Even before this article, you may have already heard the warning that charging mobile phones overnight is dangerous. You might as well haven’t.
For some people, it’s a myth. As I unwrap this up, you will decide. However, words like “Make sure you unplug it from the charger after it reaches 100%” will soon sound meaningful after following on with me below.
Contents
Here is why you shouldn’t be charging your mobile phones overnight
From the deeper roots of technology, it is true that Mobile phones contain a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Li-ion batteries charge faster than traditional rechargeable batteries. That’s why when you plug an iPhone or Android phone into a charger, charging mobile phones overnight up to 80% happens fairly quickly.
Anyway, we are so lucky if we pass through a day without our phones running short of battery. This is because the batteries in our phones are relatively small and can hold only so much capacity. But as well, the way we use our phones matters too. Thus, constantly checking emails, texting people, listening to music, watching videos, and playing games take more of our phone batteries.
Leaving your phone plugged in while at 100% might be dangerous
For that reason, many people probably are charging mobile phones overnight. You then wake up to a 100% freshly charged phone in the morning when you have to run off to work or otherwise start your day. In most cases, your phone probably needs only an hour or two to hit 100%. Leaving it plugged in longer is pointless.
So what happens if you act as I assume most do and leave your phone plugged in overnight?
What is good about this?
The good news in this is, you can’t overcharge your phone’s battery, so you don’t need to worry about that. Your phone stops drawing current from the charger once it reaches 100%. Modern devices will terminate the charge correctly at the appropriate voltage.
Modern smartphones are smart, meaning that they have built-in protection chips that will safeguard the phone from taking in more charge than what it should. Good quality chargers also have protection chips that prevent the charger from releasing more power than what’s needed. For example, when the battery reaches 100%, the protection hardware inside the phone will stop the current from coming in and the charger will turn off.
What is bad about charging mobile phones overnight?
Even though a charger turns off the power when your phone reaches 100%, the charger will continue to top off the charge during the night. This is called a trickle charge.
It attempts to keep the phone fully charged at 100% to compensate for the small bit of charge that your phone just naturally loses on its own. So your phone is constantly being bounced between a full charge and a bit below a full charge. These trickle charges can lead to higher ambient temperatures for your phone, which can reduce capacity over time. Did you get that?
It is called trickle charge. It attempts to keep the phone fully charged at 100% to compensate for the small bit of charge that your phone just naturally loses on its own. So your phone is constantly being bounced between a full charge and a bit below a full charge. These trickle charges can lead to higher ambient temperatures for your phone, which can reduce capacity over time. That’s right.
Rechargeable batteries in mobile devices are in constant decay from the moment they’re first used. This results in a gradual loss of their capacity, or ability to hold a charge. That’s why those who’ve owned a phone more than a couple of years tend to find that their battery loses its charge quicker than the first months after purchase.
Therefore, by keeping your phone charged overnight, you’re actually increasing the amount of time your device spends with the charger, thereby degrading its capacity that much sooner.
Hatem Zeine founder of Ossia, says that charging your phone while you’re sleeping results in the phone being on the charger for 3-4 months a year. Ossia is a developer of wireless charging technology.
Conclusion
Charging mobile phones overnight degrades the battery life of mobile phones, thus you must avoid it whenever you can.
We hope this blog has been helpful, so in order to keep your phone battery life up to speed, avoid charging mobile phones overnight. Share this insight with a friend, and let’s save the life of our phone batteries.