I have a Motorola Droid cell phone and wondering if it is better to let the battery drain all the way down before charging or not? Does it shorten the battery life if I recharge when the battery is down only 50%? I've asked 3 different people at Verizon and never got one agreement on best charging scenario. Ed
Proper cell phone charging?
- Thread starter Eddie
- Start date
- Status
Just try not to charge the phone 10% here, unplug, 30% there. Just try to get a full charge when you plug it in.
I plug my phone into the charger when I am close to or about 20%. Every few weeks I will let it drain to 0% and then give it a full charge.
This seems to work well with my phones.
I plug my phone into the charger when I am close to or about 20%. Every few weeks I will let it drain to 0% and then give it a full charge.
This seems to work well with my phones.
A lithium? IMO no, but I think you'll maximize the life if you let it fully discharge at least monthly.
I put my Droid on charge every night and have for almost two years....occasionally I'll hook up a charger at the office. I get a low battery warning at least once a week so I guess that counts as discharging it.
I've always been told that on lithium's, you are better off running them to 20-30% and then charging them up. I follow that on my cordless tools, but not so much on my phone. I just plug it in each night.
JHZR2
Staff member
The narrower the range of voltage that you keep the chemistry the better. Anodes stress and strain during li-ion intercalation, and these maximize at full charge and discharge. Of course keeping the battery within, say 20-30% soc range at all times (e.g only use it from 40-70% charge) isn't practical. I do wish that phone and laptop firmware allowed a setting to stop charging at a point less than 100%...
The other consideration is that the soc meters drift, so every so often it is essential to do a full cycle in order to calibrate it. The batteries should be good for 500-1000 full cycles, so it shouldn't be an issue. The smaller the partial cycle, you get to 10k or 100k of them before the battery is condemnable.
The other consideration is that the soc meters drift, so every so often it is essential to do a full cycle in order to calibrate it. The batteries should be good for 500-1000 full cycles, so it shouldn't be an issue. The smaller the partial cycle, you get to 10k or 100k of them before the battery is condemnable.
Originally Posted By: Eddie
I have a Motorola Droid cell phone and wondering if it is better to let the battery drain all the way down before charging or not? Does it shorten the battery life if I recharge when the battery is down only 50%? I've asked 3 different people at Verizon and never got one agreement on best charging scenario. Ed
My Droid 2 Global was horrible with respect to the battery charge life. To make matters worse I did not get cell service at my house. Even at work where I get cell service its not great. I charged it a lot. More than once a day.
I now have a Nexus 5 and its night and day. I can go 2 or 3 days without needing to charge.
I have a Motorola Droid cell phone and wondering if it is better to let the battery drain all the way down before charging or not? Does it shorten the battery life if I recharge when the battery is down only 50%? I've asked 3 different people at Verizon and never got one agreement on best charging scenario. Ed
My Droid 2 Global was horrible with respect to the battery charge life. To make matters worse I did not get cell service at my house. Even at work where I get cell service its not great. I charged it a lot. More than once a day.
I now have a Nexus 5 and its night and day. I can go 2 or 3 days without needing to charge.
Here is some info about Lithium batteries.
Link to web site.
Another article below.
Link to another article.
Link to web site.
Another article below.
Link to another article.
Charge it when you need to, L-ION batteries do not like to be low on charge, the nice thing about these batteries is that most people treat them the right way without even knowing it (plugging the phone in every night, keeping a higher charge)
Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I do wish that phone and laptop firmware allowed a setting to stop charging at a point less than 100%...
My lenovo t420 has that
starts charging under 80% stops at 87%
Many laptops do. On Dells, if you install some of their special software, it has some tricks to either extend the battery's life (# of charges) or the charge time. My E6220's 6-cell battery is actually doing pretty well even after 2 1/2 years.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I do wish that phone and laptop firmware allowed a setting to stop charging at a point less than 100%...
My lenovo t420 has that
starts charging under 80% stops at 87%
Many laptops do. On Dells, if you install some of their special software, it has some tricks to either extend the battery's life (# of charges) or the charge time. My E6220's 6-cell battery is actually doing pretty well even after 2 1/2 years.
Lots of good information here. I have mended my ways and will now be recharging my cell phone appropriately. Thank you. Ed
On my laptop it has a program that limits charging to 80%. They say this extends the life time of the battery. It also has a battery recalibration program that will drain it all the way, then recharge it, then drain it to 80% and maintain it there.
My son gave me an external battery that charges through any USB port and will recharge or power my Samsung S3 cell phone. It will also charge or power my Garmin. It's called an Astro Mini External Battery made by Anker.
My son gave me an external battery that charges through any USB port and will recharge or power my Samsung S3 cell phone. It will also charge or power my Garmin. It's called an Astro Mini External Battery made by Anker.
- Status
