Phone batteries have a tendency of dying faster the longer you have had them so if you have had your mobile for a while there is a chance it does not last as long as it once did.
Charging habits could be one reason for this as you could be doing it all wrong, as well as general wear and tear.
Most of us are used to plugging in our dead phone at the end of the day to charge it up overnight - but it turns out that might be doing more harm than good.
Inside the vast majority of smartphones, tablets and all your other electronic gadgets are lithium-ion batteries which contain an anode, a cathode and a chemical electrolyte.
When the phone is being used, charge is pushed from the positive cathode through the electrolyte and attracted to the anode before flowing out to the different components of the phone. Once you're plugged in and charging, this process is reversed.
Cadax, a company which offers devices that test smartphone and other batteries, runs a free educational website called Battery University.
As spotted by BusinessInsider, it offers a host of tips for prolonging the life of your phone:
Charge your phone little and often
We're all used to plugging in our mobiles for the long, overnight charge.
But it turns out that juicing up frequently and in small doses might actually be the best option for your battery's health.
It doesn't matter if you only charge up 10 per cent or 20 per cent as, according to Battery University: "Partial charges cause no harm."
Don't let your phone run out before you plug it in
We're often told that you should fully deplete your battery before you charge it right back up again.
Again, this isn't ideal.
According to the experts, a "deep-discharge" where you run it down to a fraction of its power is actually bad for batteries and will wear them out quicker.
So avoid the red warning if at all possible.
Keep your phone's battery between 65 per cent and 75 per cent
It turns out there's an optimal point to maintain your phone's power - kind of like the optimal speed limit for burning gas and covering distance in a car.
According to the team at Battery University, the sweet spot is between 65 per cent and 75 per cent of your battery's full charge.
Best keep that power pack handy.
Never fully charge your battery
This one might seem a bit counter-intuitive - but it appears that you should never charge your phone up to 100 per cent.
That's because modern lithium-ion batteries do "not need to be fully charged, nor is it desirable to do so."
The website states: "In fact, it is better not to fully charge, because a high voltage stresses the battery".
You don't need to remove the charger when it's full
If you do decide to ignore the point above, the good news is that you don't have to remove the phone after you've hit 100 per cent.
Battery University points out that the charger automatically turns off when it hits 100 per cent so you're not doing any extra damage by leaving it connected to your device.
That being said, if you're not doing the battery any good by keeping it at 100 per cent, it might be best to leave it alone overnight.
