This is Why Charging Your Phone Overnight Is Really Bad

Many people have concerns regarding cell phone batteries. Is it safe to leave your smartphone plugged in overnight? Is it damaging to the phone? Is it dangerous to your health? What is the proper course of action?

How much should you charge your phone, in fact? When is the best time to connect? Should it always return to zero? Up to a hundred percent? How do you get the most life out of your smartphone’s battery? Is it really important if you’re only going to keep the phone for a few years before upgrading?

Some individuals are concerned about “overloading” a smartphone battery, which goes beyond the danger of minor equipment damage. That concern appears to be justified, given that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7s exploded into flames due to battery difficulties only a few years ago. But, as we’ve previously stated, unless a device has major manufacturing flaws, such as that phone, a fire in your pocket (or on your nightstand) is unlikely.

The problem is that some of the available studies and viewpoints are starkly contradictory. We’ve done our best to narrow down the proper and bad things to do. The myths and realities of iPhone or Android phone charging, particularly when plugged in overnight, are presented to you.

My iPhone’s battery will be overcharged if I charge it overnight: FALSE

One thing that all experts agree on is that cellphones are intelligent enough to prevent overloading. Extra security chips ensure that this cannot happen in a tablet, smartphone, or even a laptop. Charging stops when the internal lithium-ion battery reaches 100% capacity.

If you leave your smartphone plugged in overnight, it will take a small amount of energy to replenish the battery every time it reaches 99 percent. That shortens the life of your phone (see below).

What You Should Do:

Don’t get too worked up over it. When you go to bed, plug your phone in or lay it on the wireless charger. Unplug it or reposition it if you wake up in the middle of the night to avoid constant trickle-charging. Alternatively, you can put your phone into a smart outlet that turns off on its own.

Is it Warm Here?

Heat can be generated via trickle charges. Many experts recommend charging a phone overnight by removing it from its cover. However, with a sophisticated protective case, this isn’t always possible.

At the absolute least, don’t stack a bunch of stuff on top of a charging item, such as books or other electronics. Don’t put that under your pillow, for the love of Jobs. If you do any of the above, the phone will get hot—not hot enough to cause spontaneous combustion, but hot enough to harm the battery (see below).

Some people in the UK propose leaving the if you’re worried of fire.

While plugged in, or by placing it on anything metal that would dissipate heat, such as a heatsink on a computer’s chips. If you utilize a wireless charging pad, that’s not much of an alternative, so don’t worry about it.

faulty cables

If you’re using a knock-off cable that isn’t from the manufacturer or at least “certified” in some way (iPhone Lightning cables should be ), it’s time cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval cheval

It could be a problem (for example). It’s possible that the cord and connectors don’t meet the phone or tablet’s requirements. Don’t cut corners by purchasing cheap wires.

To avoid battery problems, I should freeze my phone: FALSE

Intense cold and extreme heat are two things that lithium-ion batteries despise. According to BatteryUniversity, frequently charging a smartphone in sub-freezing temperatures might result in a permanent “plating of metallic lithium” on the battery anode.

You can’t remedy the situation, and doing so will simply make the battery die faster.

The battery is not alone in its hate of heat: all of a smartphone’s internal components dislike it. There’s a computer in there, and computers and hot air have long been terrible rivals. If you leave your black-screened smartphone in the sun while lounging by the pool, don’t be startled if it issues a warning that it needs to cool down. Put it under the towel in that case. Keep it off the dashboard of the car in the summer, preferably in the shade.

Apple clearly states that charging iPhones beyond 35 degrees C/95 degrees F would permanently harm the battery; any modern smartphone should be treated similarly.

What You Should Never Do:

When it’s too chilly or too hot, don’t charge your phone. Also, keep your phone out of the freezer.

Before charging, my battery should always be at zero: FALSE

With modern lithium-ion batteries, running a smartphone until it’s dead—a full discharge—is not the way to go. Don’t even let it get close to zero percent. A lithium-ion battery will degrade considerably faster as a result of this. The best option is partial discharge.

From the start, the batteries are on borrowed time. The insides are constantly deteriorating, which can’t be stopped. The materials inside will simply lose their ability to hold power over time. That’s why, if you still have an earlier iPhone, it only has a charge for a few hours instead of the almost full day (or two) you got when it was new. Over time, capacity decreases.

Only deplete a smartphone’s battery to zero in order to reset it.

the inbuilt sensor that shows the battery level of your phone It’s far from certain—in fact, many people believe it doesn’t function at all.

—but it’s suggested by some, especially if your phone reaches 10% (or even 20% or 30%) battery life before unexpectedly dying.

Even if you use the phone all the way to auto-shutdown, the battery may not be at zero percent charge. If you believe it is worthwhile, let the phone alone for a few hours. Then, for good measure, reset it.

What You Should Do:

Before the phone prompts you to enter low-power mode, plug it in.

When you reach 20% battery life, iOS will prompt you to switch it on. When the phone is between 30 and 40% charged, plug it in. If you do a fast charge, your phone will reach 80 percent soon. When using a high-voltage charger, pull the plug around 80-90 percent, as pushing to full 100 percent can put strain on the battery. To extend the life of your phone’s battery, keep it charged between 30 and 80 percent.

Apple claims that fast charging the iPhone 8 and higher can boost battery life by 50% in just 30 minutes. This necessitates the use of a USB-C power converter, as well as a USB-C to Lightning cable.

, or a higher-voltage charger, such as one from an iPad or a MacBook.

FALSE: My battery develops a “memory.”

With older nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries, developing a “memory” was an issue.

That’s where the phrase “completely deplete the battery” came from. It is not required for lithium-ion batteries, as previously stated.

So, why don’t lithium-ion batteries last as long as they should? It isn’t about “memory,” but rather about “capacity.” Your smartphone battery decreases over time to the point where a new phone could charge to 100% in the same length of time as an older phone could only charge to 82 percent. BatteryUniversity

It’s known as “old man syndrome.”

Another perspective is that newer batteries are simply more eager to consume all that energy.

“Apple lithium-ion batteries are designed to keep at least 80 percent of their original capacity for a high number of charge cycles,” according to Apple, though the quantity varies by device.

Apple iPhone batteries also feature “rapid charging,” which means they’ll charge to 80% in no time. After 80, the capacity gradually increases, partly to avoid heat buildup and therefore lengthen battery life. However, guess what? Fast charging is also detrimental to lithium-ion batteries. It accelerates the rusting process.

Older iPhones came with a 5-watt (that is, 5 volts at 1.1 amps) charging block, which works fine, but a 10W charger, which has an output of 5 volts at 2.1 amps and is the one that comes with an iPad, can charge it faster. Keep in mind that most Qi-based wireless chargers support 7.5W, and wireless rapid charging is already available.

What You Should Do:

Don’t be concerned about “memory.” Don’t fast charge if you’re intending to charge overnight. Slowly charge your device. That means you should use a lower-voltage charger.

Phone Batteries Have a Limited Lifespan: FALSE-ish

The longevity of phone batteries is measured in “charge cycles.” That implies every time you discharge up to 100% of the capacity, you’ve completed one cycle, but it doesn’t mean you’ve reached zero.

For example, if your phone’s battery capacity is 80 percent, you can reduce it to 30 percent (half the capacity), charge it back to 80 percent, and then utilize the remaining 50 percent. You may use 75% one day and 25% the next, for a total of one cycle. iPhones are expected to last 400 to 500 charge cycles (but again, not necessarily 400 to 500 times the phone is actually plugged in to charge.)

If the phone’s capacity has depleted sufficiently, you may need to perform the 50 percent charge-and-use procedure many times a day—at which point the battery lifespan begins to deteriorate even quicker. Here’s Apple’s visual.

attempting to explain:

While your phone battery doesn’t have a “memory” that reduces capacity with time, its short lifespan implies you may need to replace it.

Apple admits in late 2017 to deliberately slowing down older iPhone batteries in the name of “overall performance and extending the life of…devices.” The slowdowns were first applied to iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, and first-generation iPhone SE smartphones, but they were later extended to iPhone 7. Following the controversy, Apple temporarily discounted battery replacements for some phones.

Professional battery replacement is usually recommended. The Moto E6 and the not-quite-mainstream Samsung Galaxy Xcover Pro are two new smartphones with user-swappable batteries.

What gives? Most lithium-ion batteries last two to three years before needing to be replaced, which is when the manufacturers prefer you switch to a new phone. Why bother making changing a battery simple? According to Strategy Analytics, the average smartphone user in the United States now keeps a phone for 33 months or more.

—a number that appears to be growing all the time—phone manufacturers have even less incentive to assist you in keeping it working.

The Bottom Line:

If you plan to replace your phone every year or two, charge it as you want, as often as you want, and don’t worry about the capacity loss. Use best practices for lithium-Ion batteries as indicated above if you wish to stretch things out. It might be beneficial. Alternatively, bring it in every couple of years and have a new battery fitted. It’s a lot less expensive than buying a new phone.