Long Term Concerns

[PsychDoc]

As between your anecdotal reports and the extensive research of electrical engineers I think I'll go with the latter.

The oldest phone I have to this day with it's original battery is my Note 4 and Note edge. Both of those phones still have the original batteries in them and to this day, they run a full day on one charge just as they did when new. That phone was out in 2014. I charged both of those phones from 5% to 100% and again, they still run just as they did when new. That's my evidence that it doesn't harm the batteries. I still power them on occasionally to keep the batteries in shape.

 

[PsychDoc]

Interesting and certainly relevant question. I owned my S7 Edge for three years and I noticed a dramatic decline in battery power retention from when it was brand new. I'd estimate that it lost between a third to a half of its original battery capacity over that time.

I guess if you replace your device every year this probably wouldn't be relevant but with these devices now selling for $1000+ that can get pretty expensive.

Does anyone keep their phone long enough, nowadays, forever it to really matter

 

[anon(5719825)]

Does anyone keep their phone long enough, nowadays, forever it to really matter

I have plenty of old phones, all of them with the original batteries.

I sold my iPhone 8+ and S9+ because I could get the most money out of them to help pay for my S10+.

I've never had to replace a battery in any of my old phones, even my iPhone 5S that still powers on today.

 

[anon(5719825)]

As between your anecdotal reports and the extensive research of electrical engineers I think I'll go with the latter.

Again I'll take my real world usage over words on a webpage any day. That's what really matters.

 

[DWS44]

Maybe I was lucky, but in the two years of my S8, I never experienced any sort of lag or feeling as if the battery had lost battery capacity, even though it spent every night of its life on a wireless charger all night. Maybe the next owner will feel the long-term effects of that.

 

[NIZMOZ44]

The s7 edge was the worse phone I ever owned. After a year, it started to lag really bad, and the battery deteriorated as well. By 2 years, the battery was toast, and the phone was almost not usable. It wouldn't respond to simple stuff like making a call real well with out lots of lag/stutters. Ever since that phone, I haven't had an issue with any Samsung I've had, Note 7, 8, 9, S9+ and now S10+.

 

[Devhux]

Lithium ion batteries will slowly lose charging capacity if charged repeatedly to 100%. This is an issue for many as we've gotten used to plugging our phone in at night so that it's at 100% when we start the day. If you keep your phone between 20% and 85% you will preserve the battery's longer term storage capacity.

Is it enough to offset the roughly 35% drop in capacity you're already limiting yourself to though? Probably not. Yeah, you'll get a couple more years out of the battery, but it would probably take several years to wear the battery down 35% I'd think.

 

[anon(5719825)]

Maybe I was lucky, but in the two years of my S8, I never experienced any sort of lag or feeling as if the battery had lost battery capacity, even though it spent every night of its life on a wireless charger all night. Maybe the next owner will feel the long-term effects of that.

Longer then that. I have a iPhone 6+ that I bought the same year as the Note 4/Note Edge I mentioned above. It's battery capacity is at 96% after 5 years and the cycle count is 238. Pretty darned amazing for having been run down to 5% and then charged up to 100% each and every time.

 

[hasasimo]

Unfortunately, there is a ton of contradictory information about battery health. Some "experts" recommend occasionally completely discharging your phone, some say charge it to 100% but don't leave it there, unplug immediately. Others say keep it between 25% and 75%, etc.

I'd say use common sense. Don't keep it plugged in too long, too often. Don't let it completely discharge, and let's not forget we all use our phones a different amount. I could go through 10 times the charging cycles somebody else does in the same amount of time. So, theoretically my battery's health should decline a lot more quickly. I complain about battery health, that person says theirs is fine.

 

[ClintRo]

With the whole 85 to 35 debate... I think number of charge cycles weight heavily in the battery degradation. If you guys have and use different phone vs charging everyday you probably wouldn't see any noticable drop in battery life for many years.

Personally IMO the science is sound but doesn't matter to me much as I usually replace my phone at least once per year. It would take several years to have any noticable change with lithium ion batteries.

 

[mustang7757]

Longer then that. I have a iPhone 6+ that I bought the same year as the Note 4/Note Edge I mentioned above. It's battery capacity is at 96% after 5 years and the cycle count is 238. Pretty darned amazing for having been run down to 5% and then charged up to 100% each and every time.

That's pretty good , another thing is I don't charge my phone until a day in half .

 

[ThrottleJohnny]

With the whole 85 to 35 debate... I think number of charge cycles weight heavily in the battery degradation. If you guys have and use different phone vs charging everyday you probably wouldn't see any noticable drop in battery life for many years.

Personally IMO the science is sound but doesn't matter to me much as I usually replace my phone at least once per year. It would take several years to have any noticable change with lithium ion batteries.

I personally think the whole 40 percent charging thing is the dumbest thing ever.

First off, very few of us keep our phones long enough to see any major deterioration.

Secondly, what good is a large battery of you have to run to your charger at 40 percent? It's illogical

 

[ClintRo]

I agree... But if I kept my phone for 5 years I would care or just send it in for a battery replacement every couple years... LOL

 

[Adam Frix]

Does anyone keep their phone long enough, nowadays, forever it to really matter

And that's the key.

You can quote the theory about a battery in and of itself all day long, but the battery gets used in the real world. And if the overcharging results in degraded performance 3 years down the road, then so be it--but that's meaningless if I swap out phones every year or two.

To yap about the battery chemistry in a vacuum, with no context on its actual expected usage, is meaningless.

Now, Toyota understands the chemistry; that's why the battery in a 12 year old Prius, for example, is still going strong. They keep it within the sweet spot for charging/discharging purposes, because they warrant its use for a LONG time. Technically, it's part of the emissions control systems, so it's under specific requirements. Plus, users expect the traction battery to last that long, because the rest of the car lasts that long.

But a smartphone? It's nice to know that you can slave your usage and charging habits between 65% and 75%, and keep the entire thing going for years. But in two years you'll want another one regardless. Some people keep them for longer than that; good for them. Then they have a mechanism to do so. Simply watch the state of charge and keep it directly inside that tiny, tiny sweet spot that the chemists have discovered and defined.

Tell me how many people care to do that. Tell me how many people still have the phone at the three year mark.

So the facts around battery chemistry and charging are not fake, they're real. But just because they're real doesn't mean they're meaningful in the context of smartphone usage.

I'll say it again: real =/= meaningful.

And just because it's not meaningful, doesn't mean it's fake news.

 

[Adam Frix]

Well then, you would be wrong.

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=i....0....1..gws-wiz-img.....0..35i39.BbjX6ANcSJI

 

[Adam Frix]

Interesting and certainly relevant question. I owned my S7 Edge for three years and I noticed a dramatic decline in battery power retention from when it was brand new. I'd estimate that it lost between a third to a half of its original battery capacity over that time.

I guess if you replace your device every year this probably wouldn't be relevant but with these devices now selling for $1000+ that can get pretty expensive.

I think Samsung's game is to get you to trade up every year, for $450 or so.

T-Mobile has whatever the Jump On Demand program is. Again, give us a steady stream of revenue and we'll keep you in a flagship phone. They'll do it on a monthly fee, and people jump at it (pun intended).

 

[jcp007]

So I've kind of had a rough couple of years with Samsung. After really liking my Note 5, I was entirely disappointed by the S7 (laggy, battery deterioration), S8+ (also laggy), and S9+ (overheating and battery deterioration).

For the past few days I've been using the 10+, it seems really great. One UI is definitely faster and more fluid than anything that's come before (it's honestly just as quick as my OnePlus 6T's UI), and the battery life has definitely been stellar.

But with pretty much all of the other S-line phones I've had troubles with, they've always seemed to get substantially worse at the 6-9 month mark. I didn't have many complaints about the S9+'s battery until about August, and then it just started struggling like crazy.

Has anyone else had similar experiences and have similar concerns? For anyone who's owned an S9+, did One UI improve the battery life or performance at all?

I dunno. I really like the phone. I really want to keep the phone. But I'm really questioning how many years of suffering eventual buyer's remorse I should have before I decide to call it quits permanently.

Having owned Galaxy S series since the GS3, skipped the GS5, at this point, past performance issues seem less likely. The kitchen sink mentality without the resources and programming to support them appears to be giving way to improving functionality and performance with the features that came out of the old throw everything thing on the device and see what sticks.

Two things I have noticed. In the Messages app, you can no longer look at the screen and hold the phone to your ear to make a call.

When you are on a call and are ready to hang up, you have to tap to wake. Timeout issue?