technology new to smart phones

[swordsman 192]

well during the 2019-2020 lock downs we my mom and i got i 1st smart phones and we have questions. our phones are a nokia 3v and a lg journey

1.  should i keep my battery at 40-80% to make the battery last longer in the long term and should i get in down 0 then charge it up 100 ever 3 months?  also should i charge it up for 10-20mins at a time to help the battery last longer over the life of the phone?

 

2.  is it safe for the phone to use those off brand  braided usb-c cables and usb wall charger they sell at walmart or home goods? 

 

3.  is it safe for the phones to use those off brand portable batterys they sell at places like 5 blow or walmart?

 

thanks for any help.

[Pentium100 2,122]

1 hour ago, swordsman said:

1.  should i keep my battery at 40-80% to make the battery last longer in the long term and should i get in down 0 then charge it up 100 ever 3 months?  also should i charge it up for 10-20mins at a time to help the battery last longer over the life of the phone?

There are various advice on this, I never cared enough to figure it out exactly. Then again, my phones have easily replaceable batteries, so I don't care that much.

1 hour ago, swordsman said:

2.  is it safe for the phone to use those off brand  braided usb-c cables and usb wall charger they sell at walmart or home goods? 

Cables - yes, chargers - it depends. Some chargers are badly designed or badly built and in some cases can shock you. 

1 hour ago, swordsman said:

3.  is it safe for the phones to use those off brand portable batterys they sell at places like 5 blow or walmart?

It should be OK, but if the battery is really cheap, I would not leave it to charge unattended. Li-Ion batteries can burst into flames if overcharged or abused in some other ways and the cheapest ones probably do not have the protection circuits.

[Partialgeek514 5,011]

2 hours ago, swordsman said:

1.  should i keep my battery at 40-80% to make the battery last longer in the long term and should i get in down 0 then charge it up 100 ever 3 months?  also should i charge it up for 10-20mins at a time to help the battery last longer over the life of the phone?

From my understanding, the main way to extend the life of a phone battery or any other Li-ion battery is to never let it get down to 0%. Trying to keep it above 20% is generally what I like to do. I just plug my phone in every night and let it charge to 100%. Doing that, I've generally never had to charge my phone during the day for about the first 2 years of owning it. Hope your phone works well for you!

[Dreambiscuit 9,691]

I got my first smartphone in April this year and I always charge it whenever the battery power gets down to about 50%, then I charge it fully. I don’t know any reason why that would harm anything.

Using the off-brand braided cables can be fine. In my experience they’re simply cheaper and don’t last as long. And I’d be inclined to check them periodically to make sure they’re working.

As @Pentium100 said, off-brand batteries can be risky if you charge them unattended. Personally I’d spend a couple extra bucks for a slightly better battery. Generally you get what you pay for and I’ve had too many problems with cheap batteries on other devices; either they don’t work, don’t charge or fail to hold a charge for very long.

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,313]

If I had one, what apps would I occupy time for?  

[swordsman 192]

thanks you all. I am 35 and i should know this but you know how it is.

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,313]

My eyes would be too glued to one