Computers have come a long way since their origin. But there’s one thing that still bothers users, yes, the battery it is. There’s a lot in the laptop that uses battery largely, which forces you to keep the laptop plugged in all the time, but is it appropriate or safer to do? let’s find out.
Longer Battery Life
When laptops were first introduced, they were bulky enough not to be called “portable PCs.” But, due to the rapid growth of technology, thanks to the R&D, OEMs are now able to shrink the size significantly enough to make it not only portable but also thin and light.
One of the major components that adds up a lot of bulk is the battery. The vast “9-10 hours of battery life” banners from the manufacturers are not because they put huge batteries or use lighter materials like aluminum.
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The battery drain depends on the processor and its TDP (Thermal Design Power). If long battery life is what you’re looking for, you may have a look at power-efficient “U” series processors from Intel and AMD.
Laptop Plugged All The Time, Reduces Life Span?
With a lot of confusion about the technical stuff comes a lot of myths about batteries and we often believe them to be true. “Leaving your laptop plugged in all the time might reduce the life span of the battery” is one of the tales. The short answer is NO.
Most laptops use lithium-ion batteries. Unlike nickel-based cells, lithium-ion batteries don’t undergo the “memory effect,” meaning that discharging and recharging them will not have an impact on the battery’s longevity.
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So, having your laptop plugged in will not cause any issues to your battery as, if the battery gets charged, the computer will refuse the take more power. However, certain things might still affect the battery if you keep the laptop plugged in, like;
Heat
The heat harms battery cells in a critical way. Excess heat will damage a battery over time and reduce its lifetime significantly. Excess heat is typical when you are multitasking and have many programs open simultaneously.
Heat damages the cells inside the battery, by which they lose their capacity to hold power inside. Good thermals and construction can counter the heat, but that purely depends on the manufacturers.
Charge Cycles
Laptop batteries last for a specific number of charge cycles. Charging a laptop from 0-100% is considered a charge cycle. The batteries have a life cycle of 300-500 charge cycles before they lose their capacity to hold power.
Every cell can take 4.2 volts of charge, which totals as 100% of the battery’s capacity. Charging your laptop frequently might lead to a decrease in the life span and in this way, the battery will refuse to take charge soon.
You might want to look at the byproducts which affect the battery even if there is no harm in keeping your laptop plugged in all the time. So, we shouldn’t worry about always keeping the laptop plugged in as the battery will degrade anyways with each charge.
You can also try the power saving mode in Windows 10, which helps to reduce the battery drain significantly. Do you leave your device on charging all the time? Let us know in the comment section below.
Additional inputs from Atish Rajasekharan
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