Modern lithium batteries are very different from old rechargeable that suffered from the infamous memory effect. The phenomenon occurred by recharging the battery not starting from 0.
A lithium accumulator consists of three fundamental elements, anode, cathode and electrolyte. The problem of the useful life of a battery, simplifying a lot, depends above all on the health of the anode and cathode. To avoid the degradation of these two components, therefore, the trick is to try to keep the battery in a state of charge as close to 50% as possible.
That’s why it’s inadvisable to use a battery-powered device that’s always connected to the power grid. Avoid being in the upper end of charge, which is 100%. In addition, we must also try to avoid the lower extreme, that is, the 0% discharge. The ideal would be around 20 – 80 %.
As you can see in the figure, after 700 charging cycles and almost 3 years, the battery of my iPhone still has 100% useful life.
3 tricks to keep the battery healthy
- Try to keep the charge between 20% and 80% (if you have an iPhone activate the optimized charge in the battery settings). I created a shortcut in the command app that puts the iPhone in savings mode when the charge drops below 50% and sends a notification when it is above 80%
- Avoid high temperatures and overheating, so minimal covers and avoid using your phone as a hotspot (at least not for extended periods)
- Try to use fast charging as little as possible