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Are you constantly wondering why your phone battery doesn’t last as long as it used to?
It’s a common issue that many smartphone users face. With every charge, your phone battery slowly degrades and its ability to hold a charge diminishes.
This article aims to demystify the reasons behind this. By gaining a deeper understanding of these reasons, you’ll be better equipped to manage your phone battery’s lifespan effectively.
Let’s delve deeper into these intriguing processes and explore how you can enhance the longevity of your phone battery.
The chemical process inside a phone battery
The first thing to understand when answering why your phone battery gets worse over time is the chemical process that happens inside a phone battery.
When you charge your phone, lithium ions move from one side of the battery to the other. This process is reversed when you use your phone and the battery discharges.
However, over time, lithium ions start to build up on the anode, the part of the battery that discharges the ions. This process, known as lithium plating, interferes with the flow of ions and results in a loss of battery capacity.
Heat impact on phone battery
Another reason why your phone battery gets worse over time is due to heat. Electronic devices, including your phone, generate heat when they are used. This heat can cause damage to the battery over time.
For instance, if you’ve ever noticed your phone getting warm or even hot when you’re using it or charging it, that’s a sign of thermal runaway. This causes the battery to degrade more quickly and reduces its overall lifespan.
Software updates and phone battery
Software updates can also play a role in your phone battery’s decline. As technology advances, newer versions of phone operating systems often require more power to run.
This means that, over time, your phone may need to work harder and use more battery power to function, even if the battery’s capacity has not changed.
For example, when Apple released iOS 11, many users reported a significant decrease in battery life. This was due to the update’s increased power demands, which put more strain on the battery.
Charge cycles and battery longevity
Every battery has a certain number of charge cycles before it starts to degrade. A charge cycle is defined as the process of charging a battery from 0 to 100% and then discharging it back to 0%.
Once a battery has gone through its estimated number of charge cycles, which can vary from 300 to 500 cycles for most phone batteries, it will start to lose capacity.
This means it won’t hold a charge as well, and you’ll find yourself needing to charge it more often.
In conclusion, there are several reasons why your phone battery gets worse over time. These include the chemical processes within the battery, the impact of heat, the power demands of software updates, and the number of charge cycles the battery has gone through.
Understanding these factors can help you take steps to prolong the life of your phone battery.
For example, you can avoid exposing your phone to extreme temperatures, keep your software updated, and try to keep your battery level between 20% and 80% to reduce the number of charge cycles.
Did this article help you understand why your phone battery gets worse over time? If it did, please feel free to share it on your social networks so that others can benefit from this information too.
