Do You Believe These 3 Myths About Phone Batteries?

A lot of the battery myths we may believe are not totally false — they are often based on some truth. We hold onto some of these old beliefs because they were once true for preserving certain types of batteries. But smartphone batteries have changed a lot over the years, and what may have been true for nickel-based batteries isn’t true for the lithium-ion smartphone batteries of today.

Myth #1: You can only use the charger that comes with your phone.

There are some benefits to using the name-brand charger that comes with your smartphone. A Samsung charger, for example, will often charge your phone much faster than a third-party charger. However, there are plenty of equally fast and safe third-party chargers on the market. Third-party chargers are often much more affordable than name-brand chargers, and perform just as well. Just make sure that you do your research first and read reviews before purchasing — a cheaper charger may seem great, but it might be more dangerous to use (causing your device to overheat or spark, which could damage your battery), or else charge your phone much more slowly.

Read More: Learn How to Spot a Weak Smartphone Battery

Myth #2: You shouldn’t use your phone while it’s charging.

This behavior only becomes risky when you use a poor quality charger, which could electrocute you or start a fire. If you avoid cheap chargers, then it’s completely safe for you to use your phone when it’s charging. Doing so will not cause stress to your phone battery or affect how well your battery charges.

Myth #3: It’s OK to always keep your phone on.

We use our phones for just about everything, which means that we almost never power them off or restart them. Or, maybe we keep them on all of the time because many of us now have our smartphones as our main contact number instead of landlines. What if there’s an emergency call during the night and our phone is off? While landlines could stay on 24/7, smartphones definitely shouldn’t be on 24/7. Keeping your phone on all of the time can greatly shorten your battery’s lifespan.

In order to preserve the life of your smartphone battery — and possibly improve your phone’s performance — you should aim to turn off your phone or restart it at least once a week. This only takes a few minutes to do (or you can leave it off for longer). This rule also applies to all of your other devices, such as laptops and tablets. You don’t have to do this at night or overnight, either, so don’t worry about missing your morning alarm.