Fast chargers have become essential in today’s fast-paced world. Whether it’s a fast charger for Samsung, a fast charger for iPhone, or any fast charger for Android, these devices promise quick power-ups, in the Android camp, there is even 200W fast charging. While fast charging brings convenience, it is also controversial about whether it will cause damage to the battery. Therefore, some bloggers have conducted actual tests. Below Let’s take a look at it together.

In order to dispel the rumors and doubts that fast charging of mobile phones damages the battery for many years, the blogger (HTX) spent two years using 40 iPhone and Android mobile phones to conduct actual tests. The experimental test results confirmed whether fast charging damages the battery, and even used slow charging. Make a comparison and comprehensively solve all the speculations about fast charging of mobile phones that damage the battery.

What is fast charging? Comprehensive understanding of how fast charging works

Most information on fast charging of mobile phones without damaging the battery is based on principles and theories, but what about actual use? Blogger He shared an experimental video on whether fast charging will damage the battery. It took two years and used 10 iPhone 12 mobile phones and 10 Android mobile phones to conduct a fast charging experiment to verify the health of the battery and the degree of loss. Compare using Apple’s 5W slow charging head and 20W fast charging head to compare how fast charging and slow charging affect battery life.

First, let’s talk about the final experimental result and conclusion: “Fast charging of mobile phones will not damage the battery”, and using slow charging to charge mobile phones will not extend battery life or endurance. More detailed fast charging technology, as well as the actual measurement process and data can be fully understood through the following :

Is it true that a fast charger of Android and iPhone phones damages the battery? The actual test report results are released

First we need to understand what a cycle is：

Cycle, also called charging cycle, does not mean that the charger is plugged in once or used for one cycle, but that the lithium battery completes a complete charge and discharge process [4]. For example, if you use up 75% of your phone’s power before charging it, the cycle has not yet been completed. You have to wait until you have fully charged and then use 25% to complete a charging cycle.

Therefore, the “recharge after use” strategy in the nickel-cadmium battery era is no longer necessary, and not only is it not applicable, it will also become a wrong charging method for lithium batteries.

Battery research website Battery University conducted a study on the relationship between power consumption and battery durability. The results show that when the depth of discharge is 100%, that is, all the electricity is used up and then recharged, the capacity of the two lithium batteries drops to 70%, which is basically unusable. The cycles that can be experienced at % are 300 and 600 times; and if only 10% is recharged each time, the cycles that can be run will be greatly increased to 6000 and 15000 times

To a certain extent, the more cycles it can cycle, the longer the phone can be used.

Testing result:

Before the fast-charging battery test process, the mobile phone is first disassembled, and the actual capacity of each battery set is measured, and the self-developed “discharge cycle” application and charging and discharging accessories can be used to realize automatic charging and discharging according to the software control method. “Loop” App will use the most efficient operation to quickly consume the phone’s power. When the battery reaches 5%, it will automatically start charging until the power is 95% full and then cut off the power. It will continue to cycle the charge and discharge cycle, allowing the battery cycle to reach 500 times, the final disassembly test of the remaining battery capacity yielded the following results:

iPhone fast charger VS iPhone slow charger

When the iPhone fast charger and slow charger reach 500 battery cycles respectively, the slow charge battery health will drop by 11.8%, while the iPhone fast charge battery health will only drop by 12.3%. The difference between the two is only 0.5%, which is almost the same, confirming that the iPhone Fast charging will not damage the battery, and using a 5W charger for the iPhone will not extend battery life.

Android fast charger VS Android slow charger

In the comparison between Android fast charger and slow charger, it also reaches 500 battery cycles. Slow charging will drop by 8.8%, and fast charging will only drop by 8.5%. This also shows that fast charging of Android phones will basically not damage the battery, and even fast charging will not damage the battery. Slow charging can extend battery life.

Judging from the above battery damage experiment results of mobile phone batteries, both iPhone and Android mobile phones have been used for about a year and a half. After the battery cycle reaches 500 times, it is confirmed that charging the mobile phone with a fast charging set will not damage the battery. If the mobile phone is paired with a slow charging cable and a low-wattage Charging with multiple chargers will not extend the battery life. After all, the two types of charging have no obvious impact on the battery.

Can maintaining a mobile phone’s power at 30%~80% extend battery life?

In addition, some people think that keeping the mobile phone charged between 30% and 80% can avoid increasing the number of cycles and extend battery health? Experimental results also confirm that this method can indeed reduce battery life loss. iPhone battery life can be increased by 8.3%, and Android battery life can be increased by 6%. Strictly speaking, the improvement effect is limited, so there is no need to deliberately stay between 30% and 80% of the battery. time to recharge because it makes no sense.

iPhone battery test to maintain battery power between 30% and 80%

Android power test to maintain battery power between 30% and 80%

Will charging the phone constantly at 100% affect the battery?

This test includes an experiment with the iPhone in a fully charged state. Six iPhone 12 phones were divided into three groups. The power was consumed to 1%, 50% and 100%. They were connected to the power supply and started to charge and shut down, and were left standing for a week. Finally, The battery capacity was tested again, and the results showed that the battery life of the 6 iPhones had not changed at all. This also shows that charging the iPhone all the time will not affect the battery life, and there is no need to unplug it immediately after charging to 100%.

How low is the battery health of your iPhone before you need to replace it?

Will battery health affect iPhone usage experience and battery life? When the battery health drops below what level should I replace my iPhone battery? The experiment also tested the battery health of five different iPhones. The robot arm was used to automatically click on daily life applications and a 4-hour battery life test was performed. The results are as follows:

From the above measured iPhone battery life data, it can be found that as long as the iPhone battery health is lower than about 85% to 80%, the battery life will decline significantly. If the battery health is lower than 80%, it will cause the iPhone to consume more power. Due to the tendency to run out of battery after a short period of use, the battery life is relatively shorter than before. The only way to restore the original battery life is to replace the iPhone battery.

From the above measured iPhone battery life data, it can be found that as long as the iPhone battery health is lower than about 85% to 80%, the battery life will decline significantly. If the battery health is lower than 80%, it will cause the iPhone to consume more power. Due to the tendency to run out of battery after a short period of use, the battery life is relatively shorter than before. The only way to restore the original battery life is to replace the iPhone battery.

Does iPhone battery health affect performance?

In the past, iPhones with low battery health would cause lags. However, actual tests were conducted on five iPhone 12 models with different battery health. Even if the iPhone battery health is lower than 80%, it will not cause the iPhone to degrade if the battery is sufficient. frequency problem.

However, Apple officially recommends replacing the battery when the iPhone battery health is lower than 80%. There is a reason. The basic battery life is too low. In addition to seriously affecting battery life, it will basically not have a serious impact on iPhone performance unless the iPhone battery is lower than After 11%, the iPhone will experience severe freezes and slowdowns due to frequency reduction. Compared with new batteries, frequency reduction will occur after a delay of 5%.

What is the main reason why fast charging of mobile phones damages the battery?

Judging from the above test results, fast charging of mobile phones does not affect battery life. This is mainly because when major mobile phone manufacturers develop fast charging technology, they will add various charging protection mechanisms, such as smart chips that can monitor battery temperature, and Equipped with an automatic power-off system, it will also be further adjusted and optimized for fast charging technology to avoid damage to the mobile phone battery caused by fast charging technology.

The main reason why fast charging actually damages the battery is the chemical heat energy from the battery itself. After all, most people are now accustomed to using their mobile phones while charging, which can easily cause the battery to get hot. This problem will occur whether it is an iPhone or an Android phone. Waste heat can only be discharged through the mobile phone’s cooling system. It is recommended not to use the mobile phone while charging to effectively avoid battery damage and aging.

The battery is overcharged or overdischarged

If you continue to charge when fully charged, or if you often play games until 0% and shut down before starting to charge, it may cause overcharge or overdischarge. The former will increase the internal pressure of the battery or generate heat during long-term charging, and the latter will cause It will cause the battery voltage to be too low and not charge, which may cause irreversible damage to the internal materials of the battery and cause the battery capacity to decline.

However, today’s mobile phones are equipped with power control chips, which will cut off the current when the battery is detected to be full, so the battery usage will not be affected, so don’t worry too much. The most important thing to pay attention to is to start charging “until it is out of power”. This is often one of the culprits of improper use and shortened battery life of mobile phones.

Humid environment

After work, some people may be used to taking a bath while using their mobile phones to relieve themselves from a long day of hard work. However, mobile phones contain a large number of precision components. In addition to being immersed in water, which can cause short circuits due to moisture, a humid environment can also easily cause grease and dust. The accumulation of dirt will affect the service life of the mobile phone.

Extreme temperatures

The chemical structure inside the lithium battery is easily affected by temperature. When a mobile phone is stored in an environment with a temperature of 40°C, the battery capacity may be reduced by 35% in a year. Therefore, when the phone is in a high-temperature environment, or the phone has poor heat dissipation structure and operates at high efficiency for a long time, not only may the internal circuit be short-circuited, but the battery may also be damaged.

RFQ

Q: Will fast charging damage the battery?

The most popular fast charging technology at present is to increase the charging speed of mobile phones within the safe load range of mobile phone specifications. Although it is mentioned above that overcharging and excessive temperature can easily cause damage to battery capacity, current mobile phones or high-end 3C devices are equipped with Without the power chip, when the temperature and current exceed the safe range or the battery capacity is full, the system will automatically reduce or cut off the input current, so even if a fast charging system is used, the battery life will not be affected.

Q: Will using non-original charging heads and charging cables harm the battery?

There are many types of charging heads and charging cables on the market. If you use cheap charging accessories from unknown brands, problems such as unstable voltage and current transmission, or lack of protection design for power supply overvoltage and overcurrent may occur.

You get what you pay for. When choosing non-original charging equipment, it is recommended to choose products produced by large manufacturers, clearly labeled, and certified to relevant specifications, so that safety is guaranteed!

Q: Can I charge while playing games?

It is a habit of many people to charge their mobile phones while using them. Although this behavior itself will not cause harm to the battery, because games are high-energy-consuming applications, the heat generated by the machine during operation and the heat caused by battery charging will be more or less harmful. It will still affect the battery. It is recommended that if you feel that the temperature of your mobile phone has become high, it will be better to pause the game at hand and take a short rest. It will be better to use it after the mobile phone cools down.

Q: Will charging the phone overnight damage the battery?

As mentioned above, current mobile phones are equipped with a power supply system that controls the current input. After being fully charged, the input current will be automatically reduced or cut off. Therefore, power will not continue to enter the battery, affecting the charging capacity of the mobile phone battery.