Poll: Thinness Vs. Battery Life, Which Do You Choose?

Thinness vs. battery life is an age-old question, but an important one at that. Device manufacturers are constantly raising the bar for how much juice they can fit in a slim-shelled handset, just take a look at the Razr Maxx with its 3,300mAh battery. Still, manufacturers like HTC say that they would rather focus on battery life than make an incredibly thin device. Sure, handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S III and HTC One X are sleek, but are they “thin enough“.

When you walk into a carrier store or are scouting out a phone online, do you immediately check the battery life, or are you more intrigued by the device’s appearance? In layman’s terms, which spec is more important to you, thinness or battery life?

Personally, I prefer a thinner device. Now if only the Oppo Finder would make it to the US.

Tags: battery life, Poll, Thick, Thinness

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zookeeper63 6 pts

I want battery life first and foremost. After having started my cellular phone journey with a bag phone I see no problem with a decently thick phone.

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theDL 5 pts

As long as it's not absurdly thick, I'm taking battery life.

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jpb 14 pts

I'm quite happy that my Samsung Galaxy S3 does a pretty good job at giving me both, 13 hours with lots of use (GPS, video playing, phone/texting, browsing, social apps) and a nice thin phone.

But if I had to make a choice, I'd take a thick battery.

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Steebie 5 pts

Has to be a compromise. Not super thick, but don't need super-thin if it doesn't last. Should last, reliably, at least 16 hours of moderate use, ideally, 24 hours, and then be as thin as you can get that to work.

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JB_AndroidGeek 5 pts

For me I just want both, as in I am a heavy user and I wan't my phone battery to last one day. But who says you have to have thickness for battery life, look at the HTC desire, for my it's battery lasted less than half a day if I would use it the amount I wanted to use a smart phone. So you could call me a heavy user, yet the HTC desire was a really thick phone next to some of it's better battery life rivals. I belive Samsung get the ratio right for me, the international s2, unlike my old desire, would always get me through the day, which lead me to overclock it to 1.4ghz and still it lasted long enough, yet it was super thin. Furthermore, my International s3 lasts even longer than my s2, and it is slightly thicker, but it feels so much nicer in the hand thanks to that extra thickness. It just feels less awarked.

So to sum it up, I want great battery life in a phone about 8.5mm which is completely achievable.

I personally think HTC said that as an excuse, as the tegra 3 HTC One X is thicker than the international s3, yet has horrendous battery less due to it having a much smaller battery than the s3, yet they use the uni-body Constitution which in theory allows a bigger battery. So if Samsung can make a phone which is thinner and has a removable battery, which has much bigger capacity, then HTC is just spilling out excuses. You can have thinness and a good battery life. Furthermore, HTC could have choose a better CPU, the tegra 3 isn't very power efficient, it is using 40nm constitution which just old and screams potential overheating problems say next to the s3's exynos 4412's which uses 32nm construction. Plus that 4+1 thing is just a gimmick, research online and you find that there are much better solutions.

Just my opinions anyway :)

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Matlock 12 pts

I want both! A battery doesnt necessarily have to be the size of the Droid Razr Maxx's 3300mah battery, but I would definitely like to have something that is 2000mah, and higher! I use my phone a lot during the course of the day, whether it be for phone calls, sms/mms, email, web, music, or playing games and having something that does not last very long is a definite "No No" for me. I have an HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus with the Samsung Extended life 2000Mah batt, and get pretty good battery life with it. Depending on how much gaming I do, I usually average about 27hrs on a full charge, but I also carry the stock battery with me, just in case i'm out, and cant get to a charger. I purchased an HTC One S for my dad, for Fathers day, and he can barely make it through his work day without recharging the phone. If he doesnt recharge it, by the time he gets home, the phone is either dead, or below 10%. During the course of the day, my dad barely uses his phone. He, maybe, talks a grand total of 15mins on it, checks his email during lunch, listens to some music, that's on the phone, for an hour, and comes home. The One S with that kind of usage should be lasting him, closer to two days, but it barely makes it through the day.

So, thats why I would sacrifice some thinness for a bigger battery. Also, why aren't more manufacturers using Litium Polymer batteries, rather than LIthium Ion?

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androids ghost 10 pts

I prefer something reasonable.I don't mind if a phone is thicker than the alternative. But, I most certainly don't want anything like the Samsung Epic that came out.. I think there is more than enough room for a phone to be reasonably sized with a reasonably sized battery. We don't have to have extremes either way. If I were absolutely forced to pick between two extremes I'd probably go with a thinner phone because, I want something comfortable in my pocket. Still I think phones like the HTC One X/SIII prove you can get a reasonable balance.

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Justin Hinkofer 5 pts

While I don't prefer overly bulky phones, and extended life battery backs are usually awful, I do prefer battery life over thinness. As long as the device is designed to match the size of the battery, and there are no weird edges, I'm fine with a thicker phone.

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JQuest81 88 pts

Thin. With a removable battery. That way I can carry a couple full spares.. Though I get a good 15+ hours out of my Galaxy S III on a single charge. Though this debate will go on forever... thin or thick, phones are getting more and more powerful demanding more juice. Batteries are having a hard time keeping up with the trend. Though I think eventually OEMs will find a way to increase battery capacity without increasing the physical size...

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UKAndroid 9 pts

What use is a phone without power because the thin battery has run out of juice. A thin phone is good but not at the expense of battery life.

I never considered the HTC One simply because of its battery life and the fact that it was not replaceable. It's a nice phone but the battery limitation coupled with the lack of a card slot meant it has limited appeal. The recent drop in price meake me think that despite all the hype, others feel the same.

Samsung seem to have it right with replaceable batteries and card slots in their various Galaxy models.

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PatrickJamesFrederick 6 pts

battery i wear cargo pants tht can fit a cell phone from the 80s i just want my fone to last

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mbcls 18 pts

"Still, manufacturers like HTC say that they would rather focus on battery life than make an incredibly thin device"

duh? of course they will say that! they're not smart enough to make thin phones! when i think of them, the first thing comes to my mind is Heavy Thick Craps !

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liljoepr 6 pts

Its time to learn from Motorola. They did a great job with the Razr Maxx.

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MarcOKelly 10 pts

thin, with an external 18,000 mah battery that I keep in my bag

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astontopgears 19 pts

I really prefer more battery life as I'm always away from a charger. Though, I do like thin devices as well. They are very sexy...

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kanoneyez 71 pts

I put a 3500mAh battery on my phone. But the back is tapered so it doesn't look as boxy as the one you show. I like being able to go 2 days without a charge. Reminds me of the B-S days (Before Smartphones).

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astontopgears 19 pts

kanoneyez Yeah 2 days without a charge is ideal, but I almost never seem to achieve it. I've been thinking of getting an extended battery, but I'm afraid it will be way to thick to hold in the hand. (there has to be a better way to say that last part)

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kanoneyez 71 pts

astontopgears Prior to getting the 3500mAh batteries (2), I had "accidentally" purchased 4 1900mAh batteries. They last as long as the OEM 1750mAh. But I would be at 10% or less by the end of the day with minimal use. So I would carry one extra in my pocket and switch it out around 2PM. The phone was still thin with the 1900's but what's the use having a pretty phone if you can't use it. So I went with the larger battery. Happy I did.

("Accidentally" because I thought I was buy only 2 batteries. Turned out there were two batteries in one order and two in the 2nd. I still use them on days where I don't plan on a lot of heavy use.)

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