6 tips to boost your phone, laptop’s battery life

We've all experienced that moment when we are on an important call and the phone's battery dies.

Frustrating, right? While you cannot change the laws of physics, with a few useful hacks you can reduce the amount of wear and tear that the battery of your laptop, tablet or smartphone goes through on a daily basis.

Here are a few things to bear in mind to keep your device's battery lasts longer.

1. Avoid extreme temperatures

November 21,2014

The battery of your device depends largely on the temperature of your surroundings. For instance, if you live in temperatures over 35 degrees celsius or below 0 degree celsius, the capacity of your phone's battery will reduce faster.

Avoid leaving your phone or tablet in contact with direct sunlight or expose it to temperatures below freezing point. While extreme heat affects a battery more than extreme cold, both are equally harmful.

2. Full discharge vs partial discharge

November 21,2014

Many experts have professed the benefits of allowing your device to get fully discharged before plugging in the charger, but it has been found that a partial discharge is actually better than a full discharge cycle. It is usually helpful to keep the charge within the 40 to 80% range.

This means charging your phone once it reaches 40% and then removing the charge once it reaches 80%.

Of course, you will have to balance this out with the way and amount you use your device. For instance, if you are heading out and can't charge your phone, do charge it to 100%.

3. Avoid leaving it plugged in for extended periods of time

November 21,2014

Allowing your devices to be plugged into the charger after it has reached a 100% charge can be detrimental to your battery life.

Overcharging your battery isn't wise because many phone manufacturers set the charge threshold lower on purpose so as to prolong battery life. Since lithium-ion batteries cannot absorb overcharge, the charge current needs to be cut off when it is fully charged.

Overcharge would cause plating of metallic lithium, which could compromise the safety of your device.

This piece of advice is rather difficult to follow where laptops are concerned,though. Leaving your laptop plugged in all the time could harm your laptop's battery in the long run. It is better to discharge it down to 40% every now and then.

4. Avoid ultra-fast charger

November 21,2014

Ultra-fast chargers can juice your phone up faster than regular chargers, but they affect the longevity of your battery in the long run. Stay away from them and use only the chargers you are meant to.

5. Fake chargers are a strict no

November 21,2014

You see those guys selling `branded' phone chargers at the traffic signals? Don't ever use them because they are cheap knock offs that will damage your battery or might even cause physical injury to you (remember the stories about chargers exploding?)

6. Medium-to-long-term storage

November 21,2014

You should keep your battery at around 50% before turning it off if you aren't using your device. Say you are going somewhere for a while and want to keep your device in storage, do so in a cool place with a temperature below 32 degrees celsius, with the battery at the halfway mark.

Apple also suggests that a device going into storage for longer than six months should be charged to 50% every six months, regardless of the brand of device being used.

The battery of your device, like every other technological innovation, comes with a shelf-life, and a ‘use-by’ date. But you could help prolong that shelflife significantly.