Keeping batteries in good shape?

[Blazeeofglory]

Hey all!
I am upgrading from my note 4 to a note 7 (super excited!) For the past few months my note 4 has been absolutely horrible battery wise. It will shut off at any time below 60 percent. It will then drop my battery atleast 20 percent. If i open any app that uses camera, it will die no matter the percentage. I am unable to turn the phone back on unless I remove the battery or plug it in. Sometimes it will drop the phone to 0 percent battery life. Now the reason im telling you all this is because I have a question about batteries and their life span. I am not exactly sure what is causing this issue (I have replaced the battery, restored the phone, etc.). And not that it really matters anymore. But anywho.. I am always charging my phone. I know it is a horrible habit but I always like to be prepared. As we all know with the note 7 we cannot just swap batteries when we overcharge and kill the first one. I have read things that say to not let your phone die as this hurts the battery life. Others say always top off charge when possible. I have read that batteries need to be "conditioned" (drained then recharged to 100 before first use) which I believe is true for older batteries, but not the ones we currently use today (please correct me if im wrong)

So what is the best thing to do to keep your battery lasting as long as possible? Charge frequently? Charge only when dead? Only when below x percent? What about wireless chargers...is the heat bad on the battery? Any insight will be highly appreciated!

 

[PlaybookFanatic]

This is a wonderful post. Can't wait to read the answers because I'd like to know. I wasn't well prepared when moving to the Note 5. Thanks for typing this up before I could!

 

[Vandito]

I'm still on the note 3. I charge it any time I can at home or in the car. I always have it plugged in. Leave it charging overnight even though it is 100%. Doesn't seem to have any ill effects, my battery still seems similar to when I first got it.

 

[Blazeeofglory]

I'm still on the note 3. I charge it any time I can at home or in the car. I always have it plugged in. Leave it charging overnight even though it is 100%. Doesn't seem to have any ill effects, my battery still seems similar to when I first got it.

This sounds like me. Anytime I have a charger near my phone is plugged in. I honestly cant tell if it has affected my battery in any way because I believe my phone has another internal issue all in itself.

 

[Guyinbox]

The battery randomly dying or dropping 20% at a time sounds like a bad battery. If you've already bought a replacement (preferably a Samsung battery from a reputable source) and you're still seeing the same behaviors it's a defect.

You should definitely avoid letting your phone completely die and always use an oem charger to get the longest life out of your battery. If you plan on keeping your phone for 2 years the battery will probably have lost capacity by then. In that case, you could send it off to Samsung to have them replace it or buy a battery case or 2 and treat them like swappable batteries.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

In my opinion, use it however you want. I was trying to save my battery by always recharging the battery around 40% and taking it off around 90%. I feel like this caused the phone to act strange when it did drop below 40%. Like the phone would become confused about what the battery charge level was. The battery would do similar things to the OPs where the battery level would drop significantly for seemingly no reason. Now I recharge around 20-25% and things seem smoother imo.

 

[j_hansen]

My Note 4 I stick in the OEM charger at bedtime and at my desk at work I have a wireless pad and using the official Samsung S-View cover, still on the first battery a year later, first 10% seems to drop fairly quick though but easily get a full day of heavy use no problem

 

[Joshua Luther2]

I've wondered about this too, which is one reason I went with an LG G4. It has a removable battery. Not trying to convince anyone to get this phone for this sole reason.

Definitely make sure you buy a battery from a reputable source. Don't look for the cheapest available. I did this and the battery wouldn't charge past 86% and then one day it just died and won't even charge anymore. Just a heads up if you do have a phone with a removable battery.

But I think that battery technology has advanced to the point where we shouldn't have to worry about our charging habits. I could be wrong though.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Well, I'm no battery expert, but these tips should help you get the very best out of your battery, though most will find them inconvenient.

• Refrain from using fast charging and wireless charging as these will generate more heat, which negatively impacts battery lifespan
• Do not let your phone get too hot while charging or while under use
• Do not allow your phone's battery to dip to a very low charge level, like <15%
• Keeping your phone plugged in at 100% isn't ideal
• Always use the charger included with the phone's retail packaging or wallwarts from the device's respective OEM

Though really, I feel that for most people, using it as normal won't seriously affect the health and lifespan of the battery as much compared to older cells. However, some of these tips, like not allowing the battery to go down to a really low level and using the included charger, should be taken seriously.

 

[Myusuf05]

Hey all!
I am upgrading from my note 4 to a note 7 (super excited!) For the past few months my note 4 has been absolutely horrible battery wise. It will shut off at any time below 60 percent. It will then drop my battery atleast 20 percent. If i open any app that uses camera, it will die no matter the percentage. I am unable to turn the phone back on unless I remove the battery or plug it in. Sometimes it will drop the phone to 0 percent battery life. Now the reason im telling you all this is because I have a question about batteries and their life span. I am not exactly sure what is causing this issue (I have replaced the battery, restored the phone, etc.). And not that it really matters anymore. But anywho.. I am always charging my phone. I know it is a horrible habit but I always like to be prepared. As we all know with the note 7 we cannot just swap batteries when we overcharge and kill the first one. I have read things that say to not let your phone die as this hurts the battery life. Others say always top off charge when possible. I have read that batteries need to be "conditioned" (drained then recharged to 100 before first use) which I believe is true for older batteries, but not the ones we currently use today (please correct me if im wrong)

So what is the best thing to do to keep your battery lasting as long as possible? Charge frequently? Charge only when dead? Only when below x percent? What about wireless chargers...is the heat bad on the battery? Any insight will be highly appreciated!

• Hi
  I also have a Galaxy Note 4 and i have like 150 apps from playstore and so much app drain the battery because they tend to be open in background
  So i decided to buy another battery (a spare one) and use both during the day
  
  
• The spare one i bought was not original from the Samsung company and did not contain the nfc antenna (as you know the note 4 has its nfc antenna in the battery pack)
  
  
• The spare one is having the same problem as yours
  Sometime at 60% or any percentage less it can just turn off like electricity just stopped flowing through the battery
  
  But the original one i have no problem
  
  
• Sometimes when you charge it while off...
  Remove the battery and put it back in
  The charge just hop from like 50% to 72% and rarely show just 0% (yeah 0%) then have to remove and put it back... it will show the actual %
  
  
• I suggest buy a new battery (an original one and it wont be that cheap)
  
  
• Btw heat wont do anything but make the charging process slightly longer
  
  
• Charging your phone up to 80% is the actual instruction given by professionals and do not let it drain not even below 20%...
  Hope at work you have a socket and try to charge frequently but do not let it full (this is how to use a Li-ion battery)
  
  
• Put your phone to full charge about once per week
  
  
  This makes it last longer
  
  
• The 0%-100% each time you charge is for lead batteries

 

[SteelGator]

Here is a great (definitive) resource for this question.

How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University

There are several points here that will conflict with some of the information stated here. For example, elevated temperature and high currents also affect cycle life.

 

[PlaybookFanatic]

Well, I'm no battery expert, but these tips should help you get the very best out of your battery, though most will find them inconvenient.

• Refrain from using fast charging and wireless charging as these will generate more heat, which negatively impacts battery lifespan
• Do not allow your phone's battery to dip to a very low charge level, like <15%

Though really, I feel that for most people, using it as normal won't seriously affect the health and lifespan of the battery as much compared to older cells. However, some of these tips, like not allowing the battery to go down to a really low level and using the included charger, should be taken seriously.

Those two things seem to worry me. If Fast Charging is bad for the phone, why offer it as a standard? And what happens below the 15% threshold?

Thanks ahead of time, buddy!

 

[SteelGator]

Those two things seem to worry me. If Fast Charging is bad for the phone, why offer it as a standard? And what happens below the 15% threshold?

Thanks ahead of time, buddy!

Take a look at the link I posted, I think I will explain a lot. There are also several other pages posted there that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know.

Specifically, Fast Charging that comes standard with the N7 and other phones limits the damage done to the battery by fast charging when the batter can handle it (when it has a low charge), then slowing as the battery gets more charged. This limits heat, and the amount of voltage applied to the batter when it is at its most vulnerable -- when it is fully charged.

My understanding of the LiPo batter says that it needs some charge to maintain stability. Allowing the battery to fully discharge or get to low (I try to always keep mine >20%), results in some of the polymer oxidizing or percipitating out, permanently reducing capacity. This is not critical if it happens sometimes, but unlike the old NiCad batterys which did better if full discharged and then fully charged, LiPo is most stable ~50% charged. Many recommend storing LiPo (when not in use) at 40% and room temperature to maximize life.

 

[canonBoy]

Good thread! I'm going from a Note 4 to a Note 7 as well. I have two batteries and have tried to keep charging behavior consistent. I have rarely used the quick charge, for the heat/cycle life issues stated . On my original battery, I noticed a little after a year that the battery wouldn't hold a charge very well below 10%. Never had the 60% issues though.

Efficiency and energy usage has always intrigued me. I'm actually working on an app that tracks Screen On Time Mileage. It keeps track of your daily SOT, constantly calculating how on track you are to reach a SOT goal (like 4 or 5 hours), it also calculates your expected SOT for the day. It will record your SOT every day and average your SOT per day as long as you have the app. It will print your SOT info to a CSV file as well as keep a Top 10 record of your highest SOT days. I'm working on making a note function so that you can record a setting or a type of behavior that might influence SOT. So for example, with the Note 7, I'll be able to see how much the SOT is actually affected by the feature to change the screen resolution.

 

[PlaybookFanatic]

Take a look at the link I posted, I think I will explain a lot. There are also several other pages posted there that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know.

Specifically, Fast Charging that comes standard with the N7 and other phones limits the damage done to the battery by fast charging when the batter can handle it (when it has a low charge), then slowing as the battery gets more charged. This limits heat, and the amount of voltage applied to the batter when it is at its most vulnerable -- when it is fully charged.

My understanding of the LiPo batter says that it needs some charge to maintain stability. Allowing the battery to fully discharge or get to low (I try to always keep mine >20%), results in some of the polymer oxidizing or percipitating out, permanently reducing capacity. This is not critical if it happens sometimes, but unlike the old NiCad batterys which did better if full discharged and then fully charged, LiPo is most stable ~50% charged. Many recommend storing LiPo (when not in use) at 40% and room temperature to maximize life.

That just seems like so much to keep a battery working well though. Sheesh.

Thanks for all this info. It's a lot to take in.

 

[SteelGator]

That just seems like so much to keep a battery working well though. Sheesh.

Thanks for all this info. It's a lot to take in.

Yeah, it is a lot, but it is basically giving you all the why.

Here is the simple message:

• Avoid leaving your phone in extreme temperatures (e.g. in car cold winter or hot summer)
• Don't let your battery deplete all the way
• Use certified compatible (preferably OEM) charging equipment -- this will minimize heating during charging

 

[Climb14er]

I use fast charging ALL THE TIME. If I didn't have it, I would toss the Note 5! I charge my battery, use the phone hard, three times a day. Samsung told me... my battery is in good condition.

It's always recommended to me to fast charge. Why do you think it's there if people think it's a negative for the battery?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Kirk Maluo]

I use fast charging ALL THE TIME. If I didn't have it, I would toss the Note 5! I charge my battery, use the phone hard, three times a day. Samsung told me... my battery is in good condition.

It's always recommended to me to fast charge. Why do you think it's there if people think it's a negative for the battery?

Posted via the Android Central App

Samsung doesn't replace the battery unless it's nearly dead. I don't know what their criteria is, but I'm guessing if it still has over 50 percent capacity, you won't get it replaced under warranty. Your phone is less than a year old. I usually really notice significantly diminished batteries after the one year mark.

Phone manufacturers are smart to go with sealed batteries, especially on water resistant phones. It's expensive and a hassle to change the batteries, so most customers just opt to buy a new phone.

 

[PlaybookFanatic]

Yeah, it is a lot, but it is basically giving you all the why.

Here is the simple message:

• Avoid leaving your phone in extreme temperatures (e.g. in car cold winter or hot summer)
• Don't let your battery deplete all the way
• Use certified compatible (preferably OEM) charging equipment -- this will minimize heating during charging

Basically what I took from it.

 

[Climb14er]

Samsung doesn't replace the battery unless it's nearly dead. I don't know what their criteria is, but I'm guessing if it still has over 50 percent capacity, you won't get it replaced under warranty. Your phone is less than a year old. I usually really notice significantly diminished batteries after the one year mark.

Phone manufacturers are smart to go with sealed batteries, especially on water resistant phones. It's expensive and a hassle to change the batteries, so most customers just opt to buy a new phone.

Yes, I agree. That's why I'm having difficulty with Samsung and Verizon's stringent standards for warranty and extended warranty battery degradation and replacement.

I will continue to use fast charging every day. I'll deal with warranty supervisor at that time. For now, I do notice a degradation of battery. But I can fast charge and get back in the saddle, until the next fast charge, hours later.

Yes, it's a hassle with Sammy's warranty process. That's the problem with sealed batteries which I can't stand!

Posted via the Android Central App