I use my phone and laptop all day and i was wondering if it is better to keep them both plugged in and topped off at 100 or do the 20/80 thing and charge till 80% and let the battery drop to 20%, then charge back up to 80%.
FYI: I use my phone and laptop about 12+ hours a day so i would be doing the 20/80 thing many times per day.
Which option is better for my battery life? And should i treat my phone and laptop differently?
Li-Ion batteries are happiest between 20-80%. That’s why a lot of devices (phones especially) try to learn your charge habits and pause at 80%, then top up to 100% right before the device believes you will be waking up. So that’s the official answer if you want to know “what’s best.” Avoid going over 80% and under 20% whenever possible.
That said, most devices have a designed lifespan of a few years. A Li-Ion batter will give you a few years no matter how you treat it. In most cases, it makes practical sense to just use the device when you want and charge it whenever you can. Unless you’re trying to extend this device multiple years past its obsolete point, there’s really no point in getting crazy with charge regimens (unless the device is going to do it for you with no effort).
For the phone, don’t worry too much about charging to a percentage like 80%. Most phones today will stop charging once they reach 100% to avoid overcharging.
It’s best to charge whenever the battery drops below 15-20% rather than letting it deeply discharge. This puts less stress on the battery than running it down.
For your laptop:
Leaving it plugged in while using it heavily is still the best approach, as laptop batteries are designed for that usage pattern.
Never go below 15% for all device.
You can let the laptop at 100%.Let your phone discharge up to around 20% then charge it to 80-90% for the laptop either leave it with the battery or let it fully charge then remove the battery so your using main power.