Is fast-charging bad for your battery?
Short answer:
No.
Longer answer:
Over the long-term, your battery may degrade slightly more than if you were to use regular, "slow" charging.
The reason:
Charging and discharging a battery causes lithium to accumulate around graphite inside the cell, which causes it to break down over time. Fast-charging accelerates chemical reactions and increases temperature, which exacerbates this break down.
The solution:
Phones are designed with effective heat dissipation systems which keep the battery and other components cool. They are are also programmed to automatically adjust the charging rate as the battery level increases. When the battery is at a low level, the charging rate goes all out, but as the battery nears full capacity, the charging rate gradually tapers off to prevent overheating and overcharging. This increases the battery's longevity.
What you need to do:
Phones also have adaptive charging features that "learn" the user's charging habits and optimises the charging schedule accordingly. The phone will hold off on charging until about an hour before the user's typical wake-up time, ensuring that it's fully charged when needed without overcharging. Go into Settings > Battery, and make sure this is turned on.
The golden rule:
Use a genuine mains charger most of the time. The car charger from Home Bargains which sizzles your finger like a sausage is equally unkind to your phones battery.
The conclusion:
Fast-charging can be extremely useful when your Uber is on its way and you've only just realised that your phone's on 8%. With the clever internal designs, built-in battery management software, and the fact that we're dealing with relatively small amounts of power, there's no need to worry about it. Disabling fast-charging altogether will, at best, result in a negligible increase to your battery's lifespan.
Leave the battery replacements to us:
TL;DR:
Less time charging, more time partying.
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