Phone Charging

Why It's Not Good to Charge Your Phone Every Night

ERIKA OWEN 

Charging your phone while you sleep may seem efficient, but it could be wearing the device out.

That's according to The New York Times, which dug into the question of whether or not charging your smartphone overnight is a good idea. The answer, as it turns out, is two-sided.


Smartphones are designed to recognize when the battery is at capacity, and should at that point stop absorbing additional electrical current. However, frequently charging a phone can put wear and tear on it.

As a phone battery charges, the electrical currents pushed through it cross the battery at different speeds. This helps the battery charge faster, but the process also makes lithium-ion batteries corrode more quickly than they would if the currents were fed into the battery at the same rate.


Getty Images/iStockphoto

Hatem Zeine, founder of wireless charging company Ossia, shared some recommendations with the Times: Make sure your phone doesn't get overheated, and try charging your devices with less-powerful chargers—think using an iPhone charger with your iPad.

Those consumers who only plan to keep their phone for two years maximum—that's the length of most carrier plans—can feel free to charge their smartphones overnight. But those who want to get the most out of their phones should charge-up carefully to avoid extended corrosion.