How to Calibrate Your Phone’s Battery (4 Easy Methods)

Over time, a phone’s battery cell is bound to degrade and run into calibration issues. This is when the phone may not hold as much charge as it once did. Due to this, the phone may show signs of poor battery life, and at times, this degradation can cause issues with your software’s battery indicator too.

In the context of battery calibration, most people tend to confuse the terminology with “optimizing” their phone’s maximum charge level. Battery calibration refers to setting the scale on your phone’s software to match the actual battery capacity with the percentage number you see on the notification bar.

One might want to calibrate their device’s battery for one (or more) of the following reasons:

1. Inaccurate Battery Percentage: The device might show a lower or higher charge level than the actual available charge. This can result in ambiguous charging behaviors, such as the phone taking mere seconds to drop from 10% to 1% or, worse, running for 5 minutes straight at a charging level of “0%.”
2. Sudden Shutdowns: If your phone is slow to juice up, the issue might be linked to how your OS perceives or reads the remaining charge. This can result in issues like unexpected shutdowns due to slow (apparent) battery drain.
3. Improve Battery Life: Many users aim to optimize their batteries to improve their phone’s screen-on time. With some tinkering, a number of users have reported significant gains in battery life.
4. Prevent Massive Battery Drains: An uncalibrated battery can potentially lead to faster drainage patterns, which may not align with actual readings at the hardware level.

↪ Hardware Limitations

While most calibration is safe to do on the software front, it won’t serve the purpose if the initial issue is diagnosed at the hardware level. Since battery calibration doesn’t have many strings attached to the OS or, (in the case of the methods below) your phone’s recovery, you may not see the results you expected.

For instance, if your battery is draining quicker than normal, if your phone is charging slower than before, or if the device in question is going through random unwanted shutdown procedures, there is a high chance that the problem is at the hardware end. For that, it is important that you try to single out the potential causes by going through the list below step by step.

To calibrate your phone’s battery, you can either try manual calibration by fully charging and discharging it several times, use third-party apps, or perform a factory reset to restore the battery’s calibration settings.

1) Perform a Full Charge Cycle

Manually calibrating your device’s battery by performing a full charge cycle can help your operating system accurately measure the charge percentage.

1. Charge your phone to 100% and let it charge for a few minutes.
2. Use your phone as you normally would until the battery reaches 20%.
3. Recharge your device to 80%.
4. Restart your device.

While this methodology can be a hit-or-miss, the idea is that by allowing your phone to charge fully and then keeping it plugged in, the system can re-calibrate itself to match the 100% charge level, which would then match the actual charge stored in the battery.

2) Charge Beyond the Maximum-Rated Capacity

While some users online have claimed to have increased their battery’s maximum charge capacity through battery calibration, these claims often rely on readings from third-party apps. Keep in mind that you can exceed the maximum charge capacity set by the manufacturer at the hardware level.

1. Discharge your phone completely to 0%. You can do this by running a power-hungry process, such as a benchmark, or by using the flashlight.
2. Now, charge your phone back to 100% using a fast-charging brick.
3. Once it is fully charged, replace the fast-charging brick with a slower 5-10W charger. This may potentially bypass any fast-charging security protocols.
4. Now, check the charge level in mAh (not the percentage displayed in the notification bar). Compare this with the charge level you had before the calibration.

It is important to note that manipulating your phone’s charging process can be a dangerous task. Perform this procedure at your own risk. Appuals will not be responsible for any issues that may arise after doing this.

3) Use a Third-Party App

To automatically calibrate your phone’s battery or with proper instructions, it is advised to use third-party apps like Battery Calibration Helper and Battery Life & Health Monitor. These apps often provide on-screen instructions to guide you through the process and potentially improve your phone’s battery life and backup time.

Please note that Appuals isn’t responsible for any privacy or security risks that may arise after using these third-party apps.

4) Factory Reset Your Device

If nothing else works, try factory resetting your device. A manual reset can sometimes fix issues that are otherwise hard to explain. This can be due to software bugs, a certain service or app interfering with the battery sensor, or the procedure for reading and converting the remaining battery charge.

How to Prevent Calibration Issues?

While calibration issues are less common in modern-day smartphones with fast-charging protocols and security measures in place, it is always a good idea to practice good charging habits.

1. Don’t plug your phone in to charge if you don’t need to. It’s not a good idea to have, say, 85% of juice before plugging your device back in.
2. Avoid using chargers from shady sources. Always try and use the original brick and cable that came with your phone.
3. Don’t use your phone in extreme temperatures.
4. If possible, try using charging control settings that come with your phone.

If you’ve gone through the list of potential fixes above and the issue isn’t resolved, try consulting a repair professional and visit your nearest service center for better guidance on potential issues with your device.