The other part being the recommendations not to always fully charge Lithium batt...

kawsper · on April 2, 2018

Some devices does this, if you are on Linux and are using a Thinkpad, you can fetch tp-smapi-dkms or acpi-call-dkms, and run the following:

    echo 40 | sudo tee /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh
    echo 80 | sudo tee /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh

Then it will stop charging once it reached 80% and only start charging when it drops below 40%.

ssebastianj · on April 2, 2018

I don't know if that it's exclusive on ThinkPads but I love that feature. Now I'm using TLP[0] to re(calibrate) the batteries (main and extra) on a ThinkPad running Linux, it uses "tp-smapi-dkms" or "acpi-call-dkms" behind the scenes.

[0] http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-linux-advanced-power-man...

Symbiote · on April 2, 2018

My Sony ZX1 sometimes pops up a message when I plug it in "Battery saver: your battery will be fully charged in time for your alarm at 07:00" or something like that; I can charge it faster with an option on the message if I want to.

It would be nice if this feature defaulted to charging to 95% or whatever. I usually know in advance if I'll need that extra 5% for a long journey.

jen729w · on April 2, 2018

I believe products already do this. A good few years ago I was asked by a guy why his plugged-in HP laptop was telling him it “wasn’t charging”. I looked up the docs and discovered that between 95-100% it would turn on/off the charging as required.

I’ve heard separately (no source, sorry [edit: see below]) that Apple products also do this, they just don’t confuse the user by telling them that it’s happening. I wouldn’t be surprised if HP et. al. have since changed their user notification behaviour, too.

Source: forum posts going back almost a decade. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=apple+laptop+stops+chargi...

Tijdreiziger · on April 2, 2018

Wow, that's a pretty neat feature. I think there are many people who leave their phone to charge during the night, only for it to 'fast charge' up in 1 or 2 hours and then sit at 100% for the rest of the night.

Symbiote · on April 4, 2018

Here[1] is the screen.

Here, the time isn't based on an alarm (none is set), but on when the charger was disconnected the previous morning.

[1] https://i.imgur.com/1EywDA0.png

Dylan16807 · on April 2, 2018

Devices already don't charge all the way, the "100%" is an arbitrary lower amount.

It would be nice if you could set it even lower to prolong life, but there's just not enough demand for it to be a common feature.

konschubert · on April 2, 2018

I could do that on my Thinkpad.

kpil · on April 2, 2018

I liked that feature, especially so for office "luggables" that stays on the desk charging most of the time.

That really seems to spare the battery compared to keeping it at 100%. I've replaced the battery in other laptops much more often.