It has become increasingly difficult for us to stay away from our phone even for just a few minutes. This small device has given us the ability to complete a lot of tasks by just tapping our fingers on the screen. We can now do a multitude of things that used to require us a lot of time and effort, like grocery shopping or visiting the bank or even meeting with our loved ones to talk to them. Now, we can simply do all of that and more without having to stand or move at all.
We’ve also become so dependent on our phones that when we can’t find it or when it dies, we can barely function. As a way to avoid these dilemmas, people have found ways to link their phones to other devices so they can track it when it gets lost and a lot of people keep their phone plugged into a power source whenever they can to ensure that it is getting as much battery juice as possible and can stay alive for hours of use.
I’m sure most of us are guilty of charging our phones in our car, whether it’s on low battery or not. We think it does no harm and it actually provides us the benefit of having more battery on our phone. Well, this is actually false thinking. Believe it or not, we are actually doing some damage to our phone and our car by doing so.
How are you damaging our phone when you plug it into your car?
For one, your car is probably giving your phone less electricity than it actually requires and you’ll notice this when you leave your phone plugged into your car for a good amount of time and when you check the battery, it has barely increased. Brad Nichols, a technician at Staymobile explained, “This is mostly due to the fact the phone is using more power than the car charger is supplying it.”
On the other hand, plugging it into the cigarette lighter port might supply your phone with too much power and that can cause overheating and possibly destroy some internal components of your device.
Potential damages to your car when you plug in your phone
It’s possible that charging your phone on the USB port of your car might cause trouble on your car battery especially if your car is an older model. When your phone is connected to the car while the engine is off, your phone will get its source of power from the car battery. This isn’t likely to be a problem for newer car models but it’s always best to be cautious and wait until you get home to charge your phone.
Best practice and recommendations when charging your phone
As mentioned above, it is better to charge your phone at home to ensure it is fed the correct amps. If that’s not possible, consider getting a quality portable charger for your phone. Here are some of our recommendations.
- Anker PowerCore 20100
This portable charger is high in the ranks with a 7-day charging capacity and is a pocket-friendly size. It weighs 12.5oz and can charge an iPhone 7 almost seven times over. It also comes with an 18-month warranty.
- Crave Travel Pro
This power bank is perfect for traveling because it is lightweight (13oz) and compact. At 13000 mah, it can charge any phone to reach full battery four times and has 2 USB charging ports. It also comes with an 18-month warranty.
- FosPower Power Active
This portably charger is the ultimate definition of durability. It is snow proof, dirt proof, drop proof and waterproof. It weights 8.4oz can charge a phone over 500 cycles throughout its life. It also comes with a 12-month limited replacement warranty.
