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Forget Processors, screens etc. What about battery?

TacticalDesire

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
With all the advancements in mobile technology over the years there's one area that has remained stagnant. Battery. The only two phones out right now that can reliably make it more than 2 days are the Razr Maxx and the Note 2. Am I the only one that would like to see less focus on raw power and more focus on newer, bigger, more efficient batteries? It seems like battery is the only area that has remained untouched.
 
I definitely would like to see some battery improvements. I'm not even asking for two days or more of usage, I'd be happy with something not too far-fetched like all phones being able to make it a 16 hour day at minimum.
 
Wonder what's going on with the "faster battery charge" thing that I read about a while back. Where batteries charge from zero to full in like 10 minuted.
 
Most phones I use can't last 1 full day, much less 2. I use my phone quite heavily though. I owned a Note 2 and it always last me a full day of heavy use, but I doubt it would last 2.
 
Hastings101 said:
I definitely would like to see some battery improvements. I'm not even asking for two days or more of usage, I'd be happy with something not too far-fetched like all phones being able to make it a 16 hour day at minimum.
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What phone have you got?

my S4 lasts me a full day pretty much most days..or around 20-22 hours at worse unless I'm hammering it usage wise.

I don't need my phone to last me two days..with a removeable battery it's perfect. when at work when my phone dies at around 12 midday I just swap the batteries over and I don't normally need to swap it again till 12 mid day the next day.

Although there are times when not at work I will leave my phone in the dock to charge overnight..
 
ya, the battery is really poor of current smartphones and that is one of the many reason why i went with the note 2. i hope companies start working on this ASAP.
 
This is not just related to phones. As a whole, battery advancements, well lack there of, limit a lot of technology in our life.
 
mattopotamus said:
This is not just related to phones. As a whole, battery advancements, well lack there of, limit a lot of technology in our life.
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This right here... As long as we depend on chemical based batteries, we are limited by the amount of energy released by those chemicals.
 
The worst battery life on any device is my 3DS. 5 hours of gameplay? With no wi-fi, no 3D, etc on, with brightness set to the lowest? :rolleyes: Horrible, it's a PITA, so I only use it maybe once every two months for that reason.

I have no issues with my lowend phone at the moment. 16-3 days of battery depending on how much I use it, and it has 3G. I really think they need to lay off all the high tech chips, we don't need them. You can still have the nice 5" screen, but the dual-core stuff, there's no point in it.
 
VulchR said:
Erm, what batteries do not rely on chemistry? :confused:
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Currently none. That's what I meant. Alkaline batteries, NiCd, Li-Ion, LiPo, etc, etc... They all rely on one basic limiting principle. There is only so much energy to be coaxed from a chemical reaction.

The only real way to move forward is to find a chemical reaction that will release more energy, in a way that can be controlled enough to be safe for consumer use.
 
Most of the recent Samsung devices last about a day. But yes, OP, I agree with you. Id love to have another phone with as good battery life as my Note 2. It was FANTASTIC
 
Dalton63841 said:
Currently none. That's what I meant. Alkaline batteries, NiCd, Li-Ion, LiPo, etc, etc... They all rely on one basic limiting principle. There is only so much energy to be coaxed from a chemical reaction.

The only real way to move forward is to find a chemical reaction that will release more energy, in a way that can be controlled enough to be safe for consumer use.
Click to expand...

Well there's fuel cell technology but that's essentially the same concept as all the others except this time you're oxidizing/reducing hydrogen as opposed to metals.
 
appleisking said:
Well there's fuel cell technology but that's essentially the same concept as all the others except this time you're oxidizing/reducing hydrogen as opposed to metals.
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I'm actually not to keen on Fuel Cell Tech, but don't fuel cells have water as a byproduct? Wouldn't that need to be exhausted some way(making it inefficient for consumer devices), or is it redirected back to the source of the reaction some way?
 
Dalton63841 said:
I'm actually not to keen on Fuel Cell Tech, but don't fuel cells have water as a byproduct? Wouldn't that need to be exhausted some way(making it inefficient for consumer devices), or is it redirected back to the source of the reaction some way?
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With cars it's no problem, since the water would come out thru exhaust pipes as H20 (g) or water vapor. For portable electronics, I'm not too sure how that would work out but I know one way they use them a lot is for charging your devices if you're in an area with no power outlets. I don't know what happens to that water tho in that case.
 
Definitely would like to see improvement in battery life. Not sure we are going to see significant improvements for quite awhile though.
 
I did have a 5800 mAh extended battery for my S4. Felt really weird getting 4 day's out of it with stuff like 12 hours usage.
 
I agree OP. love to see better batteries. I used the note 2 and loved the battery life. With the technology we have now OEMs are hurting themselves by making phones thinner and thinner. Their becomes less room for a battery which leads to the same old crappy battery life. I am not sure if it is us the consumer that wants thinner and lighter phones or the OEMs think we want them. I for one would prefer thicker and heavy for more battery life.
 
They are working on better batteries but they need to be reliable and affordable. So until them manufactures are working on phones that use less power.

Look at the iPhone 5, bigger screen, LTE, more RAM, faster CPU/GPU but gets about the same battery life as previous gens with a similar sized battery.
 
bmac4 said:
With the technology we have now OEMs are hurting themselves by making phones thinner and thinner.
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I could not agree more. In fact, I'd gladly give up a few millimeters in thickness for a larger battery.

Apple has influenced the industry with it's obsession to make ultra thin products. No where is this more obvious than the new iMac. A clear example of thinness taken to the extreme.

Just imagine how much we'd benefit, even with existing battery technology, if only they'd allow more room for a higher capacity. The added weight would be quite minimal, the longer run times dramatic.
 
maxosx said:
I could not agree more. In fact, I'd gladly give up a few millimeters in thickness for a larger battery.

Apple has influenced the industry with it's obsession to make ultra thin products. No where is this more obvious than the new iMac. A clear example of thinness taken to the extreme.

Just imagine how much we'd benefit, even with existing battery technology, if only they'd allow more room for a higher capacity. The added weight would be quite minimal, the longer run times dramatic.
Click to expand...

Yep. I would be much happier if my iphone 5 was thicker and heavier with much longer battery life.
 
Hastings101 said:
I definitely would like to see some battery improvements. I'm not even asking for two days or more of usage, I'd be happy with something not too far-fetched like all phones being able to make it a 16 hour day at minimum.
Click to expand...

I agree. Just make them so you can use it with at least medium use and have the battery last so there is no worry of it dying. I dont care if it last two or more days because i always charge it up at night anyways. If it had 40% left with heavy use id still charge it up at night.
 
Battery technology is one of the areas where the humanity has really stagnated. Companies are most likely working very hard to tackle this problem and the company that invents a new type of a long lasting battery will make billions. So far though, zippo.

In a way though, today's bad batteries are good because they are forcing companies to think of efficiency, while delivering more and more performance. Imagine if they were not limited to batteries, then we'd get a similar situation as with Pentium 4 CPUs, just throw more MHz to increase performance, instead of improving the architecture, innovating, etc...
 
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