Connect your phone to the charger before you go to sleep, then head to the office next morning to start a new day with a fully charged phone. Sounds nice, right? Many people choose to power up their phones overnight to save the inconvenience of being without their phone during the day. However, you may also have this concern - that charging your phone overnight through a wall outlet may be damaging your mobile.
As wireless charging becomes more and more popular, some of you may be wondering whether you should leave your phones on a wireless charger overnight. Wireless chargers work differently from wired chargers but if it’s OK to charge your phone overnight through a cable, does it mean it’s OK to charge your phone overnight wirelessly too?
Is It Safe To Leave Your Phone Charging Overnight?
It only takes a few hours to fully charge your smartphone, so when you leave your phone on a wireless charger while you sleep, the device continues to charge for an average of 7 or 8 hours, far longer than necessary.
So what happens when your phone reaches 100%? Does it continue to draw current from the charger and generate more heat to damage the phone?
What Happens When Your Phone Reaches 100%?
The modern mobile phone is called “smartphone” for a reason. Various chips inside the smartphone have different roles, and those known as ‘protection chips’ protects the phone automatically. Your device knows when it reaches 100%, and is smart enough to stop taking in more charge than needed, therefore preventing overheating and other issues. Protection chips are now a standard of modern smartphone technology.
“No need to worry about overcharging as modern devices will terminate the charge correctly at the appropriate voltage”, said John Bradshaw, Marketing Manager from Cadex Electronics, a global pioneer in battery management and technology.
What Happens To The Charger When Your Phone Reaches 100%?
Charging is not a one-way transmission. Your smartphone can protect itself, but how about the charger that is delivering power? Any good quality charger is equipped with protection chips as well. When the charger detects that the receiver, namely your phone, stops taking in charge, it will stop releasing power.
Wired and wireless chargers use different technologies. Wireless chargers use coils to create an electromagnetic field, and transfer current to the receiver’s coil. But it works in the same way as the wired charger concerning battery charging in this case. When your phone no longer draws current, the wireless charger will stop delivering current.
Therefore, you can leave your phone on a wireless charging station overnight and have a sound sleep, knowing that your device won’t overcharge.
Should You Leave Your iPhone Charging Overnight?
The discussion above focuses on safety issues, but when it comes to the lifespan of your phone’s battery, it’s another story.
Does Charging Overnight Hurt Your Phone’s Battery?
We now know that leave your phone charging overnight is safe; however, the debate over whether you should do it never ceases.
When the battery hits 100%, charging stops, but your phone is still running. At least the chip or sensor continues to work to monitor the battery, and apps continue to run in the background. So, after a short while, the battery will lose some power, and will draw in current from the wireless charging station until it’s full charged again. This is the so-called “trickle charge” which may happen a couple of times to your phone while it charges overnight.
Some people believe that the “trickle charge” increases the temperature of the phone and puts it under a certain amount of stress from the high voltage, as the battery has to keep its full charge. On the other hand, a view prevails among some analysts that the “trickle charging effect” doesn’t hurt the phone or the battery since the phone manufacturers have specifically designed the battery in a way that prevents it from charging constantly and harming itself. It’s not clear whether all phone battery companies have included such a function in their batteries. Even if it’s not the case for your phone’s battery, you will hardly see the damage done from overnight charging before the battery degrades overtime.
What Should You Do To Minimize The Possible Impact of Charging Overnight?
There is no concrete evidence about the effect charging overnight has on your phone, but you can never be too careful. If you can’t resist the convenience that charging overnight brings, do it in the right way.
Firstly, don’t put the charger and your phone on your bed or somewhere that doesn’t have good ventilation. Accumulated heat will affect your phone’s battery life, so the cooler the better. Secondly, close background apps and services on your phone that you don’t need while you sleep. In that way, you can reduce the energy that your phone spends, so as to cut the “trickle charge” time.
In addition, use a wireless charger instead of a wired one when charging overnight. That’s because wireless charging charges your phone slower than wired charging. It takes longer to reach 100%, so there will be fewer ‘trickle charges’. It helps maintain the battery capacity between 50%-80%, which is the best for battery life. Moreover, wireless charging transmits power without actually touching any exposed electrical connectors. In other words, this reduces the chance of a connection failure and electric shocks. Double the security.
Are Wireless Charging Stations Ideal For Charging Overnight?
Wireless charging is more convenient than charging your phone via a cable, and more battery-friendly in certain situations, especially when charging overnight. That said, it’s not without problems.
As mentioned before, good quality chargers are “smart” enough to detect the power the receiver needs. So, you need a reliable wireless charging mat for charging overnight. A big concern is that, if your phone is not positioned precisely on the wireless charging station, there’s a good chance of a flat battery in the morning. Wireless charging is possible because of the electromagnetic field which is created by coils. Coils can’t be put everywhere so, there’s only a specific charging spot on most wireless chargers and sometimes it’s hard to find the sweet spot for your phone to charge.
If you intend to leave your iPhone on a wireless charging station overnight, choose a reliable option that allows you the convenience of charging more freely, and doesn’t restrict the charging position. Air Omni Lite, a 6-in-1 family charging station is the perfect choice.
Chain-coil Design
Unlike most wireless chargers out there that stop charging when the device is off center, PITAKA wireless chargers, including Air Essential, Air Tray, and Air Omni Lite, are designed with chain-coil™ embedded, which allows you to charge your devices freely without the necessity of positioning carefully. Among those chargers, Air Omni Lite is the most powerful one that can charge up to 6 devices at the same time.
Keep Your Nightstand Organized
The wireless charging function of the 6-in-1 family charging station will save you the mess of cables on your nightstand. Plus, it’s so powerful that you can charge everything on the one station while you sleep. Six devices, one charger. In addition, the hidden drawer on the side panel offers a secure place for storing small accessories.
The Bottom Line
Charging a mobile phone overnight has become the norm for many, since it’s the time were we finally put our phones aside. It’s quite clear that charging overnight will not ‘overcharge’ your phone whether you are using a wireless charger or a wired one, but there is potential that charging overnight often may be bad for the battery life of your phone.
To enjoy a sound sleep at night, leave your phone or other devices on a reliable wireless charging station. Although there is a bewildering choice of wireless chargers, Air Omni Lite is highly recommended for its reliability and versatility.