Batteries need to be cared for properly \u2014 they\u2019re a critical part of our mobile devices and battery technology hasn\u2019t advanced as fast as other technologies. Unfortunately, there\u2019s a lot of incorrect information about batteries out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the big myths come from old battery technologies and are actively harmful when applied to new battery technologies. For example, nickel-based batteries needed to be fully discharged, while modern lithium batteries shouldn\u2019t be fully discharged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perform Shallow Discharges; Avoid Frequent Full Discharges<\/strong> If you were to discharge your battery to 50%, recharge it, and then discharge it to 50% again, that would count as a single \u201ccycle\u201d with modern Li-ion batteries. You don\u2019t need to worry about performing shallow charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s only one problem that shallow discharges can cause. Laptops can get a bit confused by shallow discharges and may show you wrong estimates for how long your device\u2019s battery will last. Laptop manufacturers recommend you perform a full discharge about once per month to help calibrate the device\u2019s battery time estimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heat (and Cold) Can Damage Batteries<\/strong> If you have a laptop that you use plugged in all of the time and it gets quite hot, removing the battery can increase the battery\u2019s life by limiting the battery\u2019s exposure to the heat of your laptop. This won\u2019t make too much of a difference in normal use, but if you\u2019re using a laptop to play a lot of demanding games and it\u2019s heating up quite a bit, it may be helpful. Of course, this only applies to laptops with removable batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your climate is also a concern. If it gets very hot where you live or you store your device somewhere that gets very hot \u2014 say, a hot car left in the sun on a summer day \u2014 your battery will wear down faster. Keep your devices near room temperature and avoid storing them in very hot places, such as hot cars on summer days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Extreme cold temperatures can decrease the lifespan of your battery, too. Don\u2019t put a spare battery in the freezer or expose any device with a battery to similarly cold temperatures if you\u2019re in a region with cold temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t Leave the Battery At 0% Store Batteries at 50% Charge<\/strong> Storing the battery while fully discharged could result in the battery dying completely, while storing the battery at full charge could result in the loss of some battery capacity and shorten your battery\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This applies to both batteries in devices and spare batteries you may have lying around \u2014 keep them at 50% if you won\u2019t be using them for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaving Your Laptop Plugged in All The Time Is Okay, But\u2026<\/strong> Ultimately, we\u2019re both saying the same thing. It\u2019s fine to leave your laptop plugged in at your desk when you\u2019re using it, as the laptop won\u2019t \u201covercharge\u201d the battery \u2014 it will stop charging when it reaches capacity. However, just as you shouldn\u2019t store your laptop\u2019s battery at full capacity in a closet, you shouldn\u2019t leave your laptop plugged in for months on end with the battery at full capacity. Allow your laptop\u2019s battery to occasionally discharge somewhat before charging it back up \u2014 that will keep the electrons flowing and keep the battery from losing capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Battery University says that \u201cthe worst situation is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures.\u201d If your laptop produces a lot of heat, removing it might be a good idea. If you have a fairly cool laptop that you occasionally let discharge a reasonable amount, leaving it plugged in \u2014 even for days on end \u2014 shouldn\u2019t be a problem. If your laptop gets extremely hot, you may want to remove the battery, as we mentioned above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Batteries Will Always Wear Down<\/strong> The batteries can still be used after this point, but they\u2019ll hold less electricity and will power your devices for shorter and shorter periods of time. They\u2019ll continue losing capacity the more you use them. Heat and aging will reduce the battery\u2019s life, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever you do, your devices\u2019 batteries will slowly wear down over time. With proper care, you can make them hold a long charge for longer \u2014 but there\u2019s no stopping entropy. Hopefully, your device will be due for an upgrade by the time its battery dies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Largest range of Laptop Batteries<\/a>, Chargers & AC adapters. Find the right battery, ac adapters for your phone or tablet. 12 Month Warranty,30 Days Money Back!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Batteries need to be cared for properly \u2014 they\u2019re a critical part of our mobile devices and battery technology hasn\u2019t advanced as fast as other technologies. Unfortunately, there\u2019s a lot of incorrect information about batteries out there. Some of the big myths come from old battery technologies and are actively harmful when applied to new … Continue reading “Debunking Battery Life Myths for Mobile Phones, Tablets, and Laptops”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[613],"class_list":["post-1036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips","tag-battery-life-myths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1037,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1036\/revisions\/1037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oriccabattery.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Old NiMH and NiCd batteries had a \u201cmemory effect\u201d and had to be completely discharged from 100% to 0% to keep their capacity. Modern devices use Lithium Ion batteries, which work differently and have no memory effect. In fact, completely discharging a Li-ion battery is bad for it. You should try to perform shallow discharges \u2014 discharge the battery to something like 40-70% before recharging it, for example. Try to never let your battery go below 20% except in rare circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heat can reduce a battery\u2019s capacity. This affects all types of devices \u2014 even smartphones heat up when performing demanding tasks \u2014 but laptops can become hottest of all when under load. The battery is in the laptop, near the electronics that become hot while working heavily \u2014 this contributes to battery wear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You shouldn\u2019t leave the battery in a fully discharged state for very long. Ideally, the battery wouldn\u2019t discharge all the way to zero very often \u2014 but if it does, you should recharge it as soon as possible. You don\u2019t have to race to a power outlet when your smartphone dies, but don\u2019t throw it in your drawer and leave it there for weeks without charging it. If you let the battery discharge completely and leave your device in a closet, the battery may become incapable of holding a charge at all, dying completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, leaving the battery charged fully for an extended period of time could result in a loss of capacity and shorten its life. Ideally, you\u2019d store the battery at 50% charge if you weren\u2019t going to use it for a while. Apple recommends you leave the battery at 50% if you intend on storing the device more than six months. If you\u2019re using it regularly, you shouldn\u2019t need to worry about its state \u2014 although you never want to leave a battery at 0% for too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This one appears to be fairly controversial. We\u2019ve previously covered the eternal question of whether it\u2019s okay to leave your laptop plugged in all the time. We concluded that it\u2019s okay and the battery\u2019s temperature is the main thing you need to worry about. Apple disagrees, recommending against leaving its Macbook Air and Macbook Pro notebooks plugged in all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like all other types of batteries, Li-ion batteries will wear down over time, holding less and less charge. Apple says its laptop batteries will reach 80% of their original capacity after \u201cup to\u201d 1000 full discharge cycles. Other manufacturers commonly rate their batteries 300 to 500 cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n