Loading ...How Long Do Cell Phone Batteries Really Last?
Cell Phone Batteries Lasting Till the End of a Contract?
To all of our benefit, battery manufacturers have made a significant improvement over the years on the life of our cell phone batteries. Many of us can not live without our phones; I have mine glued to me at all times. One of the greatest challenges for cell phone batteries is their limited life span. Can a cell phone battery actually make it to the end of a three year contract?
There are several types of batteries that are found in cell phones, two of the most common are nickel metal hydride and lithium ion. Older cell phones used nickel cadmium batteries which had a memory, meaning the phone will only charge to a certain level, no matter how long it stays on the charger. The solution to this is to fully discharge the battery and then fully charge it again, very time consuming. Most cell phone batteries are made to be recharged about 300 to 500 times, depending on a number of factors such as temperature, length of charge; keeping your phone on the charger after it is fully charged is actually lowering the life of the battery, bad reception; the phone has to work harder to look for a signal; putting more drain on the battery, and the speed at which the phone is charged; a slower charge is better for the battery. One other thing to consider, if you are using a digital phone, is whether or not you are actually in a digital or analog service. If your phone is in an analog service area, you will find that the battery has a significant drain as the phone has to work harder to translate the signal.
I have had several phones that did not make it past two years, very bad when you are on a three year contract! Another thing to consider is the popularity of smart phones; they are more like mini laptops needing more and more energy. The problem with a lot of these smart phones is that it is nearly impossible to replace the battery on your own once the battery needs replacement.
Batteries have come a long way since the first analog cell phones first started getting popular in the 1990’s. Our talk times have gone from 30 minutes with standby times of 24 hours to talk times of at least two hours, with standby times of seven days or more. Clearly we are moving in the right direction.
Take care of your batteries and you may find that they will last as long as your contract, hopefully.
