Gonna Have To Grab A Note 3! Better Battery Life anyone?

Timzer · Jan 25, 2013

So after giving it a some thought, I think it's time that I move up to the Galaxy Note. I absolutely love my GS3. I know I will end up with a GS4 for that 440 PPI and Quad/Octa Core CPU. But if battery life on the GS4 is still status quo like all other modern smartphones, I'll be finishing up the year with at Note 3. My buddies Note 2 gets amazing battery life. It's not a small difference, it's an easily noticeable difference that the average and heavy user will see. As far as I'm concerned all high end smartphones have decent battery life. But I want battery life that is great. And the Razor Max and Note series are the only phones that truly offer battery life you can call GREAT. I'm actually seeing more people move over for this reason as well as the screen size.
With all the great tech that is coming out, I'd say it's time the OEMs really start tackling new battery tech directly (rather than just only power efficient parts) for our smartphones. I know I'll do my part by continually buying the tech.

How important is battery life for you when choosing a device?

N0ddie · Jan 25, 2013

Its pretty important really. No point in having a device that's always on charge. Gs3 battery live is OK (on a par with my old iPhone 5).

Couldn't have them being any less efficient than the current crop of smart phones.

One major plus of the Gs3 is the ability to just swap batteries over.

Timzer · Jan 25, 2013

N0ddie said:
One major plus of the Gs3 is the ability to just swap batteries over.

Bingo! If battery life is gonna be only "decent" like all other smartphones, then offering a removable battery you can easily swap out with a fully charged battery is an smart option.

KnightMan · Jan 25, 2013

You read my mind. I was thinking this very thing about a month ago. I was actually quite close at picking up a Note 2. But then held off and thought, If I decide on the Note it will be the Note 3. I want better battery life as well. My GS3 battery life is acceptable, but as you say, I want GREAT battery life. But you never know what the GS4 will have for battery. I've heard 3000mAh and 2600mAh. If the battery does indeed turn out to be under 3000mAh for the GS4, then the Note 3 will be my next device.

F123D · Jan 25, 2013

Love my Note II. I charge my phone every other day. The only thing that might hold me back from upgrading to the Note III is the size. Of course that's what I said about the Note II..

The Game 161 · Jan 25, 2013

You seriously want a 6.3 inch screen? Think 5.5 is the limit for me.

jrswizzle · Jan 25, 2013

Seems like battery life is the one place these companies haven't figured out how to innovate.....

Making a phone larger so you can shove a bigger battery isn't necessarily innovation (though the tech that goes into making the screen more energy efficient is).

TheHateMachine · Jan 25, 2013

jrswizzle said:
Seems like battery life is the one place these companies haven't figured out how to innovate.....

Making a phone larger so you can shove a bigger battery isn't necessarily innovation (though the tech that goes into making the screen more energy efficient is).

Supposedly that is one of the focuses on the new "Googorola Phone X".

Markyboy81 · Jan 25, 2013

I did used to think that battery life was very important but if I'm brutally honest, with my lifestyle it's not the case at all. I mean, how far are we from a charger? I charge my phone at home overnight, I have a charger in my car, I can charge my phone at work if I want.
The fact is my galaxy s3 gets through a day just about, but if it didn't it wouldn't be a massive issue for me.

jrswizzle · Jan 25, 2013

TheHateMachine said:
Supposedly that is one of the focuses on the new "Googorola Phone X".

Even though I'm not a "power user" (I have multiple devices i use throughout the day so no one device ever runs that low) - I'm always up for better battery life.

I'll remain skeptical until they move away from Li-ion that battery life will see a huge increase....that's the next hardware innovation IMO....

Octa-core CPU? Worthless at this point - figure out a new battery material that gives a week of life on one charge and I'll be impressed!

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Markyboy81 said:
I did used to think that battery life was very important but if I'm brutally honest, with my lifestyle it's not the case at all. I mean, how far are we from a charger? I charge my phone at home overnight, I have a charger in my car, I can charge my phone at work if I want.
The fact is my galaxy s3 gets through a day just about, but if it didn't it wouldn't be a massive issue for me.

Me too - as I said, while I'd definitely be up for innovation in this area, it's not a complete necessity.

Really, my iP5 does everything I need it to do, so improvements at this point are simply gravy until someone comes up with something I never thought I'd need to do on my smartphone (that I actually want to do....having my phone hump another to send a file isn't one of those features I'd use

)

MACis122 · Jan 25, 2013

The Game 161 said:
You seriously want a 6.3 inch screen? Think 5.5 is the limit for me.

nothing is official about that size, there are also reports of 5.8 which seems a bit more realistic than 6.3

F123D · Jan 26, 2013

Some people make it seem like we're stuck with a large phone if we want better battery life when actually we want a larger screen and one of the benefits is room for a larger battery.

aerok · Jan 26, 2013

I don't really care if the battery does not get better than the Note II. I am for once, perfectly satisfied with the battery, couldn't ask for more

Tinmania · Jan 26, 2013

F123D said:
Some people make it seem like we're stuck with a large phone if we want better battery life when actually we want a larger screen and one of the benefits is room for a larger battery.

Yes that is true. But I wanted both.

I didn't like the battery life of my Nexus 4. However, I should note that I had been inadvertently using my Nook's low-amperage charger to charge my Nexus 4. So most times when I went somewhere it was only at around 80% to start. Even though the Nexus 4 might not have the best battery life when you handicap it like that it really gets bad.

Even so, it was the size of the screen and the vibrancy of the Note 2 that sealed the deal. And I am loving it. Even more so now with CleanROM ACE. It is just like stock with soooooo much more. I'm really liking the 4x6 icons. Feels more like I am using that extra screen size.

As for the removable battery, I didn't even know it had one going in: only that people were really liking the battery. So just for peace of mind I picked up 2 spares for under $20 on Amazon. I figured why not.

Michael

daveathall · Jan 26, 2013

I have a spare battery for my S3, both are OEM, you wouldn't think it though, on a full charge one lasts about half the time as the other.

hovscorpion12 · Jan 28, 2013

A 6" cell phone is over doing it, unless Samsung can make it nice and pretty like the Huawei Ascend Mate which will probably not ever come to this country. The Samsung Galaxy S4 rumored 4.99" screen is beaut. perfection. Right now, i'd die for a Galaxy Note II, but stuck with iPhone 5 until 2014

chewietobbacca · Jan 31, 2013

Keep in mind that screen size doesn't necessarily mean the form factor is going to change... rumor is that the phone will no longer have dedicated buttons at the bottom and there is still bezel remaining that can be used

rhinosrcool · Jan 31, 2013

chewietobbacca said:
Keep in mind that screen size doesn't necessarily mean the form factor is going to change... rumor is that the phone will no longer have dedicated buttons at the bottom and there is still bezel remaining that can be used

Yeah, I hope this is true. As much as I like my Note, the physical size is fine, but 6+ inches could be huge. We shall see...

appletoandroid · Feb 3, 2013

chewietobbacca said:
Keep in mind that screen size doesn't necessarily mean the form factor is going to change... rumor is that the phone will no longer have dedicated buttons at the bottom and there is still bezel remaining that can be used

But would you purchase a note if its size phyiscally increases? Personally its already too big for me to fit in my pocket so its not practical for me, but I can see why people would be interested. But in all honesty it does not provide any actual benefits over a GS3 aside from the screen size.

b166er · Feb 3, 2013

One of my biggest complaints about my iPhone 4S was battery life. My iPhone 4 had the absolute best battery of any smartphone I had owned. The 4S had the worst. Never even bothered with the iPhone 5.

Right now I am using a Lumia 920 and my battery life is great. I get over a full day, which is more than enough. As long as I still have juice left after being out and about for 16-20 hours I'm happy. The phone charges while I sleep.

I was very tempted to get a Note 2 for many reasons, battery life chief among them. I gave WP8 another shot and I'm glad I did, but when the Note 3 comes out I may get that itch. I'm pretty eager to see what Samsung has in store for the S4 and Note 3. They set the bar insanely high, so it could really go either way.

vikingjunior · Feb 3, 2013

Was just at the store again playing with the note 2 and it's awesome but it seems a tad to big I really think a 5 inch screen will be the sweet spot.

Tig Bitties · Feb 3, 2013

vikingjunior said:
Was just at the store again playing with the note 2 and it's awesome but it seems a tad to big I really think a 5 inch screen will be the sweet spot.

It takes less than one week, and the Note II becomes normal size to you, making all other phones seem too small and hard to use, and the iPhone look like a wristwatch compared to Note II.

I am very used to the size now. It feels like a true mini computer, in the palm of your hand. Not too big whatsoever.

Battery life is amazing.

tbayrgs · Feb 3, 2013

chewietobbacca said:
Keep in mind that screen size doesn't necessarily mean the form factor is going to change... rumor is that the phone will no longer have dedicated buttons at the bottom and there is still bezel remaining that can be used

If the 6" rumored screen size is true, I think the device still has to grow a little. The Note 2 already has a very small bezel and short of making the screen edge to edge (and IMO, make e phone difficult to use), it would have to grow a little to accommodate a bump in screen size. And if they go with on screen buttons, the benefit is negated as you'll be losing usable screen space.

I liked the on screen buttons on the Nexus 4 but I also like the capacitive buttons on my Note 2 and they don't eat into the usable screen space. I'd be perfectly happy if they stayed with the capacitive buttons but replaced the physical home button with a third capacitive button.

Tig Bitties said:
It takes less than one week, and the Note II becomes normal size to you, making all other phones seem too small and hard to use, and the iPhone look like a wristwatch compared to Note II.

I am very used to the size now. It feels like a true mini computer, in the palm of your hand. Not too big whatsoever.

Battery life is amazing.

My experience as well. Using the phone feels perfectly natural to me, did so after only a short time. I answered my wife's iPhone 4S the other day and it felt like it was swallowed up in my hand, could never go back to anything near that size.

charlieegan3 · Feb 3, 2013

Battery life for me needs to last the day but I think a user replaceable battery is a key thing I look for. One of the many things I like about the note two.

2298754 · Feb 4, 2013

My Note 2 lasts significantly longer than my old S3. Like I usually plug my S3 in around 3-4 pm to get through the day, but my Note 2 still has 20% by the end of the way. The power saving mode does wonders for the Note, plus the huge battery.

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Tig Bitties said:
It takes less than one week, and the Note II becomes normal size to you, making all other phones seem too small and hard to use, and the iPhone look like a wristwatch compared to Note II.

I am very used to the size now. It feels like a true mini computer, in the palm of your hand. Not too big whatsoever.

Battery life is amazing.

I agree with everything here.

Gonna Have To Grab A Note 3! Better Battery Life anyone?

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