for optimal function. You really only need to do that when performing diagnostics or repairs on the phone because something has gone wrong. It’s sort of like a hard reboot of your computer. When all else has failed, remove the battery and start over.