5000mAh? 7000mAh? 10000mAh? We just can’t seem to get enough. With growing usage of smartphones bigger batteries have become a norm these days and of course, they needed to because packing in a lot of features in a smartphone means bigger battery requirements to actually make use of those features.
With growing battery sizes we need to ensure we keep improving the Fast charging technologies. Why? You don’t want to use a spare phone while the other one charges for the whole day.
Every technology has caveats. Some are seriously big and others are negligible and, you guessed it right, even fast charging has caveats but, how serious of an impact can they have on your smartphones? Let’s find out the same in today’s article.
Does Fast-Charging Really Hurt Your Battery?
The short answer to this question is no. There are a lot of myths floating around the internet and amongst the people that Fast charging technology can significantly degrade the battery. While this is not completely true, it is also not completely false. The main culprit behind the degradation of battery health is the heat generated due to fast charging.
There are two phases in charging the phone. In the first phase, the phone picks the maximum charging power as possible in a short period of time hence, we’re pretty sure you might have noticed your phone going from 0-60% very quick. In the second phase, the charging speed takes a hit to save the phone from overheating, by using the in-built management tools.
To increase the life span of the battery, all you need to do is avoid keeping the phone in direct sunlight, make sure the surrounding temperature is moderate, and do not apply pressure on the phone. Now, this does not mean your battery’s health will not degrade at all, every battery has a lifespan.
The most important thing of all, never let the battery percentage drop below 15% or till the phone shuts down. Discharging the battery completely can cause chemical reactions inside which is unhealthy for the battery.
Set a limit of 30%. Do not let the battery drop less than 30%. That way you’re not going to let the battery reach its stress levels.
Fast charging technologies like OPPO’s Super VOOC, OnePlus Warp, Realme’s Dart, and Vivo’s Super Flash charging have adapters take up all the heat and provide optimal current to the phone. Hence, if you own a phone from one of these companies, you might have noticed how hot the adapter gets sometimes if this had not been the case, phones with fast charging would’ve gotten incredibly hot.
So, before you go ahead and throw your non-fast chargers in the bin, hear us out, they can still help you keep your phone’s battery healthy. How? If you’re not in a hurry we suggest you use the non-fast chargers even when you want to charge your phone overnight else use the fast chargers if you need a quick top-up.
Bonus Myth Busted
You might have heard people saying that charging your phone overnight might degrade your battery or your battery might overcharge and explode. This is not completely true.
Modern smartphones come with controllers in their charging PCBs that communicates directly with the adapters. When the phone’s battery reaches 100% the controller communicates with the adapter and asks it to cut the flow of amperage. Hence, there’s no harm in charging your phone’s battery overnight.