We need a Smartphone Battery Revolution – Commentary
Seriously, I give up. I am done with modern smartphones that are running on a default battery. I kinda feel like there are a bunch of hidden cameras around me and that the smartphoneindustry created my very own “Truman Show” setup.
Some of you might remember my little rant on the HTC Butterfly, which is a brilliant phone, with an amazing SoC and the most gorgeous display you can imagine:
Unfortunately HTC decided to squeeze just a 2020mAh sealed battery into this handset which is simply a crime. Now check out the comments I’ve received because I claimed that I am killing this battery in 2 hours.
Guys, I am getting roughly around 200-300 emails a day on 4 different mail accounts. Twitter, Facebook and Google+ are constantly syncing in the background and I am reading new articles on various apps like Google Currents, Appy Geek, Engadget and of course on my browser. A smartphone is a working horse for me!
So whoever tries to convince me that he can get 8, 10 or even 12 hours of battery life out of this device is simply not using it!
It is called Smartphone not Idlephone!
Now lets take a look at th screenshot I took on my Nexus 4 just a couple of minutes ago. You might think that the battery life is absolutely fantastic considering that I am on battery for over 11 hours, right? Bullshit and sorry but I have to repeat myself: This is bullshit! I’ve been using this phone for maybe 75-90 minutes. Some emailing, maybe using the browser for 15 minutes and uploading pictures to Google+ and Facebook (around 10). Oh I’ve made two 45 seconds phone calls and sent 3 text messages. That’s it!
The Nexus 4 comes with a 2100mAh battery and it runs on the same SoC as the HTC Butterfly but the main difference is that the display of the HTC handset is 0.3-inch bigger and has to handle more than twice the amount of pixels with an even smaller battery!
The Nexus 4 comes with a 2100mAh battery and it runs on the same SoC as the HTC Butterfly but the main difference is that the display of the HTC handset is 0.3-inch bigger and has to handle more than twice the amount of pixels with an even smaller battery!
We don’t only need new battery tests, we actually need a battery revolution!
Even though it seems that we have quite some competition on the battery market it is more like a silent agreement to not hurt each other and to not support and push new technologies into the market.
Sanyo, Sony, Samsung, LG, Marushita and BYD are controlling this industry and they just don”t have to come up with new solutions even though there are plenty of R&D labs coming up with working technologies that are capable of killing Li-Ion and Li-Polymer batteries right away!.
Wait… did I say that these technologies would compete against the ones that we are buying anywaysbecause we don’t have an option?
Well, welcome to the “competitive” market of the battery industry….
Hands up if you’ve also heard the whole fuel cell pitch a decade ago! I actually tested a bunch. We all know right now that this was more of a marketing thing.
It’s time for a change! I don’t wanna read about battery tests anymore that are claiming that a modernsmartphone with a 2000mAh battery can run for 6-8 hours because it can’t. Use it for 2 consecutive hours and you will know what I am talking about.
Lets compare it to the mpg of any car out there… Have you ever heard about an mpg-test of a car and the reviewer switched off the engine on top of a hill and “idled down” the other side for some 10 miles! No, of course not but for smartphones this seems to be alright.
You might think that you can’t compare this but for me this is just about the consumption or energy and I care about the actual numbers when I am using a device!
Sorry HTC, sorry LG and sorry all you OEM’s who are trying to convince me that thinner smartphonesare better because that’s the only way you can sell these sealed batteries to your customers. You are not only committing an environmental crime, you are fooling all your customers by selling us idle time in your spec sheet.
So please smartphone, tablet, notebook and whatever industry that is selling devices with a battery: Could you please stop this insanity and finally kick your battery suppliers where it hurts before thinking about all these new fancy quad- or even octo-core processors in a handset with a 6-inch 1080p display?
This is like selling a new Ferrari with an 8 gallon tank!
P.S. My Nexus 4 display was set to auto brightness!
If you want to continue this discussion with Sascha on Google+ here is the link and weigh in below!
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