How to ‘squeeze more juice’ from your phone

Now that many phone brands share chargers, is there any harm in charging your phone using any charger? Is the phone battery affected by the type of charger you use on it? The answer is not a clear-cut "yes" or "no".

One of the major selling features of phones is how long they can keep their charge. The longer a phone can hold the charge, especially if it is a smartphone, the higher its price is likely to be.

The charging physics depends on the wattage. Wattage is the overall measurement of power that flows through your charger. A charger with a higher wattage will charge a device faster compared to a charger with low wattage. The tricky bit is that many phone chargers are sold as USB cords to plug into a phone. They have no label showing their wattage.

You need not be concerned about the wattage, though. Unless you're using counterfeit or damaged chargers — and there are many in the market — mixing, and matching chargers will not harm your battery. Any good charger will do the job, even though it may not charge as quickly as the charger that came with the phone.

Is there a chance that your phone could explode because of using the wrong charger? Most likely not. Modern-day handsets will regulate the power they draw to keep the battery protected, so there's no danger of blowing up your phone by using a charger that's too powerful for it.

Misplaced fear

Another question often in phone users' minds is; can keeping a phone plugged in degrade overall battery life or build up too much internal heat and cause the battery to burst or catch fire?

That fear is often misplaced, especially for modern phones. The battery's internal management system is designed to shut off the electrical charge once a battery reaches 100 percent. It's like the way a baby feeds and refuses to eat more after she is full. Likewise, a phone never takes in more juice than it can handle. It's self-regulating.

The biggest enemy to a phone battery is the heat. If you expose the battery to a higher temperature, it degrades with time. Keep your phone away from the intense sun or near a cooker or windowsills. To prevent it from overheating, don't place it on the dashboard of a car. In extreme cases, an overheated battery could explode.

To get the maximum charge from your phone, reduce its energy consumption by dimming its display's brightness, turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you're not using them and restricting background data usage by switching off activities that run quietly in the background.

The battery is a large part of the phone. So, when the battery is no longer functional, the phone is as good as useless. Take care of it.

Mr Wambugu is an informatician. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Samwambugu2