[Gawain]

Reading through rumored specs of upcoming devices as well as newly released devices and it had me thinking:

Aside from cost, is there any other reason why manufacturers use cr@ppy capacity batteries with some of their devices? Are there other performance considerations involved - heat? Is there an efficiency curve that shows that extra capacity doesn't provide the perceived benefit under a certain set of circumstances?

Some examples, one rumored spec for the new BlackBerry Storm/Monaco/touchscreen shows a battery rated at 1230mAh. That's smaller than the one in the current Storm2.

The new HTC ThunderBolt has a measly 1400mAh battery, and you should read some of the horrific performance it provides on such a "hungry" device (I lived it myself and was back on my BB in just a few days). Power consumption is so horrid, HTC and VZW have the big-**** 2700+mAh battery available for the TBolt in stock for those that are aware of the issue.

Even the new Pre2 (a super slick device) has a very small 1150mAh battery, it performed better than my experience with the TBolt, but still, running hardware that is a touchscreen, 1GHz processor and an OS that thrives on multitasking.

Now, we know that there are better battery options out there. Seidio has a whole line of gear that fits OEM spec, and has higher capacity. Problem solved right?

Would you be willing to pay $50 or $100 more retail, on or off contract, for a device that already had a serious battery in it? Maybe I'm just a higher usage person and don't know it. My Bold usually gets me through the day most days, 6AM through to 9PM...perhaps with 20% left, with the original battery. There are days where I do have to plug that baby in at 3PM too though...

So, would you pay for more juice up front if you knew you wanted or needed it?

[Ntchwaidumela]

Including an extra standard battery with the purchase of a new phone would be a great incentive. However, we all know that's never gonna happen. Even when manufacturers and carriers know that "normal" usage of all the new smartphones, Android or otherwise, the standard batteries included with their devices won't last through the day. So they're really telling us to pound sand and give us more money so your device keeps working through the day. Carriers will tell you they don't make money (some say they lose money) on devices because of the rebates, specials, etc. So what if they do?! They more than make up for it with sizable profits on their plans (and heaven forbid you should exceed your plan limits...jackpot). So including an extra battery with each purchase would go a long way in customer satisfaction. At their cost, a couple of extra dollars would go a long way with new and existing customers. Otherwise, we'll continue to buy our batteries (and other accessories) from eBay, Crackberry, etc.

[Gawain]

Including an extra standard battery with the purchase of a new phone would be a great incentive. However, we all know that's never gonna happen. Even when manufacturers and carriers know that "normal" usage of all the new smartphones, Android or otherwise, the standard batteries included with their devices won't last through the day. So they're really telling us to pound sand and give us more money so your device keeps working through the day. Carriers will tell you they don't make money (some say they lose money) on devices because of the rebates, specials, etc. So what if they do?! They more than make up for it with sizable profits on their plans (and heaven forbid you should exceed your plan limits...jackpot). So including an extra battery with each purchase would go a long way in customer satisfaction. At their cost, a couple of extra dollars would go a long way with new and existing customers. Otherwise, we'll continue to buy our batteries (and other accessories) from eBay, Crackberry, etc.

The real margin for agents and the stores is in accessories, so having extra manufacturer batteries there would have some positives for the carriers and their agents. As for the devices themselves, on the high-end ones, most carriers don't even break even on a two-year contract until somewhere past 16 months (all factors considered).

All that aside, the battery issue is what interests me the most. We know there are higher density batteries out there, but I was wondering if there were issues besides cost, cost/benefit, profit, etc. that prevented the manufacturers from pursuing them.

[MrObvious]

I agree that they need to do more to make devices more power efficient. When I had a Droid Eris, the stock Verizon OS ran slow and died within half a day. Now I rooted it, put a custom OS on there, and I got a full day or maybe two out of it. Even my BB Bold gets probably 2-3 days with the way I use it but of course I actually use it a lot.

A lot of it has to do with how well they optimize it IMO. Battery capacity shouldn't be an issue unless you are a power user and absolutely need it.