Laptops are designed to be portable and are ideal for being used on the move. However, some people often wonder: is it safe to use a laptop while it is charging? In short, yes, it is perfectly safe, as we’ll explore in this article.
Is It Safe To Use Laptop While Charging?
Over the years there has been so many myths in answer to the question “Is It Safe To Use Laptop While Charging?” but it’s always been safe to use your laptop whilst charging. You used to hear things (and sometimes still do!) such as, “disconnect your charger when the battery is full” or “only charge when your battery is empty“. With modern technological advances you can keep your charger plugged in all day long and not worry about it.
Whilst your laptop is connected to the mains charger it is never in a state of continuous charging. There are automatic control systems in place that allow your laptop to draw on power from the mains charger once the battery charge reaches 100%. So by your laptop only drawing on power from the mains once the battery is at 100%, the battery is being saved from a lot of stress!
Almost all modern laptops have lithium-ion batteries. A lithium-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode through an electrolyte to the positive electrode during discharge and back when charging. Lithium-ion batteries are found in the vast majority of consumer electronics such as portable devices (smart phones, laptops, tablets, digital cameras etc.), power tools (cordless drills, saws, hedge trimmers etc.) and even electric vehicles! This widespread use of lithium-ion batteries has only enhanced their performance with companies constantly researching how to improve the technology.
Is It Safe To Play Games On A Laptop While Charging?
Just the same as using a laptop for general use whilst charging, it is perfectly safe to play games on a laptop while it is charging. In fact, it is advisable to game whilst your charger is connected. This allows your laptop to draw on all hardware resources effectively for maximum performance.
By gaming on battery power your laptop will automatically bottleneck your system performance to enhance battery life. This feature is designed to give you the maximum amount of system time no matter what task you are carrying out. So if you are noticing a performance drop in your games when gaming on battery power, this is the reason why – plug in your charger on unleash your laptop’s ultimate performance!
By gaming whilst charging you do not need to worry about the battery life either. As discussed already in this article, when the battery charge reaches 100% your laptop will automatically switch to only powering the hardware from the mains, leaving the battery alone. Note: You may see the battery drop to around 95% charge whilst plugged in, then the battery will trickle charge from the mains back to 100%.
How Many Hours Can You Game on a Laptop Battery?
It is hard to give an exact figure on how many hours you can game on a laptop battery. This is because there are so many variables involved. To name just a few there’s: The hardware requirements of the game, battery age, battery material type, even ambient room conditions.
With this in mind, you should expect no more than 2 to 3 hours of gaming solely on a battery charge. Therefore it is always recommended to game with a mains charger connected to allow your system to perform to its maximum performance without automatically saving power.
Related: Gaming Laptop Buying Guide
How To Save Battery On Laptop While Playing Games?
If not plugging your charger in is absolutely unavoidable you may be wondering how you can you increase the battery life of laptop while gaming? Well there are a number of actions you can take to add vital minutes to your gaming session on battery power. Consider doing the following:
- Turn graphics settings to minimum
- Close any background applications that may be running processes unnecessarily
- Change system power modes to ‘power saving’
- Ensure all ventilation holes are clean and operating effectively
But remember, none of these are substitutes for the recommended action of connecting your power charger whilst gaming! Trust me, it’s safe and a necessity to have a truly immersive gaming experience!
