It's a feature that you often hear iPhone users talk about when they are about to sell their current handset – battery health. The longer a battery is in use, the more a battery's capacity to fully charge will decrease. It's usually a slow process that isn't terribly obvious but as the years go by, you'll wonder why the phone needs little top-ups here and there when it used to last the full day. While Apple's iPhone has had the Battery Health feature for years, Android is only just about to jump on the bandwagon.
Why does a battery deteriorate?
Batteries are rated in cycles which this means that each full charge reduces the battery capacity by a fraction which is hardly noticeable in the short term. Besides the cycle count being a major factor in a battery's demise, other factors come in to play. The way you charge your handset also has an impact on the health of the battery.
The faster that a phone is charged, so heat created in the process rises. And as you would expect, excessive heat is not a friend of the battery. The hotter it gets because it's being charged at ridiculously quick speeds of 240W, the more long-term damage is done to the battery.
Modern Android handsets usually feature the option to charge at a slower speed while you sleep, or perhaps only charge up to 80% and then topping up just before you usually take the phone off charge. Some phones, like those from Samsung and Google, just charge really slowly by default in order to help the battery maintain its health for a longer period.
Knowing when to replace the battery on your Android phone isn't exactly a scientific process either; unless the degradation is obvious in your normal usage you may not realize that it won't last the day out until you are caught out by a disruption in your routine. Thankfully, Google is on the case and we may see a solution present in Android 15.
Android 15 To Get Battery Health Settings?
As discovered by Mishaal Rahman of Android Authority, the new Battery Information Page under Settings> About Phone in the December 2023 Pixel Feature Drop shows when the battery was manufactured and how many cycles have been performed. This is all possible thanks to new APIs present in the Feature Drop which recently went out to Pixel phones via OTA.
Other information such as when the battery was first used (helpful if its a replacement unit perhaps), charging policy, charging status, and its state of health are also available via the APIs but are not yet being shown on the page. Knowing just what level of health your battery is at is perhaps the most interesting because you should be able to see that instead of being fully charged to its 5,000mAh capacity, the battery may be topping out at 4,900mAh.
Besides letting you know if its time to replace the battery in your phone, it will also help you when buying a second hand smartphone by giving you a snapshot of how the phone has been looked after.
There's More…
Besides the state of the battery's health, Google is also working on showing more details such as the part status of the battery and its serial number, which should make it easier to find a replacement part. Part status is important because it will tell you if its the original battery, if its a replacement, and also if it can't tell the difference for some reason.
While we presume this new information on the state of our phone batteries could come to Android 15 next year, it's still a presumption. This is Google remember, and sometimes it works on features that either take ages to be included, if at all. Let us know if you would appreciate Google adding a way to view your phone's battery health in an upcoming version of the Android OS.
