Dispelling myths about cell phone batteries

Cell phone batteries, while not glamorous or exciting, are essential. Knowing a few facts about the power behind the calls you make, the texts you send and the games you play can help your phone?s battery last longer.

Don?t let these myths be a drain on your cell phone battery.

Myth 1: Overcharging will kill your battery. It?s difficult to overcharge a battery these days. Newer cell phones have lithium-ion batteries, which are able to monitor the charge and actually stop the flow of electricity once the battery is fully charged.

Myth 2: Charging too frequently will set a memory. Batteries actually like to be charged and will last longer if they aren?t allowed to discharge completely on a regular basis. Older batteries had to be drained before recharging or they would not perform to their full potential.

Bottom line: If you purchased a phone in the past five years, you shouldn?t have to worry about a memory effect.

Myth 3: You never need to hit the ?off? button. You might be on the go all the time, but your phone?s battery enjoys being off at least once a day. Turning the phone off clears its cache of stored keystrokes and when you power up again, the phone is able to locate the optimum tower for best performance.

Myth 4: Wall chargers and car chargers charge the same way. Car chargers have saved many a phone call when the battery came close to dying. But if you have a choice between the rapid charge on your car charger and the slower trickle of power from a wall charger, pick the latter. It?s easier on your wireless battery and may help it last a little longer.

Myth 5: Bluetooth devices only use battery power when they?re on. There?s no denying the hands-free convenience of a Bluetooth headset. But did you know that even after you power off the device, it can still drain your phone?s battery?

To conserve power, turn off the Bluetooth setting on your phone after you shut off the headset. Otherwise, the phone will continue to seek a Bluetooth connection, which in turn drains your battery power.

Myth 6: Call or text?there?s no difference. You can extend the life of a charged battery by texting rather than calling. Texting uses much less power than a voice call.

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