Tip: Condition your new cell phone’s battery to make it last longer (but be sure to condition it properly)
December 24, 2011 43
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We all like getting new phones, right? In all the excitement of a new cell phone, many consumers forget about the battery. After all, the battery is just the thing you throw into the cell phone to make it work – why must we worry about it instead of playing with our new bazillion inch touchscreen? The thing about the battery, though, is if you condition it properly when it is new, it will last longer and last stronger; and since no one likes to have to recharge their cell phone midday, giving the battery its due rights at the beginning is in the best interest of all of us.
New batteries need conditioning. (No, not the conditioner you use in the shower.) By “conditioning” I mean properly initializing them so they hold as full of a charge as possible. How to condition the battery depends on what type of battery it is:
- Nickel-Cadmium – NiCad batteries are often found in older, “dumb” phones. NiCad batteries have a “memory” that consumers need to “train” to make the battery properly hold the full capacity of charge as defined by its hardware. “Training” a NiCad battery is simple, but can be a bit annoying:
- Fully charge the NiCad battery using the outlet charger that comes with your cell phone. Because the voltage on car chargers (and USB charging via a computer) is lower than an outlet charger, it is recommend to use an outlet charger while you condition the battery. It is also recommended to leave the first, initial charge going for 10-15 hours because cell phones often misread new batteries and tell you they are fully charged when they are not.
- After the NiCad battery has been fully charged, use the cell phone normally; but it is preferable to use the phone in such a way that the battery is discharged evenly (i.e. don’t surf the Internet for an hour then just text for the rest of the day). Furthermore, discharging slowly is preferred over quickly. Fully discharge the battery until it hits zero (if possible), or discharge it as much as your cell phone allows.
- Repeat this with 4-6 charge/discharge cycles (note you do not have to charge the battery 10-15 hours when performing the charge/discharge cycle).
After the NiCad battery has been “trained”, try to perform a full discharge of the battery every few weeks (2-3) to recondition the battery. (This helps the battery remember it can be fully charged – this is called the “memory effect”). However, keep in mind frequent discharges of a NiCad battery will hurt the battery life, so try to charge your battery whenever it is at 10-20%, unless you are conditioning/reconditioning it. Also, avoid heat – heat kills batteries. (That does not mean don’t use your cell phone outside; rather that means keep it away from non-typical sources of heat, such as your laptop’s air vent.)
- Lithium-Ion – Li-ion batteries are the newer type of battery that are found it most newer cell phones (most definitely most, if not all, smartphones use Li-ion and many “dumbphones” use them too now). Li-ion can be thought of as “smarter” than NiCad batteries; Li-ion batteries don’t suffer from the “memory effect” and thus don’t need to be conditioned like NiCad batteries.
Rather, to condition a new Li-ion battery, fully charge it; it should be allowed to charge for 7-8 hours on the first, initial charge. In other words, when you get your new cell phone – and it has a Li-ion battery – allow it to charge for 7-8 hours even if the cell phone claims to be fully charged. (It is preferable to use outlet charger vs car charger or USB charging via computer because of the voltage difference.) After that, there is no reconditioning necessary for Li-ion batteries since they don’t suffer from the “memory effect”. However, be sure to avoid fully draining/discharging the Li-ion battery as much as possible; every time a Li-ion battery is fully discharged, it loses battery power and life. (That doesn’t mean your battery will die if it is ever fully discharged; it means it is best to avoid fully discharging when possible.) Try to recharge Li-ion batteries when they are at 15-25%. Similarly, avoid heat as much as possible and when (if) storing Li-ion batteries, store them not at full charge.
Update: The only time you should ever intentionally fully discharge a Li-ion battery is if your phone is not properly reading the battery. In other words, if you go from 100% -> 90% in ten minutes but go from 90% -> 80% in one hour with the same amount of usage, that means your phone is not reading the battery output evenly. If this is the case, then fully discharging your battery once and then recharging it can fix the issue of your phone not reading the battery properly. Take note, however, this full discharge/recharge won’t increase your battery life — it will only ensure your phone reads the battery properly.
People often confuse Li-ion and NiCad batteries and try to condition Li-ion batteries by charging/discharging them 4-6 times. Trying to condition a Li-ion battery like it is a NiCad battery (i.e. charging/discharging the Li-ion battery 4-6 times) hurts the Li-ion battery more than helps it. So, be sure to condition your new cell phone’s battery, but be sure to condition it properly. Otherwise, you may be doing more harm than good. If you are not sure what type of battery you have, read the labels on the battery – they will always say whether the battery is Lithium-ion or Nickel-cadmium. Good luck and may we all have long lasting batteries =D.
Feel free to share any tips you have on extending battery life and power in the comments below.
@ash: they said that with me to when i got my other phone i got a htc chacha and its first charge was a flat then charge for awhile hoping to be 8 hrs but ended up 2 3 hrs and im charging it again and realt want to use it but its been on maybie 2 3 hrs
okay! but i follow one simple principle…charge only if you really need it. specially, hooking up the laptop/cell phone with charger when you are not working on it is a BAD thing and possibly the major factor that can influence the total life of your battery.
Just wondering, okay, I have a Blackberry Bold 9700, and i just bought a new battery. im not really into phones thats why im asking just in case. Im charging my phone now but I kept unplugging it because i have to use the USB to sync some things from my old phone to this one. Will this disrupt the battery life in future? Just curious.
Thanks ! Very informative, I read it just now in 2012 but good info is good info!
I just got a new lithium ion battery based phone and I didn’t know I was supposed to let it charge for an extended period of time, so once it hit one hundred percent I took it off. Anyway I can fix this?
I forgot to check the box to be notified of follow up comment. I just got a new lithium ion battery based phone and I didn’t know I was supposed to let it charge for an extended period of time, so once it hit one hundred percent I took it off. Anyway I can fix this?
Always unplug the Charger when the phone indicates that the battery is FULLY CHARGED. Most of us use battery widget / apps from the market as none of us rely on the stock battery icon on our phone. Please remember that when the battery widget / app ( installed from the market ) indicates that the battery is 100%, it is nowhere near the 100% mark ( the reading is absurd ) Always rely on the notification ( in the status bar ) or pop up on your phone suggesting that the battery is fully charged, please unplug charger.
hi, thank you for the very useful tips. I bought a new cell phone with a Li.Ion battery a couple of days ago. Unfortunately when I first charged it, I didn’t know I had to charge it for 7-8 hours, so when the sign showed that it was fully charged, I unplugged it. It was charged just for 2 hours. I charged it the same way after it was fully discharged for the second time. Now should I charge it for 7-8 hours considering it’s its third time to be charged? Thank you.
I’d like to add that the suggestion for the wall outlet charger that came with the phone is not true in the least. While a car’s voltage is only ~12VDC/13.5VDC running or a computer’s usb bus is 5VDC as opposed to a household 120VAC, the wall outlet charger transforms and rectifies the voltage to the phones voltage (5VDC for most phones nowadays) A car charger will use a regulator to achieve that same voltage level. As long as your car charger, usb port in computer, or wall outlet adapter has as the same voltage AND current rating greater than or equal to the phones charging needs, then you can use what you like and WILL get the same results.
P.S. I am an electrical engineer
I ordered a new battery for my Samsung GS3 (2300 mAh vs stock batty @ 2100) & decided to condition my li ion battery as suggested above. I thought what the heck, no way it could be any worse than having to charge my phone 2+ times a day (depending on usage). I followed the above instructions to a “T” and I couldn’t be more dissapointed w/ the results! I have only used my phone to pay one utility bill (extremely light use), & the battery has only just now been in for 1 hour & 5 minutes. I went from 100% to (you may want to sit down for this) 22%!!! That means I am losing 1.4% for each minute my phone/ battery has been discharging. All but 10-15 minutes (to pay the above referenced bill) my phone was in idle, or powered on but not being used. I guess there’s a possibility I may have received a bum battery, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
@Cameron Raham: Dummy. The amps are different, not the voltage. Standard laptop USB amperage is 500ma…doesn’t matter what phone. But most modern phone AC chargers use 750-1000ma. So it’s not the same thing plugging into a laptop or AC outlet.
I got a Hyperiron extended battery for a galaxy nexus. Its lithium ion. The information that came with the battery says to charge it for 12 hours then fully discharge it. Then repeat this 4-5 times. Is the battery manufacturer wrong or is this article wrong?
Still reading this in 2013. Thanks bruh.
I am charging my new SG-S2 battery while reading this! Many thanks sir ~~
I was under the impression that smart lithium batteries shut down before reaching critical levels that may damage the battery.
Gorilla gadgets say to completely charge and discharge their batteries several times when new. I think I’ll follow the manufacturers recommendation over this article.
ur bio is adorable
You’re not very familiar with electronics, are you? The voltages are completely different. Your outlet in your house is normally 120VAC, with a capacity to carry 15 amps. Alternating current, where the voltage goes up and down in a sine wave. Good for motors, electric heating loads, and most lighting other than LED. If you put that straight to your phone, you get to buy a new one! Your phone runs at roughly 3.7~VDC. Direct current, no sine wave, just a straight line on your oscilloscope. Good for electronics. If electronics actually ran 120VAC inside their circuitry, the properly rated conductors needed would make our modern electronics the size of a Buick, not to mention that AC is just not overly useful in an electronic circuit. that’s why we use rectifiers. Rectifiers convert your standard AC voltage into a DC voltage, using diodes and good stuff like that. Also, when you use diodes, SCRs (silicon controlled rectifiers), MOSFETS, JFETS, capacitors, etc. with different ratings, you can practically take any voltage you want, AC or DC, and rectify it into practically any DC voltage you want. And our car chargers, laptops, house chargers, etc. all have these delightful pieces of electronics to make our lives easier, just plug and play. It’s not extremely simple, but it’s as simple as that.
Very good info. Charging my galaxy grand duos. Medaase