Boosting Battery Life: Android 15's New Charging Tricks

Ever wondered how to make your phone's battery last longer? Android 15 has a cool new feature called Charging Optimization. This feature lets you limit your battery charge to 80%, which can slow down battery degradation. This might mean your phone doesn't last as long each day, but it could make your battery healthier in the long run. Should you use this feature or stick with Adaptive Charging, which has been around for a while? Let's take a look. In Android 15, you can find Charging Optimization in the Settings menu under Battery > Charging Optimization. There are two options: Adaptive Charging and Limit to 80%. The 80% limit stops the charging process at 80%, showing a shield icon in the status bar. This feature has been seen on some phones like iPhones and Samsung Galaxy models, but now it's built into Android 15. Adaptive Charging, on the other hand, charges the battery up to 80% and then fills the last 20% an hour before you usually unplug your phone. This works best if you charge your phone overnight and uses your morning alarm to figure out when to finish charging. So, why limit the battery charge level? It's all about keeping your battery healthy. Batteries lose capacity over time, and limiting how much they're charged can help slow this down. Even new phones can lose up to 20% of their battery health in just two years! Is it worth turning on this new feature? If you keep your phone for a few years, it might be. A new battery can cost a lot, and a phone with a bad battery might not be worth much when you try to sell it. But which option should you choose? Adaptive Charging is less aggressive and lets you use your full battery capacity. The 80% limit is more effective for battery health but means you can't use 20% of your battery. It's up to you to decide what's more important. Don't worry, using these features won't make your battery go through cycles faster. A cycle is complete when the battery is fully charged and then discharged. Even if you charge to 80%, it still counts as one cycle. Phone makers have been working on charging optimization features for a while, but Android 15 is making them more common. If your phone doesn't have this feature, you can still unplug it at 80% or use an app like AccuBattery to remind you.