Be it the laptop battery or the new smartphone: The service life of the built-in modern lithium-ion battery deteriorates over time. If you want to counteract the process, there are a few tips you can use to conserve your batteries.
5 tips to help save the battery
1. Avoid too high and too low temperatures.
If a smartphone or laptop is exposed to temperatures that are too high or too low - especially while charging - the battery will also suffer. Temperature extremes have a negative impact on battery life. As a guideline: Do not charge the battery outside the range of 10 to 35 ° C. Limit the extreme values in order to extend the life of the battery. Charging below 0 ° C is particularly beneficial for the metal coating on the battery anode. Put simply, this means that an internal short circuit can develop that generates heat and makes the battery unstable and unsafe. Nowadays, new chargers already have sensors to measure the battery temperature to ensure that charging does not occur in extreme temperatures.
In summary, you should minimize the use of batteries outside the recommended ambient temperatures. Charging at high and low temperatures in particular will damage your battery.
2. Avoid charging levels below 20 percent and above 80 percent.
Modern lithium-ion batteries do not like it when they are overcharged or discharged too empty. Ideally, the charge level of your battery should not be below 20 percent and not above 80 percent. The following applies in particular to smartphones: it is better to refrain from charging overnight and disconnect the mobile phone from the power in the evening. The battery level drops by a few percent and starts again. This permanently damages the battery. Our tip: it's better to charge your smartphone before going to sleep, switch on airplane mode and close all apps. So your battery hardly consumes any energy overnight and the alarm clock still rings the next morning.
But even here there is not always an acute cause for concern: If you have a modern charger for your iPhone or Android mobile phone, the charging process stops automatically when it is fully charged..
3. Avoid fast charging and discharging.
Fast chargers may seem convenient, but high currents heat up and degrade the battery more quickly than slow charging with electricity.
4. Update your device to the latest software.
Software updates for iOS, Android or even Windows 10 often contain advanced energy-saving technologies in order to achieve a longer battery life. Therefore, always make sure that your device has the latest software version..
- Install the iOS update on the iPhone
- Software updates for Android
- Windows 10: Install updates manually
5. Store the battery in cool temperatures.
If the smartphone battery is not used for a longer period of time, it is recommended to store it in a cool place. If possible, remove the battery from the cell phone or laptop with a battery level of around 50%. The reason for this is that a completely discharged battery is deeply discharged when it is stored. As a result, it might not be able to be recharged afterwards. Conversely, if you store the battery fully charged for a long period of time, it may lose some of its capacity, which leads to a shorter battery life. Store the device or the battery in a cool, low-humidity environment.