Why Is My Phone Charging Slowly Overnight?
Your phone is most likely using a smart charging feature, called "Optimized Battery Charging" on iPhone and "Adaptive Charging" on Android. These features intentionally slow charging to reduce the time your battery spends at 100%, which helps preserve long-term battery health.
Why Your Phone Slows Down Its Charging Speed
Batteries wear down over time. The more charge cycles a battery goes through, the less healthy it becomes, which leads to it holding less charge and developing other issues. Spending long periods at 100% charge also adds to this wear. Your phone deliberately slows its charging rate so it spends less time at 100%, which helps extend your battery's overall lifespan.
When you set up a new smartphone, it may take a few weeks of machine learning for it to recognize your usage behavior and charging habits. After that, your phone will show a notification when it enters a battery-preserving charging state. For example, at night you may notice your phone charging significantly slower, along with a message such as "Battery full by 7:00 AM," even though it could fully charge in much less time. If you set an alarm for an earlier time, your phone can adjust to finish charging by your alarm.
How to Turn Off Optimized or Adaptive Charging
You can disable Optimized Battery Charging or Adaptive Charging in your device's battery and charging settings. However, we recommend that most users leave this setting enabled to help maintain long-term battery health.
Applicable To
- Plugable USB-C Chargers
- iPhones with Optimized Battery Charging
- Android devices with Adaptive Charging
