GoKawiilOn a recent trip to Disneyland, amid churro breaks, Spider-Man selfies and bouncing between rides at "the happiest place on Earth," I was gripped by a very real-world anxiety: I kept checking my phone's battery level.
Even with an iPhone 17 Pro Max, which topped CNET's battery tests, I couldn't shake the feeling. After snapping photos, tracking ride wait times, mobile-ordering food and messaging friends, I depleted half my charge by mid-afternoon.
Worried about my phone making it through the day, I turned on Low Power Mode. I even carried a battery pack to ease my mind. I wrapped up the evening after filming the World of Color light-and-water show with a modest 36%. Not bad, but cutting it closer than I'd prefer.
These days, our phones can do almost anything. Just not for very long.
As smartphones have grown more advanced — doubling as high-definition cameras, GPS systems, digital wallets and AI assistants — one feature that often fails to impress is battery life. If there's a single thing you can guarantee at the end of each day, it's that you'll need to plug in your phone.
A new CNET survey found that 58% of smartphone owners are frustrated with their device's battery life. More than half of respondents say that dissatisfaction with their batteries would drive them to upgrade. That tops a desire for more storage (38%), new camera features (27%) and a better display (22%).
That's not to say today's smartphone batteries are bad. In fact, understanding the constraints and capabilities of the lithium-ion batteries powering our handheld devices might require a bit of reframing. If anything, it's remarkable that they can keep pace with our growing demands — especially as our lives become increasingly digital and our screen time surges.
Even if you don't notice it, the battery powering your phone has steadily become more efficient and robust with each device upgrade.
"As our phones have gotten better, they get more and more power-hungry," says Celina Mikolajczak, an adviser and longtime executive in the battery industry. "The batteries keep getting better, but we keep wanting more."
Still, manufacturers are racing to meet consumer demand for batteries that last well beyond a single day. In China, brands like Honor, Huawei and Oppo are outfitting their devices with silicon-carbon batteries, which offer higher energy density and faster charging than many existing phone batteries. In CNET's lab testing, nearly half of the phones with the best battery life use silicon-carbon tech.
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