So I was always told with new electronics that you need to charge the battery to 100%+ before you use it for the first time as that effectively sets the size if the battery – you can’t charge it past that point in future so if you only charge it to 50% you’re limiting yourself to a half capacity battery. I’ve just bought a new phone that comes with the battery partially charged.
Was I lied to all my life? Or is it that batteries have evolved over the years so things have changed? Or do I now have a limited capacity battery? Or…?
In: Technology
That was somewhat true in the long past with old battery tech, but not with Lithium batteries that we’re now using. These don’t have a memory effect to this extent, and in fact fully charging or discharging them is what’s worst for the battery. It’s better to always keep them in the 10%-90% range, and some smartphones even do that themselves.
It can still be a good idea to do one full charge and one full discharge on new devices – but not for the battery itself, just so the battery management systems learns the capacity of the battery and the phone can accurately tell you how full the battery is.
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