Does "Fast charging" Android devices damage them?

victor2

facade said:

I always slow charge my 'phone, and stop when it is in the 80%s.

I want maximum life out of the battery as changing them is a massive pain.

Now if the back unclipped and the battery just lifted out like in The Olden Days,  I'd hammer it to 100% and fast charge it knowing I could just fit a new battery when it failed.

Un-glueing the case and pulling out micro connectors that I can't see without visual assistance is too much at my age......

Good point. Makes the entire phone's life be that of the battery for most people.

DullGreyGuy

[Deleted User] said:
Imagine being stuck in an emergency with 1% battery left knowing there could have been 21% left if the manufacturer hadn't restricted charging to 80%.

Only if the phone is brand new... if its a few years old and you've been charging it to 100% every time you may find that you phone is already dead when the emergency has happened because the degradation in the battery caused by the charging. 

I'm fully with you on rather having the choice but the outcome isnt as clear cut as you hint at. As others have explained, the new feature is different to the prior one of limiting when it went over 80% charge and sits alongside it so you can use one, the other or neither. 

RumRat

I have a 5 year old Galaxy Note 9 that's been charged to 100% since new and it still lasts all day when I need it to.
It's no longer my every day phone, but it's used in the house all day as a tablet substitute, smart controller, note taker and occasionally as a phone.
I never worry about the batteries degrading as the phone's are changed well before that happens.

Rob5342

facade said:

Now if the back unclipped and the battery just lifted out like in The Olden Days,  I'd hammer it to 100% and fast charge it knowing I could just fit a new battery when it failed.

That would make it more difficult to make waterproof and also bigger as you need connectors and mechanics for the battery, and wouldn't be able to fit as much around the battery. They have a job to squeeze everything in as it is.

I never keep my phone for longer than about 18 months which is before the battery gets too bad.

DullGreyGuy

Rob5342 said:
I never keep my phone for longer than about 18 months which is before the battery gets too bad.

Keeping a phone for 3 years it still lasts all day based on my usage and not doing anything to attempt to prolong the battery's life beyond what the OS may do itself. Certainly its deteriorated by then as rather than 30% battery left its now more like 5% at bed time but that's still good enough for me and a battery replacement gets it back to almost as good as new again if I want a few more years out of it. 

Dont most manufacturers have an annual cycle? would make an 18 month replacement a bit of an odd choice unless you are jumping allover the place with brands etc

victor2

Rob5342 said:

facade said:

Now if the back unclipped and the battery just lifted out like in The Olden Days,  I'd hammer it to 100% and fast charge it knowing I could just fit a new battery when it failed.

That would make it more difficult to make waterproof and also bigger as you need connectors and mechanics for the battery, and wouldn't be able to fit as much around the battery. They have a job to squeeze everything in as it is.

I never keep my phone for longer than about 18 months which is before the battery gets too bad.

Hardly money saving though is it?

RumRat

victor2 said:

Rob5342 said:

facade said:

Now if the back unclipped and the battery just lifted out like in The Olden Days,  I'd hammer it to 100% and fast charge it knowing I could just fit a new battery when it failed.

That would make it more difficult to make waterproof and also bigger as you need connectors and mechanics for the battery, and wouldn't be able to fit as much around the battery. They have a job to squeeze everything in as it is.

I never keep my phone for longer than about 18 months which is before the battery gets too bad.

Hardly money saving though is it?

Is it supposed to be?  What else are you going to do with all that money you've saved everywhere? Save it then spend it....👍😉

MouldyOldDough

I still have every phone that I have owned since 1996

From a Nokia 9000i communicator, through the whole range of communicator - all running Symbian

Finally to Samsung Galaxy note 1 - and followed this up with other Android devices until I finally got a Motorola G7 Power

The best phone was the first 9000i - it was fast for typing on (having a proper fold down QWERTY keyboard) - years ahead of its time - I had two separate numbers too (fax (from the device) and phone / txt) - you could also email from and to it - albeit at very slow speed (less than 50kbps) and browse the web (in mono)

The Nokias all had user replaceable batteries too

cerebus

[Deleted User] said:

cerebus said:

I always wonder why they don't simply make the batteries only chargeable to 80% of the batteries true capacity but shows 100% charged on the indicator 

Or would this stop making them money as batteries wouldn't need to be changed so often ?

That would be a step backward, taking away consumer choice. Charging to 100% isn't all bad, it just trades off some longevity for higher capacity and I'd rather have the choice.

Imagine being stuck in an emergency with 1% battery left knowing there could have been 21% left if the manufacturer hadn't restricted charging to 80%.

Given the choice, I always charge to 100%, my phone gets hammered during the day and I need every last drop of charge so I always leave the house at 100% although I do make use of optimised charging which stops at 80% until about an hour before I get up in the morning.

Edit: Using the bottom 0-20% is equally stressful for the battery as charging through 80-100% so if you take it off one end and use it at the other, it doesn't really help.

How do you know you're using all the batteries full capacity? After all you can only go off what the manufacturer is telling you how much capacity the particular battery has or rather what a 100% charge capacity is , it could be capable of holding more

I simply charge mine as it needs it and to 100% too my phone is now roughly 5 years old and the battery has lost charge but still holds a decent one and when it does give up I will simply change it as the phone is still good and its cheaper than replacing the phone , to me that's more MSE  

Just checked and my battery health is currently at 80% so I still remain to be convinced that only charging to 80% is beneficial 

cerebus

Has there ever been a scientific study on whether only charging a phones battery to 80% prolongs its life?

All I read online is a combination of opinions and a mix of what people think the percentage is (so far it's 80% no no it's 85% no no it's 90%!)

So what is factually correct and not just what people have read on reddit?