Keep your smartphone battery happy
Have you noticed that your battery isn’t lasting as long as it used to? You’re not doing anything wrong, and your battery probably isn’t on the way out. Over time, it’s natural for Lithium-Ion batteries to lose charge, sometimes as much as 3% per month. You may not notice that kind of decrease immediately, but you certainly will over the course of six months. The good thing for all of us is that the solution is easy, and you can do it yourself in just three simple steps.
1) Let your phone discharge completely. This means letting the battery run down t the point where the phone turns itself off. Don’t worry, you won’t be doing this often enough to damage the phone. Just two or three times a year should suffice. Think of this as an oil change for your Smartphone.
2) Plug into the wall charger. Don’t turn the phone on, and avoid using your USB cable to charge (it’ll just take too long). The reason for leaving your Smartphone off is so that when it’s completely charged, your battery meter will be as close to 100% accurate as possible. We recommend doing this overnight so you know it’s fully charged by the time you get to step 3.
3) Unplug from the charger and turn it on! That’s it. When your Smartphone boots back up it’ll be registering a much more accurate battery level for months to come.
Here are some tips to keep your battery in tip-top shape.
- Try not to let the battery drop to 0% unless you’re recalibrating using the method above.
- Even if you think your battery will last another day, it’s better to charge more often to increase its lifespan.
- Discharge levels double for every 18°F increase in ambient temperature, so don’t leave your phone in your car!
