The video discusses the evolution of smartphone charging speeds, with companies introducing faster chargers over the years. The speaker investigates whether fast charging damages phone batteries. The explanation delves into battery chemistry, absorption efficiency, and heat generation during charging. It highlights advancements like parallel charging and cooling systems to mitigate heat. The speaker emphasizes that modern smartphones employ smart technology to regulate charging and maintain battery health. The industry standard target is 80% battery health after 800 charges. Fast-charging companies claim to maintain this standard, suggesting that fast charging, if managed properly, does not ruin batteries. Users can maintain battery health by avoiding excessive heat exposure.
1. Every few months, a new company releases a smartphone that claims to have the fastest charging capabilities.
2. In the past, smartphones like the iPhone and Pixel used to charge at lower watts, taking about two and a half hours to charge from zero to a hundred.
3. Over time, these charging speeds have increased significantly, with the Xiaomi 12 Pro shipping with a 120-watt charger that can charge the entire phone from zero to 100 in just 17 minutes.
4. There have been demonstrations of charging technologies that could theoretically charge a smartphone at 240 watts, going from zero to a hundred in just nine minutes.
5. However, there are concerns that such high charging speeds could cause the smartphone to overheat and potentially damage its battery.
6. Batteries work by having lithium ions flow from the negative to the positive side through a liquid electrolyte solution, releasing energy into the circuit.
7. Batteries absorb the most energy when they have the least charge and become less efficient as they get closer to full.
8. Batteries degrade over time due to several factors, including being at 100% or 0% charge, and natural degradation over charge cycles.
9. One of the main factors that damage batteries is heat, which can cause the electrolyte solution to crystallize and clog up the anodes and cathodes.
10. To minimize heat, companies have been working on methods to charge phones as fast as possible without generating extra heat, such as power management in the charger brick and parallel charging.
11. Parallel charging involves splitting the battery into two cells and using power management hardware to split the incoming power, which allows for faster charging times with less heat generation.
12. The industry standard for battery health after a certain number of charges is 80, which generally means the battery will not ruin over time.
13. Various smartphones, including those from Xiaomi, Apple, Oppo, and OnePlus, have claimed that their fast charging technology will maintain 80 battery health after a specific number of charge cycles.
14. Modern smartphones have hardware and sensors inside to measure temperature and regulate charging, and they also offer software features to help maintain battery health.
15. Some smartphones, like the ROG Phone 5, have pass-through charging, which allows the system to power on while the battery does not charge, protecting the battery health.
16. The latest iPhones and Pixels have a feature that charges the battery to 80% at night and waits until the user is about to wake up to charge the rest of the way to 100%, prolonging the battery health.
17. The best way to maintain phone battery health is to use the phone normally and avoid giving it any extra reason to get hot, such as leaving it in a hot car or gaming while plugged in for long periods.
18. The famous Galaxy Note 7 battery explosion issue was not actually due to fast charging or overheating, but rather due to incorrect dimensions and bending of the battery.