In order to get the most of smartphone's lithium-ion battery, here are some best practices:
- Lithium-ion batteries do not have 'memory effect', that is, you do not need to discharge your smartphone's battery to 0% each time. Instead, try to keep your battery at north of 40% and charge whenever convenient. Shallow discharges will result in less wear on the battery. Also, the occasional full discharge to 0% every couple of months is beneficial to calibrate your smartphone's battery indicator.
- Try to keep your smartphone away from heat and humidity. It will greatly decrease your battery's health.
- Disconnect your phone once it has reached 100%. Overnight charging is fine because your device is smart and stops charging once it has reached a full charge. The key is use your device and keep the 'ions moving'; don't leave your phone plugged in for days, use it. If you need to store your device for a long period, store the phone at 40% charge.
- Use reputable charging accessories made by the device manufacturer or well-known third party companies, such as Belkin. Knock off chargers and cables could charge your device improperly and hurt the device.
These are simply best practices, no need to fret if you are away from a charger and need to run down your device's battery. Lithium-ion batteries only have a finite number of charges (300-500 FULL discharges) and will eventually die, but with the above guidelines you can maximize your device's battery!
Additional reading: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
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