JOHANNESBURG - Everyone relies on their smartphones for both personal and professional use.
Daily use covers anything from chatting on WhatsApp, playing games, emails, etc which can put strain on your phone's battery. If you aren’t aware of how best to care for and manage your battery, it could die on you when you need it most.
To avoid this nightmare scenario, here are 3 tips to help you:
1. Keep your smartphone’s battery charged above 50 percent.
One full drain a month is allowed for calibration purposes but anything more than this will shorten your battery’s lifespan. The other extreme holds true as well. Technically you should not be charging your phone for extended spans of time so overnight phone-charging is a big no. Though most chargers are designed to curb charging once your phone is full, you should avoid charging it to 100 percent and then leaving it connected to a charger. Overall, and for optimal long-term results, you should keep your phone charged between 40 and 80 percent at all times.
2. Remember that your smartphone is not indestructible
Do not leave it in spaces of high heat. That includes setting it next to your bronzed body as you sunbathe, or leaving it next to the stove while you cook a Sunday roast. It doesn’t matter if your phone is off, the heat will cook your battery. This is because your phone is most comfortable at 0° degrees Celsius.
Once consistently in higher temperatures, you risk losing anything from 20 to 35 percent per year so it is important to be mindful about where you leave it.
3. Take care when charging your device
The best method to charge a smartphone is by directly hooking it into a wall, using its original charger, as opposed to connecting it to your computer or the car’s USB adapter. That way it will charge faster, safer and reward you with many more years to come.