Which High-End Smartphone Offers The Best Battery Life

When considering a future smartphone purchase, few take into mind the importance of a decent battery life. Bamboozled by the megapixels, dots per inch and multiple core processors, it’s amazing how little regard folk give to the battery life, which has to go down as one of the most important features because without it, any exciting hardware is basically useless. Which.co.uk, a prominent observer of the mobile industry, has thrown together a rather interesting infographic on the battery retention levels of the foremost handsets on the market and, suffice to say, the results may shock you.

Breakthrough could bring tenfold increase in battery life

Although the autonomy of mobile computing devices has improved in the last decade, the gains are mostly through advancements in microprocessor and display technologies. Batteries themselves have remained largely unchanged in recent years, but a team of engineers at Northwestern University claims to have discovered a breakthrough that could revolutionize the industry.

The researchers have developed an electrode for lithium-ion batteries that increases the capacity and recharge rate by 10 times. If accurate, the innovation could afford smartphones with an all-week battery life instead of a day, and recharge times would be measured in minutes instead of hours. Even after a year of regular use, such a battery would be five times more efficient.

Lithium-ion batteries are charged by a chemical reaction that causes lithium ions to move between the anode and cathode. As energy is used, lithium ions travel from the anode to the cathode through the electrolyte. This is reversed when recharging. The anode is composed of carbon-based graphene sheets and they can only handle one lithium atom per six carbon atoms.

Scientists have attempted to replace carbon with silicon because it is far more efficient at transferring lithium atoms, but its charging capacity degrades too quickly. Meanwhile, because the graphene sheets inside today's batteries are only one carbon atom thick and comparatively long, the recharging process is hindered. Physorg describes the process as an "ionic traffic jam."

The researchers have drastically improved both qualities by sandwiching clusters of silicon between the graphene sheets. This stabilizes the silicon while allowing the graphene to transfer a larger number of lithium atoms. To improve the recharge rate, the team uses chemical oxidation to create tiny 10-20nm holes in the graphene sheets, giving the lithium ions many shorter paths to travel instead of clumping along the edges.

It's said that the group has focused on improving the anode but it should make further refinements when it begins working on the cathode. The technology is expected to reach consumers within three to five years. A full overview written by researcher Harold H. Kung has been published by Advanced Energy Materials (Volume 1, Issue 6, pages 1079-1084). That release is available through Wiley online library, though it's not free.

HP refreshes enterprise notebooks, offers 32-hour battery life

HP has overhauled its enterprise laptops, adding new processors and a sturdier, more power efficient design. HP's new EliteBook and ProBook models are constructed with the company's "Forge" framework, which includes aluminum-alloy hinges, titanium-alloy display latches, a magnesium-reinforced ABS chassis, a bottom-case drain in case of spills, and an HP "DisplaySafe" frame.


The EliteBook 8460p (14-inch) and 8560p (15.6-inch) appear to be the premium offerings, boasting an HP DuraCase that meets the MIL-STD 810G military standards and up to 32 hours of runtime with an HP BB09 Ultra Extended Life battery. The ProBook line carries many of the same hardy attributes while offering more flexibility with configurations ranging from ultra-light to desktop replacement.

EliteBooks start at $999 and can be outfitted with Intel's latest Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors, a 1GB Radeon HD 6470M discrete graphics chip, up to 16GB of RAM, mechanical or flash storage, as well as Windows 7, SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 or FreeDOS. Meanwhile, the new ProBooks start at $579 and have cheaper options such as Intel's Core i3 and Celeron, and Windows Vista.


Connectivity on the upper-end models includes two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports (one eSATA combo), VGA and DisplayPort outputs, an ExpressCard 54 slot, a multi-card reader, and various Wi-Fi/WWAN/Bluetooth options. Budget systems have less I/O, but HP has covered the important bases. All of the new enterprise machines should be available in the US on March 15.