As opposed to desktop PCs, laptops have batteries that allow them to be carried without any connected power cable. That’s arguably the best thing about a laptop, but laptop batteries don’t last forever.
Eventually, laptop batteries drain faster and you end up with your laptop constantly connected to a power cable, which isn’t ideal. So, can you upgrade a laptop battery?
Yes, it’s possible to upgrade a laptop battery. Most laptops’ batteries get less useful over time, and if you want to replace such a battery, get a new battery of the same version as your old one. You might be able, depending on your laptop, to upgrade your laptop battery to a more powerful one. Keep in mind, however, that this can void your laptop’s warranty.
There are a bunch of factors to be taken into account when looking to upgrade a laptop battery. In this article, I’ll be going over all the facts that you need to know before upgrading or replacing a laptop battery.
Can You Upgrade a Laptop Battery?
First, consider if you want to upgrade your laptop battery or switch out an old battery for a new one because there’s a difference. Upgrading your laptop battery means getting a more capable one.
If you do this, you might void your laptop warranty or have a disproportionate lump sticking out where the battery is inserted, since more powerful batteries may be a lot bigger.
However, switching out a battery is very doable and even recommended if you have an old laptop battery. First of all, you want to check your battery’s health. On Windows 11, do this by clicking the battery icon in the lower right of the Windows menu.
After doing this, you will enter a Power & Battery menu that allows you to check if there are irregularities when charging your battery. If you spot big fluctuations in battery levels, for example, you should consider getting a new battery for your laptop.
In summary, you can absolutely replace your laptop battery with a new one if it’s getting old and less useful. You might be able to upgrade your laptop battery to a more powerful one depending on your laptop specs.
Can You Replace a Laptop Battery With a More Powerful One? (mAh)
It’s certainly possible to replace your laptop battery with a more powerful battery. The purpose of this, of course, would be to have your laptop last longer before it runs out of power and dies.
The first thing that you need to consider is that more powerful batteries require more space. They are simply just bigger than their less powerful counterparts. So, make sure that the battery actually fits into your laptop before buying one.
Even if the battery does fit, you might end up with a lump sticking out at the bottom of your laptop at all times, which surely isn’t for everyone. Do your research beforehand: look up batteries that are good fits for your laptop.
A good way to determine this can be to simply remove the battery from your laptop and inspect it. Check what model the battery is, what type (nickel-cadmium, lithium-ion, and so forth), and last but not least, the voltage and charging current.
Check that any prospective battery that you’ve scoped out has matching voltages as your old laptop battery. Getting a battery that has significantly more voltage than your old one and then charging it can damage the computer, destroy the charging circuit of the computer, and be an outright fire hazard.
Battery capacity is measured in mAh. The more mAh a battery has, the longer it will last because its capacity is bigger. It will, however, take a longer time to fully charge.
A higher mAh is what you should look for if you want to really upgrade the laptop battery. Laptop batteries don’t supply more power to the laptop just because the battery has a higher mAh. It supplies as much power as the laptop needs. It’s the voltage that you need to really look out for.
How Do You Upgrade a Laptop Battery?
As I mentioned before, you first need to find out the specs of your current laptop battery. Do this by either physically inspecting your battery, or using Batteries Plus to find out online.
You need to remove the bottom part of the laptop to reveal the battery of your laptop. With some laptops, you can simply click it out, but most laptops have screwed bottom housings, and you’ll have to unscrew that using a suitable screwdriver.
Before you start unscrewing the bottom of your laptop, remember to shut off and disconnect your laptop from its charger. It’s also recommended to have the laptop lie on a towel or something to avoid damage to the screen.
Make sure that you are very careful when removing the battery. Check out a video guide if you want to. Some batteries are more difficult to switch out than others and all under-the-hood configurations look different depending on what laptop you own.
What Will Go Lost If You Replace Your Laptop Battery?
Some users have reported that they have lost data on their computers after replacing their laptop batteries. While this normally isn’t the case, what should you be aware of before switching out your old battery?
First of all, make sure you do backups of important files. If something were to happen to your data, you’ll still have it stored. I prefer to store my backup data on an external hard drive, but using some sort of cloud storage service works just fine.
The only sort of data that will disappear when you switch battery is the temporary memory cached by your RAM, but that happens all the time when you switch off your computer anyway. Just turn off your laptop before taking out your battery, and you should be fine.
The data stored on your computer doesn’t require power to store itself, that’s why you can turn off your computer and still have your files there when you turn it on again.
Is It Better To Replace or Upgrade the Battery or Buy a New Laptop?
A lot of users are wondering if it’s worth their time and money getting a new battery when they can buy a new laptop. Of course, this depends on your budget, needs, and current laptop.
For example, if you have a really good laptop that cost you a bunch of money, odds are that you should fix the battery of that thing. Laptop batteries usually go for around $100, while new premium laptops can cost you $1000 or more.
If you have an old laptop, you might want to get a new laptop. Chances are that it’s really slow and it might not even work that much longer anyways.
There are more questions to consider here, as well. For example, are there missing features on your old laptop that a new one could solve? If so, take the chance and get a new laptop. It might not be worth shelling out $100 on something that is missing a bunch of good features.
As you can tell, whether you should buy a new laptop or buy a new battery really depends on your situation. I have a good laptop, and I’ve switched its battery. In my experience, good laptops are still useful when their batteries aren’t.
How Long Should a Laptop Battery Last?
The laptops that are popular on the market today typically outlast their batteries by a good margin, so most people will want to change batteries and some point since the laptop is still useful.
How long a laptop battery lasts depends on a few things. First of all, how much do you use your laptop? If you use it a lot, you charge it more, and therefore the battery will last a shorter amount of time.
Typically, batteries last around 3-4 years, which is around a thousand charges. As I said, however, the variance here can be big. Some people use their laptops every day, all day, and for them, a thousand charges aren’t that much.
Moreover, how long your battery lasts depends on what type of battery you have for your laptop. Old laptops have batteries made from nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride, and those batteries break down a lot faster than modern lithium-ion batteries.
If you play a lot of games on your laptop, chances are that the battery won’t last as long. When playing games, the laptop will get hotter than usual, making the battery drain faster, which means that you have to charge it more often.
What Shortens the Life of a Laptop Battery?
Playing games will, as I mentioned, shorten the lifespan of your laptop battery. The heat will cause extra strain to be put on your laptop’s components and also place more load on your battery.
Playing games isn’t the only thing that heats your laptop, however. Poor ventilation can also make a laptop overheated, so make sure that the air vents aren’t blocked, and clear out any dust or dirt that’s in the computer from time to time.
Some people believe that “overcharging” your laptop can shorten its lifespan. While that was true for older laptops, it isn’t true for laptops with lithium-ion batteries, as these batteries can’t be overcharged. However, if your laptop uses an older battery, don’t overcharge the computer.
The primary thing that you can do to actively improve the lifespan of your battery is to not charge it to 100%. Charging your laptop to around 90% instead of 100% has been shown to give laptops hundreds of extra recharges before the battery dies.