Some electronic devices, such as cell phones, will automatically shut down when the cut-off voltage has been reached.
Devices that have too high cut-off voltages may stop operating while the battery still has significant capacity remaining.
[1] Some portable equipment does not fully utilise the low-end voltage spectrum of a battery.
[2] Importantly, particularly in the case of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in the vast majority of portable electronics today, a voltage cut-off below 3.2 V can lead to chemical instability [citation needed] in the cell, with the result being a reduced battery lifetime.
For this reason, electronics manufacturers tend to use higher cut-off voltages, removing the need for consumers to buy battery replacements before other failure mechanisms in a device take effect [citation needed].