Battery life has become a major concern for smartphones users due to the increased reliance on phones for almost all daily tasks, so the feature of long battery life has become one of the main features that
the average buyer is looking for after the screen size .
According to a study conducted by Kantar during the third quarter of 2019, battery life is more important than a powerful camera and battery life and the way to deal with it also affects the shelf life of your device.
Also, the increased focus on battery life is one of the reasons that helped spread fast charging devices everywhere; because the phone battery will not last for a full working day except in the case of moderate use, but if you use it frequently, you will need to recharge it more than once, and here you can Fast charging helps you get 50% charge in just 10 minutes.
The feature of fast charging has become increasingly common especially in the leading phones, as almost all the leading Samsung phones include this feature, as is the case with Huawei, Google, and OnePlus, and so far Apple has supported this feature in its latest phones.
Now that fast charging has become a popular feature on phones, many questions have arisen such as: What is the effect of the high-capacity charger on the phone battery, and can fast charging weaken the battery's capacity to store energy over time? Does leaving the charger on the phone for extended periods of time may lead to overcharging? How can I extend battery life?
Therefore, today we will review the answers of some researchers and engineers in the field of batteries about the effects of fast charging on the battery life of phones:
1- Mobile Phone batteries will not change any time soon:
All mobile phones - and most personal electronics and electric cars - use rechargeable li-ion batteries. It is difficult to create batteries that last longer because battery technology has not changed for decades.
Instead, much of the recent progress in battery life has come in the form of incorporating energy-saving features into devices, enabling the operating system to manage charging and discharging in a more efficient way.
Also, the size of phone batteries is an obstacle to prolonging their life, because when you compare the phone battery with the electric car battery, the phone power source is much less. For example: The Tesla 3 rechargeable battery has a battery capacity 4,000 times larger than the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The process becomes somewhat complicated since phone batteries are measured in milliampere-hours / hour, while electric vehicle batteries are measured in watts / hour.
This is important because the larger the battery capacity, the more energy-saving tricks to extend its life. For example: While the battery is being charged, the difference in voltage (voltage) increases, which leads to fatigue of the battery, especially during the last 20% of the charge. To avoid this stress, electric car manufacturers may introduce new batteries that charge only 80%. Because of this large capacity of the battery, the electric vehicle can still travel an acceptable distance while avoiding high-voltage stress. This can double the overall life of the car battery.
Larger phone batteries can run all day, but usually have a 100% charge, and although this allows the battery to last an acceptable period of time between charges, it also puts the battery under greater pressure from the high voltage difference.
2- Fast charging does not damage your phone's battery:
A conventional charger delivers power from 5 to 10 watts, and a faster charger can improve this by up to eight times. For example: IPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max come with a fast 18-watt charger, while Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus come with 25-watt chargers.
Accordingly, the use of the quick charger will not cause any harm to your phone's battery even in the long term, unless there are any technical defects in the battery or the charger.
The reason for this is because the batteries that support fast charging operate in two stages; the first stage adds a rapid voltage to the empty battery that saves about 50 to 70% of the charge in the first 10, 15 or 30 minutes, because during the first stage of charging Batteries can quickly accept charging without any major negative impacts on their long-term life. In the second stage of charging, the charging speed must be slowed and managed carefully, otherwise the charging process may cause damage to the battery.
Therefore, the battery management system closely monitors the charging stages and reduces the charging speed during the second stage to give the battery time to accept charging and avoid problems, which is why it may take 10 minutes for a 100% charge. Also damage is very rare if everything inside is well managed.
