Develop Bugs

[Q] battery life and charging habits

I've had my S3 for a few months now and I've noticed that I get different battery life depending on my charging habits with nearly identical use.
If I charge it overnight (thus, it remains on charge fully charged for a few hours) I get about 8 hours of general use.
If I charge it during the day and monitor it and take if off charge soon after it is fully charged (thus, it does not remain on charge fully charged) I can get about 1 to 2 days of general use.
That's a HUGE difference just from charging habits. Anyone else observe the same thing?

zshguru said:
I've had my S3 for a few months now and I've noticed that I get different battery life depending on my charging habits with nearly identical use.
If I charge it overnight (thus, it remains on charge fully charged for a few hours) I get about 8 hours of general use.
If I charge it during the day and monitor it and take if off charge soon after it is fully charged (thus, it does not remain on charge fully charged) I can get about 1 to 2 days of general use.
That's a HUGE difference just from charging habits. Anyone else observe the same thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to be the exact same with me. I always charge my phone over night and it will drop must faster than if I partially charge it or take it off when its done. I would like to know if anyone has a way to fix this.

Same here. It really annoys me, because I don't really want to wake up in the middle of the night to unplug my phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

I think that's a lithium ion battery thing in general, and not just an S3 thing. I don't know the exact guidelines for charging a lithium ion battery because there is a lot of conflicting information passed on through word of mouth, but I think - as I prepare to pass on my own word off mouth theory- I think you're supposed to charge your battery before it gets less than like 10 percent discharged, and you're not supposed to let it overcharge. There's something about how lithium ion batteries have a memory to them and if you charge them improperly, you risk slowly killing your battery over time.
I realize now that you may already know all that but are just asking why overcharging your battery specifically leads to less battery life that day, but I don't know that and I already typed all that carp out, so it's staying
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

zshguru said:
I've had my S3 for a few months now and I've noticed that I get different battery life depending on my charging habits with nearly identical use.
If I charge it overnight (thus, it remains on charge fully charged for a few hours) I get about 8 hours of general use.
If I charge it during the day and monitor it and take if off charge soon after it is fully charged (thus, it does not remain on charge fully charged) I can get about 1 to 2 days of general use.
That's a HUGE difference just from charging habits. Anyone else observe the same thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone charges to 100% then doesn't charge. Even if it says 100 while plugged in it could be down to 90. I have no idea why this is cutting a day off your usage time, but that is why it is shorter than if you unplug it. Could be that you use it more during the day and you are getting longer usage times since it is charging while using and unplugged at night while it is barely using 1 or 2 percent of the battery for 8 hours.

I put mine on charge at night before I go to bed, and then disconnect when I wake up the next day. It comes the whole day until same time in the night to put to charge. I normally get like 3+ hours display (on auto brightness, and full sync) with about 30% battery left.
Once battery is charged to 100, even if its connected to charger, there would be only trickle charge, and not regular charge to the battery. But it shouldn't make a significant amount of difference between taking off immediately or later in the morning.

I just leave it on charge overnight. There are sensors in it to prevent overcharge. What hurts lithium batteries is letting the battery drain to 0%.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

Are we not supposed to charge our phone overnight?

My battery wasn't holding a charge so I went to a T-Mobile store to get it replaced and they asked me if I leave it to charge overnight I go yeah so it has charge for the day and they told me not to because it destroys the charge. So xda community aka the experts let me know if this is true and if it is, how am I supposed to charge my phone?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

I've charged this phone almost every night since I got it (early June) and my battery is still doing outstanding. There are times when charging it over night the battery will set it self to draw battery so it can recharge and not cause harm I believe. There are many superstitious theories and others that "battery experts" say charging over night can be harmful. Overall I don't buy into too much. I always try to unplug as soon as it hits 100% though.
T-Mobile SGS III

I don't think its true either.. I've charged all my phones like that since I can remember and never had problems with battery, other than software related problems that drained battery, but fixable.. Did you check if maybe it was software related and not due to the battery?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

That's so stupid. With how limited these batteries are not being able to start the day at 100% is unacceptable.

I always leave it to charge overnight.

Just now I unplugged by mobile after overnight charging
Sent from my A90S using xda app-developers app

Its bs they are like bots so they are programmed to say these things. Basically to appear as they know the "answer" to your problem. So got work in the morning I'm not suppose to charge my phone overnight and leave with 5% battery in the morning, they know they charge their phone every night. When a rep ask me that same question once I said "No I leave to work with my Samsung flip phone because I can't charge my 500 phone overnight".. *sarcasm*.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

All nighter here too. No issues whatsoever. Mine Gets warm when charging the cools back down after fully charged.
Sent from my Galaxy S3 using neighbors wifi

This use to be true on older phones. The galaxy S 3 and most new phones stop charging once they hit 100% it will only start charging again when it drops under 100.
And even before on older phones where it wasn't recommended I did it anyway. No harm done.

I've done this with all my phones, nothing ever happened to them
Sent from Flip's S3

Overcharging protection, while present, can fail.
If you guys want to have a full charge in the morning, try an outlet timer - or put it in airplane mode overnight (I do that, battery is down only 1-3% after ~8 hours). You could also turn off data + wifi - so phone calls are still there if you are really worried about getting an emergency call in the middle of the night, the call function is still there, but apps aren't syncing and wasting battery and sleep time doing so.
I'm just not comfortable with the fire risk of leaving it in overnight. Sure, it probably won't fail - but if it does ? Why take that chance when there are other solutions ? I just charge it at my desk before going to bed, unplug it when it reports full charge.
It's the same kind of risk as putting a 100W bulb in a 60W socket - sure, you might be fine for a while, you might never have problems - but you might also start a fire when components fail under the stress.

Pennycake said:
Overcharging protection, while present, can fail.
If you guys want to have a full charge in the morning, try an outlet timer - or put it in airplane mode overnight (I do that, battery is down only 1-3% after ~8 hours). You could also turn off data + wifi - so phone calls are still there if you are really worried about getting an emergency call in the middle of the night, the call function is still there, but apps aren't syncing and wasting battery and sleep time doing so.
I'm just not comfortable with the fire risk of leaving it in overnight. Sure, it probably won't fail - but if it does ? Why take that chance when there are other solutions ? I just charge it at my desk before going to bed, unplug it when it reports full charge.
It's the same kind of risk as putting a 100W bulb in a 60W socket - sure, you might be fine for a while, you might never have problems - but you might also start a fire when components fail under the stress.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there some sort of smart outlet that can stop charging when it reached 100%? I guess in a way the same as the outlets that has a master outlet and able to turn off the rest when the master outlet is off?

I charge mine overnight
I usually let me charge overnight, it hasn't caused any problems for 6 months now.

It is true that your battery being at 100% charge (even if charging to the battery has stopped) is harder on your battery and overall capacity will lower at a faster rate than one stored at 60%. The thing is the difference is negligible over a year. It is technically best for your phone to be charged to 100% and then removed from charge so the battery can drain but we are talking about the difference of wether the half life of your battery is 3 or 4 years. overnight charging is not why your battery has failed.

Chuckatron said:
It is true that your battery being at 100% charge (even if charging to the battery has stopped) is harder on your battery and overall capacity will lower at a faster rate than one stored at 60%. The thing is the difference is negligible over a year. It is technically best for your phone to be charged to 100% and then removed from charge so the battery can drain but we are talking about the difference of wether the half life of your battery is 3 or 4 years. overnight charging is not why your battery has failed.
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Click to collapse
Agreed it was probably a defective one he got. Even though the s3 is really awesome I'm not sure all if us will still have this phone 3 or 4 years from now. So go ahead and charge it don't worry.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

[Q] problem with charging

m using this galaxy nexus(not rooted) since last year but after the recent update of 4.2.2, am having some trouble with the charging,after it reaches to 98% it automatically stops charging than i have to plug it in out times to get it charge to 100%..help me out with this.

AW: [Q] problem with charging
let it rest a while on the charger, mine does that too
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Actually theres a huge explanation i read about this but in simple terms our batteries are designed to not charge all the way to 100 percent i believe it's been like that from the start .. even if it shows 100 sometimes after a few seconds it drops to 95 or 96 .. there is nothing to be worried about it's just how it's meant to be, hope i helped

It also needs to be borne in mind that your battery will have decreased in capacity after this long. A lithium polymer battery is only capable of a finite number of charge cycles during its serviceable lifespan.
That being said, the practice of unplugging and replugging the phone in order to force that feelgood 100% indication only serves to further damage the battery. By doing that, you're only shortening your battery's life.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Charging at night?

Is it safe to charging at night, if it's not, what will it do to the battery?
Customer service always tells me to charge it just for 3-4 hours, but I have difficulty with that since I get home late and I leave early, but I still manage to get a full battery without it charging overnight but I would just like to know
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

kevinrubio1 said:
Is it safe to charging at night, if it's not, what will it do to the battery?
Customer service always tells me to charge it just for 3-4 hours, but I have difficulty with that since I get home late and I leave early, but I still manage to get a full battery without it charging overnight but I would just like to know
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do it when I can't get a full charge before bed; but I also wake up 2-3 times per night and tend to unplug it once I notice it's at 100%. I've read that once it reaches 100%, if it stays on charge for a certain amount of time it will switch to battery and drain, then charge back to 100% after a certain percentage is drained. I would say that's the case as I woke up one morning and the phone was at 92% charge and was in the process of charging. Battery info said it was charging on AC and the graph showed it went to 100% then back down.

lordcheeto03 said:
I do it when I can't get a full charge before bed; but I also wake up 2-3 times per night and tend to unplug it once I notice it's at 100%. I've read that once it reaches 100%, if it stays on charge for a certain amount of time it will switch to battery and drain, then charge back to 100% after a certain percentage is drained. I would say that's the case as I woke up one morning and the phone was at 92% charge and was in the process of charging. Battery info said it was charging on AC and the graph showed it went to 100% then back down.
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Click to collapse
Hmm that's weird, but from the sounds of that, I don't think it's healthy for the battery to charge for a long time
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

lordcheeto03 said:
I do it when I can't get a full charge before bed; but I also wake up 2-3 times per night and tend to unplug it once I notice it's at 100%. I've read that once it reaches 100%, if it stays on charge for a certain amount of time it will switch to battery and drain, then charge back to 100% after a certain percentage is drained. I would say that's the case as I woke up one morning and the phone was at 92% charge and was in the process of charging. Battery info said it was charging on AC and the graph showed it went to 100% then back down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like Google services are using your phone at night. That happens to s lot of people but can be stopped if you follow the battery life thread that skipjacks started.
Sent from my SGH-M919

lalec said:
Sounds like Google services are using your phone at night. That happens to s lot of people but can be stopped if you follow the battery life thread that skipjacks started.
Sent from my SGH-M919
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That thread is perfect! I would use it but I need notifications to notify me but I did use it for a night! Amazing difference
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

lalec said:
Sounds like Google services are using your phone at night. That happens to s lot of people but can be stopped if you follow the battery life thread that skipjacks started.
Sent from my SGH-M919
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do use that guide. My signal is terrible and is what drains my battery. I really don't believe that is related to any app running wild and draining my battery because from completely dead to 100% takes about 2.5-3 hours with me using it, WiFi on, brightness at 100%, etc; I can also easily get over 2 days without a charge with light use... It would be more but my lack of signal accounts for an almost 1.5% per hour idle drain. Good signal areas I'll drain less than .5% per hour with no use/app changes outside of having a strong signal.

Weird...
When your phone charges to 100%, your phone knows to stop charging, mine always stops charging when is says "reached 100%". I just leave it on the charger and it stays steady at 100 until i take it off.
It shouldn't effect the lithium ion, either.
I thought that was the special thing about lithium ion?
They don't wear down?
Idk, could be wrong.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

Overnight charging is a no no. More info here http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

I always leave it charging when I fall asleep. And if, IF I wake up in the middle of my sleep and see that it's at 100% I'll unplug it. If I don't wake-up I'll just leave it charging until I wake up. Been doing that since before I even had a smartphone and never had any problems. Then again I do switch phones every year
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4

lordcheeto03 said:
I do use that guide. My signal is terrible and is what drains my battery. I really don't believe that is related to any app running wild and draining my battery because from completely dead to 100% takes about 2.5-3 hours with me using it, WiFi on, brightness at 100%, etc; I can also easily get over 2 days without a charge with light use... It would be more but my lack of signal accounts for an almost 1.5% per hour idle drain. Good signal areas I'll drain less than .5% per hour with no use/app changes outside of having a strong signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A bad signal will definitely drain your battery. When I know I am in an area without signal and will be there for a few hours I turn my phone's power off so I have some battery left when I need it.
Sent from my SGH-M919

I've always charged my phone at night and have never had usages with the battery.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

Bought some cheap batteries on Amazon, I charge whenever I want, however I want (typically overnight, all night). If I ruin the battery, so be it, I can just pop it out and replace it in 5 seconds. This is the real advantage of having a removable battery.

I've always left my smartphones on the charger overnight. Seven years going and haven't had any issues. I do tend to replace my battery after 9-12 months of use though.
lordcheeto03 said:
I do it when I can't get a full charge before bed; but I also wake up 2-3 times per night and tend to unplug it once I notice it's at 100%. I've read that once it reaches 100%, if it stays on charge for a certain amount of time it will switch to battery and drain, then charge back to 100% after a certain percentage is drained. I would say that's the case as I woke up one morning and the phone was at 92% charge and was in the process of charging. Battery info said it was charging on AC and the graph showed it went to 100% then back down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sums it up. Per the article linked earlier in the thread about charging li-ion, it sounds (relatively) trivial for the device manufacturer to implement a charging cut-off after the cells reach a specific voltage level. Once the cells drop to a certain level they're safe to charge again, and the cycle starts over. I don't imagine it's great for the battery to sit on that recharge cycle, but it's not going to over-charge and become a fire hazard.
I imagine external battery chargers might be a little different. That $3 battery & charger from eBay isn't going to have the same safety regulations as a major manufacturer like Samsung.

norml said:
Overnight charging is a no no. More info here http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An interesting tidbit from that article.
Li-ion does not need to be fully charged, as is the case with lead acid, nor is it desirable to do so. In fact, it is better not to fully charge, because high voltages stresses the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'm pretty sure a $600 phone can handle any of your charging blunders. Relax kid.
We're not dealing with Nokia's anymore.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

Avoiding full charge has benefits, and some manufacturers set the charge threshold lower on purpose to prolong battery life.
Lithium-ion does not need to be fully charged; a partial charge is better.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

tikay00 said:
I'm pretty sure a $600 phone can handle any of your charging blunders. Relax kid.
We're not dealing with Nokia's anymore.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the other comments say not to charge over night...
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

I charge mine overnight with no issues.
Sent from my TI-82 using XDA Premium

I just called Samsung and they highly recommend me to not charge it over night
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

norml said:
Avoiding full charge has benefits, and some manufacturers set the charge threshold lower on purpose to prolong battery life.
Lithium-ion does not need to be fully charged; a partial charge is better.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get the general concepts that the article presents, but it doesn't really address any advances in charging methodologies that newer devices could add. It reads like it was designed for 'dumb' devices such as cordless phones, rechargable power tools, etc. For instance, it says never to charge with the device powered on. Yet Windows Phones (at least my Lumia 800) won't charge with the device off...plugging it in automatically boots the phone up.
Our phones obviously have more advanced power circuitry, such as being able to hold the power button in and have the device power cycle no matter what state the phone is in, and I assume it applies to other parts of the phone as well.

Htc 10 quick charging

Hi there,
I just got my phone and I thought the quick charging should charge my phone fron 0-80 in about 35 minutes...
I turned off the phone and from 0-35% took around 32 minutes which does not sound right...
Is it because the phone was turned off?
Or something needed to be set? Its the factory default charger.
Thanks in advance
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Did you literally just get it and plug it in, or did you run it all the way down to 0% and then plug it in?

holz75 said:
Did you literally just get it and plug it in, or did you run it all the way down to 0% and then plug it in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did literally wait to go down to 0% and then I plugged in
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Well, the first thing you'll probably hear around here is never let it discharge all the way to 0% because it's bad for the battery. I'm guessing that, if you did let it go all the way to 0%, it might take a little bit to get going again, so the charging time would indeed be longer.

holz75 said:
Well, the first thing you'll probably hear around here is never let it discharge all the way to 0% because it's bad for the battery. I'm guessing that, if you did let it go all the way to 0%, it might take a little bit to get going again, so the charging time would indeed be longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure why would it be bad for the battery?
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app

If you Google something like, "lithium ion battery discharge 0%", you'll find all types of reasons why it's possibly harmful to your battery.

Nope.
Mine charges to about 40% in 30 Minutes. That's normal.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=66920323
Don't worry about that 0% nonesense.
Smartphones are Idiotproof. You can't do anything wrong to damage them with normal usage.
Yes of course it's Bad for battery life (long term) if you drain it to 0% every day but until 4% is completely fine.
Why is it Bad to drain a battery to low? Take a look at the battery Voltage Graph in my Charging Chart. Charging is even more Voltage than discharging. If you use and App to check battery Voltage you will see about 3.7V at 4% and it Drops to 3.6.... 3.5..... 3.4V the closer it gets to 0%
Batteries don't like that.

Feels like my nexus 6 charger charges faster than stock HTC 10 charger

Don't just tell us about your feels.
Install the batteryLog app and let it run for a charge, then Export to file and show the csv here.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kr.hwangti.batterylog

zimilaci said:
I am not sure why would it be bad for the battery?
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, quick look.
A Li_ion battery has a life cycles 400 - 500, that means battery can go from 100% to 0% normally 400 - 500 times, after that, battery will start to get problems, e g, you see it's 100% battery but in 30 minutes normal usage it goes to 0%.
If you charge the battery to 100%, then recharge it only if it gets down to 0% every single day, then after one year it's very likely you'll face the battery issues.

Yeah.... so if you recharge your phone not when it's at 0% but at 50% you will have around 800-1000 cycles...
AND you charge your phone about twice as much as the other guy who only charges at 0% so in the end you both end up with the same battery capacity after a year xD
P.S 400-500 life cycles means until the battery has 75% of its original capacity left, and not untill it's totally unuseable

Haldi4803 said:
Yeah.... so if you recharge your phone not when it's at 0% but at 50% you will have around 800-1000 cycles...
AND you charge your phone about twice as much as the other guy who only charges at 0% so in the end you both end up with the same battery capacity after a year xD
P.S 400-500 life cycles means until the battery has 75% of its original capacity left, and not untill it's totally unuseable
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Click to collapse
Exactly!