How long before smart phone batteries need replacement?

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zere0wn

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Note: I'm not asking how long a single charge lasts

When I bought my first smart phone I made sure the battery was replaceable so when the lithium battery life went down to nothing I could just get a new one. Been through multiple batteries.

Now it seems like there are hardly any phones with replaceable batteries. Do these batteries still wear down and need replacing?

I keep my phones for a long time so it's important to me the battery will last a decent time in a couple years.

Edit: To clarify I mean how long does the battery life stay decent. I.E. batteries in the past would last 10 hours the first few months, then in 8 months they would last 2-3 hours.
 
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Typically a day and a half if you are just using it for its phone capabilities (with mine anyway...Blackberry Torch, terrible choice I know)

If you are using a bunch of apps/browsing and watching videos you will need to charge it at least once a day.
 
Depends

If you're playing Tiger Woods 12 and Need For Speed all day in work not very long:)

Seriously though mine doesn't even last a day the amount of time I spend on it, my charger is always plugged into my computer in work.

I never noticed my battery time getting any worse with my last I Phone which I had for 2 years.
 
Service providers realized that users were replacing batteries instead of renewing a contract to get a new phone so they pressured the manufacturers to build phones that have to be returned to have the battery replaced. They also wanted the battery to only last for the contract period so users renew to get a new phone and service providers have refurbished phones to offer.
 
Honestly a question like this has no hard answer. Depends on power management of the apps as well as usage not to mention the hardware power requirements. Which make/model of smartphone your using is another factor, so maybe if you asked a better question you could get a better answer.
Is there a particular make/model you have your eye on?
For instance if i don't use Atorrent on my Galaxy S2 i have battery power for at least a day or two based on my usage. I keep my GPS antenna off as well as my wifi to save power and i also keep the screen dimmed down from max brightness. If i use that program my battery will drain in a few hours even with my other power saving actions.
So ymmv.
 
ralphc1 said:
Service providers realized that users were replacing batteries instead of renewing a contract to get a new phone so they pressured the manufacturers to build phones that have to be returned to have the battery replaced. They also wanted the battery to only last for the contract period so users renew to get a new phone and service providers have refurbished phones to offer.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I would be afraid of. I like my expensive things to last a long time.
 
Goodfoot said:
Honestly a question like this has no hard answer. Depends on power management of the apps as well as usage not to mention the hardware power requirements. Which make/model of smartphone your using is another factor, so maybe if you asked a better question you could get a better answer.
Is there a particular make/model you have your eye on?
For instance if i don't use Atorrent on my Galaxy S2 i have battery power for at least a day or two based on my usage. I keep my GPS antenna off as well as my wifi to save power and i also keep the screen dimmed down from max brightness. If i use that program my battery will drain in a few hours even with my other power saving actions.
So ymmv.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but how can you insult my question without ever actually reading it?

I'm not asking how long the battery will last on a single charge... I'm asking how long will the battery stay "good" for.... It's in the original post.
 
Isn't the standard 500-800 recharge cycles before it starts to deteriorate?
 
Get a Samsung galaxy phone. They are the hottest phones on the market with replaceable batteries.
 
Aunty Dana said:
Isn't the standard 500-800 recharge cycles before it starts to deteriorate?
Click to expand...

My older phone definitely had batteries deteriorating faster than this, but I have no doubt technology has gotten better. If I start out with a 20 hour battery life then at 1 charge a day in 2 years it starts to go down and lasts 10 hours. I could definitely deal with that.
 
Goodfoot said:
Honestly a question like this has no hard answer. Depends on power management of the apps as well as usage not to mention the hardware power requirements.
Click to expand...
Specifically, this.

Generally, about the same as they used to. The difference is that now the avg screen surface area is 50%-200% larger than past generations, brighter, and everything about the phones are more powerful (demanding more energy). Advancement in battery technology is lagging relative to the other hardware, but the OS's are becoming more efficient, and batteries are increasing in capacity- thankfully in large part to the increased size of the phones.

For example, the iPhone 3GS from 2009 had an 1150 mAh battery with a 3.5" screen. The most popular Android from that period was the original Droid which had a 1400 mAh battery with a 3.7" screen. Today, the Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 2100 mAh battery with a 4.8" screen. The massive Galaxy Note II has a 3,100 mAh battery with its 5.55" display. The phone with the best battery life from the factory is still probably the original RAZR Maxx (not the Maxx HD) by Motorola; it had a 3300 mAh battery with a 4.3" screen. That thing can go almost an entire work week on a single charge with light use. Keep in mind that surface area increases geometrically as its diagonal length increases:

*iPhone -> 3.5" diagonal= 5.88" sq.
Droid -> 3.7" diagonal = 5.85" sq.
Galaxy S -> 4.0" diagonal= 6.84" sq.
RAZR Maxx -> 4.3" diagonal= 7.90" sq.
Droid X -> 4.5" diagonal = 8.65" sq.
Nexus 4 -> 4.7" diagonal= 9.44" sq.
Galaxy S3 -> 4.8" diagonal= 9.84" sq.
HTC DNA- > 5.0" diagonal= 10.68" sq.
Note II -> 5.55" diagonal= 13.16" sq.

*All iPhones before the iPhone 5 used a 4:3 aspect ratio instead of a 16:9 which alters the total area. The iPhone 5 uses the same 16:9 ratio, so its 4.0" display is the same size as the original Galaxy S.


As you can see, although the original iPhone had a 3.5" screen, the latest "phablets" like the Note II boast almost ~225% the surface area. So it's nice that they last equally as long. There are still plenty of Android phones with removable batteries (such as the Galaxy phones). Unfortunately, you're right in that even Android makers are trending away from that.
 
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Droid Charge...about 15 minutes or so.
 
i hate my iphone 4s it seems to just heat up and my battery life dies
 
Is there a way to edit the title of threads? lol....
 
We are at a point of built in obsolescence. Replacing entire phones rather than components. Buy buy buy.
 
zere0wn said:
Edit: To clarify I mean how long does the battery life stay decent. I.E. batteries in the past would last 10 hours the first few months, then in 8 months they would last 2-3 hours.
Click to expand...
Lithium ion batteries last 400-1200 cycles. Life begins diminishing sometime in there (less if you do things like taking it off its charge before it's back to 100%). Lithium Polymer batteries last 1000+ cycles and are lighter, but are also more expensive.
 
zere0wn said:
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but how can you insult my question without ever actually reading it?

I'm not asking how long the battery will last on a single charge... I'm asking how long will the battery stay "good" for.... It's in the original post.
Click to expand...

Sorry bout that. But that question also fits into my answer. Again, if you had a particular make and model people could better answer your question. Different phones use different types of batteries, the hardware on those phones run the battery differently, perhaps you'd like to know if you could replace the stock battery for a better one if the cost was right, etc. You see where i'm going with this right?
Like i said, ask a better question get a better answer.
 
i'm thinking 2 years is a good time. I've read the battery in Iphones starts decreasing after 400 charges.
 
Three Gun Fish said:
We are at a point of built in obsolescence. Replacing entire phones rather than components. Buy buy buy.
Click to expand...

Very true, iPhone in particular seems to have lousy batteries. On the other hand, replacing an iPhone and transfering all your data is done with the push of a button.
 
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