5 ms·

That's a fair point, but indeed a lot of people will kill their phone in less than 3 years. Either breaking the screen (which, IIUC, will be also replaceable/se

by atleta 4y ago

That's a fair point, but indeed a lot of people will kill their phone in less than 3 years. Either breaking the screen (which, IIUC, will be also replaceable/self servicable) or killing the battery. Most sources say that the battery will keep an acceptable capacity for around 500 cycles, i.e. 1.5 years if fully charged daily. (Now I don't know, because I'm very cautious not to fully charge and to discharge below 25-30%, so mine is pretty good after 1.5 years and the previous phone that I've used for 5+ years started draining the battery after a software update when it was less than 6 mo old...) Speaking about batteries, what would be nice if they added a setting that allows defining charging limits, e.g. like what we have on Lenovo Thinkpads. (You can specify both the upper threshold and also the lower one, so that charging doesn't start if the battery is above that level even if you connect the device. Which you may do to a phone even without wanting to charge, e.g. if you use it as a modem.)

lolinder 4y ago
> Most sources say that the battery will keep an acceptable capacity for around 500 cycles, i.e. 1.5 years if fully charged daily. This is what I see online, but this hasn't been my experience for any of my devices. My current phone is on year 5 with the same battery, and it's still very decent. I charge it every day to 100% and often plug it back in while it's still at 50%, so it's not like I'm being more careful than usual. There's a cynical part of me that thinks that these kinds of numbers are put forward by the industry to feed the narrative that these gadgets need to be replaced regularly.
- flippinburgers 4y ago
  I have a similar experience.
- josephg 4y ago
  Yeah; and batteries can be replaced when they start losing their charge. New batteries are pretty cheap. I had an iPhone 6s that I used for about 5-6 years before upgrading and giving it to a friend to use. I replaced its battery at about the 4 year mark, and as far as I know it’s still going strong. I wanted to upgrade it earlier than that, and I could afford to - but why bother when my phone already did everything I needed it to do? 3 years of security updates is a joke. The hardware easily lasts over a decade if you want it to.
- max-m 4y ago
  My Nokia 8 (bought April 2019) doesn't last a day anymore. Not even half a day. The battery is so done, I must basically always have my powerbank in my backpack. :) When it's cold outside (let's say around 4 °C) it's not uncommon for the phone to suddenly shut down while using certain apps, even when it thinks the battery is at 50%, it just can't provide enough power in those situations anymore. When I bought the phone the battery was one downside I thought about but thought "it will probably be OK". I was wrong ^^ And due to its aluminum unibody construction you must remove the display to replace the battery, nothing I would want to risk on my daily driver device.
- scns 4y ago
  There was a site posted here on HN that was something like: "All you wanted to know about batteries" or something like that. About Li-Ion they wrote, that they age faster if the charge falls under 20% (don't remember why) or gets charged over 80% (more voltage needed to push electrons in, battery heats up). GigaSet limits the charging to 90%. I use BatteryBot Pro from F-Droid (installed via Foxy Droid) to ring an alarm at 30%, 75% and 80%. [add] Depleting them completely is very bad for them.
- atleta 4y ago
  Yep, some people seem to have a proclivity towards thinking that whatever is (or seems) disadvantageous to them (or a group they identify with) is somehow done on purpose by someone/a group that will profit from the said thing. But if you think about it, it doesn't even work here. First of all, no one can tell you that your battery has a poor capacity, because you test it daily. And people are pretty sensitive to this issue, because we have tricked the manufacturers to create phones that have just enough capacity. (By requiring faster phones, larger, better screens and thinner phones. And not requiring a battery that lasts much more than a day.) Actually that 'narrative' has the opposite effect: there are a lot of articles online that tell you how to enhance the life of the batteries. (Whether it's really needed or not doesn't make a difference.) Regarding charging it from 50%: this is not something that hurts Li batteries. Actually it's better than allowing it to drain (or go into some unspecified low percentages, probably below 20 or 10). Charging to 100% is said to have a negative effect. I mean it probably wears faster than if you charge to just 85%.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
screamingninja 4y ago
> Speaking about batteries, what would be nice if they added a setting that allows defining charging limits Like Samsung Battery Protection? It limits charging to 85%. I would personally have used the 80% threshold, but after 2+ years of heavy use, the battery has held up quite well on this Note 20.
- jorvi 4y ago
  I wish you could set both a lower and upper limit. Never let it discharge below 10% or above 90%.
  - scns 4y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34944079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34944079
scns 4y ago
Tuxedo offers smart charging in BIOS too. The lowest treshold i can set in my older model is only 40% but still nice.
miohtama 4y ago
If they phone is repairable can you replace the battery?
E39M5S62 4y ago
My Galaxy S22+ has a battery protection mode that stops charging at 85%. I imagine other builds of Android have this, but it's the first I've directly come across.

by atleta 4y ago

lolinder 4y ago

> Most sources say that the battery will keep an acceptable capacity for around 500 cycles, i.e. 1.5 years if fully charged daily. This is what I see online, but this hasn't been my experience for any of my devices. My current phone is on year 5 with the same battery, and it's still very decent. I charge it every day to 100% and often plug it back in while it's still at 50%, so it's not like I'm being more careful than usual. There's a cynical part of me that thinks that these kinds of numbers are put forward by the industry to feed the narrative that these gadgets need to be replaced regularly.

flippinburgers 4y ago
I have a similar experience.
josephg 4y ago
Yeah; and batteries can be replaced when they start losing their charge. New batteries are pretty cheap. I had an iPhone 6s that I used for about 5-6 years before upgrading and giving it to a friend to use. I replaced its battery at about the 4 year mark, and as far as I know it’s still going strong. I wanted to upgrade it earlier than that, and I could afford to - but why bother when my phone already did everything I needed it to do? 3 years of security updates is a joke. The hardware easily lasts over a decade if you want it to.
max-m 4y ago
My Nokia 8 (bought April 2019) doesn't last a day anymore. Not even half a day. The battery is so done, I must basically always have my powerbank in my backpack. :) When it's cold outside (let's say around 4 °C) it's not uncommon for the phone to suddenly shut down while using certain apps, even when it thinks the battery is at 50%, it just can't provide enough power in those situations anymore. When I bought the phone the battery was one downside I thought about but thought "it will probably be OK". I was wrong ^^ And due to its aluminum unibody construction you must remove the display to replace the battery, nothing I would want to risk on my daily driver device.
scns 4y ago
There was a site posted here on HN that was something like: "All you wanted to know about batteries" or something like that. About Li-Ion they wrote, that they age faster if the charge falls under 20% (don't remember why) or gets charged over 80% (more voltage needed to push electrons in, battery heats up). GigaSet limits the charging to 90%. I use BatteryBot Pro from F-Droid (installed via Foxy Droid) to ring an alarm at 30%, 75% and 80%. [add] Depleting them completely is very bad for them.
atleta 4y ago
Yep, some people seem to have a proclivity towards thinking that whatever is (or seems) disadvantageous to them (or a group they identify with) is somehow done on purpose by someone/a group that will profit from the said thing. But if you think about it, it doesn't even work here. First of all, no one can tell you that your battery has a poor capacity, because you test it daily. And people are pretty sensitive to this issue, because we have tricked the manufacturers to create phones that have just enough capacity. (By requiring faster phones, larger, better screens and thinner phones. And not requiring a battery that lasts much more than a day.) Actually that 'narrative' has the opposite effect: there are a lot of articles online that tell you how to enhance the life of the batteries. (Whether it's really needed or not doesn't make a difference.) Regarding charging it from 50%: this is not something that hurts Li batteries. Actually it's better than allowing it to drain (or go into some unspecified low percentages, probably below 20 or 10). Charging to 100% is said to have a negative effect. I mean it probably wears faster than if you charge to just 85%.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

screamingninja 4y ago

> Speaking about batteries, what would be nice if they added a setting that allows defining charging limits Like Samsung Battery Protection? It limits charging to 85%. I would personally have used the 80% threshold, but after 2+ years of heavy use, the battery has held up quite well on this Note 20.

jorvi 4y ago
I wish you could set both a lower and upper limit. Never let it discharge below 10% or above 90%.
- scns 4y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34944079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34944079

scns 4y ago

Tuxedo offers smart charging in BIOS too. The lowest treshold i can set in my older model is only 40% but still nice.

miohtama 4y ago

If they phone is repairable can you replace the battery?

E39M5S62 4y ago

My Galaxy S22+ has a battery protection mode that stops charging at 85%. I imagine other builds of Android have this, but it's the first I've directly come across.