Do Power Banks Damage The Phone Battery Or Reduce Battery Life

 

With numerous studies out there about minute chargers and extremely speedy power cables, the fact remains that none of these supposedly items’ long-term effects has ever been looked into.

When they were first introduced, most people’s opinions regarding power banks were mostly centered on battery deterioration matter. Some people complained about their phone’s battery time being affected; others said that their power bank just shut down on its own whereas others reported not experiencing either of these issues as they only used their power banks occasionally mostly when traveling.

What’s the Answer to This Question

To be able to answer the question of whether power banks damage phone battery or reduce battery life, one must first possess knowledge about the basic battery care practices that promote battery life.

Most devices currently including tablets, smartphones, power banks and laptops come with Lithium Ion batteries. The most superlative practice in their care is to never completely discharge them or keep them plugged in despite being fully charged. Just like leaving the battery plugged in despite being at 100% charge not being a good practice as it puts the battery under pressure, discharging it to levels below 15% is also a bad practice since it will make the battery require more time to get the cells re-energized.

Most devices just like power banks shut off power automatically when the battery is at full charge; however, they still continue to trickle charge if still plugged in. This consequently affects how the battery functions. Batteries that get left plugged in all the time regardless of being fully charged discharge a lot slower as compared to those discharged after reaching full charge.

Perhaps the best practice that one can engage in to ensure a longer lifespan for his/her battery is to start charging when the device is down to a minimum of 20% or plug out the device when the battery is at around 80%. This will consequently leave one with about 40-50% battery life. However, it is also important to sometimes exceed this limits, for example once in a month to allow the operating system calibrate the battery’s discharge cycle.

All these practices apply to power banks too. In fact, they are more important when it comes to power banks as they typically charge phones faster, however, take longer to charge themselves. Additionally, power banks have simple circuitry to automatically shut down when overcharged.

It is clear that over charging or under charging is responsible for all battery deterioration issues and not power banks.

Looking to buy a power bank? We found some great reviews on Review Station. See 10 Best Power Banks for Smartphones in India (2017) | Review Station.