Smartphones

5 easy ways to safely charge your phone

These tips are sure to help you do it safely

Published

October 28, 2018

Gab Orlina

One of the most common issues for any smartphone user involves the device’s battery. We already covered how you can keep the battery lasting longer, but let’s go into another issue: charging it.

Whether it’s based off their own experiences or through research, most smartphone users know how to properly charge their phones but the same problems still exist. From overheating batteries to phones refusing to power on, a lot of these issues come off as battery-related in the long run.

So, how can we charge our phones the right way? Well, here are some things you can do that can address your battery charging issues.

Use the charger that comes with your phone

Every phone comes with its own charger and accessories. If you’ve been a user of the same line of Android smartphones or iPhones, these things are no different to you. The natural thing to do is to simply reuse the same charger across multiple devices. But, there is a reason why that charger was bundled with that phone.

Companies provide you with a charger that best fits the electrical capacity needed to charge your phone, and you should seriously consider using them. Ideally, both the power brick and the charging cable were designed specifically for your smartphone. Using another phone charger or a generic one could pose dangers to the battery, and to the phone in the long run. Also, take note if your phone uses fast charging so you have a reason to use the charger that came in the box.

Don’t do a 100 to 0 all the time

You’ve come across people who have told you to discharge your phone completely, especially if it’s a new one. These same people have also told you that doing so is actually good for your phone’s battery. The truth, however, is that your battery will eventually discharge faster, even if they will charge faster or at the same rate. Battery University, a website run by battery company Cadex, calls this process “deep discharge.”

It’s better to keep your battery’s charge level at a workable percentage before even thinking of plugging in the charger. If you subject your phone’s battery to a deep discharge, there is a higher chance that you will gradually reduce its lifespan. It’s also recommended that the workable percentage shouldn’t be too low (experts say below 30 percent) as it has the same effect.

Don’t keep your phone charging until 100

There are people who also tell you to charge your phone until you hit the 100 percent mark. Sure, it means that you have proof that your battery is full — and who wouldn’t want that? What you probably don’t know is that doing this adds stress to the battery, which damages it in the long run.

As much as possible, charge your batteries up to a safe percentage. While it would be good to go all the way to 100, working with 80 to 90 percent would already be fine. If you want to maximize your battery life, you can always look up ways to save your battery.

It’s not advisable to charge overnight

Charging your phone overnight is a common practice. At the end of the day, you would want to treat your phone the way you treat yourself: getting enough charge for the activities that lie ahead. So, the logical thing to do is to plug in the phone charger and let it reach 100 percent overnight.

But as mentioned earlier, going all the way to 100 might not be a good idea. Even if your battery reaches its full capacity, a lot of “trickle charges” come into play while your charger is still plugged in overnight. These trickle charges keep your phone at 100 percent as it fills in for the charges that your phone naturally loses. When that happens, you’re just adding more stress to the battery.

Charge when you can, little by little

Instead of charging it overnight, charging it periodically would be the way to go. Plug the charger as often as you would want to within the day, up to a workable percentage for you. It’s also good to keep your phone charged for short bursts of time to keep your device up and running the whole day. While it seems impractical, doing this does not have any harmful effects to your phone’s battery.

Related Topics:battery life Charging specials

Smartphones

Huawei P50 Pro, P50 Pocket opens to international market

Here’s how much

Published

January 26, 2022

Luigi Leonardo

Years since the first one, the Huawei P series is still one of the most paramount lineups in the Chinese smartphone maker’s gallery. Despite the drop off caused by still-ongoing geopolitical issues, Huawei maintains a steady influx of smartphones for the series. Most notably, the recent Huawei P50 series infused a breath of new life for the company, spearheaded by a clamshell phone, the P50 Pocket, released a few weeks ago. Now, you can finally grab the new devices for yourself.

Today, Huawei has opened the P50 Pro and the P50 Pocket for an international audience.

As the name suggests, the P50 Pro is a more premium version of the regular model — headlined by a slightly larger 6.6-inch 120Hz screen, up to 12GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of internal storage. Check out more specs here.

Meanwhile, the P50 Pocket is a horizontal clamshell phone, taking on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip3 and Moto’s Razr. With a sizable 6.9-inch screen, the foldable device comes with Snapdragon 888, up to 12GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of internal storage. Check it out here.

As expected, both smartphones came with a staggered release, launching first in China before others. But, of course, Huawei can’t keep these devices under a limited release forever. In the first phase of the international rollout, both will launch in key markets from Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

The P50 Pro will retail for EUR 1,199. Meanwhile, the P50 Pocket (8GB/256GB) will come in two variants. The starting model will retail for EUR 1,299. Finally, the P50 Pocket Premium Edition (12GB/512GB) will retail for EUR 1,599.

News

Redmi Note 11 series officially launches

Featuring 4 devices

Published

January 26, 2022

GadgetMatch

Xiaomi just announced the Redmi Note 11 series. It’s a massive line that has four smartphones. These are the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, Redmi Note 11 Pro, Redmi Note 11S and Redmi Note 11. The series promises upgrades across the board from cameras, performance, and charging speeds.

Flagship-level camera setup

Each member of the Redmi Note 11 series is equipped with sensors that won’t leave you wanting in the camera department. The Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, Redmi Note 11 Pro, and Redmi Note 11 feature 108MP primary sensors.

Specifically, they are using the Samsung HM2 with a 1/1.52″ sensor size. It leverages 9-in-1 pixel binning technology as well as dual native ISO to deliver incredible images with higher dynamic range and colour performance, with excellent results even in dim light.

AMOLED goodness

Members of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 series’ screen sizes vary. But they all have FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay featuring DCI-P3 wide color gamut. There’s also 1200nits brightness. And last but certainly not the least, a 120Hz screen refresh rate with a 360Hz touch sampling rate. Impressive numbers, especially for the Redmi Note line.

The series is powered by more than capable Snapdragon and MediaTek chipsets. These are able to handle any task from the most basic like social media browsing, to the most demanding like playing games and multitasking.

Here’s a quick look at the specs.

	Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G	Redmi Note 11 Pro	Redmi Note 11S	Redmi Note 11
Display	120Hz 6.67” FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay		90Hz 6.43” FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay
Rear camera	108MP main camera 8MP ultra-wide camera 2MP macro camera	108MP main camera 8MP ultra-wide camera 2MP macro camera 2MP depth camera		50MP main camera 8MP ultra-wide camera 2MP macro camera 2MP depth camera
Front camera	16MP in-display front camera			13MP in-display front camera
Dimension & Weight	164.19mm x 76.1mm x 8.12mm 202g		159.87mm x 73.87mm x 8.09mm 179g
Processor	Snapdragon 695	MediaTek Helio G96		Snapdragon 680
RAM+ROM	LPDDR4X UFS 2.2
Audio	Dual speakers 3.5mm headphone jack
Security	Side fingerprint sensor AI Face Unlock
Charging	5,000mAh (typ) battery Supports 67W wired turbo charging		5,000mAh (typ) battery Supports 33W wired Pro fast charging
Connectivity	SIM 1 + Hybrid (SIM or MicroSD) NFC IR blaster		Dual SIM + MicroSD NFC** IR blaster
Variant**	6GB+64GB, 6GB+128GB, 8GB+128GB			4GB+64GB, 4GB+128GB, 6GB+128GB
Available colors (Depends on region)	Graphite Gray, Polar White, Atlantic Blue	Graphite Gray, Polar White, Star Blue	Graphite Gray, Twilight Blue, Pearl White	Graphite Gray, Twilight Blue, Star Blue

Pricing and availability details to follow.

News

Nvidia planning to drop Arm acquisition plans

Initially set for US$ 40 billion

Published

January 26, 2022

Luigi Leonardo

In the wake of the blockbuster Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a major deal from 2020 has suddenly fallen apart. Nvidia is reportedly backing down from its acquisition of chip designer Arm.

Back in 2020, the GPU maker was reportedly set to purchase Arm for a whopping US$ 40 billion. The deal, which has since never materialized, was supposed to involve a mixture of shares and straight cash. Nvidia planned to take the company from current owner SoftBank.

However, as is apparent now, the acquisition plan is now a no-go. Initially reported by Bloomberg, Nvidia is planning to drop the deal. Sources inside the company no longer expect any form of buyout talks to materialize further.

For their part, SoftBank is now preparing to open Arm for an IPO in the future, obviously aiming for a future with the same helmsman.

Several parties are likely satisfied that the deal is not pushing through. Some, including the American government, planned to stop the acquisition to prevent anti-competition. China has also expressed disdain towards the proposed plan. Arm, a British business, falling to Nvidia, an American company, will certainly cause problems for Chinese companies looking for a grip on the semiconductor market, according to Chinese pundits at the time.

Though it’s not a huge household name, Arm is an influential force in the semiconductor realm, designing chips for several devices.