A customer tries the Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone at a store in Seoul August 26, 2012.
A customer tries the Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone at a store in Seoul August 26, 2012. Reuters/Lee Jae-Won

The old common knowledge of draining your phone’s battery before charging was reported to have an opposite effect on smartphones. The draining the battery method worked for old nickel cadmium batteries, which were known to “forget” how to hold a full charge. Newer phones, especially smartphones and new devices, now use lithium-ion batteries.

Fully draining a smartphone’s lithium-ion battery causes high stress on the battery. Stressing the battery shortens the battery’s lifespan, causing it to run out quicker.

Here are quick and easy tips to avoid needlessly stressing the smartphone’s battery:

  • Don’t charge the battery completely and charge it to full in one go nor let the battery drop below 25%.
  • Unplug the charger when the smartphone is at 100 percent. Overnight charging when already full damages the battery.
  • Don’t charge smartphones in small increments of 15 minutes or less.
  • Don’t charge smartphones in a too cold or hot environment. Temperatures higher than 35 degrees Celsius can permanently damage the battery.
  • Keeping a smartphone turned off when it is fully drained can also damage the battery’s lifespan.
  • Turn off unneeded background apps and functions such as app notifications, Geolocations, automatic downloads and wifi. Wifi continues to drain precious energy even when not connected to the internet.
  • Completely close applications. Pressing the back key to close an app only hides the app. Pressing or holding down the home button can reveal which apps are still running in the background.
  • Use a charger with the same brand as your smartphone, preferably the charger that came with the smartphone. Majority of the smartphones may have the same port but the specs of the charger may be incompatible.
  • Avoid animated or dynamic wallpapers.
  • Turn off Bluetooth completely. Bluetooth has a tendency of running in the background continuously searching for devices to connect to.
  • Newer models of smartphones have advanced battery systems to prevent unwanted battery stress. Android and iOS as well have built in functionality to use up the least amount of energy required.