Every time we think of a flagship smartphone of a company, we tend to believe it has to come with latest software, hardware, better camera, large storage, RAM, processor and last but not the least an ever-lasting battery. Isn’t it?
While customers do get their wish fulfilled in pretty much everything they want, it is not the case when it comes to batteries. This is an area that has often left most customers puzzled. Nearly every buyer of a flagship smartphone must have thought why a near one lakh rupee phone ships with a small battery while the Rs 20,000 ones feature bigger and more powerful ones!
While this is true that faster processors and larger display units often tend to consume more battery than the lower end phones, nearly all phone makers, where it is iOS or Android, have chosen to ship comparatively smaller size batteries in their flagships. Of course exceptions can be found, but not many.
Here are the reasons flagship phones have small batteries.
Flagships need to look great. They have to be slim and more manageable. More often than not, smaller capacity batteries are chosen for the sake of aesthetics and to ensure that they fit into the slim form-factor.
The flagship phones need to pack a punch over their budget compatriots when it comes to features. Features such as heart-rate sensor, wireless charging, better camera and tons of other sensors need space, and hence battery size is reduced.
Lithium-ion batteries that come in nearly all of our smartphones are towards the heavier side. The higher the capacity, the higher they weigh. That said, flagships need to weigh less to be more manageable. To achieve this, manufacturers often compromise on the battery. Even an apparently small difference of only 10-20 grams can create a huge impact when it comes to manageability.
True, larger displays and faster processors often consume more battery, but not always. Besides, technology has advanced enough to make faster processors that consume lesser battery. At times the latest generation processors are least 25–30% more efficient than the last generation ones and no prizes for guessing which phones get the latest processors first.
Technology has also advanced enough to allow makers to stuff their flagships offering with high tech wizardry that their budgets brethren can only dream of. This allows flagships to undo much of the disadvantage done by the smaller capacity battery. A point in case, fast charging and wireless charging capabilities that most of the flagships get these days. These are certainly not features that every budget grade phone gets.
Also, a larger battery is likely to increase heat, which is not a good thing for the chipset inside. While some of the readers may not agree with this, smaller battery also helps the marketing teams of OEMs claim faster charging times creating an impact on customers to buy the latest phone.