90 % charge feature

[the_otsutsuki]

i just want some more clarification on the 90% charge feature on the switch 2

i understand that for longevity that "capping" the battery charge at 90% will give me a better battery in the long run, but myself, i mainly play handheld mode as its easy for me to pick it up and go and do my dad duties. i'd say i use about 90% handheld mode and about 10% docked mode

since i mainly play on handheld mode, should i keep this feature on or should i turn it off ? im not really concerned about how much playtime i get when my switch 2 battery drains as i charge it about 20% most of the time anyway.

just wanted some opinions on that matter from my friendly neighbor hood tempers

thanks in advance

 

[CMDreamer]

My Samsung cell phone has a similar feature, where it stops the charging of the battery at 85% to preserve its lifetime.

It is in the long term when you might see the benefit, as your battery might last longer in a working state.

 

[the_otsutsuki]

My Samsung cell phone has a similar feature, where it stops the charging of the battery at 85% to preserve its lifetime.

It is in the long term when you might see the benefit, as your battery might last longer in a working state.

yea, as soon as i unboxed my S2 and got everything set up that was the first thing i did was to turn stop charging at 90%


i do notice the playtime isnt very long even on just mario kart world but its not that big of an issue considering how much power the S2 uses to play games

 

[Veho]

Apparently 20% to 80% charge are the optimal operating parameters for batteries and going over or under is more stressful and reduces the lifespan; it really calls for that "why don't they make the entire airplane out of the stuff" comment.

I've seen that feature on laptops but only for when they are plugged into mains power. There's a lower limit to which the battery is allowed to self-discharge, and an upper limit for charging to stay in the "comfortable" range. This maintains the battery in working order.

As for the Switch, reportedly the battery lasts 2 hours when playing MarioKart, so you're giving up 10 minutes when the feature is enabled? Not much of a difference, and it could extend the battery's lifespan.

 

[l7777]

i just want some more clarification on the 90% charge feature on the switch 2

i understand that for longevity that "capping" the battery charge at 90% will give me a better battery in the long run, but myself, i mainly play handheld mode as its easy for me to pick it up and go and do my dad duties. i'd say i use about 90% handheld mode and about 10% docked mode

since i mainly play on handheld mode, should i keep this feature on or should i turn it off ? im not really concerned about how much playtime i get when my switch 2 battery drains as i charge it about 20% most of the time anyway.

just wanted some opinions on that matter from my friendly neighbor hood tempers

thanks in advance

It's a tradeoff. Do you want the absolute maximum runtime available at all times in exchange for a shorter overall battery life or do you want a battery that still has most of its capacity many years from now? If the latter, turn on the 90% limit and enjoy your device for many years to come. If the former, use all 100% of the capacity and be ready for a battery replacement in a few years.

 

[the_otsutsuki]

It's a tradeoff. Do you want the absolute maximum runtime available at all times in exchange for a shorter overall battery life or do you want a battery that still has most of its capacity many years from now? If the latter, turn on the 90% limit and enjoy your device for many years to come. If the former, use all 100% of the capacity and be ready for a battery replacement in a few years.

yea im probably gonna keep it on even though i play in handheld a good majority of the time, my old switch and oled are still healthy (knocks on wood)

 

[Reploid]

Just do it

 

[the_otsutsuki]

Just do it

yea, as soon as i unboxed my S2 and got everything set up that was the first thing i did was to turn stop charging at 90%

guess you didnt see the part where i said i had it enabled already, thanks for reading though

 

[Reploid]

Just do it

guess you didnt see the part where i said i had it enabled already, thanks for reading though

>should i keep this feature
>just do it

 

[Dan-the-Rebirth]

Hey I got my console, but iwant to keep it mainly offline, so I own the new card. Is the day one patch on the card or do I need to go online once to get the full switch2 experience? I ask because the 90% option isn't available for me in the options

 

[Deleted member 754542]

I don't feel comfortable playing my Switch in docked mode when the battery is at 100%. Having an option to limit charging to 90% is nice but why 90% and not 80%?

 

[PureFallen]

To keep it simple without entering to deep into chemistry, recharge batteries always gonna lose charging capacity when used due a lot of factors. Lithium-based battery are especially vulnerable however because they are subject to a problem called "Lithium Plating" where Lithium can deposit on either of the poles of the battery and affects it's capacity. The effect is especially strong when batteries are charged quickly (looking at all those high speed chargers and phones these days) or charged to either extreme state (A high charge and a low charge will cause more plating on either pole respectively).

That being said, technically the best thing to do would be to charge the battery as slow as possible and never move away from the 50% mark more than required. This is why when you buy products like a phone or powerbank they (hopefully) arrive at a near-50% charge when you turn them on for your first time, or why phones that aim for a long lifespan (like the Google Pixel series with it's several years of support) still not implement fast charging techniques.
We can probably agree through that keeping your battery at "50%" at all times is rather impractical for well... actually using the battery what it is made for. As the effect of Lithium Plating tends to get more extreme as we move either direction away from the 50%, the idea is to find a tradeoff where the battery is usable but also not unnecessary stressed. Where this point is can vary based on the exact chemistry of the battery used which is why the recommended ranges can range anywhere from 30-70% to 10-90%. Most commonly you will see 20-80% but if the manufacturer of the hardware tells you that you can do 10-90%, you are probably fine. This is both for just hovering at this value (docked) or using the battery as intended (handheld).

The way how this limits are usually implemented is by capping the charging upper limit (as done on the Switch) whilst also giving you a warning if you hit a lot charging level ("Battery almost empty"). In some regards this is not just a warning for you to "finish what you are doing, we almost empty." but also a more immediate threat that "If you continue like this, you will degrade your battery lifespan faster" which is why you should probably hurry a little faster to your next available power supply. Just straight up "turning it off when a certain % is reached to preserve life" is usually not viable b/c one must maintain certain system features that drain power regardless (like the system clock). Through devices like phones tend to have their actual "0%" moved around so that if your phone turns off from believing it's 0%, in reality there is still a slight amount of capacity left to account for critical system features or just to reduce the strain on the battery from an unknowing user pushing the limits of their system.