For a long time, I firmly believed that the mobile phone battery problem could never be solved. In the last five years or so, phones have been becoming increasingly hungry for power because they have been getting smarter, and batteries... well, they have only been becoming bigger, and not really any smarter. Until now.
A couple of years ago, Lenovo, who were still selling only computers at the time introduced their Power Bridge system in one of their X-series ThinkPad models (X240 I think) that allowed the user to swap the rear replaceable battery with another one while leaving the computer running. All they did to achieve this was add a small internal battery that could hold the fort while the rear replaceable ones were being swapped. A clever algorithm then ensured that the internal battery got charged first when connected to power, and then the replaceable one.
The setup seemed perfect to me. This, I thought was the way forward with mobile phone batteries as well - sell mobile phones with an optional second battery that you can keep charging and swapping as you go. Also, get rid of the back panel because it's always such a pain.
In my two years of owning an Xperia ZR, its abysmally poor battery life was pretty much the only thing I used to complain about. It was otherwise a great phone with a stalwart build and a neat camera. About a month ago, its battery almost fully gave out and I just had to let it go.
Enter the new Nexus 5X. It cost a fortune to buy it but I finally have it in my hands (‘hands’ because it’s too bloody big to use with just one). This phone has a very ordinary 2700 mAh non-removable battery, but the way it uses it and charges it is intriguing.
I’m a moderate, if not light user of my phone. My usage consists of some calling and texting and the occasional light reading and web-browsing. I seldom play games, and when I do, it’s usually a crossword puzzle or a word-guesser that barely saps any GPU power. The fully charged Nexus serves me a good day or two before asking me to plug it in again.
Most of this frugal consumption is thanks to its new software. The latest 'Marshmallow' release of Android features Doze, a system that slows down or shuts off background apps when the phone is being inactive for long hours. The result is a phone that’s fresher than I am when I wake up in the mornings. Then there's the display backlight that can automatically go from being as bright as the sun to as dim as a night-lamp depending on the amount of light around me. While this amazing dimming capacity is great for reading late-night text messages in the bed, it can sometimes get a bit annoying as the display becomes really dim even when I'm outside at evenings and need some more backlight.
The only thing better than its battery performance is its charging system. USB type-C has finally started to make its way into some production models and the Nexus 5X has it too. The fast charger provided with the phone makes use of type-C’s improved charging rate and can charge the 5X from around 0% to full in just over an hour. I’m told that it does not employ Qualcomm’s new Quick Charge 3.0 technology but that’s a remarkable charging speed nevertheless and it feels much quicker compared to the two or three hours my previous Sony used to take to charge fully. The plug’s flippable on both ends so there’s no swearing every time I plug it in groggily every morning.
So, there we have it. The way forward is quicker charging with better hardware, and smarter software that knows how to handle apps better. And I believe I am seeing some of the finest of it here with the new Nexus after a very long time.
Every time I plug it in, a line of text on the lock-screen that reads, ‘Charging rapidly’ is a subtle reminder of how things really are progressing with battery and battery-charging technology. I am glad that I am finally seeing some of it.
Sigh. All that said, my idea wasn’t so bad either you know. It could have worked. It could have been cool even. People could have gone around cocking and reloading their phones like guns in action movies until people actually got hurt and the entire system got scrapped.
Oh, but wait! What’s this news I hear just as I’m about to end this post? Apple has just released an expensive battery pack for the iPhone 6s which encases the phone’s body like a regular silicone phone cover but with an obnoxiously large bulge at the back.
Aha!
Until next time…
Vignesh
A couple of years ago, Lenovo, who were still selling only computers at the time introduced their Power Bridge system in one of their X-series ThinkPad models (X240 I think) that allowed the user to swap the rear replaceable battery with another one while leaving the computer running. All they did to achieve this was add a small internal battery that could hold the fort while the rear replaceable ones were being swapped. A clever algorithm then ensured that the internal battery got charged first when connected to power, and then the replaceable one.
The setup seemed perfect to me. This, I thought was the way forward with mobile phone batteries as well - sell mobile phones with an optional second battery that you can keep charging and swapping as you go. Also, get rid of the back panel because it's always such a pain.
In my two years of owning an Xperia ZR, its abysmally poor battery life was pretty much the only thing I used to complain about. It was otherwise a great phone with a stalwart build and a neat camera. About a month ago, its battery almost fully gave out and I just had to let it go.
Enter the new Nexus 5X. It cost a fortune to buy it but I finally have it in my hands (‘hands’ because it’s too bloody big to use with just one). This phone has a very ordinary 2700 mAh non-removable battery, but the way it uses it and charges it is intriguing.
I’m a moderate, if not light user of my phone. My usage consists of some calling and texting and the occasional light reading and web-browsing. I seldom play games, and when I do, it’s usually a crossword puzzle or a word-guesser that barely saps any GPU power. The fully charged Nexus serves me a good day or two before asking me to plug it in again.
Most of this frugal consumption is thanks to its new software. The latest 'Marshmallow' release of Android features Doze, a system that slows down or shuts off background apps when the phone is being inactive for long hours. The result is a phone that’s fresher than I am when I wake up in the mornings. Then there's the display backlight that can automatically go from being as bright as the sun to as dim as a night-lamp depending on the amount of light around me. While this amazing dimming capacity is great for reading late-night text messages in the bed, it can sometimes get a bit annoying as the display becomes really dim even when I'm outside at evenings and need some more backlight.
The only thing better than its battery performance is its charging system. USB type-C has finally started to make its way into some production models and the Nexus 5X has it too. The fast charger provided with the phone makes use of type-C’s improved charging rate and can charge the 5X from around 0% to full in just over an hour. I’m told that it does not employ Qualcomm’s new Quick Charge 3.0 technology but that’s a remarkable charging speed nevertheless and it feels much quicker compared to the two or three hours my previous Sony used to take to charge fully. The plug’s flippable on both ends so there’s no swearing every time I plug it in groggily every morning.
So, there we have it. The way forward is quicker charging with better hardware, and smarter software that knows how to handle apps better. And I believe I am seeing some of the finest of it here with the new Nexus after a very long time.
Every time I plug it in, a line of text on the lock-screen that reads, ‘Charging rapidly’ is a subtle reminder of how things really are progressing with battery and battery-charging technology. I am glad that I am finally seeing some of it.
Sigh. All that said, my idea wasn’t so bad either you know. It could have worked. It could have been cool even. People could have gone around cocking and reloading their phones like guns in action movies until people actually got hurt and the entire system got scrapped.
Oh, but wait! What’s this news I hear just as I’m about to end this post? Apple has just released an expensive battery pack for the iPhone 6s which encases the phone’s body like a regular silicone phone cover but with an obnoxiously large bulge at the back.
Aha!
Until next time…
Vignesh
It's unlikely for a mobile phone to implement what a laptop did considering how phones are these days trying to be the cool slim with little to no regards to having a bigger gutt rather a second temporary one to swap in another.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. The need for a slim phone has gone to the extent of having protruding camera lenses from the backs.
ReplyDelete