From high-end to budget models, smartphones make it easy to check your battery life. Look in the upper-left or upper-right corner of your screen, and you’ll see how much percentage remains until your device shuts down. Although this feature helps you know when to charge it, monitoring its long-term health is also important. Manufacturers design phone batteries to be consumable products, which deteriorate over time. If that’s happening to your phone, you’ll notice that it runs out of juice quickly.

The degradation process is irreversible, although removing apps that drain your battery and preventing overcharging can slow it down. But you don’t have to wait until the battery completely dies to get a replacement or a new phone. Check its health status to get a head start with the following steps.

What’s the difference between a phone’s battery health and life?

Your phone’s battery health refers to its lifespan. That is, the duration it runs before it needs to be replaced. New and unused phones have a maximum percentage of 100%, and it reduces over time from continuous usage. The number of charge cycles and downloaded apps, plus the time you spend using the device affect how fast the battery deteriorates. You’ll notice that your phone runs out of power faster than usual, causing you to recharge it more often.

On the other hand, the battery life or level means how much time remains before your phone shuts down from a low charge. A status meter appears in the upper-right or upper-left corner of your screen to indicate it. When you activate the option to show it in percentage, you’ll see a number beside the meter. As your phone’s condition changes from full to low battery, the meter slowly empties for a realistic effect. When the phone is charging, you’ll see a charger or lightning icon near it.

iPhones make it easy to check your battery health in the Settings menu, but Android devices don’t. You need a third-party app unless you own a Samsung phone. Samsung added a health status tool in the Members app. On select Android phones, you may be able to view the status when you dial a command code.

How to check your phone’s battery health on Samsung Members

Samsung Members is a community app that connects you with other users, displays the latest news and support content, and brings you closer to exclusive perks. Also, the app features a diagnostics menu that tests your phone for faulty hardware. Although its battery status checker doesn’t show you a specific percentage, you’ll see how your battery is doing on a scale of Good to Weak.

Members is preinstalled on most Samsung phones and is an exclusive app for its users. If you don’t have it on your device, get it on the Galaxy Store app or Google Play Store. Once you’ve done that, follow these steps to check your battery life:

1. Open Samsung Members.
2. Go to Diagnostics > Phone diagnostics.

3. Tap Battery status.

You have no cause to worry if you see the Normal status and your battery life is in Good condition. However, if its status indicates Action required and the battery life is bad or weak, visit a repair store for a replacement.

How to check the battery health on non-Samsung Android phones

If you dial *#*#4636#*#* on your phone app, the code opens a hidden menu. It contains phone information, including your battery status, usage statistics, and Wi-Fi connectivity. However, this trick doesn’t work on all Android phones, so your best choice is to download a third-party app from the Google Play Store. Here are three apps that can display your battery’s health info.

AccuBattery

AccuBattery scans your phone in seconds and determines how long your battery lasts when it’s active or in sleep mode. You’ll also see a live display of current discharge and temperature, among other information. You can’t get the health info immediately as the app needs time to monitor your phone’s activity and provide accurate data. When it’s ready, AccuBattery shows you the present capacity compared to the original design. Also, you’ll see the damage your battery sustains daily from excessive charging.

Battery Guru

Battery Guru is a lightweight app that has features for checking your battery voltage, temperature, and status. That’s all it does, and it doesn’t show you an in-depth analysis of your usage pattern or power-hungry apps and how to optimize them. Also, it’s full of ads.

Checking your battery health with the app is a straightforward process. Once you install and run the app, you’ll see the current level, which increases or reduces as you charge your phone. Guru doesn’t show you the exact percentage or the battery health, so you’re limited to a Good, Bad, or Weak status.

CPU-Z

CPU-Z is another smartphone analyzer that offers extensive features. The app doesn’t need time to gather information about your phone, so you immediately get insights into its health and performance. It displays the processor, device model, OS, thermal, and sensor information, but not without ads. The app consumes power with the more information it provides. To conserve it, go to the Settings menu and turn off the extra CPU, GPU, and Sensors features you don’t want to display.

How to check the battery health on iPhone

The settings menu on your iPhone holds your battery health information. It displays information up to the last 10 days of battery usage and activity. It’s illustrated on a graph that shows you insights into which apps consume the most power. Follow the steps below to check for the health information:

1. Go to Settings > Battery.

2. Tap Battery Health & Charging.

Protect your phone’s battery health for its longevity

Your phone’s battery health and life are different, but one affects the other. A deteriorating cell means you’ll have less usage time between charges. Although most smartphone batteries have large capacities and great quality, they’re not indestructible. Prolonged screen time and charging can be an enemy to how long they last. Still, you can’t reverse the degradation process. But there are habits you can adopt so that it doesn’t happen quickly. Use dark mode and power saving mode, and uninstall unused apps to extend the battery life on your Samsung and other devices.