Battery Life: Phone Manufacturers Are Going Backwards

Berkeley, CA - I visited the Verizon store today and played with the Galaxy Nexus phone. It sported an impressive HD display (which uses 40% of phone power when turned on at full brightness, and idle), dual core processor, and a fantastic camera. I couldn't help but think, "This phone, right here, is THE phone." Not only is the screen larger than the iPhone 4s, and not only is the processor faster --it's also 5 grams lighter than the 4s. It also has a friggin barometer.

But reports from the Internet are complaining that the Galaxy Nexus, in all its glory, suffers from poor battery life. Some people say they can get a full day out of the Galaxy Nexus, but in standard battery stress tests the phone consistently performs worse than other phones.

I don't care how fast it is --if the battery dies when I need it most, it's a brick.

(Image: http://www-bgr-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/samsung-galaxy-nexus-12.jpg)

This lady at the store showed me her Verizon "Charge" phone with the extended battery attached. She admitted she uses her phone "a lot" and needed the extended battery. Such a battery essentially dobules the thickness of your phone, and you need to attach a special case cover to shield it. It makes your phone ugly as heck but you can at least last an entire day without charging it.

I'm seeing this more and more --battery life is going down rather than up in mobile. It's because batteries haven't caught up to the new technology that the companies are packing into these devices. Once on a hiking trip, all of my friends in the other car (we had two cars) had Android phones. By the end of the day, ALL of their phones died (all four of them) so they couldn't communicate with us for directions while driving back home. Eventually we pulled over and I gave them my iPhone 3gs (which had a good 40% charge left), and we used my friend's old-school Motorola flip to make phone calls to my iPhone in the other car. Can you believe it? All four Androids died in under a day!

People seem to be adapting just fine. Many of my friends with Androids actually carry around chargers with them. I can't believe what the world's come to, though! Mobile phones and laptops were designed to be mobile. By having poor battery life, they essentially are sacrificing mobility.

I hope phone manufacturers figure things out and manage their battery lives better. Mobile phones are not mobile unless you can go a full day without charging!!!

Do you want your phone to look like this??

The Verizon Charge with extended battery pack.

(Image: http://community.vzw.com/vzw/attachments/vzw/Charge/4806/1/Phone-2.JPG)