Read More: Why Is My Phone’s Battery Draining This Fast?

Battery Degrading

The more you charge your battery and the more severely you drain your battery, the faster your battery will degrade. Modern smartphones use lithium-ion batteries, and because of these materials, phone batteries typically lose around 20 percent of their capacity after 1,000 charging cycles. Even if you don’t ever use your battery, it will still degrade. A lithium-ion battery kept in storage for one year will likely be at the same 80% capacity as the battery that underwent 1,000 charge cycles.

Ways to Preserve Batteries

Your battery will degrade over time, but there are steps you can take to make your battery last longer:

• Don’t charge your phone battery by using your computer’s USB port. This method of charging heats your battery up more significantly than wall charging, degrading the battery more quickly.
• Don’t charge your battery overnight. Not only will you overcharge, but the particles in your phone are more likely to meet if charged for longer, damaging the battery.
• Charge the battery before it’s dead. Regularly going dead will affect a battery’s longevity.

As your phone gets older and your battery clocks more charges, it will degrade. However, if you follow these best practices for a long battery life, your battery will stay in better shape for a longer time.

Read More: Ways You’re Reducing the Lifespan of Your Phone’s Battery

1. You’re Draining Your Battery to 0% Every Time

In the past, experts believed that you should wait until your phone fully drains of battery before recharging it, in order to extend your battery’s life. This rule typically applied to nickel-based batteries, but smartphones now use lithium-ion batteries, which are much different. Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive, and have a finite number of recharge cycles. Lithium-ion batteries are typically able to recharge 300-500 times.

2. You’re Charging Your Phone to 100% Every Time

Now, experts are saying that, for optimal battery health, you should follow the 40-80 rule. This means that you don’t let your battery fully drain, nor do you charge it to 100%: you should keep your battery life between 40% and 80% most of the time. Doing so will help to prevent your phone from overcharging and overheating, and it will extend the number of recharge cycles for your battery. Instead of 300-500 recharge cycles, you could double or triple that number by sticking to the 40-80 rule.

3. You’re Only Charging Your Phone Once a Day

If you thought that charging your phone all at once was the best way to protect your phone’s battery, think again. Apparently, your phone’s battery is in its best shape when you charge your phone for short spurts throughout the day. This will help to keep your phone battery stress-free and operating more efficiently.

Read More: Learn How to Spot a Weak Smartphone Battery

Problems with overcharging or underusing rechargeable batteries is nothing new. Back when we used rechargeable batteries made of nickel, we noticed the battery memory effect, or a battery’s diminishing charge capacity if it was recharged after being only partially discharged. The battery could only “remember” the diminished capacity, hence the name of the phenomenon. This was certainly an issue, but while this doesn’t happen to lithium-ion batteries, there are still a few steps you can take — in addition to using Total Charge — that will keep your phone’s batteries in their best shape.

Recharge Your Battery From Zero to 100% Only Once Per Month

If you’re regularly letting your phone battery die and then recharging it to 100%, stop this practice right away. Experts suggest only letting your phone complete a full charge once per month to recalibrate the battery.

Use The Charger That Came With Your Phone

Never use a replacement charger that isn’t designed for your phone. These cheap alternatives can significantly harm the battery — they have even been known to catch fire. If you lose your original charger, it’s best to replace it with a charger designed specifically for your device.

Don’t Use “Fast Charging” Feature On Your Phone

Many Android devices are equipped with a feature that makes the phone charge more quickly. Use this feature sparingly or not at all. Fast charge features send power at a higher voltage, causing the battery to heat up more quickly.

While rechargeable phone batteries are no longer affected by the battery memory effect, make sure to adopt the above charging methods that can keep your battery working more effectively for longer.

Read More: Here Are the Chargers That Are Bad For Your Phone

USB Chargers Can Overheat

One drawback of charging a smartphone through a USB-C connection is that USB chargers can get very hot. This is especially true if you’re using an old or poor quality, cheap charger. Charging your phone then becomes a stressful process for both the charger and the phone, which can cause the phone to overheat, thus damaging your phone’s battery. It could even render your device unusable.

Not All USB Chargers Work the Same

The idea behind USB-C was to develop a charger that could charge all devices, from PCs to Androids, tablets, and even Apple products. Unfortunately, not all USB-C chargers do this well — many cannot charge other devices at all. However, universal charging has improved a lot over the years. That means that, if you’re stuck with a dead device while in class or at work, you can likely borrow someone else’s charger and it’ll work.

Still, even if you order a charger off of Amazon from a reputable source, it may not work as well as it claims. There’s also the possibility that the charger that comes with your new phone or laptop may not be a safe charger to use. In both instances, the charger could be incorrectly assembled, making it unsafe to use. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to tell if you’ve got a faulty charger or not.

USB Ports Can be Easily Infected With Malware

It’s possible that a USB cable could become infected at some point in the manufacturing process or if neglected when out in public. This becomes more complicated because USB chargers are necessary to then charge the device. Malware such as BadUSB can infect a device through a USB port without showing signs of a malware infection.

Read More: These Are the Top Lightning-Fast Chargers for Android

If you’re looking for a new charger, you may be tempted to buy a “fast” charger. While there are many reputable fast chargers on the market today, you should be cautious about purchasing a fast charger that seems “too good to be true.” Before purchasing a new charger, you should always take into account the reviews, the price, and the claims.

Not Worth it: Discount Fast Chargers

You should definitely avoid any discount chargers that claim to be fast-charging. Not only will they not live up to what they claim to do, but they’re likely to be more dangerous to use. These cheap chargers are more likely to overheat or spark, which can damage your phone or even cause a fire.

Worth it: Fast Chargers From Reputable Sources

Qualcomm’s quick chargers are among the best fast chargers on the market. Before purchasing a Quick Charge charger, you’ll need to make sure that your device is compatible. If your phone has one of the latest qualcomm processors, then it’s likely compatible with Quick Charge. Quick Charge chargers can charge your phone up to 80% in about 30-45 minutes, depending on the model that you have.

However, it should be noted that Google doesn’t support fast chargers. This is because fast chargers modify the voltages beyond the standard level for USB charging. That means that even if the fast charger is from a reputable source, it is far riskier to use than a standard charger. So, if you’re nervous about damaging your phone, it might be worth it to stick with a standard charger.

Read More: Do Yourself a Favor: Turn off Your Cell from Time to Time

Why Do Smartphones Overheat?

Most smartphones use lithium-ion batteries, which are more sensitive to internal and external temperatures. A warm smartphone is not something to be worried about — the issue is when the smartphone has become too warm or hot to touch, as these temperatures affect how the phone is functioning. Because lithium-ion batteries are so sensitive, they can quickly be damaged due to overheating. This can result in a shorter lifespan for your battery — meaning that you need to replace your phone or battery sooner than desirable — and poor phone performance. In an extreme case, overheating can lead to your battery exploding.

There are a lot of reasons smartphones overheat. They may overheat due to: a video playing, using Bluetooth for too long, too many apps running at once, the battery being bad or faulty by default, your smartphone being overcharged, or using a demanding app or program, among other reasons. Newer smartphones with virtual reality capabilities, for example, are prone to overheating due to the demands of VR technology.

How to Keep Your Battery Cool

• Use Total Charge to avoid overcharging your device.
• Don’t leave your phone plugged in overnight.
• Don’t play games or watch videos for long periods of time.
• Don’t leave your phone in a hot car or in direct sunlight.
• Avoid quick chargers that can cause your device to overheat.
• Give your phone a break from time to time, and use your laptop or another device for certain online tasks.
• Don’t charge your phone on a soft surface.
• Although a leather phone case may look cool, it may also cause your phone to retain heat.

Read More: Smartphone Functions That Use A Lot of Battery Power

How the Material of Your Phone Case Comes Into Play

The material of a phone case can affect how well a phone charges or functions. Certain materials, such as leather or plastic, can cause the phone to retain heat. This worsens if your phone is charging or if you’re asking your phone to perform too many functions at once. If you think your phone isn’t charging correctly due to your phone case causing it to overheat, try removing your phone case to see if that helps to remedy the issue.

The Design of Your Phone Case Can Affect Your Phone

Many phone cases that are designed to be waterproof or drop-proof, especially if they are cheaply made, can interfere with how your phone charges. If a case is poorly designed or too bulky, it may cause the charger to frequently disconnect. This will of course affect how your phone charges because it is continuously being unplugged.

Find a Better Phone Case

Phone cases aren’t as important as they used to be for protecting a device. If you must have a particular case on your phone — and if it isn’t causing your device to overheat when unplugged — then simply remove the case whenever it’s charging. This will help to keep your battery cool, which will preserve its life and allow it to charge more efficiently. In addition to using Total Charge, look for a phone case that will help keep your phone cool, such as one with a more open design.

Read More: What Happens to Your Battery Life as Your Phone Ages?

Signs of a Bad Phone Battery

• Your phone won’t turn on. If you recently had your phone in your pocket or a bag that got soaked from a rainstorm, or if you dropped your phone in a toilet, then you may have killed your phone’s battery.
• Your new phone dies quickly. If you just purchased a new smartphone, your phone’s battery should not be dying quickly (unless you’re using it constantly to watch videos, play games, and et cetera). You should be able to go for some time without charging your device, since the battery is new. If it’s dying after a few hours, then you likely bought a phone with a bad battery.
• Your phone’s battery is no longer smooth. If you’re having issues with your phone’s battery, try removing the battery (if removable) to examine the surface. If the surface is not smooth — i.e. if it has a “bulge” — then your battery has gone bad.
• Your phone isn’t charging correctly. If your phone is not charging properly, if it loses its charge quickly after charging, or if it only works when connected to a power source, then you have a weak phone battery.
• Your phone is hot when it charges. If your phone gets hot when you’re charging it — and it hasn’t yet reached 100% — then your battery is starting to die.

How to Improve Your Phone’s Battery

If your phone has a bad battery, whether from the start or else due to damage, then you’ll need to replace it. No matter what you decide to do, you should make an effort to preserve your new phone battery. Click here to use DFNDr’s Total Charge feature to monitor your phone’s charging process so that you can prevent damage to your battery:

Read More: Myths and Truths About How to Save Phone Battery

Why Do You need to Turn Off Your Phone?

Experts suggest that turning your phone off can help preserve your battery for longer. But don’t bother turning off your phone if it will only be off for a short period of time. The battery-boosting benefits of powering off only take effect if you power off for a few hours or more. If you have your phone plugged into a wall outlet when it is off, you also won’t get any of the benefits.

However, if you’re out of network range or if you are planning on going to sleep without charging your phone, go ahead and turn off the phone. When off, your phone won’t lose power. This will really help to extend your battery’s life. Remember, the average Android only has 300 to 500 full charges before it starts to malfunction — or die altogether — so if you can eliminate needing to re-charge by powering your phone off, why not do it?

What Are Some of the Side Benefits of Powering Off?

Turning off your phone doesn’t just benefit the battery. You’ll also gain focus for work. For example, experts say that the human mind isn’t adept at multitasking — that belief was a pesky myth. You may think that your mind likes the stimulation of switching between many activities — like constantly checking that phone — but really, that click-around behavior isn’t helping you be efficient. To be more productive, power off for a while.

1. Don’t let your phone overheat

Performing too many tasks on your device at one time can cause it to overwork itself and to overheat. Overheating can damage your device’s battery, which means that your phone will work inefficiently. Your phone can also overheat if you leave it plugged in after the battery has been charged to 100%. In order to prevent this from happening, you’ll need to use a feature like DFNDR’s Total Charge to prevent it from overheating by monitoring your phone’s charging process. Click here to prevent your device from overheating:

2. Don’t overload your phone with tasks

As mentioned, too many tasks can make your phone overheat. However, you may not be aware of how many tasks your phone is trying to complete at once. That’s why it’s important to monitor all of the apps that you have connected to the Internet, and all of the background tasks that they are performing.

3. Practice safe online habits

If you want to keep your phone working like new, then you’ll need to practice safe online habits. Be sure to create strong passwords, avoid suspicious-looking apps or downloads, and avoid entering personal information on public Wi-Fi. Run virus scans regularly on your device to check for malware or other security threats.

4. Regularly remove unwanted files and apps

Although your new device may have more storage space than your last device, you still shouldn’t download apps or files that you don’t want or need. It’s a good idea to regularly review the apps and files on your phone and to remove anything that’s unwanted. That way, you’ll have more storage space on your device, and your phone’s performance will be improved, too.

5. Always install software and app updates

This is an important step that people often overlook or ignore. These updates come with necessary security patches, bug fixes, or new features that will help improve your experience with your device and protect it from software vulnerabilities or malware.