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Do you know if it is true that a battery reporting 100% is really only 80% and 0% is really about 20%? I heard that somewhere, but have had trouble confirming it. At least for something like a common smartphone.


It depends on the BMS. Some have big buffers, some don’t. One simple clue is how fast it charges relative to the state of charge. If the battery takes a while to go from 95 to 100%, it more likely goes to a full state of charge. If the battery charges very fast to 100%, it probably has some buffer.

In my experience, vacuum cleaners and smartphones are designed to destroy the battery as fast as possible, while most car manufacturers will have a big buffer and lie about the true 100%. With some notable exceptions though, like Tesla that allows to charge to 100% with some scary warnings or Nissan that designed some early Leafs battery pack without longevity in mind.


I think it's hard to define "the true 100%". It's always a matter of finding a tradeoff between capacity and lifespan – by defining a voltage range.


True 100% seems easy for LiPo; it's the point at which it spontaneously catches fire.


“Spontaneously” seems to imply that it’s not actually a deterministic point.


Probably depends on the device,but I bet that marketing incentives suggest most won't. I mean do you buy the device that says10 hours battery live or 8 hours battery life?


"The battery is messed up after 2 years" is a complaint I've seen and it was pretty damaging to my buying intentions. Just one data point




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