You want to use your brand new smartphone for as long as possible, but how do you ensure that the built-in battery lasts that long?
A good battery is important: it ensures that your device lasts as long as possible and doesn’t run out after, for example, half a day. How you handle your smartphone largely determines how the battery loses its capacity over time. And thus how long you can use the device until it needs to be replaced.
Please note: there is no way to keep a battery in perfect condition for decades. A battery consists of chemicals that push ions back and forth, a process that will eventually always wear it out. The tips below will help you extend your usage time, but one day every device will need a new battery.
Tip 1: Use a correct adapter
Google warns on its website that Android phones can be damaged if you use the wrong adapter. Especially cheap chargers that you pick up from the store for a few euros are a risk, because they sometimes cannot regulate their voltage properly.
A too slowly charging adapter can also have negative consequences on your battery: it charges your device slowly, which puts the battery under pressure for longer and therefore loses its capacity faster.
That doesn’t mean that every adapter is dangerous. A higher quality charging block usually does its job just fine. It’s not like other devices where the capacity has to be exactly the same, because most phones have a built-in component that adjusts the power supply to what is required.
Tip 2: pay close attention to the temperature
The battery in a smartphone performs best at a temperature between 16 and 22 degrees Celsius. If you are above that for a long time, the battery can be permanently damaged, Apple also warns on its website. A low temperature also reduces your usage time, but that has no long-term impact on your battery. Although with a short battery life you will have to charge more often, which wears out the battery and it loses its capacity in the long term.
On cold days, try to carry your device against your body, for example in a trouser or breast pocket. The temperature remains higher than in the cold outside air in your bag. Is the phone overheating? Then remove the case so that it can lose its heat better.
Tip 3: use the battery management of your smartphone
Many modern smartphones have built-in software that helps to keep your battery capacity under control as well as possible. For example, an iPhone will temporarily stop charging at too high a temperature to prevent damage to the battery.
In the settings of your iPhone you can also look within the Settings app under ‘Battery’, followed by ‘Charging’. There you can choose up to what percentage your device should be charged. The lower the percentage, the less you can use the phone in a day, but the quality of the battery remains better.
Apple site MacRumors recently investigated how well this optimization works. It turned out that the battery has about 3 to 4 percent more capacity after a year of use at a charging percentage of 80 percent.