With fast charging, the time needed to revive a mobile phone is drastically reduced, but with this charging, the battery life is also reduced. Not dramatically, but capacity is undermined due to increased stress on its components.
Gaming on phones is becoming more and more popular. With over 1.4 billion mobile gamers worldwide the industry is expected to stay and keep growing. Fast-pace titles such as PUBG, Fortnite and Call of Duty are hugely popular. I myself prefer using my phone for more strategic types of games (where the lack of controllers is not a burden), such as Hearthstone or Civilization VI. Doesn't matter the game you prefer, all of them will drain your battery way faster than normal use. Fast charging to the rescue.
Taking advantage of the fast charge included in current phones is an excellent idea if you need the mobile ASAP and there is no time to charge it, but reviving it daily with this charge ends up reducing the maximum capacity of the battery at a higher speed. It is not something that is normally noticed in the average life of a smartphone, but it ends up being key to the health of its main component, the battery. There are a number of ways to reduce fast charging to help reduce degradation.
Fast charging has evolved from 10 W to more than 100 W, recently launched by various brands, such as Xiaomi, OPPO and Realme. This increase in recharging power supposes a drastic reduction in times: if before we needed more than an hour and a half to revive a mobile from 0 to 100%, now it takes just over half an hour. The advantage is remarkable in that it can 'save the lives' of those who only have a few minutes to plug in the charger: fast charging ensures hours of use with a few minutes in the plug.Beyond the advantages for the user, it has been scientifically proven that fast charging ends up degrading the battery at a higher speed. It is logical since, by raising the voltage and amperage during the recharging process, the internal components of the battery are under greater stress. Such stress gradually reduces the maximum capacity of the component, a process of constant degradation that does not have to affect negatively in the short term.Since high-speed charging is pointless if you're not going to need the phone for hours (because you recharge it while you work or at night, for example), limiting fast charge will help your battery to degrade to a lesser extent. And there are different ways.
Fast charging is not bad in itself for the phone as it increases user comfort, a fact that ends up resounding on the positive experience. And, as batteries get bigger and bigger, noticing a decrease in capacity caused by component stress can take more than two to three years, an average that is usually higher than usual for a phone. As with everything, it is worth evaluating the pros and cons to make the best use of our phone. The following tips are about reducing fast charge usage (only when it is not needed) to extend the lifespan of your battery.
Use wireless charging if you have it. Qi charging is a standard that more and more phones have, at least in the highest range. This wireless charging usually delivers a lower flow of volts and amps (usually between 5-10 W, although the Qi standard reaches 15 W), so it will always be slower than a fast charger (at least as long as it does not use 65 W wireless loads such as OPPO). Putting the mobile to charge in a wireless base usually lengthens the life of the battery, even though it may undergo greater heating.
There are a ton of myths and misconceptions about battery life and fast charging, some of them originated decades ago when Nokia was king and Snake the game. Battery technology has changed drastically, so let's answer some of the most common questions:
Generally no, but depends on your specific model. Mid-High end or smartphones made for gaming (such as Razer phones) will not heat up in prolonged sessions. Otherwise, if you notice your phone heating up you should be careful: close unnecessary programs and take breaks while gaming. If you have a higher-end phone and the problem persists, send it to repair or make use of the warranty, it could be a problem with the battery, which is dangerous.
Quite the opposite, the best you can do is not to let your battery die nor charge it to full neither. Keeping it between 30% and 80% most of the time is the best for battery lifespan. Nevertheless if you have to charge your phone multiple times a day it means either you have a bad phone or you game on it a lot. If it is the first scenario consider buying a new one.
Ideally no, try to keep your phone battery in the 30% to 80% range in order to extend battery lifespan.
Yes, empty white space in the screen requires power. Dark mode will save battery and also causes less eye strain.
It doesn't really affect battery life. If you don't use your phone it won't drain a significant amount of juice. Closing all programs before sleeping is simpler or less cumbersome.
Yes it is. Lithium batteries do benefit from not charging to full and not letting it go to zero, although worrying about it too much is not necessary. 30 to 90 is ok too.
There is no reason to stop using fast charging as it is safe for the phone and allows it to be used for several hours with just a few minutes in the socketOn the other hand, always using fast charging is not necessary as there will be occasions when you will not be using the phone for hours. So why not take it into account and load it more slowly during such occasions? It is a small gesture that helps extend the life of the battery.