Database Develop

[Q] Any disadvantages of frequent charging?

Are there any disadvantages to having the phone plugged in a frequently as possible (e.g. charging over night, car charging, charging while at work)? I have been favoring 897 leaks over 9000 roms mainly because of battery life. I have been a fan of Apex roms and now that A11 is out I want to give it a try but I know I won't get the same battery life as Illuminance. Could I damage my Captivate from frequent charging?

Now i could be wrong, but frequently charging *may* reduce the life of the battery....i believe every batter has a certain amount of "charging cycles" it can have before the battery begins to lose charge quicker...again, i could be wrong..

True, batteries do have a certain account of charge cycles, but a charge cycle is a 100% drain and back up again.
So down to 50 then charge, 75 charge, 75 charge, is only 1 full cycle.
So whether you wait to charge til it's dead enough to not run the phone (it actually shuts off before true 0% to save the life of the battery) or you grab some spare juice when you can, your battery should have about the same life span.

studacris said:
True, batteries do have a certain account of charge cycles, but a charge cycle is a 100% drain and back up again.
So down to 50 then charge, 75 charge, 75 charge, is only 1 full cycle.
So whether you wait to charge til it's dread enough to not run the phone (shuts off before true 0% to save the life of the battery) or you grab some spare juice when you can, you're battery should have about the same life span.
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Ya this is true but I find I that I get much better battery life if I do a bump charge. Ive charged to 100% on the phone screen, turned off the phone, plugged the charger back in, and had it charge for another half hour until it hit 100%. So I dont know what it is about charging in that fashion that works for me but it really seems to help. I also am pretty good about cycling my battery 0-100 100-0 so that may help.

capocaccia said:
Ya this is true but I find I that I get much better battery life if I do a bump charge. Ive charged to 100% on the phone screen, turned off the phone, plugged the charger back in, and had it charge for another half hour until it hit 100%. So I dont know what it is about charging in that fashion that works for me but it really seems to help. I also am pretty good about cycling my battery 0-100 100-0 so that may help.
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bump charging will kill battery life long term..
Also, be careful with car chargers. Some of them are designed to charge faster which will also shorten the over all life of the battery.

Lithium batteries don't like to be drained fully. The best time to charge is 30-40%. Also lithium doesn't like the "fast" charge. Basically be easy on the drain/charge/level and it will last longer.
The 1/2 hour you're talking about is because the last 5-10% takes the longest. You can actually charge from ~40%-80%+ very shortly due to the way Lithium works.

As I said above, the phone shuts off before the battery reaches 0%. You notice it still has enough power to run the charging animations even though its too dead to boot.
the phone also stops charging at 100% let drain to 95 and back up, to prevent overcharging.
both are to save the lifespan of the battery.

Discharging below three volts will cause damage. Charging over four point two volts will cause damage. Charging at a greater rate than one C will cause damage. One C is equal to the capacity of the cell. Our stockers at 1500mAh should not be charged at a rate greater than one point five amps. I believe the stock charger outputs 800mAh, or point eight amps. Any damage to the cell will definitely shorten life. The more you use a battery the faster it will die, true with any type. Hope this helps someone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I don't really see this as a matter of choice. My phone dies daily, so I have to charge it daily; I have to bite whatever happens with it anyway. If it helps, I got my phone on launch and have been using the same battery through my warranty replacements. My battery maxes out at roughly 15 hours of moderate use, 20 of light use.

frequent charging reduce battery life so it is better to charge when ur battery is left with 15% or below and charge it completly

prostar said:
Lithium batteries don't like to be drained fully. The best time to charge is 30-40%. Also lithium doesn't like the "fast" charge. Basically be easy on the drain/charge/level and it will last longer.
The 1/2 hour you're talking about is because the last 5-10% takes the longest. You can actually charge from ~40%-80%+ very shortly due to the way Lithium works.
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+1
This is very true of Lithium ion batteries. They like to be kept topped up constantly. Not letting it go to 0% consantly helps. This is very different from NiMH or NiCd, where the "memory" effect requires you to completely discharge the battery before next charge.
The best way is to just put the phone on charger whenever you are not using it - if ever - just plug it in and let it sit till you use next time.....

FFS how many times must I say it? THE BATTERY NEVER REACHES 0%!!!
There is ALWAYS some amount of charge even when the phone won't come on.

chappatti said:
+1
This is very true of Lithium ion batteries. They like to be kept topped up constantly. Not letting it go to 0% consantly helps. This is very different from NiMH or NiCd, where the "memory" effect requires you to completely discharge the battery before next charge.
The best way is to just put the phone on charger whenever you are not using it - if ever - just plug it in and let it sit till you use next time.....
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interesting topic and even more this reply. One new thing I leant on my learning curve, I must say.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

studacris said:
FFS how many times must I say it? THE BATTERY NEVER REACHES 0%!!!
There is ALWAYS some amount of charge even when the phone won't come on.
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Very true. If you discharge a lithium cell below three volts, you run the risk of it catching fire or exploding.
Should've mentioned earlier that as the battery degrades, it loses capacity. This is what causes them to seem they're not "lasting as long" or "draining faster".
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Charging Via Rear 4-pin Connector

Hey all,
I've been experimenting with the rear 4-pin connector on the back of the droid 4 (pogo-pins for the inductive charging rear door)
Connected a current limited power supply to Gnd and Vin on the back of my Droid 4 (pin lower right = gnd, pin lower left = Vin) at 5.0V and I had charging occurring at a nice speedy rate. Screen showed charging, amperage was around 1500mA to start scaling down to 1300mA-1100mA as it reached full charge. It seems to pass through the Lithium Ion battery management circuity so appears to be a safe way to dump in lots of power. Obviously these pins are designed to pick up power from the rear inductive charging cover that Motorola produced, but I wanted to try just pure 5.0V power. It appears that it is not bypassing or defeating the battery temp/overcharging safety circuit but of course test at your own will in a safe environment. I personally noted that if the battery was 'warm' the charge rate was reduced to avoid overtemp. Also it would scale down as the on-screen-indicator showed it was reaching full charge.
I’m thinking of grabbing some extra rear covers and making up some drop-in charging stations or alternative inputs (like solar/etc.)
Nice to get away from having to charge on the USB Micro connector which appears to limit charging current and cause wear-and-tear.
This seems like a VERY good thing if someone was building an external battery pack that fit onto the phone (like the one for the iPhone)…you could power it on, charge via this connector, and shut it down whenever you liked. The power draw on the phone drops off massively once it is charged so if you started with a full charge, it could float the battery all the way to empty.
Time to experiment! My first build will likely be a drop-in docking station.
Again, for reference:
Bottom right (when viewing back, camera at the top):
Gnd is Lower Right – Nearest the microUSB connector
Vin is Lower Left – Opposite side from Gnd on the bottom row
Don’t hit it with too much voltage! I limited myself to about 4.8V and 1700mA max. I'd expect over-voltage on these pins could damage the battery management circuity and fry the phone. I was using a good regulated supply with meters.
Cheers,

This is awesome, thanks for this! Might have to play with a cover and done batteries at some point... Please let us all know how your experiments go!
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda app-developers app

I like the idea of an expanded battery very useful.
I have a small solar cell + battery to charge my phone by USB already.

That is bad ass. Post some pics of your first prototype
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium

Great news, thanks for your time, man.

Just wondering but do you know what the other 2 pins are for?
I got one with a broken usb port for parts and am now wondering if I could use this to build a fix.

Most any (not all) Li-ion battery is rated for at least a 1C charge rate. So with a 1785 mAh Li-ion battery you should be able to safely charge at 1785 mA. The trade off is the faster you charge it the more you reduce overall battery life. For example (not real numbers) if the expected life of the battery is 500 charges (a charge is the amount of current to charge the battery from it's nominal voltage to fully charged and has no correlation to how many times you plug it into a charger) then charging it at 0.75C might increase it's life significantly to 750 to 1000 charges.
Note: the stock wall wart is speced at 850 mA at 5.1 V output (very odd that voltage...).
Brandon314159 said:
Nice to get away from having to charge on the USB Micro connector which appears to limit charging current and cause wear-and-tear.
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More likely it's the power supply. Most all PC usb ports put out 500 mA at 5.0 V. Most (USB) wall warts are rated at 1000 mA at 5.0 V.
What has me worried is that the phone appears to overcharge the battery to something like 4.317 V or even 4.351 V... I'm hoping this is just an error in the phone/app voltage reporting, but then again it could just be the way they get that 1785 mAh capacity from the battery. Overcharging the battery in this way could well be safe and would have the effect of increasing it's capacity, but it will significantly reduce it's life as well. You would not expect a Li-ion battery to be charged over 4.2 V and preferably something like 4.17 V
Can you use those pins to directly measure the battery voltage? I was going to measure mine directly to compare with Battery Monitor Widget reporting but decided I didn't want to remove the sticker from the back of the battery and I couldn't get a reading from the push pin contacts.

Quick7135 said:
What has me worried is that the phone appears to overcharge the battery to something like 4.317 V or even 4.351 V... I'm hoping this is just an error in the phone/app voltage reporting, but then again it could just be the way they get that 1785 mAh capacity from the battery. Overcharging the battery in this way could well be safe and would have the effect of increasing it's capacity, but it will significantly reduce it's life as well. You would not expect a Li-ion battery to be charged over 4.2 V and preferably something like 4.17 V
Can you use those pins to directly measure the battery voltage? I was going to measure mine directly to compare with Battery Monitor Widget reporting but decided I didn't want to remove the sticker from the back of the battery and I couldn't get a reading from the push pin contacts.
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- You cannot use those pins to measure battery voltage as they are an input to the charger... IE they do not tie directly to the battery. You would have to watch the battery voltage at the screws for the battery flex-cable mount.
- There are lots of notes about the battery voltage being 'high' by peoples viewpoints. If you search around, someone explains the difference in chemistry that the Droid 4 is using and that it does have a higher Vmax during bulk/absorption charge levels. I believe the summary was that it is a non-issue. They aren't trying to 'cheat' the battery into higher voltage for more cap...it's just simply how that chemistry wants to be charged. You'll have to google around to find it.
I am curious to see what sort of 'external' packs I can come up with and likely would limit my charging rate to 1200mA or so just to keep things 'happy'. I got slapped pretty hard over at droidforums by an admin and my post removed for this same info...glad to see the community here is more accepting of my discoveries. :cyclops:
-Also, the other two pins are data lines...not sure if In/out compatible but one is Batt Temp and the other is Communication (for determining battery type). The phone doesn't like having these pins futzed with (can cause reboots/lockups) so there is clearly something on the other end...but sounds like the protection is weak regarding input into the processor/etc.
Once I have my phone near a camera, I will photo my connection method/mods (no direct soldering in-case I have to warranty the phone for other issues). That gave me 6" pigtails of wire that I have hiding behind my cheap-o case right now waiting for proper connections (I exited through the speaker hole on the stock back cover).

Brandon314159 said:
I am curious to see what sort of 'external' packs I can come up with and likely would limit my charging rate to 1200mA or so just to keep things 'happy'. I got slapped pretty hard over at droidforums by an admin and my post removed for this same info...glad to see the community here is more accepting of my discoveries. :cyclops:
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which mod did this to u? what reason did he give to do that to u? just want to know... cuz that sounds really uncool

myfishbear said:
which mod did this to u? what reason did he give to do that to u? just want to know... cuz that sounds really uncool
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I don't wanna get anyone in trouble or piss peeps off. PM me if ya want more details.
It was pretty uncool, all things considered.
Oh well, happier here already!

you know what u should add is a resistor and a on/off toggle for safety

Brandon314159 said:
- You cannot use those pins to measure battery voltage as they are an input to the charger... IE they do not tie directly to the battery. You would have to watch the battery voltage at the screws for the battery flex-cable mount.
- There are lots of notes about the battery voltage being 'high' by peoples viewpoints. If you search around, someone explains the difference in chemistry that the Droid 4 is using and that it does have a higher Vmax during bulk/absorption charge levels. I believe the summary was that it is a non-issue. They aren't trying to 'cheat' the battery into higher voltage for more cap...it's just simply how that chemistry wants to be charged. You'll have to google around to find it.
I am curious to see what sort of 'external' packs I can come up with and likely would limit my charging rate to 1200mA or so just to keep things 'happy'. I got slapped pretty hard over at droidforums by an admin and my post removed for this same info...glad to see the community here is more accepting of my discoveries. :cyclops:
-Also, the other two pins are data lines...not sure if In/out compatible but one is Batt Temp and the other is Communication (for determining battery type). The phone doesn't like having these pins futzed with (can cause reboots/lockups) so there is clearly something on the other end...but sounds like the protection is weak regarding input into the processor/etc.
Once I have my phone near a camera, I will photo my connection method/mods (no direct soldering in-case I have to warranty the phone for other issues). That gave me 6" pigtails of wire that I have hiding behind my cheap-o case right now waiting for proper connections (I exited through the speaker hole on the stock back cover).
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Very excited to see those photos. I can't imagine your post getting removed for that sort of information, that is a shame... Hardware mods are just as much fun as software mods, imho! Plus, they have the added bonus that there is a slight risk of explosion, something I err, enjoy

Brandon314159 said:
- You would have to watch the battery voltage at the screws for the battery flex-cable mount.
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Drat. I really didn't want to peal off the sticker... heh, maybe I could just punch through it with the needle probes and only leave 2 tiny holes .
There are lots of notes about the battery voltage being 'high' by peoples viewpoints. If you search around, someone explains the difference in chemistry that the Droid 4 is using and that it does have a higher Vmax during bulk/absorption charge levels. I believe the summary was that it is a non-issue. They aren't trying to 'cheat' the battery into higher voltage for more cap...it's just simply how that chemistry wants to be charged. You'll have to google around to find it.
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I have done a lot of googling and failed. I'm skeptical that I can't find any "new Li-ion chemistry". The only thing I did find was a pointer to an Anandtech article where the writer said he "heard" they were using a "new Li-ion chemistry" ... with no references or cites. In any event I agree it is mostly a non-issue for most everyone else. I figure they have it all designed for some target duty cycle -- probably about 1 year? maybe 2? Thing is, I plan to keep my phone for 4 or more years like all my past smart phones. The difference this time is that the battery is non-removeable (yes, I know it can be done with tools and some risk). I was hoping to find an app that would interface with the battery management and allow a configurable threshold for the "fully charged" cutoff. With a charging cutoff at about 90% I should be able to triple the life of my battery.
sigh... sorry for the hijack (but there isn't much on the actually battery operation, even around here).

Quick7135 said:
I was hoping to find an app that would interface with the battery management and allow a configurable threshold for the "fully charged" cutoff. With a charging cutoff at about 90% I should be able to triple the life of my battery.
sigh... sorry for the hijack (but there isn't much on the actually battery operation, even around here).
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drain the phone and charge it up in charging mode with the stock charger. this will calibrate your battery so it will charge to 100%

myfishbear said:
drain the phone and charge it up in charging mode with the stock charger. this will calibrate your battery so it will charge to 100%
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He wants to make it so it ONLY takes charges to 90%, to extend the duty cycle of the battery. Honestly, I would just not worry about it, and replace the battery as necessary.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app

I put my reply over on this thread that you created, which seems to be more on-topic:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1856514
Cheers!

podspi said:
He wants to make it so it ONLY takes charges to 90%, to extend the duty cycle of the battery. Honestly, I would just not worry about it, and replace the battery as necessary.
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You're probably right but I'm not clear on the risks of damage to the hardware when prying out the non-replaceable battery.
Brandon314159 said:
I put my reply over on this thread that you created, which seems to be more on-topic:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1856514
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Thanks. and I do apologize (again) for the interruption here. It won't happen again.

Quick7135 said:
You're probably right but I'm not clear on the risks of damage to the hardware when prying out the non-replaceable battery.
Thanks. and I do apologize (again) for the interruption here. It won't happen again.
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I'd think you'd be at higher risk of damage playing with the software/firmware interface that controls battery charging than doing an actual battery swap.
It appears to be pretty easy: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Droid-4-Teardown/7759/1
No worries on cross posting...just figured better to keep it all over there where there is already a few replies on-topic.
Cheers,

BTW noticed today that the phone says "Charging - Connected to an inductive charging mat" when you connect up power to the back.
I will try to get a shot of the connection when I get home.

My USB port broke... would you think this would charge a completely dead battery.. thank you kindly for your time...
update this will charge a completely dead battery... took an OEM charger cut it open used the red and black... worked perfectly...
why do they call it common sense when only a few people have it...

Concerning the Nexus 5 battery, how do you recharge your device?

Hi guys, good afternoon, how are you?
As I was looking after the Nexus 5 and the battery life of the device began to get discussed, I was unaware of the fact that nowadays we can just charge the device however we like, using Lithium-ion polymer batteries, different from the past, when a full recharge was recommended for the battery performance not get affected.
Considering that, for some users the battery life shouldn't be a concern, mainly for those who have a power outlet nearby, making an option to recharge it at any % level before getting it to fully recharge during the night.
I'd like to know from you guys: how do you recharge your devices? Do you wait for it to drain every % of the battery before recharging it or just plug it on the power outlet whenever needed?
Also, do you guys believe that recharging it at any % level does not affect battery performance?
Thanks a lot!

Modern batteries have a finite number of charging cycles before they being to lose performance. Generally speaking, 100%-0% is one discharge cycle, so if you want to maximize battery longevity you should do your best to minimize the number of discharge cycles you subject the battery to. It is not strictly speaking a direct relationship, but the battery should last longer if you charge it when it reaches 50% as opposed to 0% (that would qualify as "half" a discharge cycle).
When I'm using my device heavily and I have access to an outlet, I leave it plugged in. That saves on discharge cycles. Also, when I am sitting at my desk at work I generally keep it plugged in.
The following link is an excellent source of information regarding batteries:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/

right now with my current phone i'll usually just top it off after work from a wall outlet, or top it off in the morning when i wake up and get ready for work. i also have a usb cable at work to top off whenever needed throughout the day. i try to keep the battery over 50% most of the time, just because, but i rarely leave it plugged in throughout the entire night, and this is even with running sleep tracking apps. i imagine battery use/charging will be the same with the nexus 5 -- topping off in the morning while getting ready for work, maybe charge a bit while at work via usb cable, and topping off after work via wall outlet.
i guess i charge my battery in intervals throughout the day, instead of the daily 8 hour overnight charge. however, i usually keep it at least half full

Plug it in at night before I go to sleep.
If i'm using it heavily and it gets below 50%, I'll plug it in.
Some days at the office I'll plug it in about an hour before I leave so it'll be almost 100% after work.
If i'm going somewhere and feel I may run the battery down before I get home, I'll carry my portable charger with me (Anker 5600mAh).

matthewr87 said:
Modern batteries have a finite number of charging cycles before they being to lose performance. Generally speaking, 100%-0% is one discharge cycle, so if you want to maximize battery longevity you should do your best to minimize the number of discharge cycles you subject the battery to. It is not strictly speaking a direct relationship, but the battery should last longer if you charge it when it reaches 50% as opposed to 0% (that would qualify as "half" a discharge cycle).
When I'm using my device heavily and I have access to an outlet, I leave it plugged in. That saves on discharge cycles. Also, when I am sitting at my desk at work I generally keep it plugged in.
The following link is an excellent source of information regarding batteries:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/
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Wouldn't heavy usage while its charging put too much heat on the battery? Which is worse for it then worrying about charge cycles?

I do a backflip spin 360 before charging my phone...

thfreedumb said:
Wouldn't heavy usage while its charging put too much heat on the battery? Which is worse for it then worrying about charge cycles?
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It depends whether/how much heat is generated during heavy usage. On my N7 while browsing the net or watching videos the heat is non-existent. Certain games cause more heat than others. If the device starts to become "hot" then yeah, keeping it plugged in will only exacerbate the problem.
Also, having a case on the device can increase heat soak.
It depends on the situation.
You are right though that heat is the enemy when it comes to batteries. About an hour in my back-back on a beach on Oahu killed my GNex battery, and it was in the shade too.

I plug mine into a wall charger or my laptop...

At the end of the day though, if you don't bake or freeze your phone, the battery should last at least a couple of years without losing too much capacity I think.
The battery longevity discussion with mobile devices is similar to the oil change debate in automotive circles. Some people swear by certain brands and oil change intervals, whilst others just buy what is on sale and change the oil when the car tells them too. It probably makes very little difference in the end.

Yakandu said:
I do a backflip spin 360 before charging my phone...
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Mr.Mischief said:
I plug mine into a wall charger or my laptop...
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Smart alecks. Granted, I got a chuckle.
To OP:
Today's lithium ion batteries are way better than what they were 10 years ago. As posted above, go to battery university and learn all about it. My advice? Don't worry about special ways to charge your phone. You'll break, sell, or permanently store this phone long before your battery gives out due to charge cycles.

matthewr87 said:
Modern batteries have a finite number of charging cycles before they being to lose performance. Generally speaking, 100%-0% is one discharge cycle, so if you want to maximize battery longevity you should do your best to minimize the number of discharge cycles you subject the battery to. It is not strictly speaking a direct relationship, but the battery should last longer if you charge it when it reaches 50% as opposed to 0% (that would qualify as "half" a discharge cycle).
When I'm using my device heavily and I have access to an outlet, I leave it plugged in. That saves on discharge cycles. Also, when I am sitting at my desk at work I generally keep it plugged in.
The following link is an excellent source of information regarding batteries:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This!
Once upon a time I used to wait till my phone drained to 0-5% before I charged it. But I quickly realized that doing so turned my battery into trash.
So now with my 2 latest phones I usually charge it when they are at 30-40% or higher if possible and not only do I get excellent battery time but also its lifespan & performance doesn't deteriorate over time.
Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

The only advice you need: DO NOT FULLY DISCHARGE LI-ION BATTERIES. These aren't NiCads, you do not need to power-cycle them periodically.
For best Li-ion life, try and avoid discharging below 20% or above 80%. Manufacturers will often add some 'headroom' to the 100% level (so that a battery that reads 100% is actually only charged to 80%-90% of capacity) in order to maximise longevity. within that range, charging and discharing will have little effect on battery life. charge and discharge rates do have an effect, but again ythe battery controller will limit these to prevent damage to the battery, so this is not something you need to worry about yourself.
Keep the battery topped up and avoid discharging it completely. Anything else is hocus-pocus or incorrect advice for the wrong battery chemistry.

i replace my phone once a year so i dont bother with saving the battery etc.. ive never had any measurable degradation to the battery the way i charge in less than a year. I usually charge it from what ever % its at to full. Most of the day at work it stays on my wireless charger, but it stops charging it after its full.

Thanks everyone for the feedback this far, in just a couple of minutes I already learned a lot.
Please let's continue the talk and vote if you can!
Thanks again.

On the charger before reaching 10%, around 20% or higher if it's possible.

EdZ said:
The only advice you need: DO NOT FULLY DISCHARGE LI-ION BATTERIES. These aren't NiCads, you do not need to power-cycle them periodically.
For best Li-ion life, try and avoid discharging below 20% or above 80%. Manufacturers will often add some 'headroom' to the 100% level (so that a battery that reads 100% is actually only charged to 80%-90% of capacity) in order to maximise longevity. within that range, charging and discharing will have little effect on battery life. charge and discharge rates do have an effect, but again ythe battery controller will limit these to prevent damage to the battery, so this is not something you need to worry about yourself.
Keep the battery topped up and avoid discharging it completely. Anything else is hocus-pocus or incorrect advice for the wrong battery chemistry.
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this +1.
I put emphasis on 'so this is not something you need to worry about yourself'.

EdZ said:
The only advice you need: DO NOT FULLY DISCHARGE LI-ION BATTERIES. These aren't NiCads, you do not need to power-cycle them periodically.
For best Li-ion life, try and avoid discharging below 20% or above 80%. Manufacturers will often add some 'headroom' to the 100% level (so that a battery that reads 100% is actually only charged to 80%-90% of capacity) in order to maximise longevity. within that range, charging and discharing will have little effect on battery life. charge and discharge rates do have an effect, but again ythe battery controller will limit these to prevent damage to the battery, so this is not something you need to worry about yourself.
Keep the battery topped up and avoid discharging it completely. Anything else is hocus-pocus or incorrect advice for the wrong battery chemistry.
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Click to collapse
BoneXDA said:
On the charger before reaching 10%, around 20% or higher if it's possible.
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Thanks to this two people.
Before i read this, me always charge the @ 10% or below.
+1 :good:

I just discharge to 20%-40%, then charge it with the included charger overnight...
I've tried using slow chargers but didn't really make the battery any better.
I agree that discharging it fully is bad. Very bad.
I just charge it how it's mean to be charged and I don't have any problems
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I've been charging wrong this whole time! Will start charging before I hit 10% from now on. Glad I saw this, just got a new phone and am hoping to keep it for as long as possible...

I charge it every night because I have to use it all day.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Will charging past 100% harm my battery?

Hi guys, I just bought the TurboPower charger from motorola since my (refurbished) N6 came with only a usb cable. I am very happy with the blazing fast charge speeds but was wondering if continuing to charge the phone after it reaches 100% battery might have any adverse effect on the battery's health or lifespan? A quick google search revealed little consensus so I'm hoping for an expert to chime in on here.
I tend to charge my phone overnight while I sleep, so with the new charger this means several hours of charging at 100% battery, and naturally the phone gets reasonably warm when undergoing such rapid charging, so I'd like to make sure I'm not causing long-term damage! (especially given that I'm not going anywhere near the Huawei N6 if it really has that hideous raised black bar on the back for the camera :/ )
If indeed this is bad for the battery - would using my (slower charging) old Nexus 4 charger overnight be any better? Or is it a bad idea to mix chargers from different phones? Generally this is a question I've always wondered about actually so it'd be good to finally find out.
Here are the charger's output specs from the motorola page in case that's relevant:
Output
Standard: 5V / 1.67A (8W)
TurboPower: 9V / 1.67A (15W)
TurboPower: 12V / 1.2A (15W)

No. use the normal charger for overnight and turbo charger on the go. or outside.
Cloud White Nexus 6!

XDAcube said:
No. use the normal charger for overnight and turbo charger on the go. or outside.
Cloud White Nexus 6
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"No" as in "no it won't harm my battery to charge past 100%"? If so then why bother with the old charger at all? Sorry if I've misunderstood your answer.

christensen6 said:
"No" as in "no it won't harm my battery to charge past 100%"? If so then why bother with the old charger at all? Sorry if I've misunderstood your answer.
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I ment it as yes it degrades battery life overnight to turbo charge.

christensen6 said:
If indeed this is bad for the battery
Output
Standard: 5V / 1.67A (8W)
TurboPower: 9V / 1.67A (15W)
TurboPower: 12V / 1.2A (15W)
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The turbo is not always on. The M-charger switches to standard when the battery is > 78% charged. So at night your 6 battery is not permanently charged with turbo
The N6-bat has a high capacity of 3400mA/h and suitable for turbocharging.
I use the M-charger with a cheap qi-pad for wireless charging at night. When connected to the Qi-pad the M-charger acts like a standard charger.
When needed I connect the M-charger directly to the phone.

christensen6 said:
"No" as in "no it won't harm my battery to charge past 100%"? If so then why bother with the old charger at all? Sorry if I've misunderstood your answer.
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the previous answers are both correct within a certain context.
all batteries have degradation from charging, although constantly subjecting it to the excessive heat of turbo charging will speed this up.
maybe it will take a year or 18mos before you realize the charge isnt lasting as long as it used to, maybe less. its a guess really.
the point is, dont subject it to turbo charging unless you really need that option. it is the best way to maximize the life span of your battery.

bweN diorD said:
the previous answers are both correct within a certain context.
all batteries have degradation from charging, although constantly subjecting it to the excessive heat of turbo charging will speed this up.
maybe it will take a year or 18mos before you realize the charge isnt lasting as long as it used to, maybe less. its a guess really.
the point is, dont subject it to turbo charging unless you really need that option. it is the best way to maximize the life span of your battery.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the clear response do you happen to know if there is any adverse effect from using a slower charger designed for a smaller battery (like the Nexus 4 charger I am currently using)? I wouldn't have thought so but you never know...

bweN diorD said:
the previous answers are both correct within a certain context.
all batteries have degradation from charging, although constantly subjecting it to the excessive heat of turbo charging will speed this up.
maybe it will take a year or 18mos before you realize the charge isnt lasting as long as it used to, maybe less. its a guess really.
the point is, dont subject it to turbo charging unless you really need that option. it is the best way to maximize the life span of your battery.
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Click to collapse
While I agree that all electronic components lifespan is reduced by excessive heat, I don't think that answers the question fully.
Regardless of the charging method employed (standard or turbo) you will not reduce battery lifespan by remaining connected to the charger at 100% capacity.
The method you use to charge a depleted battery to the specified value governed by the phone which disables turbo charge, the increased heat "may" reduce its lifespan.

christensen6 said:
Thanks for the clear response do you happen to know if there is any adverse effect from using a slower charger designed for a smaller battery (like the Nexus 4 charger I am currently using)? I wouldn't have thought so but you never know...
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no it wont. it may just take longer if it cant meet the phones standard charging needs. it would actually be worse for the charger than the battery if it couldnt.
i generally charge mine from an outlet strip with usb charging built in i got off amazon.
a common misconception about chargers is bigger is better. thats generally not the case.
for instance, a charger can state an output of 3a. all that means is the charger "can" output 3a, not that it pushes 3a to the device, because thats simply not how it works.
the device will draw what it needs of that 3a capability. it may be anywhere from 0 to 3a. there is charging circuitry in all devices that controls how much charging power the battery is allowed to have. if you give it less than what it wants, the battery will just charge slower.
hope that helps.
---------- Post added at 06:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:35 PM ----------
blyndfyre said:
While I agree that all electronic components lifespan is reduced by excessive heat, I don't think that answers the question fully.
Regardless of the charging method employed (standard or turbo) you will not reduce battery lifespan by remaining connected to the charger at 100% capacity.
The method you use to charge a depleted battery to the specified value governed by the phone which disables turbo charge, the increased heat "may" reduce its lifespan.
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actually, reaming connected to any charger while at 100% is not recommended.
the last 5% or so is the worst state for the battery, as is basically tries to cram the last bits of juice in there. when you stay connected, its repeatedly topping off, which is repeating the added stress of getting the last bits of juice in.
im sure i didnt do the best job of explaining that. if you have some free time google "battery university". there is some very good info on there about what im saying, and about li batteries in general.

bweN diorD said:
actually, reaming connected to any charger while at 100% is not recommended.
the last 5% or so is the worst state for the battery, as is basically tries to cram the last bits of juice in there. when you stay connected, its repeatedly topping off, which is repeating the added stress of getting the last bits of juice in.
im sure i didnt do the best job of explaining that. if you have some free time google "battery university". there is some very good info on there about what im saying, and about li batteries in general.
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Trickle charging is not desirable, topping off isn't bad if the charging method doesn't top off to the threshold voltage (Eg. 4.3V), so I guess without more information on a specific device employing a lithium-Ion battery It's hard to say for sure if remaining connected to the charger causes adverse affects.
If you want to get down to the few days or weeks you'll save on the lifespan of your battery you might as well turn it off during each charging cycle to avoid parasitc load, as this can degrade lifespan more than topping off.
I guess it comes down to personal preference overall. Do you want/need the convenience of leaving your device always on (minus occasional reboot) and you prefer starting off with a full capacity battery each day? Or do you prefer your battery will enjoy it's entire intended lifespan? Me personally I choose the former since I don't like to miss calls or notifications while charging and I don't keep a smartphone much longer than a year anyways.

In this thread I read several good suggestions about charging.
But don't forget discharging. Charging, turbocharging and also discharging will shorten the battery life.

Actually, when laptops first came out, if you overcharged them, the battery would explode! :laugh: Luckily engineers designed a way that Lithium Ion batteries dont do this anymore!

charging past 100% will not damage your battery. ive been doing it for the past 10 years. at one point, it would damage the battery, very sightly, over long periods of time. but in todays times, it won't damage it. first off, 100% isnt when it stops charging. it stops charging once it reaches a certain voltage, which is ysually after you reach 100%. yes, even though its plugged in, it will stop charging. and then will charge again, after some voltage leaves it. it will not take in an extra charge. once its done charging, its done, and will not charge more.

NLBeev said:
The turbo is not always on. The M-charger switches to standard when the battery is > 78% charged. So at night your 6 battery is not permanently charged with turbo
The N6-bat has a high capacity of 3400mA/h and suitable for turbocharging.
I use the M-charger with a cheap qi-pad for wireless charging at night. When connected to the Qi-pad the M-charger acts like a standard charger.
When needed I connect the M-charger directly to the phone.
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Click to collapse
+1 I do the same with my M-charge, my qi charge turns off when the phone reaches 100. It doesn't drain that much when it is done charging usually it's still at 100. Before I got root and greenify, it would drain to a max of 4% by the time I woke up.

Realme X2 Pro Battery Health - AccuBattery App

For you who use AccuBattery app to monitor your battery usage, can you share yours?
Because mine is showing my battery health is only 47%. I think it's maybe, just maybe, the app only read half of the battery capacity. Since this phone is actually have two batteries installed in a single pack of battery.
With this phone I got around 6 hours of screen on time with 70% battery usage (from 90 - 20%).
It's normal SOT for this phone right?
I attached my SS from the app. I use version 1.2.7-2 build 45.

Yeah yours are pretty normal. I have a similar results.

Maybe the 50 watt charging is degrading the battery at a rapid pace,
Maybe this app is not very accurate.
I've seen others complaining about this app with other phones but hopefully here it's just estimating one of the two batteries

andrejd1 said:
Yeah yours are pretty normal. I have a similar results.
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Thanks for sharing. We have the same battery performance.
manus31 said:
Maybe the 50 watt charging is degrading the battery at a rapid pace,
Maybe this app is not very accurate.
I've seen others complaining about this app with other phones but hopefully here it's just estimating one of the two batteries
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Pretty sure it's not because the rapid charging, if so the phone is a disaster.
The app is most possible reason.

smart_thingup said:
Thanks for sharing. We have the same battery performance.
Pretty sure it's not because the rapid charging, if so the phone is a disaster.
The app is most possible reason.
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Click to collapse
Here's hoping,I'm getting mine next week and I'm already very skeptical of the vooc charging,I've seen nothing from Realme or Oppo in regards to it's testing or how it affects the degradation of battery.Because of this and I want the battery to last a few years I will be charging with a 18w charger,using the vooc charger occasionally

manus31 said:
Here's hoping,I'm getting mine next week and I'm already very skeptical of the vooc charging,I've seen nothing from Realme or Oppo in regards to it's testing or how it affects the degradation of battery.Because of this and I want the battery to last a few years I will be charging with a 18w charger,using the vooc charger occasionally
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At first I also skeptical about the Super VOOC charging, I think it will damage battery faster, especially because of heat while charging.
And then, turns out to be more make sense because it use dual battery. And with my experience using this phone, there's no heat problem while charging. Not from the hand feel and not from the system temparature reading.
Since the charging is super fast, I usually put the phone at idle for about 5 minutes to cool down the phone before charging and put on airplane mode while charging to prevent over hear and keep the battery as cool as possible. After several try different circumstances of charging condition, I think Super VOOC is doing just fine.

smart_thingup said:
At first I also skeptical about the Super VOOC charging, I think it will damage battery faster, especially because of heat while charging.
And then, turns out to be more make sense because it use dual battery. And with my experience using this phone, there's no heat problem while charging. Not from the hand feel and not from the system temparature reading.
Since the charging is super fast, I usually put the phone at idle for about 5 minutes to cool down the phone before charging and put on airplane mode while charging to prevent over hear and keep the battery as cool as possible. After several try different circumstances of charging condition, I think Super VOOC is doing just fine.
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Click to collapse
I'm sure it's safe and all very good but I still think it will be too difficult to maintain the battery and make it last a few years. I like to keep the battery between around 40 to 85 and it's not recommend to fully charge modern phone batteries aswell as not fully draining them,there is only so many cycles for the batteries lifetime,around 500 or so,
here we have two batteries but still that does not matter,
I will be using in and around 18w charger but might try my OnePlus charger to see if that is any quicker to find a happy medium

manus31 said:
I'm sure it's safe and all very good but I still think it will be too difficult to maintain the battery and make it last a few years. I like to keep the battery between around 40 to 85 and it's not recommend to fully charge modern phone batteries aswell as not fully draining them,there is only so many cycles for the batteries lifetime,around 500 or so,
here we have two batteries but still that does not matter,
I will be using in and around 18w charger but might try my OnePlus charger to see if that is any quicker to find a happy medium
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Click to collapse
OnePlus charger will give you VOOC charging. I think that will suit you.

smart_thingup said:
OnePlus charger will give you VOOC charging. I think that will suit you.
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Yes should give around 27 to 30 watt charge,that would be perfect.Wil test it and see,getting phone tomorrow according to my national post

manus31 said:
Yes should give around 27 to 30 watt charge,that would be perfect.Wil test it and see,getting phone tomorrow according to my national post
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Click to collapse
Got phone today,the 50 watt charge is lightning fast,
My OnePlus 6T charger is also lightning,think it's about 27w charger. My 6T battery must have a problem as the charging has slowed over time on that. I'm only noticing again how fast the dash charger is on the X2 pro

Have been using Accubattery for few days now and have similar stats to you guys,48% battery health and estimated capacity of 1913mAh,
Maybe Accubattery can improve the software for these type of phones which have two separate batteries

have the same result. maybe an update with the app can result in a more accurate reading.

Guys it's normal, this phone has a battery made of 2 1950mAh cells that charge in parallel. This means that Accubattery (which reads the stats based on voltage and current) can only read a single cell charge.
I also read some strange comments here, so let's dismantle a myth: SuperVOOC WON'T damage your battery much more than normal fast charging. Having 50W on a single battery would be absurd, instead this power is distributed between the two cells, resulting in a charge of 5V and 5A per cell (pretty standard, 5V is super safe because it's the same as the cell voltage, and current is similar to other manufacturer quick charge currents). Having 5V input is also better for heat, because it doesn't need conversion (see Qualcomm Quickcharge which can input 5/9/12/15V).
Of course heat is the worst enemy of a battery life, but try not to use it while charging for those 25/30mins needed for a full charge and you'll be good to go.
I hope this clarifies things for people scared of using the boxed charger.

danypava said:
Guys it's normal, this phone has a battery made of 2 1950mAh cells that charge in parallel. This means that Accubattery (which reads the stats based on voltage and current) can only read a single cell charge.
I also read some strange comments here, so let's dismantle a myth: SuperVOOC WON'T damage your battery much more than normal fast charging. Having 50W on a single battery would be absurd, instead this power is distributed between the two cells, resulting in a charge of 5V and 5A per cell (pretty standard, 5V is super safe because it's the same as the cell voltage, and current is similar to other manufacturer quick charge currents). Having 5V input is also better for heat, because it doesn't need conversion (see Qualcomm Quickcharge which can input 5/9/12/15V).
Of course heat is the worst enemy of a battery life, but try not to use it while charging for those 25/30mins needed for a full charge and you'll be good to go.
I hope this clarifies things for people scared of using the boxed charger.
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I was a bit apprehensive about the super vooc at the start but I've only ever used it since I got the phone. I will say it's so much more useful for my use a d I can literally charge it twice a day for 10 to 15 minutes each time.Phone does heat up quite a bit though,like it's warm every time I take it off the charge.
I'm just hoping it will be as quick this time next year and the battery holds out

danypava said:
Guys it's normal, this phone has a battery made of 2 1950mAh cells that charge in parallel. This means that Accubattery (which reads the stats based on voltage and current) can only read a single cell charge.
I also read some strange comments here, so let's dismantle a myth: SuperVOOC WON'T damage your battery much more than normal fast charging. *1 Having 50W on a single battery would be absurd, instead this power is distributed between the two cells, resulting in a charge of 5V and 5A per cell (pretty standard,*2 5V is super safe because it's the same as the cell voltage, and current is similar to other manufacturer quick charge currents). Having 5V input is also better for heat, because it doesn't need conversion (see Qualcomm Quickcharge which can input 5/9/12/15V).
Of course *3 heat is the worst enemy of a battery life, but try not to use it while charging for those 25/30mins needed for a full charge and you'll be good to go.
I hope this clarifies things for people scared of using the boxed charger.
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*1 - could you elaborate on this here a tad bit more? What is the advantage of pumping power into two cells with total capacity of 4A/h put next to running a single cell with the same amount of power, with the cell being 4A/h too?
*2
This is simply not true. Mass production liPo cells are manufactured with 3.7V nominal voltage, 3V min. voltage and 4.2V max. voltage. When discharging a li-po cell your under-load voltage wouldn't zap anywhere outside the range of 3 - 4.2 volts at any point. If it did you would be saying ciao to that cell in the upcoming month.
According to what Ive learned past the last 12years of dealing with LiPos in my radio controlled aircrafts and, cell phones, smartphones, battery banks and so on and so on.. I am yet to see a mass production lithium cell whose "cell voltage" is 5 volts..? Sooo.. where do you get that from?
Do you have the kind of information that I am struggling to find on the inet right now? Such as who is the outsourced manufacturer of cells for realme? What is the grouping method of the two cells in our x2pro when charging - parallel or series?
The answer on the later two questions will paint it all as to what can we expect from the battery in our phones for the forseeable future.
*3
Heat is the result of charging and discharging the cell at higher than usually considered healthy charging and discharging rates. As far as Im concerned I don't think that realme are in possession of any advanced battery tech, and would be much more oriented towards trustworthy tested day in-day out type of chemistry in their batteries. Specially at the price point of my x2pro.
Taking into consideration that I can only conclude that realme are driving these cells at their maximum tolerance of charging current. I would be pretty entertained if the juice in this device is satisfactory past the 2 year mark. And shocked at the same time.

This has been spoke about before by oppo themselves and is available on the internet, it's 2x batteries at 2000mah each... The batteries are charged at the same time but independently and each battery is monitored at all times for heat etc... Total voltage is split between both to not apply to much pressure and as the batteries are 2000mah each it's obviously Parallel as you get total 4000mah.

Realme x2 pro has two batteries
Hey guys hope you are aware that realme x2 pro has 2 batteries of approximately 2000mah each and not one single 4000mah battery. That is what gives it the charging speed and the battery health is not affected because of the ingenious way VOOC works. You can watch the video on youtube. AccuBattery is not designed for phones with two batteries. Maybe we can expect compatibility for realme x2 pro in a future update.

Ab97 said:
Hey guys hope you are aware that realme x2 pro has 2 batteries of approximately 2000mah each and not one single 4000mah battery. That is what gives it the charging speed and the battery health is not affected because of the ingenious way VOOC works. You can watch the video on youtube. AccuBattery is not designed for phones with two batteries. Maybe we can expect compatibility for realme x2 pro in a future update.
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Click to collapse
Just declare it as 2000 mAh and you're good.