Creating long-lasting devices faces a significant challenge when it comes to the battery. In simple terms, batteries aren’t built to endure forever. Even a high-quality battery will eventually lose its effectiveness.
The reason behind this lies in how a battery functions; it generates power as ions move within it, causing the electrodes to wear down over time.
Occasionally, your phone might shut down unexpectedly due to a lack of power, even though the battery indicator suggests there’s some charge left.
It’s important to note that this isn’t the fault of your battery. Your smartphone keeps track of your battery’s charge level and displays it on the screen. If this tracking process isn’t carried out accurately, your phone may show an incorrect charge level on the screen.
Fortunately, this issue can be resolved. In this article, we will guide you through the steps to calibrate the battery on your Android phone or tablet.
What is Battery Calibration?
The Android operating system constantly monitors your battery and its charge levels to inform you when it’s full or low. However, there’s a problem that can occur: sometimes, it gets mixed up and starts showing incorrect data. This can lead to issues like your phone shutting down prematurely even when it’s not completely out of power. Such discrepancies can also be caused by the natural aging of the battery.
Over time, all batteries degrade, meaning an older battery can’t hold as much charge as it could when it was new. Surprisingly, the software on your phone doesn’t usually adjust for this aging when showing your battery status on the screen.
Calibrating your Android battery is about prompting the Android OS to correct this information so it accurately reflects your real battery levels once more.
It’s important to note that this process doesn’t actually improve the battery itself, nor does it extend your phone’s battery life. It simply ensures that your phone displays battery information correctly.
How to Calibrate the Battery on Android?
This process works for all Android smartphones except Samsung devices, follow these steps:
1. Let your Android device’s battery discharge completely until it turns off.
2. Power your device back on. If your device’s battery isn’t properly calibrated, the battery indicator on the screen will show some remaining charge, but your device will shut down quickly.
3. While keeping your device turned off, plug it in to charge. You’ll see the battery indicator on the screen. Allow it to charge up to 100%.
4. Once the indicator indicates a full charge, unplug your device from the charger and turn it on.
5. Check if the battery indicator on the screen shows a 100% charge. If it doesn’t, reconnect your phone to the charger and leave it there until the indicator reaches 100% or very close to it.
6. Once your Android phone or tablet reaches 100% charge, let it discharge again. Keep the screen unlocked to speed up the battery drain.
7. Charge your phone back up to 100% without turning it on. When it’s fully charged, disconnect the charging cable and turn on your device. Your battery should now be properly calibrated.
How to Calibrate the Battery on Samsung Devices?
Samsung smartphones include a feature known as ‘Quick Reset,’ usually accessed by technicians to fix inaccurate battery stats. You can use this option to calibrate your Samsung device’s battery. Here’s how:
1. Use your smartphone until it reaches 5% battery, and ensure it’s not connected to the charger.
2. Open the phone dialer app and input the code: *#0228#.
3. A pop-up menu will appear with an option labelled “Quick Start.” Select it and press OK.
4. Wait for the display to turn back on and check if the battery percentage has decreased.
5. Charge your phone to 100% once more.
6. Power off your phone, turn it on again, and then unplug the charger.
7. Repeat steps 2 and 3 two more times.
8. Plug in the charger again until the battery reaches 100%, then turn the phone on. Open the dialer and type: *#9900#.
9. Scroll down to “batterystats.bin reset” and tap on it.
10. Exit the menu and restart your phone.
It’s important to note that you shouldn’t perform this process regularly. Even when your battery is extremely low, it still has some reserve charge to prevent system damage. But it’s best not to overdo it. Only go through this process once every three months at most. If you find yourself needing it more often, you may have larger issues to address.
To put it simply: fully discharging a battery or attempting to overload it is not good for its health. Thankfully, charging mechanisms automatically shut off when they reach a safe limit, leaving a bit of reserve charge, even if your phone won’t start.
Once again, only use this method when absolutely necessary, as it can have a negative impact on battery life.