Xiaomi Battery Charging

[Pipe & Slippers]

Got a 14T Pro last week and note that both of the charging protection options stop charging at 80%
Seems a bit mad having a 5,000mAh batter and not using 1,000 of it
Obviously I can not use either, and charge to 100% - I used to do this with the previous phone, Huawei P20 Pro which is now almost 7 years old and still seems to hold its charge ok
Any advice?

 

[kona786]

It's not the end of the world. Use it if you want.

It's just a little safeguarding. Worse case scenarios replace the battery in a few years time.

 

[Ewanb75]

Does it have the option in settings>battery smart charging? turn that off?

 

[kona786]

I misread the OP.

There are indeed options to turn that stuff off and charge to 100%

 

[Pipe & Slippers]

Cheers for the replies. Yes I can switch off the battery protections, and so not enforce the 80% cap, but I’m not sure what the downside is
Like I say, my 7 y/o Huawei still holds its charge well but I was wondering if the thinking about fully charging and discharging phones has changed in the last 7 years

 

[Philtor]

I keep reading about never going below 20% and never above 80% charge for battery longevity.

This is new to me so don’t know what has changed tbh.

 

[kona786]

I keep reading about never going below 20% and never above 80% charge for battery longevity.

This is new to me so don’t know what has changed tbh.

Yes it's just good practice, not a strict rule. Nothing more.

 

[kona786]

Cheers for the replies. Yes I can switch off the battery protections, and so not enforce the 80% cap, but I’m not sure what the downside is
Like I say, my 7 y/o Huawei still holds its charge well but I was wondering if the thinking about fully charging and discharging phones has changed in the last 7 years

Downside is more wear and degradation on the battery cells. Plenty of articles on the Web about it.

 

[mrk]

There is no real downside, even after a few years. As long as you charge "normally", as in don't let the battery drop to below 20% often, and just keep the battery topped up through the day, then cell wear health will remain good for enough years.

You can charge to above 80% no problems, batteries are made for this purpose and a phone's power controller will never overcharge the cells anyway, it will hit 100% indicated and stop charging until it drops a bit like at 95% with Samsung until it trickle charges up again. the charge rate is always very slow after 80% anyway to mitigate advanced cell wear which is why the last half of a charge always takes a lot longer than the first half.

Faff with these safety modes or not, it won't make a noticeable difference for the most part, if you keep the phone for several years then whatever you choose will see enough cell wear that max capacity drops anyway.