Battery Life…What Gives?

     “Why doesn’t my battery last as long as it used to?”

In short, like the rest of us, it’s just worn out. The battery life in almost all rechargeable devices are made up on Li-ion and they’re susceptible to long time use and just wear and tear. New technology is on the horizon, but for now, it’s the cheapest and most sustainable type of battery that can be mass-marketed and inserted in modern devices. Phones and tablets run into the same issue in that overtime, the battery internally wears down and isn’t near as effective as it used to be as the cells inside of them break down and degrade.

When batteries go bad, you’ll notice quite a few things prior typically. Say your phone used to last 16 hours, but now it’s down to 4-6 hours on a good day (or even sometimes 1-2 hours) with no change in usage, or the phone tends to get much hotter during charging or use than it used to. Some bad batteries give faulty percentage readings (i.e. reads at 100% and jumps straight down to 80%, or vice versa) and some also make your phone or tablet do some really weird things like restart itself or freeze up during normal use. In the most extreme situations, batteries can swell up to an enormous size, if not replaced upon first signs of wear, and can cause either pressure spots in your screen or even lift your screen or back cover off of the frame itself and potentially damage them. Unfortunately, they also can die without warning as well and just not let the phone take a charge, and we’d need to run a diagnostic at that point. Batteries can be pesky things that need to be checked out, at the very least, when you first notice signs of breakdown.

In the average device, with typical charging, Li-ion batteries will usually give you a good 2-3 years worth of life before heading downhill. There are ways to extend the battery life by changing up your charging habits, but they generally don’t fit into the “normal” person’s schedule. In a perfect world, you’d ditch the overnight charging and do short bursts instead (30-45 minutes max). You’d also keep the battery within 10% and 90% (don’t let it go below, don’t let it go above). The main thing about these batteries is the stress they receive from the charging process. When you plug these guys in, the battery heats up and expands to accept the new power being pushed back into it, so the longer you keep the battery in this state, the more damage it does over time. Using your device while it’s charging is also frowned upon as it stresses the battery quite a bit trying to handle the power coming in and going out at the same time, it’s better to just stop if you do so already.

If you’re experiencing any of these issues or if you’d like to get it swapped out, give us a call and we can discuss pricing and parts availability. We’re here for you, and you’re definitely not alone!

Medford: 541-494-4056

Grants Pass: 541-295-8835

Ashland: 541-708-6630