Does charging protection matter?

[GodisanAtheist]

I definitely live in the "charge phone to 100% overnight, don't sweat the rest" mindset. I tend to keep my phones for 3+ years, always buy them used (typically a year after release at deep discount).

Life is busy enough without having to micromanage battery charge states. Older smartphones had terrible battery life from day one, no matter what.

My new(ish) Pixel 4a 5g has had fantastic battery life from day one (and it was already 1.5 years old when I bought it in 2022) and still carries all day charge 2.5 years later in mid-2024 without doing anything special in terms of charging.

The phone will be out of OS and security updates before the battery goes bad at this rate, I figure.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Well, I did read years ago its best to charge to 100% then down to around 20% then fully charge again but batteries and charging sciences have changed over the years.

My new iPhone 15 is suggesting charging to 80% (to keep battery life optimal) then recharge when it hits 40%. I have an 80% charge feature option in my "Battery" features on the iPhone 15 that I have set.

This sucks though as what's recommend is I only get to use 40% of a 100% battery on a brand new phone that I have purchased...

 

[AusWolf]

My new(ish) Pixel 4a 5g has had fantastic battery life from day one (and it was already 1.5 years old when I bought it in 2022) and still carries all day charge 2.5 years later in mid-2024 without doing anything special in terms of charging.

The phone will be out of OS and security updates before the battery goes bad at this rate, I figure.

You may call me a weirdo, but a single day on full charge sounds awful to me.

My current phone does 3-4 days on a single charge depending on usage (2 if I'm on it all day), which I think should be the norm. Anything below 2 days is hell.

I also don't care about OS updates, I just want to use the phone as long as possible. I hate updates anyway, especially when I have to re-learn to use an app again and again (Facebook/Meta is famous for this).

Well, I did read years ago its best to charge to 100% then down to around 20% then fully charge again but batteries and charging sciences have changed over the years.

My new iPhone 15 is suggesting charging to 80% (to keep battery life optimal) then recharge when it hits 40%. I have an 80% charge feature option in my "Battery" features on the iPhone 15 that I have set.

This sucks though as what's recommend is I only get to use 40% of a 100% battery on a brand new phone that I have purchased...

That's what one part of my brain is thinking.

On the other hand, if you really get 4x lifespan out of an 80% charge limit (as the article above states), then essentially, you get 4x80=320% battery capacity for the same wear that 100% would give you normally.

 

[P4-630]

Does charging protection (limiting to 80% charge) make a difference in battery lifespan?

Well, I always charged my phones battery from 15~20% to 100%, not fast charging though, never had any issues , not even noticed of degrading battery, used my S7 from 2017 till 2022.
Also with my unprotected 18650 flattop cells I use for vaping, I always charge them upto 100%. I don't have control over my laptops battery chargeing though, but always up to 100% as well.

When possible, slow charging is key imo.

 

[freeagent]

I got 5 years out of my XS Max battery. I charge all night, use all day. I retired the phone because I could not charge it anymore and did not want to spend on a repair. The phone is still at 83% battery health. I could have used it another two years if I didnt damage it.. but lets be real, a battery for that phone is 100 bucks.. I imagine it would be much cheaper for an Android phone.

 

[64K]

I think I read something about legislation in Congress in the US to make it law that phones will have to have batteries that can be replaced by the customer. This is overdue imo. Having to replace a phone just because of having the bad luck of getting a battery that didn't last much longer than the warranty is silly.

 

[P4-630]

a battery that didn't last much longer than the warranty is silly.

All my Samsung phones batteries since 2010 did last longer though.... Never had an iphone...