New phones, same battery capacity? S8, LG G6 and others

[Nuno]

Hey there!
I'd like to start a discussion about a pretty controversial topic in the smartphone industry. Battery capacity.
Over the years we've assisted a pretty exciting increase on processing power, graphics capabilities, storage, screen resolution (and oh boy, the size too!).
However, one component seems not to follow that increase in performance, perhaps the most important of them all, the battery.

I get that processors may be getting more efficient and less power hungry, but the biggest battery muncher isn't even the processor. With the rise of 4k screens (looking at sony Xperia Z5 premium or the XZ premium) and screens the size of a small tablet, is a 3000mAh battery enough? Even for a full day? Or are we doomed to have to take literally a brick o our backs just to keep our expensive phone alive? Like a phone defibrillator in case of an emergency, only to find that emergency happens every day.

Let's look at some examples this year:
Sony:

Xperia XZ Premium: Offers a 5.46'' IPS LCD 4k display with a density of 807ppi. Powered by an octacore Snapdragon 835, which is for sure not one of the most power efficient chips out there, has a battery capacity of 3230mAh.

Samsung:

Galaxy S8: With a 5.8'' FULLHD SUPER AMOLED display, with a resolution of 1440x2960 and 570ppi, powered by a Snapdragon 835 or Exynos 8895 (depending on which region of the globe you're at). It offers a 3000 mAh battery and that's all you get. If you're lucky, you'll get the Exynos version, which is not only more powerful but also less power hungry. However, if you're from the USA or from other regions where LTE signal is still not powerful enough (stop piggybacking it on CDMA, it's 2017 already!), you will most definitely get the snapdragon battery muncher.

Galaxy S8+: With a 6.2'' SUPER AMOLED 1440x2960 display (jeez!) and a density of 529ppi, this device is in the exact same mold as the S8 regarding the processor. Exynos 8895 or Snapdragon 835, is the 3500mAh battery sufficient to feed this little big monster?

Galaxy Note 8: Well, I know this one still has a lot of question marks associated to it but if this smartphone follows samsung's latest rule of it being the biggest (even bigger than the plus version), what's the screen size gonna be? My bet would be a 6.5'' SUPER AMOLED one. Maybe even 4k to compete with Sony's bold move. How about battery? Will it reach the 4000 mark or will it be the same or worse than the S8+? (Remember last year the note7 had a bigger screen but a smaller battery than the S7 edge).

LG

G6: With a 5.7'' 565ppi IPS display and a resolution of 1440x2880, 565ppi, it packs a Snapdragon 821 quad-core cpu powered by a 3300mAh battery. Considered by many one of the most well designed smartphones of 2017 so far, did LG sacrificed too much on the functionality in favour of the design?


What do you guys think? With such big powerful phones being launched every day, why do brands skimp on battery capacity? Is it really worth that extra millimeter thinness taken from the phone over a bigger battery? I know it's not easy to conjugate functionality and design but in my opinion, a design that cuts back on an object's functionality is never a good one.

 

[brod56]

I guess tech still can't support larger batteries in so thin phones. See what happened with Note 7...

 

[Nuno]

I guess tech still can't support larger batteries in so thin phones. See what happened with Note 7...

Well, the issue with the note7 was way beyond the battery size. The note 7 had a pretty normal battery, 3500mAh. However, what happened to the batteries is still not fully discovered. They claimed the battery had some issues on the electrodes inside, they were bent and that would cause a short. However, batteries have several failsafe points to protect them from shorts. The charger, the port and the actual battery have failsafes over incorrect charging voltages and others. The protection circuit in the battery wasn't the issue, the actual battery cell was defective and several models ended up blowing up. I don't know where samsung got its batteries but it was definitely manufacturer defect.

 

[Ink]

I read somewhere it's a Hardware Spec's race on Android devices. To me, it means absolutely nothing.

 

[Nuno]

I read somewhere it's a Hardware Spec's race on Android devices. To me, it means absolutely nothing.

Exactly, as long as specs on my device don't limit the functionality I intend to take out of the phone, I'm good. What's the point in having a beast on your pocket if you're forced to keep it on a leash ever so often to keep it alive

 

[RicharDooM]

I completely sympathize with the author of the post! I would like not to have to put my phone on the charger at least once per day. It's such a drag! I carry my external battery everywhere with me, and sometimes, I would just like to relax and enjoy "freedom" of not carrying anything with me.

I think the main factor that stops companies to provide high-powered devices is design. People are just crazy for it and don't care about actual important matters. It wouldn't be bad if each major phone provider would release 2/3 phones with larger battery for people who don't care for the looks!

 

[Evjl's Rain]

I won't spend money for a phone that I have to charge everyday because I hate it and the battery will die faster after a specific number of charging circles. I will only buy phones which can last at least 2-3 days daily so when travel and need to navigate, they can last the whole day instead of dying after 3 hours

don't care about the appearance. Battery life and good enough speed are my priorities

 

[ttto]

Phones evolve, but the batteries do not. It's obvious that the more powerful phone is, the more battery need. A lot of times, seems to be that these companies only take care about screen resolution, processor, RAM, camera... They only want to do is a phone with good "numbers", and also, the thinnest possible. For these cases companies prefer not to increase the battery, because probably if they do that, they would have to increase (more) the size of the phone. Nowadays it seems to be that esthetic is more important that functionality.

 

[brod56]

I won't spend money for a phone that I have to charge everyday because I hate it and the battery will die faster after a specific number of charging circles. I will only buy phones which can last at least 2-3 days daily so when travel and need to navigate, they can last the whole day instead of dying after 3 hours

don't care about the appearance. Battery life and good enough speed are my priorities

Unfortunately with normal usage any smartphone won't last more than 1,5 days. Unless it has more than 4000mAh like Moto Max.

 

[Evjl's Rain]

Unfortunately with normal usage any smartphone won't last more than 1,5 days. Unless it has more than 4000mAh like Moto Max.

I'm using a sony z3 with STAMINA mode enabled, 3100mah. It usually lasts ~2-3 days in my usage. I'm a heavy tweaker so no phone is going to last less than 1 day for me, except ancient phones
z3 can last 1.5 days when I travel using GPS, google maps,...

with an IP5s, impossible to travel without an external battery charger