One thing that I often read or hear is that you shouldn’t leave your phone plugged in after it is fully charged because this will ruin the battery. Although this may have been true in the past, this is simply NOT true with current smartphones.

The reason for this is that today’s smartphones use lithium-ion batteries. You must have heard of lithium-ion phosphate batteries smartphones use the miniature version and these batteries, along with the phones they are part of, are designed to be smart enough to stop charging when they are full. One more related myth is that you need to fully charge the device before removing it from the charger. This is also not true. Today’s phones are built to handle this quite well too.

Generally speaking, the main thing that degrades your smartphone’s battery life is time and usage. A lithium-ion battery has a set number of charges in can handle in its lifespan. Over the course of time and many charges, this will start to hurt battery life. Extreme conditions, like extreme heat can also hurt battery life as well, but time is the biggest factor.

Leaving the Phone on the Charger Should Increase Battery Life

The crazy thing about this myth is not only is it wrong, but it is the opposite of what really is happening. When your phone is on the charger and has fully charged, it runs on the electricity from the outlet. At this point, the battery is pretty much inactive. So, by leaving the device on the charger when fully charged, you should be extending the life of the battery.

Quick Tips To Increase Battery Life

So, if the life of your battery is mostly dependent on how much it needs to be charged, then how can you extend the life of the battery? The simple answer is to lower how much power your device is using on a regular basis. There are many ways to go about this.

First, you can optimize your device to use less battery. You can lower screen brightness, stop unneeded background apps from running, and even install power management apps. For more tips, you can check out this guide.

Secondly, your device is using no power when it is off. Can you turn your phone off at night? If so, this may help extend the life of the battery. Also, as mentioned above, if you leave your phone plugged in overnight it should stop charging as soon as it is fully charged. After it is fully charged, the battery should pretty much be inactive while connected to the outlet.

One last related tip is to try to not let you battery charge get below 20% too often. If you are able to get the phone on the charger by about 40% battery power, you can help extend the life of the battery.