Battery Charging Habits

[TraderGary]

Is there a charging habit that's better than another for the battery? Do you charge overnight, or do you top up throughout the day?

I'm one of those that continually tops up throughout the day. I have a Pixel Stand. (2nd generation is on order) I work from home and my Pixel Stand sits on my desk just to the right of my computer. Whenever I use my phone, it goes right back on the Pixel Stand. During the Market Day my Pixel 6 Pro continually runs Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation, displaying my current trade(s). Sometimes it's running Davis Weather Link to show the current live data from my Personal Weather Station. It's always a second screen sitting beside my computer giving me some useful information. And of course, it's always continually topping up to 100%.

In short, the only time my P6Pro would ever drop below 50% battery would be if I were away from home for the day. That might occur only a few times in a week.

I've often wondered if my phone charging and usage habits are beneficial or detrimental to my Phone. What are your thoughts and experience?

 

[anon(40376)]

Some will say yes, some will say no. Some will tell you never to plug in your phone at night at fully charge, some, like me, have done that almost every night of my 4XL's life (little over 1.5 years) and per a few apps, my battery is still at 97% capacity.
You will have numerous answers. My answer will always be, do what you feel comfortable doing if it works for you. With the Pixel 6 you have one great feature; not hard to replace the battery per the teardowns I have seen. (HOWEVER, I am a person who would replace his own battery; regardless of how hard. Most would not. But I cannot imagine the cost would be over 100 bucks.)

 

[Deleted member 2609113]

Some will say yes, some will say no. Some will tell you never to plug in your phone at night at fully charge, some, like me, have done that almost every night of my 4XL's life (little over 1.5 years) and per a few apps, my battery is still at 97% capacity.
You will have numerous answers. My answer will always be, do what you feel comfortable doing if it works for you. With the Pixel 6 you have one great feature; not hard to replace the battery per the teardowns I have seen. (HOWEVER, I am a person who would replace his own battery; regardless of how hard. Most would not. But I cannot imagine the cost would be over 100 bucks.)

I agree. I really don't sweat about how I charge my phones.
I've had my Pixel 4a since a week after release. I charge it in the morning when it's around 35-40%, and always charge it to 100%.
My battery health is excellent. See screen shot.

 

[Blaize19]

I use my phone a lot, both when I'm working (we use a VOIP phone system and I'm responsible for answering - got the app on my phone) and when I'm not. I tend to top it off after I'm done working and then again over night (I turn on Adaptive Charging then, so it trickle charges while I'm asleep). I don't worry about battery degredation ,though, and never have. By the time battery health is poor I'd either be getting a new phone or deciding to replace the battery. I am planning on getting a wireless charger for my desk, though.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Best practice is to keep it between 40 and 80% to prolong battery life.

Do I do that? Hell no, life is way too short. I put it on charge when I go to sleep and pick it up when I want to check it the next day at 100%.

Just use it how you use it.

That said, keeping the battery close to 100% and the device in use constantly WILL destroy it. You're basically guaranteeing a swollen battery or one that won't hold charge in the mid to long term.

 

[Maljunulo]

I charge every night with Adaptive Charging.

 

[PowrDroid]

Is there a charging habit that's better than another for the battery? Do you charge overnight, or do you top up throughout the day?

I've often wondered if my phone charging and usage habits are beneficial or detrimental to my Phone. What are your thoughts and experience?

I have a Pixel 5a, but I saw this thread and being a phone battery nerd, thought I'd chime in.

I've heard it's best to keep the battery between 30% and 90%. (I see fuzzylumpkin quoted between 40% and 80%.) The principle is the same--don't run your battery all the way down and don't charge it up to 100%. The reason is that charging a phone creates heat in the battery. Heat is the enemy of battery longevity. If you frequently run your battery down to under 10% then charge it to 100%, you create a lot more heat than if you keep it in that "safe" band of 30% to 90%.

If you leave your battery on the charger for hours after it reaches 100% (like charging overnight) I consider that bad for the battery as well because your phone will be initiating a micro charge every time your phone's idling battery level goes below 100%. Basically charge/off/charge/off, repeat. It's probably not too terrible on the battery though, certainly not as bad as letting the charge get down to 5% and then charging.

Furthermore, Google has admitted recently that they have variable charging rates with the fastest charging rates (read: most heat) occurs when the battery is at it's lowest charge and then the charging rate tapers off as full charge status is reached. That's why it seems to take forever to get to 100% charge. So it's best to charge your battery before it gets much below 20% to 30%.

I am intrigued by the adaptive charging mode on the Pixel phones. Presumably they have a battery charging profile set up that avoids the heat and wear from rapid charging and smooths out the charging current to cover the entire charge cycle (like overnight charging.)

My battery charging routine is to try not to let the battery get below 30% and then charge it up to 90% or 95%. I use GSM battery monitor app and it has an alarm you can set at a predetermined charging level. I set my charging alarm at 95%, whereupon I get a notification sound. I try to manually monitor the charging so when it gets to 90% I pull it off the charger; the alarm at 95% is a backup feature in case I don't catch it myself at 90% charge.

When I charge my phone I prop the top edge of the phone up on top of something about an inch or so high, like the remote control for my TV. I do this so the backside of the phone is not in contact with the table and will therefore dissipate the heat created during the charging process a bit better.

The thing is with the Pixel 5a it's really easy to charge and keep track of battery because it's got such awesome battery life. There is no "topping off the battery" because it's usually above 50% when I go to bed. My routine is to charge it EVERY OTHER DAY in the morning. And I'm a fairly heavy user of my phone, typical screen-on time is between 4 1/2 and 5 hours every day. I rarely get below 25% charge or so. From the get-go charging every other day I'm charging my phone 50% less than my previous phones and therefore am putting less stress on the battery. Just can't say enough about the battery life in the 5a.

 

[Maljunulo]

I have a Pixel 5a, but I saw this thread and being a phone battery nerd, thought I'd chime in.

I am intrigued by the adaptive charging mode on the Pixel phones. Presumably they have a battery charging profile set up that avoids the heat and wear from rapid charging and smooths out the charging current to cover the entire charge cycle (like overnight charging.)

Adaptive Charging charges the battery right up to 80% at the fast-charging rate, then it sits around until about four hours before alarm time, and then charges at about half that rate up to 100% around 10 minutes before your alarm goes off.

 

[PowrDroid]

Adaptive Charging charges the battery right up to 80% at the fast-charging rate, then it sits around until about four hours before alarm time, and then charges at about half that rate up to 100% around 10 minutes before your alarm goes off.

I see. So you have to have an alarm set to have it work? Can you set an alarm but have no notification become active? (In essence a silent alarm?)

 

[dc52ltr]

I charge every night with Adaptive Charging.

Yep, same here. I very rarely have had the need to charge during the day. So my phone is fully charged when I take it off its stand at about 6.30am ... Usually it runs down to around 45-50% by 10pm and is then charged overnight.

 

[Maljunulo]

I see. So you have to have an alarm set to have it work? Can you set an alarm but have no notification become active? (In essence a silent alarm?)

Yes, you need tostart charging later than 2100 and have an alarm set for earlier than 1000 (I think).

I thought of the silent alarm, but did not try it. I don't see why you couldn't set "None" for your alarm notification.

 

[paradroid]

I only charged my Pixel 2 once at my desk during the day and it would get top ups if I drove with it plugged into my Uconnect car radio.

I never plugged in overnight unless for some reason phone was below 20% to make sure alarm would work.

Had Pixel 2 for 4 years and battery is as good as day 1.


With Pixel 6 adaptive charging I think I will start charging at night so I don't need to charge during the day.

I am not a person that has my nose in the phone constantly playing games or checking and posting on social media. I read the news, check my business type links, take a few photos a week unless on vacation, and text.

I am a light user so I can get a few days per charge.

 

[J Dubbs]

Batteries have a rated, limited number of full charge cycles they can do before they wear out. Going from 5% to 100% every day will give you the shortest life because that's one full cycle. Breaking the charging up into shorter, top off "partial charges" if needed during the day stretches the life cycles out much farther. The lower you run the battery before you charge it the more life is being taken out of it.

Also keeping it on constant charge (using it like a plug in device) will kill a battery very quickly. They're not designed to be kept at 100% charge constantly, with current being perpetually pushed through them. I've watched it happen to many batteries over the years. I try not to run my batteries too low, charge them to 100% before bed, then unplug them for the night. I've never had a battery fail doing this. All my windows phones still hold a great charge, my first Android smartphone (LG Thrive), my 2015 Moto X Pure Edition, and everything newer.

This may not be the 40% to 80% recommended way, but it seems to work well and is simple to do. Me likey

 

[Morty2264]

This is a huge topic of discussion and even debate in the smartphone universe. For me personally, I charge my Pixel 5 right when I get up in the morning, and don't let it sit on the charger. I think you should use whatever charging method that works best for you! Worrying about charging is stressful and in the end, I don't think it's worth it!

 

[Deleted member 2609113]

This is a huge topic of discussion and even debate in the smartphone universe. For me personally, I charge my Pixel 5 right when I get up in the morning, and don't let it sit on the charger. I think you should use whatever charging method that works best for you! Worrying about charging is stressful and in the end, I don't think it's worth it!

Charging the phone is in my "don't sweat the small stuff" category. Just do it in the am so it's ready at work time and be done with it.

 

[anon(40376)]

This is a huge topic of discussion and even debate in the smartphone universe. For me personally, I charge my Pixel 5 right when I get up in the morning, and don't let it sit on the charger. I think you should use whatever charging method that works best for you! Worrying about charging is stressful and in the end, I don't think it's worth it!

Charging a cell phone and worrying about the battery is not stressful.....

Looking outside your trailer and seeing this is stressful....

 

[Deleted member 2609113]

Charging a cell phone and worrying about the battery is not stressful.....

Looking outside your trailer and seeing this is stressful....

That is NOT small stuff.

 

[mrpackerguy]

I am a very heavy phone user. I agree with the philosophy of only charging to 80% or so, not to 100% in order to extend battery life. I do not charge to 100%. I do not charge at night overnight. I top off to 80% intermittently when I can. It seems to have worked for me thusfar. My 3XL is 3 years old come February. YMMV. I'm satisfied with my approach. It's not stressful.

 

[Morty2264]

Charging a cell phone and worrying about the battery is not stressful.....

Looking outside your trailer and seeing this is stressful....

Well, absolutely, a phone charging is less stressful than seeing a bear! But we *are* discussing this on smartphone forums, where the topic of charging has been big for years - even longer than I've been around here. So, it's okay to be stressed about it - we're here to discuss these things!

 

[B. Diddy]

I had my Pixel 3 XL for a little over 2 years before it went on the fritz. I habitually charged it to 100% overnight and left it on the charger until I woke up. I hardly ever let it drop below 30%. With that kind of behavior, the battery health was down to 90% by the 2 year mark, and I did notice some decrease in the overall battery life. With that as a reference point, I'm trying to be more conscious about charging my 6 Pro only up to 80-90% instead (which I now have the luxury to do, since the battery on this thing is great for me!), and avoiding leaving it on the charger at 100% overnight. It'll be interesting to see how the battery health fares over the next couple of years.