Should you leave your phone charging overnight?

You may have I’ve heard that leaving your smartphone charging overnight, whether plugged in or on, is great Wireless charger– It can damage the battery.

But is doing so actually harmful or dangerous? Or is this one of those continuing ones? Myths related to the phone battery Who refuses to leave?

The simplest and most straightforward answer, according to most experts, is that you can leave your smartphone charging overnight as long as you are aware of some limitations and details.

The practice of leaving your phone on overnight is no longer an issue like it used to be. Starting in 2010, manufacturers have been incorporating power management chips into their designs, throttling incoming power when the battery reaches 100 percent. The first such chips — called power management integrated circuits, or PMICs — have been around since the mid-2000s, but became standard in phones somewhat later.

When integrated into the motherboard, the PMIC manages things like battery charge, system sleep-wake and power cycle events, and the voltage and current used by the display, processor, memory, and other components. It optimizes all of these things to reduce overall power consumption and extend the battery life of the device. These chips also prevent phones from overheating, thus reducing the risk of fire to almost zero.

However, she can’t do it all alone. Still need to Take care of your battery. The best way to prevent batteries from experiencing too much wear is to keep the cell between 30 percent and 80 percent charged. Doing so reduces thermal and chemical stress on the lithium-ion cells. Apply common sense to this advice; Don’t just always recharge every night, incorporate some more controlled daytime charging to keep your battery healthy.

Although leaving the phone charging overnight is not a problem, it would be a good idea to pay attention to where this charging occurs. Leaving the phone under blankets, pillows, or near other heat sources increases the temperature and can accelerate battery deterioration.

Tips for “defensive” shipping.

The phone’s PMIC can only work properly if you are using the phone’s original charger or an authorized replacement. If you connect a cheap power supply that you purchased from an untrusted source, the chip may not be able to perform all of its safety checks.

Specifically, only use chargers that have the appropriate safety certifications. In Europe, the product must bear the CE mark, which is a basic requirement for marketing power supplies in the EU. In North America, look for the UL mark, a third-party safety certification inspection conducted by Underwriters Laboratories.

Also make sure the numbers match. A charger capable of outputting between 18 to 30 watts can provide fast charging for most phones, and some newer phones can benefit from a high-end 45 to 65 watt charger for faster charging. Check your phone to see what is compatible. Always avoid older chargers that deliver power as low as 1 or 2A or less than 5W, as well as models with very high power ratings of 140 to 240W, unless your smartphone explicitly supports them, e.g. Motorola Edge 40 ProIt is capable of 125W wired charging. Mainstream phones from Samsung and Apple operate at much lower thresholds.

We also suggest turning on the Enhanced Charging features in iOS and Android if you haven’t already. This will slow or delay overnight charging to keep the phone between 80 and 90 percent throughout most of the night, only allowing the battery to reach 100 percent by the time you would normally wake up in the morning.

It’s best for your battery’s health to have the option to disconnect the phone when the battery level reaches just over 90 percent. This becomes even more important if your phone is only two years old, since devices tend to heat up more during charging as they age.

This story was originally published by Wired Italy It was translated from Italian.