Is it harmful to charge a smartphone while it is on?

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The Tiger

The Tiger

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Aug 30, 2013
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Think about it. While it is turned on, the CPU, the RAM and other sensitive areas of the phone are still actively working. Now when a charger is plugged in, a source of unclean power is added. We all know no charger is perfect, and no charger can deliver perfectly clean 5V DC free from AC interference, fluctuations, harmonics and AC noises.

While the CPU, RAM etc. are working through the battery power, it's getting an almost perfect power source (except the fluctuations due to discharging).

So does turning off the phone while charging increase the longevity of the phone?
 
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Electronics have a tolerance. They don't need exactly 5V. Also some of the electronics in the phone probably don't even run off 5V and have a voltage regulator. Some chargers actually provide 5.1v at a lower amperage (like the official one that came with my phone) and from personal observation, those ones charge the device faster than a 5V source with higher amps. I'm sure the charging circuitry has filters for cleaning incoming power. And personally, my phone can get piping hot with or without the charger connected (Droid RAZR M, when using navigation on google maps for more than 10 minutes, like ridiculously hot, I've actually gotten pop-up warnings)
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The Tiger

The Tiger

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Exactly! Is it caused by the unclean power, I wonder.
 
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The Tiger

The Tiger

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Uh, but when it's switched off, the CPU and other things are off, only the charging circuitry is on, isn't it?
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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No. It's waiting for incoming calls, text, etc. The CPU is alive and working. However, using it (from near dead) while charging it will cause the charger to work at full tilt and may increase the heat generated. And heat is always bad.
 
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fastcountach

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Oct 5, 2012
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Electronics have a tolerance. They don't need exactly 5V. Also some of the electronics in the phone probably don't even run off 5V and have a voltage regulator. Some chargers actually provide 5.1v at a lower amperage (like the official one that came with my phone) and from personal observation, those ones charge the device faster than a 5V source with higher amps. I'm sure the charging circuitry has filters for cleaning incoming power. And personally, my phone can get piping hot with or without the charger connected (Droid RAZR M, when using navigation on google maps for more than 10 minutes, like ridiculously hot, I've actually gotten pop-up warnings)
 
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