Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
No matter what you do, your phone's battery capacity - which translates to a battery's lifespan - will degrade over time as you use it.
- All smartphone batteries have a limited lifespan, but the common habit of charging phones overnight could actually be shortening your battery's lifespan, according to a battery technology expert.
- Smartphone companies like Apple, Samsung, and LG aren't too bothered about whether you charge your phone overnight, and Google says most phones have systems in place to protect your phone's battery from overcharging.
- But at the end of the day, smartphone batteries still don't like being at 100% for too long.
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might be reducing your phone battery's long-term lifespan with certain charging behaviors.
Specifically, if you often charge your phone overnight or keep it plugged in for hours after it's reached 100%, you're accelerating the aging process in lithium-ion smartphone batteries.
"If you're going to charge your phone to 100% and keep it at 100% - just keep on charging and charging overnight - this will have negative influence on aging," said Dominik Schulte, managing director of Germany-based battery technology consultancy firm BatterieIngenieure, who spoke with Business Insider.
Indeed, as a lithium-ion battery ages, the chemistry within changes and becomes less efficient at storing and delivering power to your device.
To be sure, all lithium-ion batteries age and have a limited lifespan. No matter what you do, your phone's battery capacity - which translates to a battery's lifespan - will degrade over time as you use it. But you can have a say in how quickly your smartphone battery ages.
At the same time, the companies behind the smartphones in your hands and pockets don't seem overly concerned about letting your phone charge for too long.
Check out what you need to know about charging your smartphone's battery:
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