Want to Extend Your Cell Phone’s Battery Life? Stop Doing This

There’s a lot of advice out there about cell phone and laptop batteries, as well as how to make them last longer. So how are we supposed to know what’s true and what isn’t? And is it really possible to avoid replacing them?

If you think you know about batteries, throw everything you know out the window. I’m about to blow your mind.

The future is here, and it’s a world where it’s OK to leave your phone plugged in overnight.

Read on to learn why pretty much everything you think you know about laptop and cell phone batteries is wrong. You might just save some money in the process.

What Type of Battery Does My Device Use?

Remember back in the day when your dad would yell at you for leaving his laptop plugged in? I do.

Back in those days, batteries were made from nickel cadmium or nickel-metal hydride. If you frequently recharged these batteries while they were still partially charged, they would eventually forget their full capacity. They would lose their capacity to fully recharge, a phenomenon known as the “memory effect.”

When this happened to your battery, you knew it was doomed. That’s when your charge would drop to 20% in just minutes, even after you’d fully charged it. After constantly scrambling to find the closest outlet to recharge it, you’d eventually get fed up and purchase a new battery.

Thankfully, though, this doesn’t (or at least shouldn’t) happen anymore.

That’s because most of today’s devices use lithium-ion batteries. Everything from MacBooks to Androids have these superpowered batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries “charge faster, last longer and have a higher power density for more battery life in a lighter package,” according to Apple’s website.

What sets lithium-ion batteries apart from the old ones is that they charge in cycles.

Rather than waiting for your battery to use 100% of its life, you can charge it to 100% tonight and use 75% of its battery tomorrow. Then, you could recharge it to 100% and use 25%. Doing so, you’ll discharge 100% of the battery’s life, thus, beginning a new cycle — and you won’t have to let your battery go dead.

To sum it up, these aren’t your Energizer Bunny AA batteries. They respond and adapt to charging habits by working in cycles so they don’t “forget” their maximum charging capacity.

Common Myths About Batteries

Now that you know the differences between older batteries and lithium-ion batteries, you’re ready to know why everything else you think you know about batteries is probably false.

Here are some common myths about batteries.

Quitting Apps Improves Battery Life

Sorry, but no. When apps are open, they’re active on your device’s RAM (memory). Quitting them means your device will have to reload its memory the next time you open them. The reloading process sucks up more power from your battery than it would use if you simply left them open.

If you’re worried an app is sucking the life out of your battery, go to your device’s app settings to control which apps you want to refresh when you’re not using them and which you want to remain idle until you open them.

You Should Let Your Device Reach 0% Before Recharging it

No. Don’t do this — at least, not often (we’ll get to that later). Remember the charge cycle we talked about earlier? Think about it — if your phone doesn’t reach a full charge cycle every time you plug it in (depending upon your usage before doing so), why would you let your phone die before plugging it in?

You shouldn’t regularly drain your device’s lithium-ion battery to 0% because that amounts to a full cycle charge. By preventing the battery from discharging to 0% on a regular basis, you extend its life expectancy by making its charging cycles longer.

Leaving Your Laptop Plugged in Will Make It Dependent on Its Charger

I used to be a huge believer in this one. But batteries these days are smarter than ever, as are the chargers that come with them. Upon reaching 80%, they enter a slow “trickle charge.”

So, contrary to what your dad told you, leaving your cell phone or laptop battery plugged in these days isn’t fatal. Your device adapts to how long it has been plugged in. The future is now!

Can You Actually Make a Lithium-Ion Battery Last Longer?

Now that we understand it isn’t 1999 anymore, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty: How can you make a lithium-ion battery last longer, saving you money in the long run?

Well, a battery is a battery; because of a thing called science, you can’t make something live forever. You can, however, make sure you don’t decrease its lifespan by taking proper care of it.

Here are a few ways to make a lithium-ion battery last as long as possible.

What To Do If Your Battery Starts Acting Up

If you’ve been diligent in your battery practices, yet your battery starts acting weird, you may have one last resort.

It actually is a good idea to let your cell phone or laptop battery completely discharge on occasion. So, if you charge your phone overnight and check it at lunchtime to find it’s below 30%, it may be time to calibrate it by letting the battery reach 0%.

By doing so every one to three months, you adjust the system’s life cycle so it can remember just how much charge has diminished over time.

Think of it like a reset button on your battery. After doing this, it should more accurately report how much juice is left instead of jumping from 100% to lower numbers before you’ve made a single phone call or checked your email.

Kelly Smith is a former email content specialist at The Penny Hoarder.