Myth or reality: Is fast charging harmful?

With smartphones becoming the center of our lives, we can now say that every moment of our lives is on our phones. Of course, this intense use also brings charging problems. Brands have introduced fast charging features to eliminate charging problems in a short time. So is fast charging really harmful? Or are these urban legends? Here are the details…

Is fast charging really harmful? Or is it just an urban legend?

Ahh, where are the old days? We can almost hear you say. I guess you are saying that we used to have push-button phones and their batteries would last for a week. Yes, those days were good, but technology was inadequate. Now, we have phones in our pockets that do more than just saying “Hello”.

Of course, these phones also need unlimited energy. Brands have implemented fast charging technologies to minimize these charging times. While 30 W speeds used to be considered “tremendous” for us, we now have adapters that can go up to 100 W. Of course, this speed also brings with it some problems.

Because the fast charging feature brings with it excessive charging load and heating on the batteries. The batteries used in our phones are two-layer batteries called lithium ion. These layers are in an electrolysis solution. Ions, which we call cations and anions, travel between these layers and energy is released.

As you may have noticed, this system is actually based on ion lifetime. So, the healthier the ions, the more battery time you will have. However, ions are damaged due to problems such as high capacity charging and overheating. This means your battery health decreases.

How to maintain battery health?

If you want my ions to survive, you need to protect your battery health. For this, you should neither fully discharge nor fully charge your phone battery. Ideally, you should use your device between 20 percent and 80 percent.

You should also pay attention to the temperature of the device. For this reason, turn on the smart charging time feature from the settings menu. This feature allows your device to charge quickly between 20 percent and 80 percent and extends battery life by reducing the voltage at higher capacities. This feature also prevents the device from overheating.

So what’s the result? Is fast charging harmful or harmless?

It is difficult to give a definitive answer to this question, such as yes or no. However, we can say this. If you properly follow 2 simple steps to protect your battery health, you can charge your device safely and quickly.