Charge Your Phone The Right Way

If you're anything like me, the last thing you'd do before going to bed is charge your phone so that it, like you, is ready for a new day after a good night's sleep.

The problem is that charging a smartphone for a third of a day when it can be fully charged in a couple of hours isn't exactly relaxing.

As a result, I've altered how I charge all of my smartphones and other small devices.

I realized a few months ago how foolish it was to leave something on charge overnight, especially when that gadget recharges as quickly as today's smartphones. With a fast charger, you can get a 50 percent charge in around 30 minutes on higher-end smartphones.

It felt ridiculous to leave them plugged in overnight, especially when the battery was baking for a third of a day.

Yes, Apple has implemented Optimized Battery Charging to iOS, which prevents the iPhone from charging after the battery reaches 80% and only adds the remaining 20% when you wake up in the morning. However, this still implies that the iPhone is plugged in all night.

Even with Optimized Battery Charging enabled, there is still a temperature spike while the iPhone is plugged in, according to my non-scientific real-world testing.

Also, I've heard of so many things catching fire while charging that I don't think it's a good idea to let something charge for an extended amount of time while I'm not paying attention to it.

Although gadget fires are uncommon, they do occur. And, after witnessing batteries go from placid to enraged in a matter of seconds, it's not something I want to happen when I'm trying to catch up on my beauty sleep.

So, I've made a significant adjustment in the way I charge all of my devices.

I give them a charge or two during the day instead of charging them at night. This is the charging plan that I find to be most effective:

After I wake up, I charge for 30 to 45 minutes.

If necessary, recharge for another 30 minutes around mid-afternoon.

Note that if I'll be spending a lot of time in the car or out and about, I'll also bring a car charger or a power bank.

I started with my iPhone and found it to be incredibly effective, so I've been doing it with all of my gadgets – iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, MacBook Pro, Android smartphone, and everything else.

I can see how an overnight charge made sense "back in the day," when things took a long time to charge up, but devices now charge up so quickly that switching to "just in time" charging makes more sense.

My biggest fear was that I'd run out of power in the middle of the day, but that hasn't occurred yet. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that I'm now more accustomed to charging twice a day rather than the one overnight charge.

Is there a reduction in battery wear? While I'm still working on ways to verify this more conclusively, I believe it must, because charging causes battery wear, and less charging results in less battery wear.