HTC says consumers prefer thin phones to long battery life
Back in January, I wrote about how the current trend for thinner devices might be hurting battery life, and how I wouldn't mind if manufacturers just let their devices be a bit clunkier. This isn't a new problem, and has actually been going on for quite a while, but manufacturers still don't seem to get it. In fact, just today, HTC's vice president of product strategy Bjorn Kilburn said that in their experience customers actually prefer thin devices to long battery life.
His results supposedly come from a research survey conducted last year in which consumers were asked if they preferred thin smartphones or those with better battery life but bulkier frames. It isn't clear how this study was conducted, but HTC says the result was that consumers usually prefer thin devices even if they have to sacrifice battery life. Apparently, HTC was so convinced by these results that they abandoned plans for a device with a 3,000mAh or larger battery.
Now, this isn't to say the HTC One series doesn't have already impressive battery life, but personally I think that a device with a battery even larger would have been great to have on the market. I'm not saying I would have definitely bought it, but the option for consumers to have better battery life and also to pressure would probably have been benificial for the market.
Fortunately, HTC also said that battery life is still considered quite important, but effort is being focused on actually improving the core battery technology and power management software. However, the more I look at devices being released, I still feel like I may be in the minority of the battery life debate.
How do you feel about manufacturers sacrificing battery life for thinness?
[The Verge]
