- For the most part going from all the way full to all the way empty won't help; in fact, it'll do a little damage if you do it too often.
- It's smart to do one full discharge about once a month for "calibration," but don't do it all the time.
- Running the whole gamut on a regular basis won't make your battery explode or anything, but it will shorten its lifespan.
- But! You don't want to have it charging all the time either; lithium-ion batteries can get overheated. Luckily for you, your charger is smart enough to help with this, and will cut your phone off for a spell once it's full.
- Battery doesn't particularly like being all the way full either. In fact, your battery will behave the best if you take it off the charge before it hits 100 percent.
- And leaving it plugged when it's already full is going to cause a little degradation.
- If you're really particular about optimizing your battery's life, you should try to go from around 40 percent to around 80 percent in one go.
- Bunch of tiny charges isn't as bad as going from 100 down to zero all the time, but it's not optimal either.
- Your smartphone's battery will degrade much much faster when it's hot, regardless of whether it's being used or just sitting around doing nothing.
- Avoid wireless charging. Wireless chargers out there today have this nasty habit of generating a fair bit of waste heat. And while wasted energy is just a bummer in general, that heat will also toast your battery in the process.
- Standard plug-in charging is going to keep your battery in better shape.
- Never go to zero. Try to leave it with at least 40 percent battery power to tide it over.
- When lithium-ion batteries get too low—like, literally zero percent—they get seriously unstable, and dangerous to charge. To prevent explosion-type disasters if you do try to charge one, lithium-ion batteries have built-in self-destruct circuits that will disable (read: destroy) the battery for good, if it reaches rock bottom. And sure, that'll save you from a face full of battery-acid, but it'll also leave you short one battery.
- The slight damage of a technically bad idea like leaving your phone plugged in all night every night, or using wireless charging, might be worth the convenience.
- Avoiding particularly egregious torture like letting your phone discharge from full to zero every single day, or leaving it in a hot car all the time.
Source: gizmodo.com
