Would a thicker smartphone kill us?
Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 2:59AM The iPhone 4, Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and Samsung Galaxy S 2 smartphones are very thin, easy to hold and look great. They also need charging once a day.
It is a difficult balance to build a phone that looks better than the rest on the shop shelf while including a battery that will ‘easily’ get through a day’s use. I know I sound like a broken record, but I would be happy to carry around a slightly thicker phone if the benefit is more battery life.
The convenience of owning a super thin phone is quickly eradicated by the inconvenience of worrying about having to charge it. Think about how you carry your phone; it’s either in a pocket, in a case or hung on a belt. In all of these scenarios, an extra 3mm would make no difference, but could potentially completely change the way the phone is used.
I understand that phones need to be slim, but we have easily reached the point where they can fatten up a little and still be thin. The problem is that they are getting so big (4.3” screen) that adding more thickness makes them difficult to use one-handed.
I don’t care though- give me battery life over design any day.
THOUGHTS
Reader Comments (12)
Could not agree more. Thick isn't a deal breaker.
Long live "chubby" phones!
If it is a spacing issue, why not have more than one battery? I can understand that a bigger battery might make internal space allocation a problem, but maybe a more than 1 smaller battery may allow more flexability.
I completely agree, would much rather have a couple of extra mm for the sake of decent battery life. I have even used extended batteries with different covers on a few phones, but often the covers don't fit very well as they are made cheap.
Maybe they could even offer an "extended battery" version of the same phone, not sure how much it would effect the design, but I could imagine there would be demand for both versions.
It's a bit like choosing a different engine in your car and trading performance for fuel economy, some people want to go faster, some to save the planet / some money on fuel. Equally for a phone some would prefer slim and some (like me) fatter with the ability to go away for the weekend without a charger.
I blame Apple for this trend :-)
Hmmm. Difficult to blame Apple- thin phones and rubbish battery lives were there long before the iPhone.
Hmmmm....
I wonder how long it would take for the negative comments about thickness to appear if a manufacturer did build a bigger phone with battery life.
I remain wholly unconvinced that people's preference for battery life over design would really win out (for most people).
And the old chestnut of "needing to charge it every day"? Just plug it in overnight for God's sake. How difficult is that? It's as routine for me as cleaning my teeth. Last job before I switch the light out is plug the iPhone in.
And if you really, really, really, can't get through a day without a charge then either:
a) you're using you're phone too much (stands back and waits for all the "I can't work without my phone" comments) or
b) get a Blackberry - and if a) still applies you're probably heading for an ulcer/breakdown - delete as applicable or
c) charge it whilst it's in the car / on the desk
I'm going back to my iPhone which at 4pm is still at 75%
"you're using you're phone too much (stands back and waits for all the "I can't work without my phone" comments"
a) Stand back:) iPhones (as an example) are starting to become popular in business. If someone is travelling to a meeting on the train and they need to use the phone on the journeys, have a couple of conference calls (maybe 1-2 hours in total), check documents etc. they may well have problems before the return journey is over. That is (unfortunately) typical usage for many people and they cannot be said to be using their phones too much. They just want to use them for what they need them for.
"b) get a Blackberry - and if a) still applies you're probably heading for an ulcer/breakdown - delete as applicable or"
BlackBerry's can do this and so should others be able to. Why can't we have the best of both worlds- even the full touch screen BlackBerry's can do this.
"c) charge it whilst it's in the car / on the desk"
Train journey- see a).
"I'm going back to my iPhone which at 4pm is still at 75%"
You are not using your phone enough...;)
30:15 to Shaun. Statto to serve...
"BlackBerry's can do this and so should others be able to. Why can't we have the best of both worlds- even the full touch screen BlackBerry's can do this"
But there's a strong argument that BB's don't do it as well as iPhone. Great battery life, but a poorer (not poor, and acknowledge that it's subjective) UI, and general consenus that the design isn't as nice (again subjective).
Yes, you can argue why can't the iPhone (and others) have aas good a battery life as BB's, but you can also argue why can't BB's and Nokia et al have as stunning design as the iPhone....
30 all
"Yes, you can argue why can't the iPhone (and others) have aas good a battery life as BB's, but you can also argue why can't BB's and Nokia et al have as stunning design as the iPhone...."
But some of the BlackBerry's are very thin and have lower rated batteries. The processors are now quite high, but the battery life still holds up. It's about screens, OS efficiency and many other aspects, but I can't see too many reasons why the others can't do this. Besides not bothering.
40:30
Maybe it's a can't be bothered approach, but I can see why the manufacturers might take that approach.
How many people are ever very far away from a power source these days? Thy have them I your office, the train, your car, even charging from your laptop.
I'm not saying decent or even battery life isn't important - it is, but I'm not sure it really is an issue for the majority of smartphone users - bearing in mind that the majority of smartphone users these days are probably not "power" users who spend 2-3 hours on a conference call on a daily or even regular basis.
I don't make many calls on mine at all. But I do use it for connectivity a lot
Might not be deuce, and I'm sure I'll probably never "win" this discussion. Settle for an honourable draw?
OK, it's a draw. I think voice is the key here. Those who use a lot of voice need a very good battery, the rest maybe don't.