Getting 2 new phones today, question about batteries in general.

[Hyperfludd]

So I'm finally getting my Motorola Triumph and Optimus V today from VM, joy!

However, before I get and play with these phones I want to know something that I always get mixed results on..

Should I turn on the phones as soon as I get them and drain the battery, or charge them up as soon as I get them? Which is the best option for the battery?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Granite1]

I think, and this is purely my thought, that the old school nickel cadmium batteries had a "memory" so it was advised to fully discharge and charge as often as possible. I don't think its an issue with the new lithium ion batteries per se.
Now to get the battery stats calibrated I would plug the phones in and fully charge prior to turning them on, then turn on and fully discharge. Then fully charge again. This will calibrate your battery and give you a more accurate depiction of the charge.

 

[lunatic59]

Modern Li-Ion batteries do not have a memory and do not need to be conditioned, but Android needs to be taught exactly what a full charge represents so that it can manage power appropriately.

One of the things I recommend all new phone owners to do is to perform a deep power cycle.

Let your phone discharge completely, keep it on until you are warned about low battery and then just let it run out. Most phone will shut down automatically around 5%.

Plug the phone into the original a/c charger, not the usb cable. Let it charge to full uninterrupted.

When the phone says full, unplug the phone from the charge and reboot. Once the phone is completely restarted, plug it back into the charger and shut the phone off. Even if it says fully charged, let it charge for at least one more hour.

Unplug the charger and reboot the phone one more time. Now you should start seeing (possibly significantly) longer charge times.

Without a deep power cycle, it doesn't know the true capacity of the battery. Be advised that you should only need to do this once as regularly deep cycling the battery can harm it. Li-Ion batteries perform better and last longer with incremental charges.

 

[Hyperfludd]

Thanks for the battery insight, both of you! I got the Optimus, still waiting on the triumph.

Already drained the phone by watching Netflix, it's charging via a direct line instead of USB.

Now to play the waiting game~