Battery health

iii

A link about maximizing battery health was posted in the old Graphene IRC room in May 2021.

Two relevant excerpts from the link:

If you want to keep your phone's battery health in the best possible condition it possibly could be in, you must use the Google charger and cable and keep them all plugged in around the clock.

...when your phone's battery is reported at 100% and charging, the battery enters idle maintenance, which ensures that the battery is not going to self-discharge, without overcharging it. In this state, the phone can remain online and be powered by off external power from USB, rather than using the battery. This is important to the health of your battery by reducing the amount of demand you're placing on it.

Other posts on this forum say similar things:

[deleted] We have no interest in implementing outdated battery things like adaptive/slow charging. The phone's battery controller handles this already, just not GUI-facing.

My battery usage is to keep my Pixel plugged in with the original Google charger and cable for the majority of the day, unplugging it for a continuous 6-8 hours per day. During this time, my battery drops from 100% down to around 75%, at which point I plug it back in and charge to 100%. Is this usage pattern more harmful than a more typical usage pattern of, for example, using for as many hours as needed to get to 50% then fully charge back to 100%? Is it true that going twice from 100% to 80% is worse for battery longevity than going once from 100% to 60%? This question comes from the idea I have heard that spending time in the [80, 100) range is the worst range for a battery to spend its time in.

Secondly, I am considering purchasing an ethernet adapter from a reputable manufacturer that offers pass-through charging. I will likely follow one of the recommendations at https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/96-usb-c-to-ethernet-adapter-compatibility-list . Without a GUI-facing indicator is there any way to confirm that the adapter is allowing the Pixel to go into idle maintenance mode? Or can such an indicator be made to be GUI-facing? There are no indicators visible after dialing *#*#4636#*#*, either.

[deleted]

deign You guys are so quick to point out faulty/low quality USB cables when flashing your OS..

Because that is the most common source of problems and it is consistently proven true when people switch to more reliable cables/computers.

Anyways I don't see this being productive at all and seems to start derailing from the original question.

iii Is this usage pattern more harmful than a more typical usage pattern of, for example, using for as many hours as needed to get to 50% then fully charge back to 100%? Is it true that going twice from 100% to 80% is worse for battery longevity than going once from 100% to 60%?

No and no.

Hulk

Hello, that is a very common question.

Please follow the official guides instead of trusting techtubers that have very limited knowledge in electrical engineering.

Google Support

deign

Two things impact battery life: Heat. And Voltage.

Fast charging contributes massive heat. Top-end charging is low and cool.

High voltage a majority of the time is like holding a max capacity breath in your lungs. Not necessary, and like your sense of the filled lungs-- your battery also feels it over time.

Modern li-ion batteries handle themselves pretty well plugged in most of the time. Phones less so than laptops.

I've got multiple 4-5 year old phones with pristine battery life. I personally never discharge below 10 and never charge over 80-85%. If 75% of your battery can't last 12~ hours, shit is shot already.

Hulk

deign this might sound crazy, but Li-ion batteries are actually very different from lungs.

deign

Hulk Its called an analogy. And it stands as one for basic understanding of voltage and capacity as it relates to stress on the system.

Did you have something to add? Or would you like me to turn on my adaptive connectivity and adaptive battery?

Hulk

deign
Let's put our passive aggressiveness aside.

The article in question is this.

Please take a look and have a good day 👍

deign

Hulk I don't think we're disagreeing on anything. I simply stated heat and voltage are the two main factors to battery decline.

Also you can have as many technical papers stating modern charge controllers manage temp just fine; but the heat generation (wasted energy) is not insignificant between charging speeds.

And to the "idle maintenance mode." That's great. In a perfect world. Where apps don't ever misbehave, and everyone realistically has the same use-case.

The reality is that the biggest factor any single person can change to maintain their battery life is their charging habits.

We do agree, its not 2005 anymore. You guys are so quick to point out faulty/low quality USB cables when flashing your OS.. But you link things that encourage people to blindly plug their phone into anything as long as it stays at 100% as much as possible wired to the wall.

It doesn't take a genius to notice the only time your phone is cool with a fast charger is >80% trickle charging. Why is that? I think the stated reason is.. Battery health? But who knows.

Safe. Smart. Simple. I believe when the average reader has to make a decision between filtering through decades worth of battery technology and storage evolution, let alone the improvements in li-ion technology itself.. They'll quickly choose 'keep it cool and not full' as the guideline.

JohnDoeDoe

While I share the charging pattern of @deign. I'd like to add that a smartphone is a tool... If you feel like you need all the capacity to get through a day then go for it. Same goes for your charging preferences. Replacement parts are available at Ifixit if needed.

PacoBell

Yeah, with iFixIt's backing by Google to have access to official OEM parts, there's no reason to baby your battery anymore. Drive that thing hard into the ground and replace it when it's worn and busted. Nothing could be simpler.

deign

PacoBell just don't see the point when 30-45m before work I can pop it on the charger and its ₈₀ by the time I'm suited up. I haven't charged a phone overnight in a long time. Maybe 6-7 years?

deign

Too-late edit: I do notice the linked article specifically mentions the stock charger-- but when's the last time a phone came with one? The 6 didn't. If its someone's first pixel-- do you think they care enough to go buy one specifically to guarantee no charge-mishaps?

Anyway, I do apologize for the verbosity. I do want to reiterate, I don't think fundamentally we disagree on the subject. Batteries are complex and not exactly perfectly translatable from paper to product, or equally efficient from pack to pack. Nothing personal if it came off as abrasive.