The life of smartphone batteries has always been a maddening issue, especially when you find that the battery life of a newly purchased smartphone is not as good as before. What exactly causes this situation? Is it because we use it improperly, or are the smartphone manufacturers tricking us?
Table of Contents
A Look at the History and Current State of Lithium Batteries
Let’s talk about lithium batteries first. Since its introduction, it has quickly become the mainstream of smartphone batteries. The reason is simple: it is light, has a large capacity, and long life. You may not know that the number of charge and discharge times of lithium batteries is generally about 500. If you charge it once a day, your battery will be almost “scrapped” in a little over a year.
Although lithium batteries have their advantages, they also have their disadvantages. For example, lithium batteries are easily damaged after over-discharge. Many people like to use up their smartphones until they shut down automatically and then recharge them, but this is actually slowly killing the battery. Also, lithium batteries are affected due to high temperatures. Playing games or watching videos while charging is simply damaging the battery.
Why Chargers and Data Cables Matter
You may think that chargers and data cables are just accessories and it’s no big deal to replace them with cheaper ones. What’s more, the original charger and data cable can not only provide a stable charging current but also protect the battery life. For example, a certain brand’s original charger will automatically adjust the charging speed according to the battery’s power level to avoid overcharging the battery. Think about those cheap ones, they may not even have basic safety protection.
Tips for Charging Your Devices the Right Way
Using your phone while charging will cause the battery to be under high load for a long time, accelerating aging and possibly causing overheating. This principle sounds simple, but it is difficult to do. Especially when you are playing an exciting mobile game and are about to upgrade, and suddenly the battery is running out, can you resist charging while playing?
The correct charging method is actually very simple: when the battery level of the smartphone is less than 20%, charge it in time. Try not to play with your phone while charging, use only original chargers and data cables. Try to keep the battery temperature within an appropriate range. Although this may sound troublesome, it is worth a try for the sake of battery life.
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The short battery life of smartphones not only worsens the personal usage experience but also brings about a series of social and economic problems. When the battery life is shortened, many people will choose to replace the phone with a new one instead of replacing the battery. This not only increases the economic burden on individuals but also puts a lot of pressure on the environment. The disposal of electronic waste has always been a difficult problem, and used smartphones are the biggest part of it.
From an economic perspective, frequent replacement of smartphones also means more resource consumption and more carbon emissions. According to data from a research institute, the production of a smartphone will emit approximately 30 kilograms of carbon dioxide. More than 1 billion smartphones are produced and sold every year around the world. What does this mean? Think about it yourself.
What the Future Holds and How to Address Challenges
The future development direction of smartphone battery technology may be safer solid-state batteries that have larger capacity and longer life than lithium batteries. A certain company has achieved certain results in this regard, and it is expected that in the next few years, solid-state batteries will gradually replace lithium batteries and become the mainstream of smartphone batteries.
However, before solid-state batteries are widely used, we still have to protect the existing lithium batteries by ourselves. In addition to the correct charging habits mentioned above, you can also calibrate the battery regularly to keep it in the best condition. Also, try to avoid letting the phone’s power be too low or too high, which can extend the battery life.
Personal Opinion
As ordinary consumers, the problem of smartphone battery life is indeed a headache. But in actual operation, many people still ignore some details. Although smartphone manufacturers have the responsibility to provide more durable and safer batteries, we also need to develop good charging habits, to truly extend the battery life.
We need to start with ourselves and develop good usage habits to extend the battery life. There may be better battery technology in the future, but before that, protecting the existing lithium batteries is the best way. Will you change your charging habits? Maybe doing so will make your smartphone battery last longer.
