Is it true that you should let the battery on your cell phone die before you charge it?

Question

My friend and I were arguing about whether or not it is good to let your battery on your cell phone die before you charge it. I think that you should charge it everyday, but my friend says that that will kill the battery. They said that the rep at the cell company told him to let the battery die before each charge up and that will extend the life of the battery. That doesn't make sense to me but any input would be great. If someone has some supporting evidence or links for reference that is preferred. Thank you!

Answer 1

Its better to let it go as low as you can before you charge it. Obviously if I need the phone the next day I will recharge it before it drains but dont make a habit of recharging everynight or anything. It really will extend the life of the battery.

Answer 2

New cellphones come with very less battery charge. Just enough to slip in the SIM card and browse through the settings etc. But yes, it is highly recommended that you drain out whatever little charge it has and charge it again until the battery sticks show 'full'. Nothing really about a better battery life, but more of getting the battery to get used to charging. It is also recommended that you charge the phone only when the battery is completely drained, everytime, if possible.

Answer 3

it depends on the battery's type

new phones use lithium batteries. it works best at full condition, and charging it often doesnt really hurt the battery. actually emptying lithium battery on regular basis is not recommended, doing so can cause serious damage to the battery

it is however, recommended to drain the battery once in a while (like every 3-4 months) and leave it empty for a day to preserve it's charging capability.



the older ni-cad battery is a different story, too many chargings can shorten it's life, and draining is suggested on regular basis, like once a month. also, if you often keep charging it after its full, the battery can catch a short and/or overheats easily.

Answer 4

I talked to a Cingular rep about this a couple of years ago and this is what he told me. It is NOT a good idea to charge the phone everyday, because that is hard on the battery. I always charge mine maybe 2x a week. It IS a good idea to let the battery drain to nothing about once a month. I have done this with all my phones. I am using the battery that came USED with my USED Sony T226 that I bought 2 years ago, it happens to work in my w810i. So, I would have to say that YOU BOTH WIN!! :-)

Answer 5

This may have been true with older cell phone batteries, but I disagree that it's good to let a newer cell phone batteries die before you charge them.

Answer 6

Batteries in cell phones are designed to be "topped off" continuously without forming what used to be a problem with rechargables. If you let the battery die, you will need more time to recharge it and you won't have gained or lost any usuable time. Store it in the recharger every night or it may just run out of juice when you need it most, if you wait for it to go dead.

Answer 7

Depends on the battery, but most cell phones have Nickel Cad. (not sure of spelling) batteries, and yes, you should let them fully discharge. They will build up a memory if you don't let them discharge and they won't hold as much charge down the road. Not sure why...

Some of the newer phones have different batteries and it doesn't matter with them, though.

Answer 8

Not true. Why would you wanna kill your cellphone then charge it. The way to reduce the life on your cell battery is by over charging once the battery is fully charged disconnect,but leaving it hooked up will eventually kill it.

Answer 9

Litium Ion batteries work best when top up often. I normally charge my phone when it drops one bar. Once a month I allow the battery to fully drain to recalibrate the meter.



Drain such batteries will exhaust them prematurely. They normally have a life span of 2 years.



Here's an interesting article:



http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Answer 10

You can run the battery until the phone turns off, but not everytime you charge it. Do it sometimes, and that will lengthen the battery life.

Answer 11

Apparently, its true. The battery develops a memory as to what it needs to be " fully " charged. Our experience with two identical phones at home has borne this out but unfortunately I can't provide you with a technical reference.

Answer 12

Your battery can die a tiny bit faster if you don't let it die before you charge it but it is such a small difference that I wouldn't worry about it. Charge it when you want to.

Answer 13

yes i used to work for motorola and its in your best intrest to do so.... by letting the battery drain you enable your lithium battery fully charge.... when you charge and your phone still has power it over charges it and makes the battery go bad...... trust me i have tested this on a few razors and its true

Answer 14

i actually have heard this, and was instructed to do this when I first chargeed my lap top. i only thought you had to do this on the initial charging of the phone though. i dont think it is necessary to let the phone die every time.

Answer 15

I have heard that is the way to go but so far, I have been recharging mine as soon as it seems a little run down without actually letting it go dead.

Answer 16

the batery will usualy last a longer time if you do. but it can be annoying when it dies when you are on a call.

Answer 17

let it go dead or it builds a memory of short charges and dies sooner