"You Should Charge Your Phone To 100%" And Other Smartphone Battery Myths Debunked
So you can make the most out of your smartphone's battery!
By Hafiz Zainuddin — 22 Sep 2022, 11:08 AM
Does your fully-charged smartphone run out of juice in less than a day? :')
If that happens to you, chances are, your smartphone battery is a goner (or on the way to becoming one).
Let's be honest here, we spend most of our time on our smartphones. In fact, the average Malaysian spends about 12 hours on their phone, New Straits Times reports.
Thankfully, there are ways to ensure your battery life lasts longer. But at the same time, there are a couple of myths out there surrounding a smartphone's battery life that you ought to avoid.
MYTH #1 - Charging your phone overnight will overload and damage the battery
One thing people need to know is that almost all smartphones use lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable batteries powered by lithium-ion technology.
According to PCMag, lithium-ion batteries are smart enough to know when charging hits 100%, so it stops charging further. The charger will help to regulate the charging rate and prevents overcharging, this phenomenon is called trickle charging.
The only issue is if your phone overheats because of the long hours of charging. If this is the case, you should ensure your phone is being charged in a cool and well-ventilated place.
MYTH #2 - If your phone is heating up, throw it into the fridge or freezer
Smartphones, or more specifically smartphone batteries, should always avoid extremely hot or extremely cold environments.
When you place your phone in a fridge or freezer, it may help cool it down temporarily, but you run the risk of having water particles entering its circuitry, which could in turn damage the phone.
As such, the best way to 'cool down' your overheating device is to put it under shade in room temperature, remove it from direct sunlight, or to blow on it with your desk fan.
MYTH #3 - You should always charge your phone to 100% or wait for it to drop to 0% before charging
Batteries are under the most strain when they're completely drained or fully charged, so by avoiding these situations, the lithium-ion batteries will extend its lifespan.
Ideally, it's best to charge it up until 80% at most, and leave it down till to 30% at least. Keeping it between these two ranges is most ideal to prolong its lifespan.
MYTH #4 - Closing background apps will improve your smartphone's battery life
Contrary to popular belief, closing your background apps doesn't actually save battery life.
In fact, it actually uses up more of your battery because when you manually quit an app, you would be using a portion of the phone's resources and battery to initiate the closing and the app. Furthermore, if you intend to use the app again, it'll just lead to more unnecessary usage of battery.
Instead, what you can do is can is disable 'background app refresh' by accessing it through your phone's settings on iOS and Android.
MYTH #5 - It's okay to use knock-off cables and adapters
As Malaysians, we love free and cheap stuff, so we just can't help it sometimes.
But using knockoff cables and adapters can be detrimental to our smartphone's battery life as they may contain harmful materials that pose a threat to your phone's overall battery life.
They can also be physically defective and may not even fit your device's charging port properly.
