There are many practices to try to extend the life of our mobile phone battery. Some are logical questions that sometimes go unnoticed, others we have probably heard at some point, as is the case of the 20/80 rule. So stay with us and you will discover what it is about and how you can apply it yourself.
The battery is a critical component of a mobile device and its degradation remains a common and inevitable characteristic. However, there are better practices than others when it comes to using your phone’s charge just like You should not use or charge your mobile phone if it is very hot.It may seem obvious, but it is not so much when in reality most of us have been charging our mobile phone at the same time as we have been playing or writing messages, or even playing videos.
What is the 20/80 rule for?
Its usefulness is that of prevent battery degradationor rather, so that it does not degrade as much. Since technology has not yet managed to achieve an effective improvement in this regard, so that after around 4 years from purchase, a battery can be considered to be at retirement age.
The arrival of the lithium-ion batteries It changed the way a mobile phone should be charged, since previously there was the memory effect that was responsible for having to charge the battery to 100% when you bought the phone and having to do complete cycles after that.
It has now been proven that with lithium batteries, if you let it discharge below 20% or charge it above 80%, the battery charges areas that accelerate degradation battery life by being less efficient and requiring more energy. In addition, they generate more heat at such times. Therefore, charging to 100% and discharging to 0% will accelerate wear due to the stress it generates.
Is this strategy reliable?
It must be said that this is supported by manufacturers, in fact, many of them today have methods that manage to minimize the time spent charging between 80 and 100% to avoid the stress we mentioned above. Some manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung, have incorporated Battery management systems that automatically limit charging when reaching 80% in certain cases, suggesting that even at the brand level, they recognize the value of not charging the battery to the maximum.
What is the real drawback of doing this strategy? Well, the main and worst of all is that you will undoubtedly have less battery to use, it will make the cycles shorter (although it will stress the battery less) and it may not be such a good idea if you go out. So you could think about combining the strategy, if we are at home doing the 20/80 and if we go out taking our battery to 100%. This may not really be a bad idea, and we can get the advantages of both, although we are clear that it cannot be totally perfect.