Should You Leave Your Smartphone lugged in overnight?
By: Deb Scott
Tags: Lithium Battery, Charger, Smartphones, Battery

Should You Leave Your Smartphone Plugged in Overnight?

Is it bad for the phone? Bad for your safety? What’s the right thing to do? In fact, how much should you charge your phone? When’s the right time to plug in? Should it go down to 0 percent every time? Up to 100 percent? How do you get the longest life out of the battery inside a smartphone? Does it really matter if you’re only going to keep the handset around for a couple of years before an upgrade? The debate goes well beyond the worry of moderate harm to a device, as some people have fears of “overloading” a smartphone battery That worry seems relatively justified since it was only a few years ago that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7s were bursting into flame due to battery issues But unless a device has some serious manufacturing defects like that phone did, the fire-in-your-pocket (or on the nightstand) aspect is unlikely.

The problem is, some of the research and opinions out there are diametrically opposed here are some of the right and wrong things to do and expose the myths and truths of iPhone or Android phone charging, in particular when plugging in overnight will charging my iPhone overnight overload the battery? No. The one thing all the experts agree upon is that smartphones are smart enough that they do not let an overload happen

Extra protection chips inside make sure that can’t happen in a tablet or smartphone or even a laptop Once the internal Lithium-ion battery hits 100 percent of its capacity, charging stops That usually happens within an hour or two, tops If you leave the smartphone plugged in overnight, it’s going to use a bit of energy constantly trickling new juice to the battery every time it falls to 99 percent that is eating into your phone’s lifespan The best thing to do : Don’t worry about this too much Plug the phone in (or place on the wireless charger) when you go to sleep; if you wake up sometime in the night, unplug it/move it to prevent constant trickle-charging If you don’t wake much, plug your phone into a smart plug that’s on a schedule so it turns off

Potential problems that could be encountered while charging overnight: 1) It is hot in here? The trickle-charge can cause some heating up Many experts recommend taking a phone fully out of the case to charge overnight At the very least, do NOT stack a bunch of crap like books or other devices on top of a charging device And for the love of Jobs, don’t put it under your pillow Do any of the above and you can expect the phone to get hot — not necessarily enough for spontaneous combustion, but at least enough to damage the battery (see below)

If you are afraid of fire, some in the UK recommend leaving the charging device on a dish or saucer while plugged in, or putting it on something metal that is more likely to dissipate heat, like a heatsink does on the chips inside a PC.

That’s not much of an option if you use a wireless charging pad, so don’t sweat it .Bad Cables ? If you’re using a knock-off cable that isn’t from the manufacturer, or at least “certified” in some way (iPhone Lightning cables should be MFi certified , for example), it could be a problem The cord and connectors may not be up to the specifications needed for the phone or tablet Don’t skimp by buying chintzy cables

Should Freeze My Phone to Prevent Battery Problems: No .Lithium-ion batteries hate two things: extreme cold and extreme heat With cold, repeatedly charging a smartphone in sub-freezing temps can create a permanent “plating of metallic Lithium” on the battery anode, according to Battery University You can’t fix that problem; doing it too much is only going kill the battery faster

The battery is not alone in hating heat: all the internals of any smartphone dislike warmth It’s a computer in there, and computers and hot air are mortal enemies going back decades Leave your black iPhone sitting in the sun as you laze by the pool someday, and don’t be surprised when it throws a warning at you that it needs to cool off In the summer, keep it off the dash of the car, preferably in the shade Apple specifically says charging iPhones over 35 degrees C/95 degrees F will do permanent damage to the battery; expect the same with any modern smartphone Best thing to NEVER do: Don’t let it get too cold or hot when charging

And don’t put your phone in the freezer.

Running a smartphone until it’s dead — a full discharge — every time is not the way to go with modern Lithium-ion batteries Don’t even let it get that close to 0 percent That wears out a Lithium-ion battery even faster than normal Partial discharge is the way to go Batteries are on borrowed time from the get-go The insides are in a state of decay that can’t be helped Over time, they’re simply going to hold less and less power

If you’ve got an old iPhone 5 or 6 still in use and wonder why it’s only got a charge for a few hours compared to the almost full day you got when it was new, that’s why.