Database Users

[Q] Keeping the Nexus 10 plugged-in

I have read conflicting articles on increasing the battery life of Lithium-ion batteries (the ones used in Nexus 10). Most of the Lithium ion batteries have a lifespan of 300-400 charge/discharge cycles. From my understanding, this means that it is bad to fully discharge the batteries and then recharge them as it reduces from the above mentioned lifespan and it is better to top-off the battery often as possible.
In fact there was an article that I read on Cnet specifically for the iPad (I'm not allowed to post outside links for some reason, google: "ipad keep plugged in" and the first article in the search result) , where they recommend to keep the iPad plugged-in whenever possible to increase the battery life.
I use my Nexus 10 a lot at house. So, Is it better to keep it plugged-in all that time?

roshanpius said:
I have read conflicting articles on increasing the battery life of Lithium-ion batteries (the ones used in Nexus 10). Most of the Lithium ion batteries have a lifespan of 300-400 charge/discharge cycles. From my understanding, this means that it is bad to fully discharge the batteries and then recharge them as it reduces from the above mentioned lifespan and it is better to top-off the battery often as possible.
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This is correct.
In fact there was an article that I read on Cnet specifically for the iPad (I'm not allowed to post outside links for some reason, google: "ipad keep plugged in" and the first article in the search result) , where they recommend to keep the iPad plugged-in whenever possible to increase the battery life.
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The life span of LiIon/LiPoly batteries is also reduced when the battery is at or near 100% for a prolonged time. Don't think too much about it, just use the N10 and recharge it often. I usually try to plug it back in around the 70% mark.
It's also quite easy to open up the tablet, you only need a screwdriver and a plastic prying tool and then you can change the battery yourself, if it ever should become necessary (unlikely, unless you plan to use it for ~5 years).
> http://www.powerbookmedic.com/wordpress/2012/11/16/google-nexus-10-take-apart-first-look

i don't care about it... i leave it plugged whenever i can
chances are, those who take "good care" of their battery may end up with 10% more life in 2 years.... and frankly, i couldn't care less about that
not worth the hassle of worrying about batteries anymore

Best practice actually is to drain to 40% and charge up to 80%. Dropping to 90% and charging back up to 100% a bunch is still bad for your battery, as is leaving it plugged in over night when it reached 100% long before you wake up.

EniGmA1987 said:
Best practice actually is to drain to 40% and charge up to 80%. Dropping to 90% and charging back up to 100% a bunch is still bad for your battery, as is leaving it plugged in over night when it reached 100% long before you wake up.
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It stops charging upon reaching 100%.

Its hard to follow those instructions when your out 24 hours a day, or maybe you just want to use your tablet
Don't worry about doing extra stuff.. like the user said I could careless..
Just don't let your device die, charge it once it hit like 15%..
Saying charge your device once it at 70% is like only driving your car for 5miles and putting it back in the garage and walk the rest of the way..
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2

YoungAceAtlanta said:
Saying charge your device once it at 70% is like only driving your car for 5miles and putting it back in the garage and walk the rest of the way..
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I didn't say you have to do that. If it's possible I recharge early, if not I just use it anyway.
Doesn't really matter too much since the battery can be exchanged rather easily if it ever comes to that.

BoneXDA said:
It stops charging upon reaching 100%.
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Yes, and then it drains a bit and goes back to charging, over and over the rest of the night.

I've read that Li-ion batteries don't like "deep cycles", that is, fully dischanging then fully charging, because this shortens the battery's life. Also that it's not good to have it at 100% for a prolonged time. So it would be best to always have the device partially charged, plugging it if below 50% and unplugging at 90%. When the battery reaches 90% some phones even notify you that "the battery is full, and you can disconnect from charger"
Source: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

On Charge More Than 15 Hours a Day Hurting Battery?

I charge my phone overnight, from around 10PM to 8AM, then I leave my phone charging in its dock from about 9AM to 5PM during the work day...
any harm in doing this? I'd like my phone to last quite a while, as we are currently in a serious relationship, and I don't plan on letting her go....

What hurts your phone battery is not charging it but keeping it on high temperatures for a long time. And guess what keeps it on high temperatures: yep, you guessed it, charging for a long time.
Sent from my HTC Desire C using xda app-developers app

While it always depends on the charging circuit, keeping your battery topped up by constant charging (even trickle maintenance) will reduce the voltage level that it can be charged to. This will take quite some time to notice, and several deeper charging cycles will "repair" this to a certain extent. But with any battery, keeping it any constant level will reduce its charging capacity, and continual charging (trickle or otherwise) will "cook" the batteries chemical make up sooner.
To do what you're doing everyday will absolutely have an impact on your battery's health over the long term. But to exactly what extent is based on several factors I don't have specific data on.

Absolutely, our phone battery is designed for mobile usage, not to be tethered to a charger constantly. Constant charging is unnecessary, wasteful and leads to early battery demise.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

And aren't our high end modern phones also designed to trickle charge when it gets to %100, so no harm can come to it?

caliber177 said:
And aren't our high end modern phones also designed to trickle charge when it gets to %100, so no harm can come to it?
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I suppose it depends on how you define "harm". Read my post above again. Any level of current that is continually supplied to a charged battery will accelerate the aging of it.
Even if the charger were to shut off completely, and then resume charging at a certain level (which I believe is the behavior of the LG wireless charger at 95%), continually discharging and recharging from 95% to 100% is probably not ideal.
But all of this is probably not all that great of an affect in the grand scheme of things. You're not gonna kill your battery in a matter of months by leaving on the charger all of the time. Yes you will accelerate the degradation of the battery's health over time, but if your phone is in use enough so the battery is being discharged regularly between charges, I doubt that you will notice it for a long time, if at all.
I can say that if you simply leave it charging 24/7 without any other kind of use you will be able to measure degradation surprisingly soon. As to how noticeable it will be is very hard to say.

I use and suggest Battery Monitor Widget from 3c. It takes the guess work out of what you see when you're charging and what happens to the phone when it reaches 100%.
As the phone gradually reaches 90%, charging is noticeably slowed. From about 92-100% it trickle charges from around 300 to 200 to 100mA until it reaches 100%. Charger stops charging when full and lets the battery level drop slightly before charging it back to 100%. You're constantly topping it off at full and batteries of this chemistry don't like that.
As far as I can recall, these types of batteries actually thrive on being run down and cycled back up. The only catch is, don't run them down until it's completely dead. You've significantly cut the life of your battery if you do it quite often.
To answer your question, it probably doesn't hurt that much. If you do it for months, maybe years. Yeah, you'll see some degradation.

desynch- said:
As far as I can recall, these types of batteries actually thrive on being run down and cycled back up.
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I would correct this and say the battery loves being near the median. Store at 40% battery! 100%-0% is bad... 100%-10% is better, 90/10 is better etc...
80/40 is really good for preserving charge cycles. Basically, charging at 30% back up to 70% is better than letting it go down to 0%
Note: this is a REALLY good battery in this phone. Just USE it until you feel it's dying too soon and buy a new one. Batteries are cheap and will be cheaper in 2-3 years.

But we can't buy battery for this phone.. I always let it run down to 14% that's when the warning message pops up.. Then back up, charges in 2 1/2 hrs then I leave it on an hour more until I leave from work so I could have a full phone.. Note, I work over nights, so its dead at around 2 or 3 am sometimes, then I leave at 6 am..
Sent from my Nexus 4

Please... I would say we can in a few months! Most of us have already voided the warranty
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Most of us in here don't keep our phones long enough to notice any battery degradation..
Just charge it as often as you can but unplug it when it's full.

To be safe I would let the phone idle off of the work charger and only plug in at home.

dralways said:
To be safe I would let the phone idle off of the work charger and only plug in at home.
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Agreed, I only charge once a day and it's usually sufficient, if your a heavy user and are concerned about the phone dying at night, let the phone decharge normally throughout the day and plug it in an hour or an hour and a half before you leave, however long it takes to charge the device after a workday's worth of usage (Whatever that is for you)
I do this myself if I'm using my phone heavily during the day and know I'll be out all night. Like some said you'll probably never even notice the degradation, but when you know it's not good for the battery in the strictest sense why risk it, the phones aren't designed to be charging 2/3rd of the time, they are designed to be charged and then taken off the charger and used.

[Q] Nexus 4 battery

Is it possible to ruin my phone's battery due to overcharging? I charge my phone overnight no matter what percentage it is on, I still charge it I know this is bad, but can this ruin the battery? thanks

You should be able to charge as long as you want w no problems as long as you're doing this in a cool or room-temp environment (rather than say leaving it alone in a car charging at high noon w AC off, windows down & no sun shades on the windshield). If you have your phone charging in hi-temp conditions too long\often your battery swells & you get gradual irreparable damage.

HeyyMyNameIs said:
Is it possible to ruin my phone's battery due to overcharging? I charge my phone overnight no matter what percentage it is on, I still charge it I know this is bad, but can this ruin the battery? thanks
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If u make a correct use of your battery it won't get damaged. Extreme overclock, overvolt, etc can ruin your battery, but if u charge it every day because ur battery is empty it's ok, and u won't have any problem.

luiseteyo said:
If u make a correct use of your battery it won't get damaged. Extreme overclock, overvolt, etc can ruin your battery, but if u charge it every day because ur battery is empty it's ok, and u won't have any problem.
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what if I charge it eventhough the battery isnt empty?

HeyyMyNameIs said:
what if I charge it eventhough the battery isnt empty?
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You should be fine. Just look out for power surges!

sspyed said:
You should be fine. Just look out for power surges!
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thanks man =) thanks to the both of you who replied

Normally, when your phone reaches 100 % full battery level, it stops charging and starts discharging. At around 95 % level, it starts charging again. This all takes a toll on the battery, especially over a long period.
If your phone's battery is at or above 50%, leave it alone or turn it off for the night.
I have an external battery pack for use during the day time, just for situations like this.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Been thinking of asking this for some time. Thanks OP for posting and big thanks to those who replied.

jamesc760 said:
Normally, when your phone reaches 100 % full battery level, it stops charging and starts discharging. At around 95 % level, it starts charging again. This all takes a toll on the battery, especially over a long period.
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I don't think that's correct. It should switch to a trickle charge, which won't harm the battery, not stop charging completely.
Sent from my Nexus 4

What I spend a lot of time charging the phone through USB? I leave it on charge at work plugged into the computer through USB as there are no free plug sockets. My battery just seems to be getting worse and worse over the last couple of months... Could this be the problem?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

HeyyMyNameIs said:
Is it possible to ruin my phone's battery due to overcharging? I charge my phone overnight no matter what percentage it is on, I still charge it I know this is bad, but can this ruin the battery? thanks
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It'll automatically stop charging itself when it's full, it's impossible to overcharge a modern cell phone battery these days. They are a bit more computerized than the old nicad batteries from back in the day. It's actually healthier to give lithium batteries partial charges at a time instead of draining to zero percent and charging to 100 percent.

phil35 said:
What I spend a lot of time charging the phone through USB? I leave it on charge at work plugged into the computer through USB as there are no free plug sockets. My battery just seems to be getting worse and worse over the last couple of months... Could this be the problem?
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I doubt it. Could be a faulty battery, but more likely to be apps draining it in the background. Install BetterBatteryStats and see what is using the battery.
Sent from my Nexus 4

i'm using app called full battery & theft alarm. i always charge my phone during sleep, and this app will wake me up to disconnect the charger if the battery is full.
i hope this will prolong the battery life

How do you know your battery is getting worse if it's always charging?
My personal experience is the less you charge it, the better it will perform. However, when you DO charge it, make sure you are less than 30% battery and charge it to 100% before removing it.
For me it's easy, I basically charge my phone at night when I go to bed and that's it. I easily get through an entire day on this phone, though I admit I usually only have about 2-1/2 hours screen on time (I mostly use my tablet when I am at home)

N7100 over charging

I generally try not to charge my note 2 overnight. I want this battery to be healthy as long as possible, so I don't want it to sit at high voltages for too long.
Normally my note 2 is around 80 percent when I go to sleep so I don't plug it in at night, I just plug it in in the morning for an hour before going to work. It reaches 100 and then I remove it.
The times when my battery is much lower that I won't be able to charge it in the morning in the hour, I do charge it overnight.
What I've noticed is that the battery drains much slower on the days it's been on the charger overnight.
So I'm thinking that the charger will continue to raise the voltage even after it reaches 100%. Maybe someone has some other thoughts, but I just wanted to share what I've noticed so people are careful with their battery.

Hi,
Charge it yhe way you want. Don't stress on it.
But for a few tips:
Don't let the lithium-ion battery go down to critical battery levels before charge.
Don't put the battery on the refrigerator.
Don't over charge it even if it's a new battery .

Simone said:
Hi,
Charge it yhe way you want. Don't stress on it.
But for a few tips:
Don't let the lithium-ion battery go down to critical battery levels before charge.
Don't put the battery on the refrigerator.
Don't over charge it even if it's a new battery .
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So basically i can't charge the battery overnight? I don't understand the meaning of don't overcharge it.

Raging_Ken said:
So basically i can't charge the battery overnight? I don't understand the meaning of don't overcharge it.
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You can but can potentially damage the battery. It's up to you.

I'm going to disagree with you guys. The charger and the battery has overcharging protection built in. So don't speculate with overcharging overnight. In fact when the phone has stayed longer on the charger I got better battery life. Cheers
Sent from my GT-N7100

kirilorius said:
I'm going to disagree with you guys. The charger and the battery has overcharging protection built in. So don't speculate with overcharging overnight. In fact when the phone has stayed longer on the charger I got better battery life. Cheers
Sent from my GT-N7100
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Yes, I know. So why would you charge your phone overnight? So it would stay 100% when you wake up?

I charge my phone overnight everyday.
The battery magnet would trigger the charger into trickle mode. This prevents overcharging.
Li-ion battery prefers to be charged then discharged. Contrary to hearsays, discharging it to critical levels too often would actually degrade battery life.
My Nexus one of 2 years still maintained a 84% charge because of this.

Simone said:
Yes, I know. So why would you charge your phone overnight? So it would stay 100% when you wake up?
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Cause i'm using it all day till 1-2 o'clock at night and thats the only time i can charge my phone. And with the heavy usage im putting it the battery cant hold more then 15-16 hours
Sent from my GT-N7100

The battery have both overcharging and undercharging protection.
So there is no problem charging your phone overnight, the battery will stop charging when it is full. It will then be allowed to discharge a bit and the charging cycle will resume. The fluctuations caused by this charge/discharge cycle are usually hidden by the firmware so that you only see 100% - charged.
As for undercharging, it can indeed kill batteries, but it won't happen unless you drain the battery completely *and* let it self-discharge for a few weeks.
You don't have to adopt a specific charging pattern to keep your battery in good shape, just do what's most convenient for you.
Some tips however :
- Avoid high temperatures, batteries don't like it. The fridge is actually a good place to store your batteries provided that you took the necessary steps to prevent condensation.
- Store unused Li-Ion batteries at about 50% charge. Fully charged batteries have a lower shelf life, the 50% are there to prevent self-discharge from causing undercharging.
- A full discharge-charge cycle won't make your battery healthier but it is useful to recalibrate the power gauge.

kirilorius said:
Cause i'm using it all day till 1-2 o'clock at night and thats the only time i can charge my phone. And with the heavy usage im putting it the battery cant hold more then 15-16 hours
Sent from my GT-N7100
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I see. Well, in your case it may be better.

Because during the night it gets more time to detect the proper voltage and stop.
And the battery is removable for a reason. It'll have over 80% original capacity even after 2000 discharges and it's only $20 at most to replace. No need to stress it over. Use it all you want and replace it the time comes. Leave the stressing over to the non-replaceable guys.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

BBlax said:
Because during the night it gets more time to detect the proper voltage and stop.
And the battery is removable for a reason. It'll have over 80% original capacity even after 2000 discharges and it's only $20 at most to replace. No need to stress it over. Use it all you want and replace it the time comes. Leave the stressing over to the non-replaceable guys.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
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Exactly.

If said battery full unplug charger, i let the phone still connect to charger moreless 1 hour...
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Rudyansah said:
If said battery full unplug charger, i let the phone still connect to charger moreless 1 hour...
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
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Why anyone stresses over a $20 user replaceable part is beyond me. I think you're too used to iPhones

kebabs said:
Why anyone stresses over a $20 user replaceable part is beyond me. I think you're too used to iPhones
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I love eating kebabs. LOL :cyclops:

BBlax said:
And the battery is removable for a reason. It'll have over 80% original capacity even after 2000 discharges
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You telling me if i charge once a day, the battery will still have over 80% charge after 6 years of years? I find that hard to believe as all my previous batteries have to be replaced after 2 to 3 years of use.

That's the quote from manufacturers under ideal conditions. The only devices that I haven't threw out for that long are laptops and the battery in them are still working flawlessly and holds a reasonable charge.
Even tiny LSD batteries can have up to 1000 charges so higher capacity ones will last longer and be more durable due to the increased amount of cells. Just like how higher capacity nand will last longer than lower ones.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

It's a 30 battery. Treat it like **** and just replace it when it dies! By the time it's dead you'll be wanting a new phone anyway.

Getting my new Nexus 6P from Google Store today and have a few questions

So excited about getting my new phone today but have a question prior to opening just to be prepared. What is the best process to ensure the battery health when first opening device? Do I charge the device fully prior to turning it on for the first time or do I let the battery drain fully before I put it on the charger? I know this is an age old discussion but not sure with these new phones how to best handle it.
Thanks in advance.

I honestly used it took it died, then I charged it all the way to 100 (never leave overnight) then I let it die all the way, then charge again.. So far good battery life
That was after my first full charge[emoji4]
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

RidinNerdy said:
I honestly used it took it died, then I charged it all the way to 100 (never leave overnight) then I let it die all the way, then charge again.. So far good battery life
That was after my first full charge[emoji4]
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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Thanks. Ill do that. I love the battery stats you getting and that's what I want!!

RidinNerdy said:
I honestly used it took it died, then I charged it all the way to 100 (never leave overnight) then I let it die all the way, then charge again.. So far good battery life
That was after my first full charge[emoji4]
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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That is the worst thing you can do. These aren't NiCads. LiIon batteries do not like to be fully discharged.

You'll likely find that the battery will be charged to roughly 40%. This is considered the ideal amount of charge for long-term storage. People often still worry about memory effects of batteries, harping back to the days of older battery types such as Ni-Cad and some Ni-Mh batteries but the same isn't true for Li-ion or Li-Pol batteries.
The one thing to absolutely try to avoid is letting the battery run down to flat. Li-ion batteries will degrade quicker over time if discharged fully, which is also why devices have a built-in "buffer" amount when you run the battery down to avoid damaging them.
Honestly, the main issue for your battery is heat, and large drops or knocks. Try and keep it cool and never let it die on you!

You don't need to do anything special, just use it. One thing you should definitely not do is completely discharge the battery though. You should also refrain from keeping the device connected to a charger once it's reached full charge, keeping the battery at peak voltage decreases the long-term battery life. Here's a couple of really helpful articles:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/do_and_dont_battery_table

Just a point of info: Phone batteries don't LET you completely discharge. Once your phone shuts down (afer running "out" of battery, the battery still has some level of charge left.

l_stevens said:
Just a point of info: Phone batteries don't LET you completely discharge. Once your phone shuts down (afer running "out" of battery, the battery still has some level of charge left.
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That is right, but if you continue to power the device on in order to drain it more you'll cause problems. It's virtually impossible to completely drain one of these batteries, it actually powers down at something like 50% of its true capacity, because if it gets much lower than this it can cause irreparable damage. If you do somehow manage to drain one of these batteries past that magical point (by the methods I described above), it will simply not power on again because there's a minimum amount of voltage required.

Interesting. I normally charge my devices while I sleep so when I wake up they are fully charged. Once I'm up I'm ready to go and have a full charge not wake up to charge the device and wait for it to reach capacity idk. I haven't had any issues in any phone I've had while charging it while I sleep at night
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Cleva1 said:
Interesting. I normally charge my devices while I sleep so when I wake up they are fully charged. Once I'm up I'm ready to go and have a full charge not wake up to charge the device and wait for it to reach capacity idk. I haven't had any issues in any phone I've had while charging it while I sleep at night
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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It just basically reduces the capacity of the battery over time. I charge in the evening before bed, it only drops a couple of percent overnight thanks to doze.

Heisenberg said:
It just basically reduces the capacity of the battery over time. I charge in the evening before bed, it only drops a couple of percent overnight thanks to doze.
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With my Nexus like now I'm in bed with 77% battery, I'm usually on my device until I fall asleep, my BlackBerry has great standby time. With doze, I don't lose much battery if any and since the phone recharges so fast. I'm rarely "dead" enough to warrant me charging it while I sleep like say my note four etc. But this is food for thought in regards to charging
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk