Tech Tip: Battery Myths – Batteries Only Last a Few Years

It’s the final edition of Battery Myths, so we’re doing something special: We’re covering something that’s only kind of a myth. Realistically, batteries won’t last forever. Nowadays, it seems like everybody is constantly upgrading their device because their battery seems to be going bad.

In fact, your battery’s life is measured in charges rather than time periods. This is called a charge cycle, and one charge cycle is when 100% of your battery is used. This doesn’t mean that your battery went from a 100% to a 0% charge, it means that the total amount of battery used is 100%. For example, your phone could fall from 80% to 30% (which is 50% of its capacity), then you could charge it back to 80% and use it until it drops to 30% again. Even though it’s never reached 0% or 100%, the full capacity of the battery has been used once, which is one charge cycle.

Basically, your battery life is determined by how much time you spend on your phone, not how long you’ve had it. Most phone batteries will work effectively for about two or three years, which is when the manufactures really suggest that you upgrade to a new phone.

Adapted from http://www.pcmag.com/news/357987/charging-your-phone-overnight-battery-myths-debunked.