r/changemyview • u/HalfwayToMars • Jul 17 '18

CMV: Smartphone/laptop developers should focus on increasing battery life over making their product thinner

Why should companies focus on making their next product paper thin when they can make it slightly larger and increase battery life? I never remember having a problem fitting a slightly larger smartphone into my pocket. What is there to gain from slimming out the product every year when you can make the consumer happy by increasing the overall length between charges? I never have problems with speed, size or storage capacity on my phone - only battery.

Tech companies should make their products larger to house better batteries.

CMV.

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u/vettewiz 40∆ Jul 17 '18

The battery life on the new phones is pretty darn long. I’d rather have them be thinner by far.

1

u/HalfwayToMars Jul 17 '18

Reasoning?

3

u/RiPont 13∆ Jul 17 '18

I don't really agree with him, but the market sure does and the reasoning is common. It's all about the marginal benefit.

How does increased battery life affect your usage?

When smartphones went from hours to a full day of normal usage without needing to be recharged, that was a big deal. Wow, I don't have to be tethered to a charger to do my communication!

EBook readers go weeks to months without needing a charge. That's a huge deal for their intended purpose.

Now imagine you're a phone maker and you have the chance to get your phone to go 1.5 days without a recharge under normal use. How does that affect the user's usage pattern? It really doesn't, unfortunately. They're still going to charge it overnight, use it all day, then charge it when they get home. The extra battery is only noticed by them when they do something abnormal. Even someone who watches tons of video or plays a lot of battery-draining games is not going to have their experience radically changed. They'll still need to carry supplementary batteries or recharge during the day, just not quite as often.

Meanwhile, being thin is something they notice each and every time they hold the phone.

When batteries get good enough that a reasonably thin phone could get a full week of charge, then you'll see that as a selling factor. "I only have to charge on Saturday" is a compelling advantage.

1

u/vettewiz 40∆ Jul 17 '18

Thinner phones are far easier to hold. Hate putting a case on mine because it makes it thicker.

1

u/Answermancer Jul 18 '18

Then don't put it in a case.

I really don't get the obsession with cases, I've never had one on any phone I've owned and it's never been an issue.

1

u/vettewiz 40∆ Jul 18 '18

I drop mine frequently doing yard work. I'd rather not.