Do you charge your phone over night?

Zascar

I've always done this, always thought it was ok, but now I'm told charging phones overnight wrecks the battery. Which would explain a lot as the last 3 phones I have had - the battery degrades after 6 months and its tough to get a full day. I have the HTC One X now and thinking of getting the HTC One, however I hear it takes forvever to charge: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6747/htc-one-review/3 unless as it says in the last paragraph that maybe its ok to charge this overnight?

Do you, and is it really that bad?

hufpc8w3adnk65

Zascar wrote: »

I've always done this, always thought it was ok, but now I'm told charging phones overnight wrecks the battery. Which would explain a lot as the last 3 phones I have had - the battery degrades after 6 months and its tough to get a full day.
Do you, and is it really that bad?

I allways did and never had a problem untill I got an iPhone!i just don't think the battery's are good in smart phones!

vibe666

how else would you do it?

it takes hours to charge and other than when you're asleep you need it with you and if you've got a smarphone there's a good chance that it will only last a day on a charge anyway.

Ericaa

I do, and my phone is fine. I've heard that batteries that are out now on phones aren't damaged from charging even when full. Although I've heard that letting the battery get fully empty constantly does!

Kavrocks

Zascar wrote: »

I'm told charging phones overnight wrecks the battery.

It does not wreck the battery.

Jet Black

I did but I charge it at my desk in work now either in the morning or before I leave depending on how much battery I have. On my days off I'd charge before going to bed.

Where did you hear that? A google search says the contrary.

DoBhrionn

I've done it with every phone from the Siemens A55 to the S3 I have today. Not a problem with battery life


(Although the older ones would last about a week or two on one charge :P)

KKkitty

I charge my HTC one v every night but depending on usage I may get a full day out of it but definitely not always.

Zascar

My mate who works in an O2 store told me - he said they are advised to tell customers to charge the phone overnight the first time, but after that charge it only until full for 2-3 hours and then unplug.

Mr E

I have a spare charger in work and charge it for about 2 hours a day, usually in the afternoon.

Reddit thread on the matter

ED E

Zascar: What charger are you using?

It really depends on the phones configuration. A phone thats doing it right will charge to 100%, let itself discharge down to 90% and then top up. If its going 100..98..100..98 then thats where the longevity is hit.

Under best circumstances you should charge to 80%, slowly(800ma to 1A) then discharge to about 20%. Rinse repeat. This isnt good for daily life though. Try and get a patter than gives you a decent lifespan (2years say) but doesnt impinge on your ability to use your phone as you need.

So:

• Try not to boost/fast charge it
• Let it discharge before you charge again (I wait till just before i got to bed to plug it in if I can)
• If you can dont get it all the way to 0%

If you follow that you should get enough life out of a pack to last you until you will probably be upgrading, and if you arent a new pack will be €20-30 so no biggie.

ShadowHearth

I used to leave my 3gs over night for the last 3 years. It lasted one day when new and it lasted one day before bricking itself.
I got experia Z now and my charging habits changed completely. It charges up to 100% extremely fast. So I charge it up when I go to bed, when tv is off and I am going to sleep I just unplug it. It's always on 100%. Next morning it is still on 98%.
lasts me a whole day with heavy usage. I never expect modern smartphone last longer then 1 day.

Zascar

I have a HTC One X. Might experiment a bit and see what happens

danniemcq

IIRC USB charging from a PC is the best way to charge them. Something about a slower charge but had phone now 8 montns or so and only notice battery issues when i've been using internet/gps or battery heavy games/apps

ED E

danniemcq wrote: »

IIRC USB charging from a PC is the best way to charge them. Something about a slower charge but had phone now 8 montns or so and only notice battery issues when i've been using internet/gps or battery heavy games/apps

USB is a slow charge for smaller/older devices and for modern top tier phones is a trickle charge. It maxes out at 500ma while regular chargers are between 1000 and 1500. If its capable of charging your phone in 7 or 8 hours then its a decent option alright.

danniemcq

ED E wrote: »

USB is a slow charge for smaller/older devices and for modern top tier phones is a trickle charge. It maxes out at 500ma while regular chargers are between 1000 and 1500. If its capable of charging your phone in 7 or 8 hours then its a decent option alright.

work PC + Usb lead is hard to beat!

Zascar

From the HTC One thread:


This is pretty well established knowledge right now. I'll list everything pertinent about lithium ion batteries and charging smartphones:

1. Charging is what reduces the life of a lithium ion battery. Batteries are usually rated between 700-1000 charge cycles while keeping 90% of their capacity.
2. Charging 0-100% counts as one cycle. Charging 80-100% 5 times counts as one cycle.
3. Leaving your phone on the charger after it is charged has the potential to reduce battery life, although this is less of a problem with newer devices as they often disconnect the charging circuit until the battery drops below ~95%. Generally only an issue if you leave it on the charger for 24+ hours.
4. Lithium ion batteries do not require any conditioning.
5. Most lithium ion devices arrive with ~40-50% battery life remaining, because this is the optimal charge level to store a lithium battery for long periods (such as sitting on a store shelf for months).
6. Slower charging maintains the battery's overall lifetime capacity better than fast charging. This is likely why the HTC One does not have Qualcomm's Quick Charge enabled. It's debateable whether you'd notice the effects over the typical lifetime of a smartphone, however (2 years).
7. Not exactly related to lithium but just in general: smartphones (and tablets, etc) have charging circuits that only draw a certain amount of amps regardless of the number of amps the charger provides. Using a 3.1 amp (tablet-level) charger is not going to significantly increase the speed at which your phone charges. Most phones only use between 0.8 - 1.2 amps. Anything over that is overkill.
8. Storing a lithium ion battery at 0% is really bad for its lifetime capacity. Running it to 0% generally isn't recommended all the time, but a few instances won't hurt it.
9. Recharging from 0-100 doesn't make your battery run longer. It can, however, reset Android's battery level stats so that it can more accurately state the battery level.
10. Charging from ~95% to 100% takes a long time because it must do a trickle charge. Maxing out the battery like this can reduce overall lifetime capacity, but generally not enough to matter. You'll see this impact more often in larger applications of lithium batteries (like cars).

ED E

Zascar wrote: »

From the HTC One thread:

7. Not exactly related to lithium but just in general: smartphones (and tablets, etc) have charging circuits that only draw a certain amount of amps regardless of the number of amps the charger provides. Using a 3.1 amp (tablet-level) charger is not going to significantly increase the speed at which your phone charges. Most phones only use between 0.8 - 1.2 amps. Anything over that is overkill.

I'm not 100% on this but I'm pretty sure thats not entirely correct.

mtdelany

danniemcq wrote: »

work PC + Usb lead is hard to beat!

I have a power pad for my iphone, and love it
dont have to worry about the phone synching

It is the main reason i havent upgraded my phone is two years

micks_address

so something like the nexus orb charger which charges the battery to 100% then stops is probably going to pro long the life of your battery? it doesnt start to charge the device again until you take it off and put back on the charger.. the downside is if you put it on charge at 11pm it will probably be fully charged by 2am so if you dont get up till 7 it will probably have dropped a bit of battery overnight depending on your sync settings etc..