Of course, if one morning you wake up and your phone won’t power on, or it keeps shutting down, then phone batteries will quickly become your number one priority that day. 

So, how did I get here? Was it something that I did? How can I stop this from happening?

All logical questions, and once you have your battery replaced and your phone is working normally, what steps can you take to get the most out of your battery? Not surprisingly, there are a couple of tricks to ensure that you get the most value for money out your phone’s battery.

1. When should I charge my phone?
So, it makes sense to think that when you’re charging your phone, you should charge it up to 100%, and then let it drain to 0% before plugging it in again. Surprisingly, this is almost the exact opposite of what you should do, and in actual fact the best way to maintain the longevity of your battery is by not letting it drop below 20%, and then also not charging it back up to a full charge; maintaining the battery level from 20% – 80% seems to yield the best results.

2. Should I charge my phone overnight?
In terms of damaging the battery, most modern smartphones are clever enough to stop charging once full, so charging the phone overnight in itself shouldn’t be an issue for the battery when you do it every now and then. However, the phone can generate heat while charging, so removing it from its case is a good idea to stop the phone from overheating.

3. Should I use fast charging?
On a lot of Android phones in the past couple of years, there has been a new feature called ‘fast charge’ or ‘adaptive fast charge’. This feature, although really handy, does have a slightly adverse effect on your battery over time, as the additional voltage will generate heat which will cause the battery to deteriorate. The same applies to leaving your phone in direct sunlight, in a hot car, etc.

4. Can I use any phone charger?
Ideally, you should use the charger that originally comes with your phone, or at the very least insure that any replacement charger is a high quality one with the same power rating for amperage and voltage.

5. Storing battery tips?
A lithium ion battery (in your phone) will discharge by around 5 – 10% a month when not in use. Based on this, storing a phone long term should be done when the battery is charged to around 50%, as storing the battery long term when is at 0% could result in the battery being damaged.

So, there are several steps that can be taken to maintain the quality of the battery in your phone. Naturally, all batteries deteriorate over time, but by following the 5 steps outlined above, you will have a noticeable impact on how quickly yours deteriorates.