Do you know how long a laptop battery lasts?

Over the years, the batteries in devices such as laptops and cell phones lose their ability to hold a charge. The period between a battery’s first use and its eventual inability to hold any power is known as battery life. To properly maintain your laptop, it’s important to know how long the battery is supposed to last. However, do you know how long a laptop battery lasts?

Do you know how long a laptop battery lasts?

In practical terms, a laptop battery lasts between two and five years before it loses its ability to hold a charge. Although this estimate reflects the battery life of the average user’s laptop, it’s not completely accurate. The useful life of a battery depends on how quickly the battery charging cycles occur.

Each charging cycle occurs when the battery goes from fully charged to fully discharged (100%-0%). The average laptop has a battery that can last between 300 and 500 charging cycles on average, before there is a significant drop in battery capacity. Less frequent use of your laptop can lengthen these cycles, although a complete lack of use can reduce battery life.

It is important to take into account the duration of each charging cycle. So, if your laptop can last ten to twelve hours once fully charged, you can use just one charging cycle every two days – effectively ensuring that the battery will last for several years. If the battery can only handle a five-hour charge, several charging cycles per day may be necessary.

What affects the life of laptop batteries?

Several factors affect the life of laptop batteries, including full usage of charging cycles, exposure to excessive heat, and the quality of the battery itself.

Loading cycles

The most important factor that affects your laptop’s battery life is how fast it charges cycles. As mentioned earlier, most laptops have between 500 and 1,000 charging cycles before the battery loses its capacity significantly. As a result, laptops that are used frequently but for short periods of time typically have longer battery lives than laptops that are used for hours every day.

Battery quality

The quality of the battery itself also affects its duration. You’ll generally get the best battery life from an OEM battery — or a third-party battery made from high-quality materials like lithium. Therefore, cheaply made third-party batteries are likely to have a shorter overall lifespan and may be more susceptible to degradation caused by overheating or high charger power.

Incorrect download

The power of your laptop charger is important. Therefore, your notebook’s battery life will be maximized if you use the charger that was originally sold with your notebook. Or a third party charger with the same power. However, using a charger with a higher power than recommended (for example, 65W instead of 45W) will cause your laptop battery to deteriorate quickly.

Excessive heat

However, heat is an important external factor that can reduce the useful life of a laptop battery. Damage can be caused by internal or external heat sources. You should avoid using your laptop in extremely hot climates and make sure that the bottom air vents are always open. Avoid overclocking the CPU or using applications that cause the laptop to overheat. Your laptop may need repair if it frequently overheats.

Lack of use

Last but not least, one of the factors that affects battery life is leaving the laptop unused. If the battery is stored for several weeks or more with a charge remaining in the battery, stagnant charging will cause the battery to rapidly deteriorate. You should completely discharge your laptop battery before storing it if you plan to leave it aside for more than a few weeks.