I'm a phone repair expert - here's the big charging mistake you make

Most of us have been charging our phones wrong, according to a phone repair expert who specializes in refurbishing old handsets.

The way many of us recharge our phones - including leaving it on charge overnight or plugged in while we work - can actually damage the battery, permanently diminishing the amount of charge the device can hold

Letting phones run out of battery altogether is also harmful, warns Kewin Charron, Senior Lead Refurbishment Operations Manager at Back Market, speaking to DailyMail.com.




Kewin Charron, Senior Lead Refurbishment Operations Manager at Back Market (Supplied image)





Are you charging your phone all wrong? 

Charron said: ‘Leaving your phone plugged in, or letting it die, rapidly reduces the lifespan of your battery. 

'Instead, you should aim to keep your charge level between 20-80 percent.'

That might sound like a pain to achieve, Charron said, but many new handsets offer the option to optimize charging (so the phone doesn't have stress on the battery).

Doing so is easy on newer Apple handsets, https://1kuwin.help Charron said.

He said: ‘For iPhones with iOS 13 and beyond, go into your iPhone Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging, and select Optimized Battery Charging. 

'This setting will automatically reduce the wear on your battery, improving its lifespan.'

Apple says that the feature delays charging iPhone past 80 percent, using machine learning to learn your daily routine so that Optimised Battery Charging is activated at the right time.











You should enable Optimised Charging if it's not already on

It's slightly trickier on Android, as the settings can vary between different manufacturers, Charron said.

He said: ‘By going into your Settings, and then selecting Battery > Battery Usage, you can see your battery health. 

'Then, under Manage Battery Usage, tap Optimized to automatically help extend the longevity of your battery.'

On Pixel phones, it can still be found under Battery, but it looks slightly different (as in screenshot below).

Another problem that can damage battery life over time is dirt in the charging port, Charron said.