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Smartphone battery life is improving bit by bit, especially as batteries get larger, but there are no imminent breakthroughs likely to significantly extend the time between charges.

Consumers hoping for a significant breakthrough in battery life as they upgrade their smartphones this year will likely be disappointed.

“In smartphones with a battery the same size as in previous iterations, users might get 5 percent more battery power,” says Paul Lee, head of global technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) research at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.

The slow progress in enhancing smartphone battery capacity results from the challenges inherent in developing a battery suitable for a diverse range of consumer electronic devices. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries are currently the best option, Lee says, in part because the components are very flexible, allowing designers to incorporate the battery into the thin, compact phones consumers crave.

One of the most promising technologies in the hunt for longer-lasting smartphone batteries is graphene, but Lee does not expect this very thin and strong material to become a mainstream component for another 20 to 30 years. Graphene can cost approximately $100 per gram, and 15 grams would be required per smartphone battery, Lee says. “The battery would cost many times more than even the most expensive smartphone on the market,” he says.

The trend toward larger smartphones is generally enabling the inclusion of bigger batteries, “but we have to recognize that, even as batteries improve and get bigger, our appetite for using those batteries grows as well,” Lee says. Smartphone users today are exchanging photos, surfing the Web, and using apps with increasing frequency, which necessitates regular battery recharges. “In a way, it’s good that we drain our batteries so quickly—it’s because we like our phones so much,” Lee says.

In this TMT predictions video, Lee and Duncan Stewart, director of TMT research for Deloitte Canada, discuss the state of smartphone batteries, including how improving smartphone connectivity speeds might help stretch battery life further.

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