Smartphones are very popular nowadays, whether it’s an iPhone or a Samsung phone, many users are feeling that despite being careful with their charging habits, the battery performance easily deteriorates, leading many users to have to replace their phones. Why is this happening?
Vox website’s senior technology journalist, Adam Clark Estes, wrote on February 6th: “I used to think I was doing a good job with charging. For example, my phone almost never runs out of battery because I wirelessly charge it at night, and if the battery is low in the afternoon, I’d use a fast charger to charge it. However, recently, my battery’s maximum capacity dropped to 80%, I know replacing the battery is inevitable – or just get a new phone if I feel like I’m getting ripped off by replacing a new battery.”
Estes wrote that this is because lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones, laptops, and even cars are inherently imperfect and destined to degrade over time. Almost everything users do contributes to this situation occurring faster. “The wireless charger I use at night generates excessive heat, accelerating the degradation of the battery. The same goes for fast charging,” he said.
He concluded that optimally charging a phone is nearly impossible.
While some tips and tricks can speed up the charging process and extend the lifespan of the phone battery, they cannot overcome the limitations of lithium-ion batteries in electronic devices. Lithium batteries will eventually stop charging, hence the need for constant replacement. Lithium batteries, especially cheap ones, also pose a risk of exploding without warning.
“Lithium-ion batteries are indeed great, but not perfect,” said Matthew McDowell, co-director of the Advanced Battery Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in the article. “But they are not going away anytime soon.”
The advantages and disadvantages of lithium-ion batteries have been apparent from the beginning. They can pack a lot of energy into a compact lightweight package, making them ideal for portable consumer electronics products such as cameras, smartphones, and electric vehicles.
However, while lithium-ion batteries can technically last for years, they can only be charged and discharged a certain number of times before the internal materials degrade to the point of no longer functioning. This is still the case today, which is why at some point, micro devices like AirPods can only be discarded because their batteries can no longer be charged nor replaced.
Founder and CEO of the startup Pure Lithium, Emilie Bodoin, said in the article: “Lithium-ion cannot be improved anymore.”
“They just can’t be improved. They have a theoretical energy density that cannot be raised. That’s the problem,” Bodoin said.
However, battery life is getting longer. The latest iPhone 16 has a longer battery life on a single charge compared to last year’s iPhone 15, but this may not necessarily be due to a breakthrough in lithium-ion battery technology. Nowadays, software that manages battery variations and discharge methods is just as critical as the chemical composition of the battery itself.
That’s why there are so many tips and tricks for charging your phone. If done properly, users can address some of the battery’s shortcomings, not only maintaining longer charging times but also extending the battery’s lifespan.
Estes mentioned in the article that to optimize battery life and longevity, it’s best to keep the phone battery between 20% and 80% and always keep it in a room with a temperature of around 65 degrees Fahrenheit (about 18 degrees Celsius). If the battery is too low or too full, too hot or too cold, the battery performance will degrade faster. When charging, avoid using high-power adaptors as they will generate heat, further leading to decreased battery performance. (The power of a charger is measured in watts, the higher the wattage, the faster the charging speed.)
However, he also noted that meeting all these charging conditions and maintaining a normal life is almost impossible. In addition, the degradation of lithium-ion batteries is inevitable, so even if you do everything right, you will eventually lose the battle against the lithium battery.
Estes added that device manufacturers are well aware of the drawbacks of lithium-ion batteries, which is why they continuously improve battery management software. Users don’t need to worry too much about overcharging the battery because when the battery level approaches 100%, the software will slow down the charging speed, also known as “trickle charging.” It’s also difficult to completely drain the battery because when there are a few percentage points left, the device will shut down automatically. These battery management features are said to also protect battery health when using a fast charger.
In summary, all of this adds up to both good and bad news.
The good news is that despite many misconceptions surrounding proper charging techniques, the design of smartphones, laptops, and even electric cars accounts for offsetting the drawbacks of lithium-ion battery technology. Nowadays, even if you’re not good at charging your phone, the phone will solve the problem itself. If you are really concerned about battery health, avoid fast charging or overnight charging and don’t expose the phone to direct sunlight. But in most cases, accepting the fact that lithium-ion phone batteries will stop working after hundreds of charges is necessary.
The bad news is that the further revolution of battery technology capable of powering electric airplanes will take several more years to achieve.
“If we really have another generation of battery technology that can provide three to five times and ideally ten times the energy density,” said IEEE researcher Stuart Lipoff in the article, “we can usher in a whole new generation of devices.”