Slave to the charger

By: Saad El Khadem, Research Analyst, IDC MEA

Take a moment to look at your mobile phone, and those belonging to the people around you. Now imagine what phones, if any, these people would have had just five years ago. Today’s devices are superior in almost every way, with the technology contained within them improving each and every year. With these advancements, consumers have seen better screen technology with resolutions so high that individual pixels are almost impossible to discern, more processing speed than we know what to do with, and improved build quality thanks to the use of premium materials and finishes. Likewise, the built-in cameras on these phones now pack some serious power, and for many users are the only such device they need. However, one element hasn’t been so quick to progress - the battery.

Indeed, one of the most persistent and frustrating issues that users face with modern smartphones is battery life. Regardless of the advancements in other elements of the typical smartphone, battery life remains a key handicap, and perhaps the only area in which old-fashioned feature phones can boast an advantage over their newer, smarter rivals. IDC’s data suggests that this hasn’t hampered the growth of smartphone sales, but it has undoubtedly caused users to alter their behavior, and led a number of companies to develop solutions to the problem.

Brand new category

Many people can no longer live with a single charger. Instead, most will have at least one extra power source, or even two, to keep in their office, car, or other frequently attended location. Others, meanwhile, prefer to keep their charger on their person, in a bag or purse, to be used whenever and wherever necessary.

The battery-life issue has also spurred a brand new category of devices: cases with built-in batteries. These cases can add significantly to a device’s weight and dimensions, but given the problem they solve, they have been welcomed with open arms by many consumers.

For those not so keen on the added weight and size of such cases, battery packs are also available that can charge a phone by simply plugging it in when necessary. And while this is certainly a workable solution, it also adds the burden of carrying around a second device.

Given the inherent pitfalls of such ‘solutions’, consumers and companies alike are still seeking the technological leap forward that will deliver better battery life. In the meantime, however, battery life has improved slightly over the years. At the start of the smartphone revolution, devices were much smaller than today’s norm. Naturally, a small phone equated to a small battery. But with most new phones now sporting a screen size of around 5”, the physical footprints of our devices are much larger, in turn allowing for a larger battery.

That said, a larger phone with a larger battery doesn’t necessarily mean more time between charges. The technological advancements of recent years have made smartphones more power hungry, so this increase in battery size can often be offset by faster consumption. Generally speaking, though, while more power is needed, these new breed of larger batteries do last longer than their smaller predecessors. We are also seeing vendors introduce new and improved power-saving modes on their latest models. Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and HTC’s One (M8) are just two recent examples of phone makers recognizing the major inconvenience caused to customers by a short battery life. The new options included on these flagship devices essentially turn their screens to black and white, and prevent all non-essential apps from running. Such on-the-fly changes to power consumption allow users to continue using their devices even when the battery has little charge remaining.

While features like this will give your phone extended life when a charger is nowhere in reach, there have been some notable advancements in quick-charging technology that the market can expect to see more of in the near future. Motorola, working in partnership with Google, recently created the Nexus 6, a massive 5.96” phablet with an impressive 3220 mAh battery that should be able to keep you going through the day. And if that isn’t enough, the device ships with the new Motorola Turbo Charger, enabling up to 6 more hours of use from just a 15minute burst of charging time. Similarly, Samsung states that its competing Galaxy Note 4 will reach 50% charge in around 30 minutes.

Once a true breakthrough in battery technology finally emerges, it will not only affect smartphones, but also trickle down to other technologies and alter their respective landscapes too.

News of the very latest battery developments has all of us here at IDC on the edge of our seats, particularly with reports emerging from Singapore of a new Li-Ion battery that can be charged to 70% in just two minutes. Such technology will take several years to become mainstream, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited. And until then, we’ll be eagerly awaiting any further developments that help free us from the curse of the charger.