The Cornerplay: Soon no one will care about a phone's battery life

[Jeffrey Yuwono]

The fear of running out of battery wields such an extraordinary influence over how we use smartphones. We benchmark every task according to how much battery it takes. We are never too far from a charger, and many of us carry a heavy, cumbersome power bank.

I have good news: we are on the verge of true all day battery life.

We are a year or two away, but folks, by 2016 everyone should expect top notch battery life from their phones. There will be no power bank industry and no one will care whether batteries are removable.

Read the complete article.

 

[Guest]

Correct.

you might also want to say that there are some amazing battery improvements on the way -- which would be included in the "better technology" chapter

 

[VitalyT]

I'm using iPhone 5, and it takes me through the whole day even under heavy usage, except if I use the camera, which then kills it quick.

As for this article and ones with similar claims, I'll be the first out there on the tarmac watching them god damn pigs take off at long last...

 

[Guest]

I can only agree, that software makes a big impact on battery life. I had a old Galaxy S1 with stock software (Android 2.2.x) which lasted about 5-6h on my normal use (very low demand, wifi on, 3g on, reading news during 1h commute). I installed CyanogenMod 10.2 and with the same hardware, had up to 16 h usage. No modifications, same battery, just software.
I recently bought a android 4.4 phone ( THL 5000) from China and with its 5000mAh battery it lasts over 4 days. I don't have to charge my phone for 4 days!!!
Chris from Switzerland

 

[Burty117]

See, I personally thought my iPhone 4s had a better battery life than my 5. my 5 I pretty much have to charge every single day, my 4s could go 2-3 days without needing a charge. Either that or I got a dud iPhone 5.

 

[cliffordcooley]

The first phone that actually lasted the whole day for me is the OnePlus One

That's only 15% of what I'd expect, before spitting out the words "I no longer care about battery life".

 

[Guest]

My wallet outweighs my phone. Is more bulky. And if I don't do my belt up on the right notch, then I slowly start to moon the world. That is more of a problem than my phone, and its battery.

Battery life is obviously going to improve. Many different ideas on how, are about. You would think that coffee shops and bars would have integrated airless charging pads by now. Welcome to the future where buildings and social areas fail to keep up with our technologies.
Probably because governments spend far too much money on tracking and listening technologies.

We don't all carry power packs. I don't know one person who does. People have usb cables, they go to and from work, they plug in, they charge. Car phone chargers. Unless you work in the desert why would you need a power pack.

And we won't care if we can remove a battery? Like we carry a spare battery in case our phone dies... are you kidding me... again, who where and why? I call BS. Firstly as above no power pack or extra battery needed in most of the hours of your day. If any. And thanks to the fact most devices are rushed out the door many have glitches. Many have had overheating problems, and many of this is due to a battery, that needs replacing. I would hope that every phone is always fixable, without having to send off to Samsung and having to wait a fortnight or longer for my phone to return to me.

 

[Guest]

I plug in my Galaxy Note 3 at night at bedtime, and it easily gets me to the next bedtime.
By the way, 2007 called and wants all its iPhones back.

 

[Guest]

My GS4 gets me through a whole day easily, however battery life is still very important. I don't always carry around an extra charger or battery with me everywhere I go. So, if I crash at someone else's place for the night and they don't have a charger, then I want to know that I can ring it out till I get back home. The next big thing will be enough battery to last 2-days, 3-days, a week. In a spec war, it is all about raising the bar and differentiating in anyway that you can. Battery life is one of those ways.

Alongside that, removable batteries will always be a plus in my book as sometimes power buttons and hard restarts just don't get the job done. The only solution I see to this issue is smaller charging bricks and a battery disconnect switch/button to force shutdown. People already complain about non-removable batteries and I don't think that will change.

 

[yRaz]

Something you need to note about android is that there are many poorly coded apps that DO drain the battery. This was the largest reason that I switched to windows phone. Too many android apps run in the background or run in loops that just kill the battery AND THERE ISN'T A DAMN THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. I'm sure that every phone in this test was a stock phone with no apps installed. Lets see some real world usage.

When I say real world usage, I mean not 15 hours of watching videos on your phone. I might watch 10 minutes of video on my phone a week. Your testing methods don't apply to 99% of smartphone users. I'd also like to know if a phone's battery saving features kicked in during this test. There is no mention of testing methods.

This article also seems like it is a review of the sony xperia hidden as a battery life comparison.

The mediocrity in this article is simply astounding, you can do better techspot.

 

[Guest]

About the "too many animations" thing....

if an app has a ton of animations, with 3d and transparencies and stuff, wouldn't that be extra burden on the gpu and therefore use more battery?

 

[Guest]

The best thing I ever did for my battery: install GREENIFY

root you damn android and install it, it will REALLY CLOSE whatever stupid app that wants to run all day in the background (facebook being number one), my battery lasts like 30%-40% longer than before

 

[Scshadow]

I've read this article before many times. Granted its by far more long winded then the other versions.

 

[Guest]

Bluetooth on an older iphone definitely uses more battery especially if driving on crowded streets. All the attempts to connect and disconnect every time you pull up next to someone with a headset or jabra hands free speaker. There is probably a setting that would help in a newer IOS.

Wifi and 3g is not nearly as bad a battery hog unless you are in a remote area and your phone is constantly searching for any connection.

 

[utazdevl]

I hate the idea of "babying" my phone. I take it off the charge at about 7am and (want to) plug it back in around midnight. In between, I want it automatically to look for a wi-fi network I can use, and if there isn't one, automatically switch to 4G. I want my e-mails to push to me as soon as they come in. I want my bluetooth to be on, so when I get in my car it automatically connects to the handsfree system. I want the screen to be able to be on for about 6 hours at at least 75% brightness in those hours. I want notifications from my various news apps. I don't want to spend my day digging deeper to close my apps. By the end of the day, I would like about 15% left on my phone, so I am not in the "super energy saver mode".

So far, I haven't found a phone that can handle my needs. I have tried the iPhone 4, the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy S4 and now the LG G3. The G3 almost gets me there, so I am encouraged by the progress. Maybe L gets me that last push of energy efficiency I need, or maybe the eventual G4 will bump the battery an extra 200mAh that I need.

Frankly, I find it a bit silly that no one has cracked this nut yet. Not sure why any cel phone manufacturer hasn't made a flagship phone for all carriers that carries a 5 inch screen but also packs a 3200mAh battery. I don't need my phone to be thinner than the wing of a hummingbird. Heck, Samsung made a cel phone with a full fledged camera sticking out the back but leaves the big battery options to after market sellers.

 

[Guest]

It worried me enough to make sure I got the better product. My Samsung 5 lasts 4 days on average on one stock battery. If Apple can beat that along with a matching 5in screen, water resistance, and removable storage and extra battery, I'd buy it.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Nice article. I feel like people really underestimate the impact of software on battery life. I love the inclusion of Android L vs 4.4. It really emphasizes how software optimizations can have a large impact.

 

[Lionvibez]

To the reviewer you want a phone to last you the whole day.

Pickup and Test Blackberry Z30.

 

[utazdevl]

It worried me enough to make sure I got the better product. My Samsung 5 lasts 4 days on average on one stock battery. If Apple can beat that along with a matching 5in screen, water resistance, and removable storage and extra battery, I'd buy it.

What kind of use are we talking about on your S5? Do you leave BT and Wi-Fi on? Do you use push notifications?

Very intrigued.

 

[Seventh Reign]

" Bluetooth doesn’t drain battery at all unless used. Even then, it's minimal. "

WHAT??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Bluetooth is an ENORMOUS battery drain whether connected to a source or not. It cuts my HTC One M8's battery life almost in half.

 

[danny22]

Are you serious? "Soon no one will care about a phone's battery life"

I still miss the days I could charge my nokia and then charge it again after 1 week
I'm pretty certain we need to wait at least 1 decade before we don't need to worry about battery life.

Greets.

 

[Lionvibez]

Are you serious? "Soon no one will care about a phone's battery life"

I still miss the days I could charge my nokia and then charge it again after 1 week
I'm pretty certain we need to wait at least 1 decade before we don't need to worry about battery life.

Greets.

I agree boss.

Getting a phone to last 24 hours should not be that impressive at all. We use to have phones that could last a week on one charge. Battery tech is still way behind and isn't keeping up with all these large display phones.

 

[RustyTech]

I really did not like this article (all lies). All of the bullets that were listed are skewed and there is really nothing I can agree with except that battery tech will improve *duhh*

* This app has too many animations which drains battery, so I don’t use it.
* Using Wi-Fi drains battery life, so I just rely on 3G.
* Bluetooth drains a lot of battery life so I turn it off, even though I wear a Fitbit everyday. I just turn it on once a day at home to sync.
* I don't download apps because I'm afraid they will kill my battery.

 

[Frank Barnett]

"I'm using iPhone 5"
who would claim to that?

 

[Guest]

I agree... this is a bad article. It's headline reads like we should be expecting a new tech, in reality it is just some user who tried a newer phone and found out "hey.. it last a little longer for me!"

I experienced the same thing when I picked up the LG volt on Boost. It's 3000maH battery combined with kitkat doubles the life span of my last phone. I can take it around for 2 days before charging. I have yet to fully drain it. However flagship phones will still be slim phones, so we will still see phones squeezing in anemic 2200 and 1800maH batteries to save space.