64 10 - 23 July 2019
best to unplug a phone as soon as it has
charged and use it straight away.Don’t chargeovernight
Many of us plug in our phones at
bedtime to charge overnight so the
battery is at 100% when we wake up.
The problem is that a phone quickly
reaches 100%, so it remains at maximum
power for the rest of the night.
There is talk of modifying phone
chargers so they’re limited to an 80%charge at night – you can then just
top it up to 100% after you wake up.
This may become an automatic
feature in the next generation of
phones, but for now you’ll have to
carry out the task manually. Charge
the phone to 80% in the evening, then
unplug it at bedtime. When you wake
up in morning, plug it in and top it up
to 100% before you leave home.Avoid complete rundown
As well as leaving a device charged at
100% for long periods, you should
also avoid runing down the battery
completely and then leaving it
discharged. When the battery level
drops below 20%, recharge it.
If you leave any battery-powered
devices at homewhen you go on
holiday, make sure they’re not in Sleep
mode – as happens when you close
the lid of a laptop – because the
device will continue to draw power
and eventually reach 0%. If you won’t
be back from your holiday for another
week, leaving the battery discharged
could diminish its lifespan.I
f you won’t be taking your tech devices
with you on holiday, make sure you
prepare them for your absence. The
worst state for a battery to be left in is
either fully charged or completely empty:
both 0% and 100% charge put your battery
under stress and shorten its life, while a
charge of around 50% causes the minimum
stress. With this in mind, make sure you
charge any devices you’re leaving behind to
around 50-60%. If the device doesn’t have
an indicator to show the percentage
charge, plug it in until the battery is full,
then use it for a while so the battery isn’t at
100%. Finally, power off the device – don’t
just leave it in Sleep mode.Prepare your devices’ batteries for long breaks
Chargeand use
The batteries in laptops, phones, tablets
and other devices deteriorate over time
and, as pointed out in the tip above, it’s
best to avoid the two extremes of 0%
and 100% charge. It’s therefore
important that you charge your device,
then unplug and use it to allow the
battery to run down. This is especially
important for laptops, which shouldn’t
be permanently plugged into the mains
power with the battery at 100% for
weeks or months. Make sure you
regularly unplug your laptop and run it
off the battery to keep it healthy.
Phone batteries get progressively
worse at holdinga charge, which means
their capacity decreases over time. It’s
Don’t charge devices to 100% if you’re
leaving them behind while you go on
holiday. Leave them closer to 50%Don’t keep your laptop permanently
plugged in at 100% – unplug it and use itIf you see words thatlooklike
they’vebeentyped in a
typewriter, follow the instructions
andtypethemexactlyas they
appear, payingcloseattentionto
spaces andpunctuation.Web User Masterclass
Get more battery life from
your laptop, phone or tablet