Charging Your Phone Overnight: Battery Myths Debunked
There are a lot of questions about cell phone batteries. Should you leave your smartphones plugged in overnight? Is it bad for the phone? Bad for your safety? What's the right thing to do?
In fact, how much should you charge your phone? When's the right time to plug in? Should it go down to zero every time? Up to 100%? How do you get the longest life out of the battery inside a smartphone? Does it really matter if you're only going to keep the handset around for a couple of years before an upgrade?
The debate goes well beyond the worry of moderate harm to a device, as some people have fears of "overloading" a smartphone battery. That worry seems relatively justified, as it was only a few years ago that Samsung's Galaxy Note 7s were bursting into flame due to battery issues. But as we've explained before, unless a device has some serious manufacturing defects as that phone did, the fire-in-your-pocket (or on the nightstand) aspect is unlikely.
The problem is that some of the research and opinions out there are diametrically opposed. We've narrowed down the right and wrong things to do as best we can. We present to you the myths and truths of iPhone or Android phone charging, in particular when plugging in overnight.
The one thing all the experts agree upon is that smartphones are smart enough that they do not let an overload happen. Extra protection chips inside make sure that can't happen in a tablet or smartphone or even a laptop. Once the internal lithium-ion battery hits 100% of its capacity, charging stops. If you leave the smartphone plugged in overnight, it is going to use a bit of energy constantly trickling new juice to the battery every time it falls to 99%. That is eating into your phone's lifespan (see below).
Read more on pcmag.com
