A multi-year study has challenged long-standing beliefs about smartphone battery care, revealing that the detrimental effects of fast charging and fully charging devices are largely negligible.
Extensive testing indicates that while fast charging can cause slightly more battery degradation, the difference is minimal and often outweighed by convenience. The research, conducted by YouTube channel KTX Studio, spanned two years and involved over 500 charging cycles.
One common myth suggests fast charging severely degrades a smartphone battery. Tests on six iPhone 12 devices, three using standard 18-watt charging and three with rapid 120-watt charging, disproved this notion.
After six months, the iPhones charged with standard power showed an 11.8% battery degradation. Devices using fast charging experienced only a 12.3% degradation, a difference of just 0.5%.
Similar findings emerged from tests on various Android phones. These devices exhibited an 8.8% degradation with slow charging and an 8.5% degradation with fast charging, showing an even smaller impact.
The study also addressed the belief that charging a phone to 100% significantly shortens its lifespan. Experiments compared charging cycles from 5% to 100% versus 30% to 80%.
iOS devices charged fully to 100% showed 4% more battery degradation over 500 cycles. Android devices experienced an even smaller increase of 2.5% when charged to 100%.
These findings suggest that the perceived harm from fast charging and full battery charges is largely insignificant for most users. The benefits of quicker power replenishment and maximizing battery capacity far outweigh the marginal, often unnoticeable, degradation.
The research employed a complex mechanism to automatically charge and discharge smartphones, even utilizing applications to activate screens, ensuring consistent test conditions.
The widespread myths emerged as smartphone battery capacities increased, with many devices now featuring 5,000 mAh and some reaching 10,000 mAh. This growth necessitated the development of fast charging technologies to reduce recharge times.