What Is A Cell Phone Battery?

All cellular phones use specialized batteries to give them the power they need to transmit and receive calls. Ordinary alkaline batteries just don’t have the juice to give a mobile phone several days of standby time or hours of talk time. A cell phone battery is a marvel of modern technology.

Older mobile phones used Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) batteries. While these cell phone batteries were a huge improvement over alkaline or lead-acid batteries, they suffered from a problem known as the “memory effect.” Unless a wireless phone NiCad battery is fully drained and recharged regularly it gradually loses its ability to hold a charge.

NiCad cellular phone batteries were replaced by Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries. These are small and lighter than NiCad batteries and hold a charger better but are still prone to memory effect over time. NiMH batteries are being phased out with the latest cell phones coming to market.

Most new wireless phones use small, lightweight Lithium Ion (L-Ion) batteries. While these are more expensive than NiCad or NiMH they offer longer talk and standby times and don’t suffer memory effect.

Lithium Polymer (Li-Polymer) batteries are the latest in cellular phone battery technology. Each battery is made of dozens of small plastic cells that can be shaped more easily to fit the inner workings of the smallest wireless phones. Look for the most advanced wireless phones from Nokia, Kyocera, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and other companies to begin using Li-Polymer batteries in the future.

No matter what type of battery your phone has, it can only be charged and discharged a limited number of times. Some batteries have 300 charge cycles, meaning that they can be completely discharged and recharged up to 300 times before they start becoming inert and unable to hold enough charge to adequately power a mobile phone.

Also see; cell phone accessories.

Author Notes:

Jane Connelly contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.cell-phones-n-plans.com. A cell phone industry resource that features service plan comparisons, cellular phone reviews and articles.