The state of mobile phone batteries?

libranguy · Tweet this Post! #1 18th February 2010, 10:33

I have just recently got the n900 and it such a power hungry device and seems to drain the battery very quickly. Do you think batteries are currently giving us enough power to to operate our phones to a decent level?

MilhouseVH · Tweet this Post! #2 18th February 2010, 10:50

Definitely not - battery technology has advanced at a much slower pace compared to the devices that consume power.

I'm hopeful that Powermat will introduce a Powerpak battery for the N900, this would allow me to charge it throughout the day with no concious effort - just put it down and it's charging. Until batteries with much higher power densities appear I think owners of high performance phones will just have to live with more frequent charging, or larger batteries.

On the subject of larger batteries, Mugen Power are making a 2400mAh battery with replacement back cover for the N900 - but it's HUGE!

Slightly OT: Make sure you're on the latest firmware for the N900 (3.2010.02-8, aka PR1.1.1) as it had some battery related fixes. The next big update for the N900 (PR1.2) is rumoured to appear in a 2-3 weeks.

Bang Bang Boom · Tweet this Post! #3 18th February 2010, 11:22

Its about time we had decent batteries. U can however get portable chargers that take rechargeable batteries!

MarkJ · Tweet this Post! #4 18th February 2010, 11:32

It's like that larger battery for the HD2, the pictures of it look ridiculous, which kind of detracts from the point of having a slim phone in the first place.

I don't mind an extra couple of mm thickness on a device if it means a larger battery.

Would also be better if the software/etc was properly optimised for battery consumption, always found Sony Ericsson were pretty good with this (batterys always lasted far longer with 3G switched on with their handsets).

Maybe Palm have the right idea with the touchstone, make the base a bit cheaper, pack one in with the phone, buy a couple more and you could just plonk your phone down anywhere and charge it up.

Really like the idea of that Powermat Millhouse.

SmartA$$ · Tweet this Post! #5 19th February 2010, 13:57

I think there may be some news on possible battery improvements in the second paragraph in this article:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/v...t-phone-title/

looks like improvements to battery life via hardware improvements to 3G modem, getting similar battery life to 1400mAh battery from a 1000mAh battery ... well at least for phones running linux based OS's

McPhee! · Tweet this Post! #6 20th February 2010, 00:13

It annoys me like nothing else. I actually had to leave my iPhone in a charging station in a Vodafone shop the other day because it had 9% power left at 2 in the afternoon!

TBH I blame this silly fascination with slim phones. I'd rather have something a bit chunkier that lasts the day than phones like the iPhone and HD2 which are thin at the expense of battery life.

jonmorris · Tweet this Post! #7 20th February 2010, 00:55

If you can get the performance of a 1400mAh battery from a 1000mAh battery, why not just keep the same battery and offer more performance? Is anyone really happy with getting 6-8 hours standby on a phone? This is similar to my Motorola MicroTAC back in the early 1990s - albeit a lot bigger phone with a chunkier battery that needed to be really looked after.

We need to work harder on new battery technologies, like the modified Lithium battery cells that could offer 10x performance in the same form factor, and faster charging too.

Processors may get more powerful with less power consumption, but it's not enough on its own. As they get more powerful, we use them even more.

libranguy · Tweet this Post! #8 27th February 2010, 01:39

The funnt thing I have done survey for mobile and I always ask for better batteries. If you going to offer music player, emails and other things, you need to provide the juice to power it.

I think maybe manyfacturers are being cheap with the battery?

I love my n900 but the battery is kiiling me,. I may go and take it in to get looked it jusyt in case it faulty.

jonmorris · Tweet this Post! #9 27th February 2010, 12:15

Sometimes you can't fit a big battery in something, other times it does seem as if they just opted to use a battery they already have/use and there was room.

1500mAh should be minimum on a smartphone.. and possibly even more. As phones get smaller and consume less power, I'd rather keep a similar footprint and have a bigger battery. Even a few extra grammes wouldn't bother me, given how light they are anyway.

libranguy · Tweet this Post! #10 27th February 2010, 23:51

I agree 1500 i think the people who benchtest the battery at Nokia are jokers. How dod they decide this is suitable.