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You know, it's because of people like you (and a vast mass of people who don't care enough) that we can't have long-working phones. In short, a phone with great
by listic 11y ago
You know, it's because of people like you (and a vast mass of people who don't care enough) that we can't have long-working phones. In short, a phone with greater battery life is a boon when you:
* travel a lot. It doesn't have to be often - but when you leave your room early in the morning for a long day in a new town, and use it a lot, it really gives you peace of mind to know that you will be able to make that last important call in the evening.
* forget to plug it in. Seriously: do I really really have to plug this gadget in evry single evening? what if I forget or don't have the means to, every once in a while? It's a flagship device we're talking about; isn't it supposed to make my life easier?
* want your phone to have extra margin of reliability just in case - either to prolong its life when the battery deteriorates over time, or use it in cold weather - I am not sure if it's permanent damage, but battery holds less charge in the cold.
The iPhone is not the worst offender - it's probably slightly above average as far as smartphone battery life goes, but, to me, saying that battery life is not an issue sounds like a blasphemy: we (the consumers) have just squeezed barely adequate battery life from the manufacturers and voicing the opinion that it's enough feels like inviting back the compromises that they (the manufacturers) are far too happy to use.
The battery pack sure solves some woes, but it's not by coincidence we call it a mobile phone: it is supposed to be self-sufficient. Do you like to carry around a second box on your body at all times, just to be able to use a smartphone reliably? I don't. Battery pack should be a bonus that's nice to have, not a requirement to last through the day.
- grandalf 11y agoexactly. Those are the scenarios where I always end up needing more battery life. Even a slightly busy day where I don't have a chance to charge after leaving home in the morning can sometimes result in a pretty low battery by the end of the day. I got an Android phone at Google IO one year that was the latest and greatest. It lasted between 1-2 hours on a full charge. A friend of mine bought the same model and had to carry around two spare battery packs. Clearly nobody tests phones for normal usage patterns before deciding how much battery is enough. To make matters worse, once the phone is over a year old, battery life is typically about 80% of what it was when new.
- kuschku 11y agoI need 3 days battery on low usage (offline maps and IRC, plus checking calendar every so and so often, etc), and one whole day (24 hours) with full usage. The only way I could get it was by throwing every single Google service out, disabling most location services [1], reducing screen brightness (seriously, fuck Lollipop for the new slider), and so on. And it was also only possible with the Moto G. –— [1] if I turn on Google WiFi location, it just ends up constantly enabling GPS, then connecting to the internet, then waiting 2 minutes, then again, I suspect it’s trying to map out WiFi network strength, because no one in my city actually ever ran around with an Android phone with WiFi and location enabled at the same time, and Google never bothered to send their StreetView cars here
- listic 11y agoMy go-to resource for comparison of phones' battery life is GSMArena's Battery life test results. [1] I customize usage pattern to 1h calls, 3h web browsing and 3h video playback (I don't watch much video on the phone, but I believe that power consumption of Skype, GPS navigation, etc. should be somewhat similar) I feel that today's phones are way too large, so I limit my choice to non-huge ones. So far, last year's Sony Z3 Compact tops the chart: 44% better battery life than iPhone6s in my 'heavy usage' scenario, 63% better in the default scenario. I'm eagerly awaiting the results for the recent Z5 Compact: it might provide even better battery life (72.5 hours compared to 'two and a half days', as tested by The Guardian [2] [3]). [1] GSMArena: Battery life test results http://www.gsmarena.com/battery-test.php3 http://www.gsmarena.com/battery-test.php3 [2] The Guardian: Sony Xperia Z3 compact review http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/03/sony-xperia-z3-compact-review-best-small-android-phone-and-iphone-6-competitor http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/03/sony-xperi... [3] The Guardian: Sony Xperia Z5 Compact review http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/23/sony-xperia-z5-compact-review-best-smaller-smartphone http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/23/sony-xperi...
- wingerlang 11y ago> It lasted between 1-2 hours on a full charge That sounds like a huge exaggeration or a broken phone. What model was it? There is no way a phone like this would be sold.
- prewett 11y agoI like to hike in the National Parks, and it's nice to be able to put my phone in airplane mode and have it last a few days. That way I have the time, and alarms to wake me up and signal when I have to turn around to make it back before dark, and an HDR camera. My iPhone 1 would go a week on airplane mode. My 4S goes about 10 hours. Not an improvement.