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Your smartphone is a crucial component of your everyday life. When you're looking to upgrade your phone, one of the most important factors to consider is battery life. Without a strong battery life, sending emails, listening to your favorite tunes, streaming video and keeping in touch with friends and family on a single charge can seem next to impossible.

So, how do you search for phones with good battery life? Use these tips from Batteries Plus to find the best cell phone battery life with all the features and capabilities you expect from your new device.

Which Battery Types Offer the Best Cell Phone Battery Life?

The batteries found in your mobile devices are designed to store incredible amounts of energy to keep your devices running smoothly throughout the day. The quality and composition of batteries used in many modern phones determines how long the devices can be used with a single charge.

In your search, you'll most likely come across two primary types of batteries used in modern cell phones:

Lithium-Polymer (Li-Poly) Batteries

Offering the latest and most advanced technology in cell phone batteries, lithium-polymer batteries are super lightweight but don't compromise on performance. These batteries aren't prone to experiencing memory effect, an issue that often occurs when rechargeable batteries aren't fully discharged between charging cycles, resulting in reduced capacity and a shortened lifespan.

Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) Batteries

An older and more frequently used type of smart device battery, lithium-ion batteries have a higher energy density than lithium-polymer batteries. While lithium-polymer and lithium-ion batteries have a similar chemical composition, Li-Ion batteries are designed with an active protection circuit that reduces the likelihood of battery overheating.

What Impacts Battery Life?

Even if you purchase a smartphone with the longest battery life, several factors can impact your device's ability to hold a charge. Battery life is affected by a variety of external factors, such as:

  •   Push Notifications: Too many push notifications can take a toll on your battery. These app-specific messages may cause your phone to light up or vibrate to catch your attention, which can quickly drain your battery.
  •   Apps Running: Even if you're not using an app, it can still be running in the background and drain energy from your phone. Remember to close unused apps completely from the Settings option of your iPhone or Samsung model to prevent battery drain.
  •   Display Brightness: The brighter the screen, the more energy your battery might be using. Go to Settings and dim your lights a bit to keep your phone running longer.

Finding the Best Battery Life Phone

A smartphone's battery capacity represents the amount of energy its battery can store. An easy way to measure battery capacity is to check the phone's mAH, which stands for milliampere hour. This measurement factors the rate of electron flow through the electrical conductor. Generally, most smartphone batteries fall in the range of 2,000 to 4,000 mAH.

What to Do If the Battery Fails

If your smartphone battery fails, rather than paying for a replacement phone, head to your local Batteries Plus store instead. Our knowledgeable technicians specialize in performing a variety of cell phone repair and battery replacement services, including Samsung Galaxy repairs and iPhone screen repairs. Because of our commitment to quality service, we aim for fast turnarounds.

Phone Battery FAQs

The batteries found in your mobile devices are designed to store incredible amounts of energy. The length of time they can be used on a single charge depends on the quality and chemistry of the batteries themselves.

Most modern phones use one of two battery types:

Lithium-Polymer (Li-Poly) Batteries
Lithium-polymer batteries offer the latest and most advanced technology in cell phone batteries. They're super lightweight without compromising on performance.

Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) Batteries
An older and more commonly used type of smart device battery, lithium-ion batteries have a higher energy density than lithium-polymer batteries. That's basically just a fancy way of saying that they can pack the same amount of energy into a smaller-sized battery. While lithium-polymer and lithium-ion batteries share a similar chemical composition, Li-Ion batteries are designed with an active protection circuit that reduces the chances of the battery overheating.

The ideal charge level for a lithium-ion battery is in the upper mid-range, between 40% and 80% of its total capacity. Samsung recommends that you keep their products charged to at least 50%.

Unfortunately, while overnight charging is very convenient, it puts a serious strain on your battery. When you keep your phone plugged in overnight, you are keeping it on the charger much longer than is needed. Batteries can be damaged if they become overcharged. That's why your cell phone has a built-in defense to keep this from happening and will actually start to discharge the battery to prevent it from overcharging. The bad news is that this constant cycle of recharging and discharging burns through your total number of charge cycles much faster, thus shortening the battery's life.

The life cycle of your cell phone battery is measured in charge cycles. You complete one full charge cycle when you've used an amount of power equal to 100% of your battery capacity. For example, if you use 75% of your battery's capacity on Monday, then recharge it fully overnight. If you use 25% the next day, you will have discharged a total of 100%, and the two days will add up to one charge cycle.

A new lithium-ion battery will typically last between 300 and 500 charge cycles. Obviously, the more often your charge your phone, the faster you'll go through its allotted charge cycles. Undercharging is bad for your phone's battery, so you don't want to avoid charging it. Your best bet is to try and keep your phone's battery between 50% and 80% of its capacity.

Usually, a cell phone battery lasts between two and three years. Your results will depend on your usage and charging habits, but, in general, batteries start to degrade to a point of replacement after 2 years.