In this article, we’ll discuss the health effects of fast-charging a cell phone battery up to 120W. The fight for the most powerful rapid charge has some negative side effects on our smartphones, according to the manufacturers.
How does fast-charging up to 120W affects the health of cell phone batteries?
Batteries got larger, and charging times had to be decreased. Charging a 2,500mAh battery was not the same as charging a 6,000mAh battery, and we’re talking about several hours of difference here.
That’s why for more than five years now, fast-charging technologies have been in our midst, promising to bring the battery to 100% in just a few minutes.
And, like any race, what started with 18W fast chargers, now goes for 200W and rising, although it seems totally unrealistic.
The problem is that fast charging, by nature, is more damaging to the battery than normal charging. No matter how much technologies improve. And the fact is that putting more energy in less time has a toll to pay.
The new Xiaomi 11T is in this war, which will arrive at the end of weeks to the market, and the manufacturer has already confirmed that the 11T Pro will bring 120W fast charging by cable.
And, since it’s a topic of interest, the company has just revealed how this ultra-fast charging solution will affect battery health. Xiaomi’s head of communications, Daniel Desjarlais, has stated that 80% battery capacity can be expected after 800 charge cycles (about two years of use).
This promise may not appear to be much, but it is extremely low in comparison with the typical loss of smartphone batteries after 24 months of usage. What’s more, we’re talking about an average loss that many phone batteries experience after 24 months of use.
And so explains Desjarlais, who claims that the differences in battery degradation are minimal when using an ultrafast charger versus a slower one.
However, when it comes to overnight charging, the head of communications would not hesitate to recommend the slower option for the benefit of the phone.
And in this same direction spoke Oppo, which stated that its 65W wired charging solution only loses 9% capacity after 800 charge cycles. That is, it drops to 91% after two years and to 80% after four (1,500 charge cycles).
As you can see, popular knowledge and common sense are beginning to clash with the manufacturers’ data. Will we ever see ultra-fast charges that do not damage batteries? If we ask the manufacturers, we are sure to get the answer right.
