# Cell phone battery shelf life

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-battery-shelf-life/605721>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 10, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-battery-shelf-life/605721 "2011-12-10T11:39:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-battery-shelf-life/605721/1 "2011-12-10T11:39:03Z")

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What is the average shelf life of a new-in-box, never used Lithium-Ion cell phone battery?

Does the usefulness of such a battery degrade slowly over time, or does it just suddenly go from 100% to useless one day?

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-battery-shelf-life/605721/2 "2011-12-10T13:46:28Z")

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Most Lithium-ion batteries degrade over 5-10 years whether they are used or not. This degradation is a reduction in capacity, so a “new” battery that’s been sitting on a shelf for three years may only be capable of storing 50% of it’s rated charge.