Dispelling myths about Samsung Galaxy family charging
I have never
seen so much misinformation as I so routinely see in these forums; and what's in this thread-starter's two outrageous posts is some of the worst of it. Yikes!
Any charger that comes with any Samsung Galaxy family phone may be left plugged-in to the wall outlet 100% of the time; and one need not plug the phone end of the charger cable into the phone
first before plugging-in to the wall outlet; and, in fact, so doing can be harmful to the phone if there should happen to be a momentary surge from the charger immediately upon plugging it into the wall outlet (which, though theortically possible, is admittedly very uncommon).
It is
not true that battery manufacturers don't let you see the real battery pecentage. That is simply ridiculous. If the battery percentage being shown on the phone is inaccurate, it's because the battery has never been calibrated to the phone (something I'll cover further down, herein).
It is
not true that the battery either should not or may not be fully discharged... discharged below 10%... or even discharged to 0%. To suggest otherwise is simply ridiculous; and the phrase "
the real thing is NEVER discharge more than 3 volts" reveals that the person using it hasn't the slightest notion what s/he's talking about (hint: read-up on Ohm's Law), and is operating from a flawed understanding of a body of longtime myths about how both current Lithium Ion batteries, and old Nickel Cadmium batteries work. While routinely (or at least occasionally) fully discharging an old Nickel Cadmium battery could help to "untrain" it to a sort of "sweet spot" range of charging efficiency, new Lithium Ion batteries suffer from no such probems. Lithium Ion batteries may be fully charged, fully discharged, partially charged/discharged, and every possible other thing without harming the battery or causing it to have any charge range "sweet spots."
It is
not true that a Lithium Ion battery should not be charged to 100%; that it may only be charged to 100% between 300 and 500 times; and/or that it should only ba charged to 95%. That is simply ridiculous. This myth stems from the fact that a Galaxy family phone will charge to 100%, and then if it's left plugged-in it will stop accepting a charge and allow the battery to discharge to 94% and then allow charging again, back up to 100%; and then if it's still plugged-in, it will allow discharging again to 94%, and then recharging again to 100%... over and over and over again -- all night long if that's when the phone's being charged -- until it's finally disconnected from the charger. If it is disconnected from the charger just after it has allowed discharge to 94%, and has recharged to 95%; and if that's when the user happens to look at the phone and unplug it from the charger, then the user may become under the false impression (and myths in places like this then abound) that the phone only charges to 95%, or that's that's really all the higher it will go; or that the battery percentage is inaccurate, or any of the other myths that get all blurred together by the technologically challenged and sloppy of thought like this thread's starter (or the "OP," as many forums call him/her).
It's true that any given Lithium Ion battery may only be charged so many times before it kinda' wears out. Whether it's 300 charges, or 500 charges, or 100 charges, or 10,000 charges depends entirely on the battery (and also how it's treated during its lifetime, which I cover, extensively, herein); and since there are so many aftermarket batteries that are actally fake Chinese knockoffs of Samsung-branded batteries, there's no
telling how long one will last. Avoid even trying to get batteries with the Samsung brand on them through places like Amazon. Instead, only purchase a Samsung-branded battery from the Samung website, to ensure that it's really made by Samsung, and, of course, you'll really pay for it if you do that! Instead, if you want a decent battery for a decent price on Amazon, get a "RAVPower" or "QCell" brand; they're well-priced and very reliable. There are others, too... the ones from Anker can usually also be trusted; but I, personally, stick with RAVPower... but, hey... that's just me.
Lithium Ion batteries, in any case, should be steadily used, without ever removing them from the phone unless absolutely necessary (in order to do a battery-removal reset of a frozen phone, for example), for about three months; and then they should be allowed to nearly fully discharge before removing them and swapping-in a new one for its three continuous months while the just-swapped-out one sits on the shelf and "rests," so to speak; and then, at the end of that three months, the old one that's been "resting" should be swapped back in; back and forth, back and forth every three months (or, in other words, quarterly) all year long. So doing will make both batteries last much longer and also display more accurate battery percentages on the phone...
...but only if the batteries are calibrated to the phone each time they're freshly installed into the phone. Again, I'll cover calibration in a moment; but every time a battery loses its physical electronic connection with the phone (in other words, if it's removed from the phone for any reason), then the next time it is reinserted into the phone, it must be recalibrated to the phone (the reason for which I'll explain further down, herein, when I explain how to recalibrate). So, then, right there that eliminates the awful habit of having two or three batteries -- one in the phone, and two in chargers -- that the user just keeps swapping into and out the phone all day long as each battery gets low. Nothing both ruins batteries -- nor makes their level percentages inaccurate in the phone -- faster that that awful habit. If the phone's daily usage is so high that it can't make it through the day without interim "refresh" recharges, then recharging the battery, while still in the phone, without swapping it out with another battery, is the only right way to do it. If even
that cannot be done, then the solution is not to swap two or thre batteries into and out of the phone all day long but, rather, to simply get a larger/higher-capacity battery... which, of course, means that the phone's back will also need to be replaced to accommodate the larger, thicker battery (which, of course, will suddenly make it so that no TPU or hybrid case will fit anymore).
How a battery is charged -- at what rate or speed -- can also have a profound effect on both the discharge rate and, especially, the ultimate life of the battery. The charger that comes with the phone is always the one that delivers the highest possible amperage that the phone is able to accept; and so will always charge the phone at maximum speed. However, a battery will discharge slightly slower (in other words, will hold its charge a tad bit longer, and will be less willing to give-up so easily what's stored in it) -- and the battery will, especially, ultimately last a tad bit longer -- if it is routinely charged at a rater slower than that of the charger that came with it. A Galaxy Note II, for example, comes with a 2 amp charger; and so 2 amps is its fastest charging rate. And, indeed, when a battery is brand new and receiving its first charge in the phone, it should definitely be charged the very first time with the maximum-amperage charger that came with the phone; then the phone should be used for a day; and then it should be charged again with the maximum-amperage/fastest-charging-rate charger that came with the phone. However, after that, charging the battery every night while you sleep using a 1.5 amp, or 1 amp, or even a .7 amp charger such as one, for example, that came with the earlier Galaxy family phone that the Note II replaced, and which you may happen to still have in a drawer, can be less wear and tear on the battery; and so said battery will at least last longer, but may also be better about holding its charge longer as it discharges in the phone all day.
And speaking of chargers: Just as with batteries, most of the Samsung-branded ones in places like Amazon are Chinese knockoffs; and especially the higher-amp ones -- such as the 2 amp one for the Note II, and may other higer-end, bigger, faster Samsung Galaxy family phones -- will not actually charge at that rate; most of them can barely achieve 1.2 amps or so (as can easily be determined, in real time, durin charging, by using this
Galaxy Charging Current app; though, preferably
the not-free/paid version). So, beware of such seemingly Samsung-branded chargers. If you want an actual Samsung-branded charger that actually charges at the rate on its label, then get it only from the Samsung website (and, of course, pay through the nose for it). However, aftermarket, 3rd-party chargers made by "Anker" or "Ventev" or "EZOPower" can be trusted to deliver the rated amperage; and also last a good, long time. Just make sure that the aftermarket charger is capable of delivering the same as, or more than, the amperage that the charger that came with the phone delivers (or that at least one of the aftermarket charger's ports, if it's a multi-port charger, can so deliver).
Also, as long as we're talking about charging rates,
the cable between the charger and the phone matters...
a lot! Wherever and whenever possible, it's important to use the cable that came with the phone: at least then you know that it's both pinned-out properly to ensure that it will do what it's supposed to do; and, also, that the weight of the wires inside are heavy enough for the charger to charge at its rated amperage over the cable's length. Aftermarket/third-party cables -- especially long ones -- often aren't heavy enough, and so they'll allow only a 1.5 amp or 1 amp charging rate, for example, even if using the 2 amp charger that came with the phone. Some aftermarket cables are also not pinned-out (in other words, which wires inside the cable go to which pins of the USB interface) properly, and so they're either not able to both transfer data
and charge; or they're not grounded properly, and so that charge is never at full rate, if at all. Some cables are even "charge only" cables, not capable of also transferring data; such cables, though, are usually more-than-adequately heavy to carry the full amperage of the charger to the phone; and so a charge-only cable can sometimes be a good thing. My recommendations for charge-only cables are pretty much any of them made by "MediaBridge," or perhaps "Belkin." As far as cables that both charge and transfer data, the Samsung-branded ones, made for Galaxy family phones actually by Samsung, are the best; with the hands-down best one being the one that came with the phone. If you must replace that one, though, again, most of the Samsung-branded ones in places like Amazon are cheap Chinese knockoffs; and so only getting one from the Samsung website (and, again, paying a lot for it) can be trustd. However, EZOPower makes really excellent -- and inexpensive, too -- USB cables which are pinned-out properly for Samsung Galaxy family phones; as well as having adequately heaving wires inside to handle the full amperage of the charger... at least as long as the cable is not longer than 6 to 10 feet (but preferably 3 to 6 feet).
On most new phones, the ability to see battery percentage on the notification bar is built-in to the OS, and so a separate (and battery-consuming) widget app is not necessary; and even if one's phone does not have the ability to display battery percentage on the notification bar built right into the phone, then the last thing that a battery indicator app should have is a battery-consuming widget. All that any battery indicator app should do is put a percentage display of battery level up on the notification bar. Period. No widgets, no sophisticated battery tracking analysis, and especially no battery-saving features. Just an indicator. Period.
Here are the battery percentage indicator apps, but
be careful: look closely at their descriptions; find the one that just displays battery percentage up on the notification bar (or sometimes called "status bar") and nothing (or at least little) else.
It can also be good to combine the battery percentage indicator capability up on the notification bar with other apps that do useful things. My personal recommendation is using
this app (though the paid version, via in-app purchase, in my opinion, to get rid of ads), which does so many other useful things, along with displaying battery percentage up on the notification bar, that it's actually worth whatever small amount of battery it uses.
If a battery charging current status app is desired, then use one that's actually made for the Galaxy family phones:
like this earlier-herein-mentiond one (though, again, preferably
the paid version).
Finally, I just don't even know
what to do with this bit of sheer and utter nonsense: "
to reset the "fuel gage" of the battery, at least once a month, let the battery discharge until it turns off by itself, let it 2 hours off, and after plug it to charge with the device off (at least 5 hours)". Oh. My. God. Why don't you recommend that the user get the eye of a newt and whisper incantations over the phone, too, as long as you're advocating witchcraft! Yikes!
I'm grateful for it, though, because it dovetails right into the earlier-herein-promised battery (re)calibration thing. So, now let's cover that...
Any battery freshly installed into any phone must be calibrate to said phone in order for there to be a prayer of a chance that that phone's battery percentage indicator will be truly accurae. If the battery is truly made by Samsung, and intended for use in the phone in question, then being obsessive about (re)calibration becomes not quite so important.. but it's still important. Even if a battery has been calibrated to a phone, the instant it is removed from said phone (in other words, once its electronic connection to/with the phone is broken), then it must be recalibrated to the phone again once it is reinstalled... and, yes, that means even if the battery is removed only to unfreeze a phone; or to clear it of other odd behaviors...
...one of which behaviors includes a variety of failure-to-charge issues which some believe are a common problem with Samsung Galaxy family phones, as we see in this thread, for example; or this one. The simple shutting-down of the device (and by that I mean turning it all the way off, properly, as its maker intended), then removing the device's back cover; then removing the battery from the device; and then just letting it sit there like that for a few minutes (sometimes only a minute or two; but preferably maybe five minutes); and then re-inserting the battery and powering back up properly until it is fully booted-up and everything loading and doing things inside the phone have all calmed down (the equivalent of when the hard drive light calms down after a Windows machine boot-up); and then powering it back off again, and removing the battery again, and waiting a few minutes again, and then re-inserting the battery and powering it back-up again can all go a long way toward eliminating most of the problems wherein the phone gets confused, for example, about whether it's plugged-in to a charger or USB port, and a variety of other issues.
Most Galaxy family phone charging issues are because users aren't mindful of the very things about which I've written, herein. It's really as simple as that. Sometimes, though, there's a legitimate hardware issue, most commonly with the litte circuit board inside the phone which contains on it the bottom-of-phone both USB port and microphone. Fortunately, it's inexpensive (see here, and here, for two common aftermarket ones; actual Samsung-branded ones would cost maybe twice to three times as much), but one should not tackle the repair oneself unless one has the both technical expertise and the tools. It is, for whatever it's worth, an easy and quick repair for someone with the tools and expertise so shouldn't cost much. Of course if the phone's under warranty, then it should be taken to one of the carrier's device support centers for a warranty repair; or sent to Samsung for an authorized factory repair. One may usually also get -- often free -- a new and actually-made-by-Samsung battery at most carrier device support centers.
Anyway, back to battey (re)calibration...
Until and unless any phone actually "knows" what a 100% charge (for any given battery) actually "looks" like, it cannot be expected to report completely accurate battery levels either using its built-in battery percentage meter, or any afermarket one, up on the notication bar (or even via any on-the-homescreen widgets). The purpose of (re)calibrating any given battery to the phone into which it has been newly-placed is simply so that said phone's internal battery-monitoring/reporting circuitry will properly recognize when said battery is really and truly at 100% charge so that said battery-monitoring/reporting circuitry will accurately report battery percentage via whatever battery percentage indicator is up in the notification (aka "status") bar. Fortunately, it's a simple and relatively quick process which anyone may do; but it absolutely must be done for any given battery very soon after it has been newly-installed into the phone...
...including, again, even only if the battery has been briefly removed just to unfreeze (or battery-removal-reset) a phone! Anytime, again, that the electro-physical connection between the phone and any given battery has been broken, then said battery must be recalibrated to said phone after it has been reinserted into said phone. And, certainly, any battery swapped-into the phone as part of the earlier-herein-mentioned quarterly use-then-rest methodology needs to be recalibrated to the phone soon after said swap-in.
For that reason, swapping two or three batteries in and out of the phone all day long just doesn't work. Because none of them ever get recalibrated to the phone, none of them are having their true charge levels accurately reported by the phone; and so it becomes a self-defeating thing since the battery, eventually, gets reported as nearly dead (and so the user insensibly swaps it out) when, in fact, it still has a considerable amount of charge in it. If, again, the phone is so heavily used that its overnight charge won't make it 'til the end of the day, then the only two solutions are to either do interim "refresh" recharges all day long, or get a larger battery (with concomitant larger phone back).
The charger and cable that should be used for battery (re)calibration should be the ones that came with the phone, if possible. If not, then a charger and cable of the type and caliber (and brand) as I earlier herein mentioned should be used; and you must make sure that said charger is capable of delivering at least the amperage of the charger that came with the phone (or if it's a multi-port charger, that you use the port which delivers the higher amperage).
Here's how to (re)calibrate a battery to a phone...
FIRST, charge the phone, with the phone turned-on, all the way to 100%. You will obviously need a battery percentage indicator up on the notification bar, which I have herein already covered. Only a percentage indicator will work: do not try to determine if the phone is at 100% charge using the graphic of a battery which displays, for example, half-full of green color if at 50% charge. You need a truly digital percentage indicator... either the one built-into the phone, if there is one, or an aftermarket one such as I herein earlier describe. So, anyway, first charge the phone all the way up to 100% while the phone is turned on.
SECOND, once the battery percentage indicator shows that the phone has been charged to 100% with its power on, then unplug the phone from the charger and immediately power-off the phone... meaning actually turn it off... all the way off... not merely blank its screen. To turn the phone truly off, long-press the hardware POWER button until the "Device options" dialog (the one that offers the abiliy to power off, or reset, or go into "Airplane mode") appears. Then choose "power off," and verify with "OK" that's that's really what you want to do. Then keep holding the phone in your hand, feeling for the little vibration burst, just before the blue LED light goes out, to indicate that the phone's really all the way off. Wait another few seconds after you feel that vibration burst (and the blue light goes out) to really make sure that the phone's by-golly all the way off... fully off.
THIRD, plug the charger into the turned-off phone; a green image of a battery will light-up, and that charging-while-off battery graphic will obviously be showing that it's charging. It will blank-out after a few seconds; that's okay, just let it charge while off. When it finally hits a 100%-charge-while-off, the little charging-while-off battery graphic will light-up again for a few seconds, showing a 100% charge in white letters. If the battery is brand new, this could take actually several minutes, so just be patient. And if you think you may have missed the brief light-up of the screen to show 100% charge, no problem: Just short-press-and-quickly-release the phone's POWER button to briefly light-up the screen's little charging-while-off battery graphic; and if it doesn't yet say 100%, then just keep being patient while it blanks again and just keeps charging-while-off.
FOURTH, when the phone finally reaches a 100% charge while off, then unplug the charger from the phone; and then, with the phone unplugged from the charger, power it back up again (in other words, long-press and hold the hardware POWER button until the "Samsung Galaxy Note II" splash graphic lights-up, and then release the POWER button and just patiently wait while the phone fully boots up; be careful not to simultaneously press either of the volume rocker hardware buttons on the left side of the phone while you're pressing the POWER button on right side). DO NOT RUSH THINGS! Just like a Windows computer, a phone takes a while to fully -- and that's the operative word -- boot-up. On a Windows machine, one can tell that the machine's finally fully booted-up by looking at its hard drive light to see when it finally calms down and stops being either fully on or frequently flickering; but a phone has no such hardware light, so it's best to just be patient and give the phone plenty of time to fully boot-up... maybe even as long as five minutes.
FIFTH, once the phone's fully booted-up, turn right around power it all the way off, again (long-pressing the POWER button until the dialog pops-up which allows the "power off" choice; then verify with "OK"; then wait 'til you feel the power-off vibration burst and the blue light goes out; then wait a few seconds for the phone to really-and-truly be all the way
off).
SIXTH, once the phone's fully off, plug-in the charger again, and, again, perform a charge-while-off to 100% again. Again, it will briefly show the charging-while-off battery graphic, then blank; then it will briefly light-up again when it finally hits a 100% charge while off, then blank again; so pay attention. And, again, if you happen to miss the 100% charge-while-off brief light-up, just press-and-immediately-release the POWER button to briefly light-up the charging-while-off battery graphic to see if it shows 100% yet; and if not, then just let it blank and keep charging until it does. It should happen much faster this time, though; so just pay attention.
SEVENTH, once the phone's fully 100% charged-while-off, unplug the charger for the final (for this procedure) time; and then go ahead and power-up the phone normally; and after it's fully booted-up, use it normally. The battery is now calibrated to the phone.
NOTE: If it's a brand new battery, then repeat the process, just for good measure, after around five days. A battery that's been used, even if it has sat "resting" on a shelf for three months, need only be recalibrated once after being inserted back into a phone; only brand new, first-time-ever-used batteries should be recalibrated about five days after initial calibration.
If you do everything as I've herein explained, and are mindful of all the conditions and situations herein explained, and your phone doesn't have a hardware problem with the earlier-mentioned little circuit board inside it which has the USB port and bottom-of-phone mic on it, then you should never have so much as a moment's problem with charging your Samsung Galaxy family phone... ever. Do not be misled by people who apparently believe in witchcraft and/or voodoo, like the OP, here.