FP2: why only 2420 mAh?

Can anyone explain this? Was it actually tested, if such a battery will be sufficient? I remember that the HTC One m8 (with comparable Specs to the FF2) has a 2620 mAh - and even this did not result in such a great battery life…

Thanks…

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It probably hasn’t been tested as there is no final prototype of the FP2 yet :wink:
I have no experience with bigger phones but for my S3 mini the 1700 mAh are perfectly enough. Sure, this depends on the way you use it :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’m also quite disappointed about the 2420 mAh battery of the FP2. I think a high-capacity battery is one key component for a sustainable phone, as people have to buy a new battery rather later than earlier. It gets very annoying, when you can’t get through a normal day without recharging.

The FP1 battery life was/is above average for a smartphone and so I can still use it about 1.5 days with an average usage profile. And I suppose FP2 will be a step backwards in this regard to FP1:
That’s because battery life is highly dependable on the display - my FP1 currently tells me, that 74% of battery usage was for the display. The FP1 had a 2000 mAh battery to “enlight” a 4.3 inch display with 1280 x 720 Pixels 960 x 540 Pixels (thanks urs_lesse). FP2 will have a 5.0 inch display with 1920 x 1080 Pixel, which is more than two times four times as many pixels that have to be powered by a battery that isn’t even 25% stronger than the one of the FP1. I guess it’s a little bit inaccurate to calculate it 1:1 this way (displays probably being more energy efficient per pixel), but in general I’m sure the battery life of the FP2 will be worse than of the FP1.
Tests of the HTC One M8 with a similar display (5 incn, 1920x1080) and a slightly bigger battery of 2.600 mAh underline that, as they show that such a hardware combination only get’s you through the day.
That’s what I expext of the FP2 - it will be fine for most users in its first half a year or even a year of usage. But after that a lot of users will already have to buy a new battery or live with recharging the phone constantly. I don’t think that was a wise decision of the fairphone developers…

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@parisc it’s even just 960x540 on the FP1, so the FP2 will have four times the number of pixels. https://fairphone.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201064718-What-are-the-technical-specifications-of-the-Fairphone-1-

You can’t really do a 1:1 comparison lime that. Also, a battery’s lifespan doesn’t necessarily increase if it’s larger. Last but not least, I have yet to hear of any phone that, under normal circumstances, doesn’t last a full day.

A full day’s use is absolute minimum requirement. Maybe an early upgrade will need to be a “bulge” back and a bigger battery … but my goodness the FP2 is a hefty thing already!

I’m hoping spare batteries will be quickly available and expect to carry a couple (as I do for my current smart phone). An off phone charger would be a useful thing to have.

And hey, at least you CAN replace the battery. My nexus 7 tablet has half the battery life it had when new … which was less than a year ago.

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For like €15 you can buy an external battery. You charge it with your phone’s charger and then take it with you. If your phone’s battery is empty, simply charge it with the external battery and the cable of your phone’s charger.

Or spend some more money and get a Waka Power (www.waka-waka.com) which can charge itself using a built-in solar panel. I got one and it works really well.

It’s not a suitable solution for me… I hope for a better battery upgrade, or maybe the integrated solar panel in the back of the phone, if anyone do it someday…

There has been one already: The Samsung Blue Earth. I considered buying one myself back then, when it was released, but it was not received well, I think, because, well, most of the time you have your phone in a pocket. This is not the ideal place, if you want it to collect solar power…

wasn’t a particularly good phone across the board.

You have yet to hear about such a phone?
ANY iPhone, any Samsung flagship from the last years - if you really use their 3 or 4G capabilities, play some games , take pics, go to your social media (not my thing, but you’re supposed to be able to do it and the whole world does it) during your day - meaning: if you USE the fantastic features they boast - most recent smartphones don’t make a full day - and I’m not an expert, this is just common knowledge if you read about smartphones these days.

Noteable exceptions are the new Moto Xs (Play and Suite) with really powerful batteries that may last several days, which is almost unheard of, and the Sony Xperia 3 if I’m not mistaken; I believe the Nexus 9 is also a good performer.
All the big, fancy smartphones have just “ok” battery life, and people are used to deal with it, using portable power blocks if they’re heavy users - which is just silly, silly, silly, when you think those devices are supposed to make life easier.

I would expect from an alternative to all these Super-Hero-Smartphones that they would last at the very least one day and a half under moderate using conditions. I call “moderate” not having some super-saving mode on, using your 3G more than two times a day and playing a few games.
Beyond that, what I don’t mean is being permanently on social media sites posting, taking loads pictures, shooting videos etc. I you’re doing that, you already have purchased a power block for recharging and are perfectly fine with it.

I really think FP2 should get a better battery. Of COURSE, a bigger battery doesn’t always mean better if you sollicitate the bigger battery heavily and the smaller battery with moderation! Sorry, but that is just comparing the incomparable, not a valid argument. Not that I’m disguarding the fact that one software can handle the same battery’s charge better than another one.

If, for the FP2 to last the same time as the fancy flagships, I need to restrain myself to making a call now and send just a couple of text messages in the day - in other words: to be extremely cautious in my using it - then it’s not a viable alternative. I’m sure Fairphone knows this. Or, at least, I hope they do.
FP2 is marketed by Fairphone as a step up from the FP1, and it should live up at least honorably to that claim.

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I bought an extra battery for my FP1 over a year ago. I charge it to 80% and keep it in my laptop bag, which I almost always carry with me. It cost me €11 and I never have to worry. Emergency battery is always near, for when I forget to charge overnight or stay away from home without a charger for much longer than expected. I rarely use it, but it’s a good and relatively cheap solution for some peace of mind.

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Just a remark about your calculation, which is not that easy:

AFAIK the battery consumption of a LCD is not dictated by the number of pixels itself but is dominated by the sole area of the display, which has to be power by the background LED (in comparison to OLED where each pixel has to light itself).

Sure, more pixels need a little bit more power to reach the same brightness (because a bigger part of the area is coverd by ne frames of each pixels), but your calculation 4 times more pixels means 4 times more power is not correct at all!

If you want to calculate, take the area (here the device area as a rough estimation): FP2=14,37,3cm² = 104cm² vs. FP1=12.66.35cm²=80cm² means a ratio of ~100/80 or 20% more.

But what should also taken into account:

  • Newer display generations can be more power efficient
  • More pixels has to be addressed by CPU/GPU
  • newer chipsets (CPU/GPU) are optimized to their display size
  • FP2 is using a completely different internal architecture in terms of chipset/CPU/GPU-manufacturer thus you CAN’T compare it like this.
  • maybe the CPU/GPU/Chipset can operate more power efficient in FP2 than in the FP1 in general, e.g. in IDLE/Standby mode? Maybe the antenna-electric is quite more efficient in power consumption than in FP1?
  • Maybe bacause of this AND because of a bigger battery with 2420mAh we will end up with a even much better battery life for one charge cycle for the FP2 than for the FP1 (which in my case normally lasts about 4-5 days)?
    So let’s see - and wait until first tests will reveal it!

Cheers, Robert

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Thanks for your input therob. I guess you are right, predicting energy consumption and battery life at this point is a lot of speculation as the total hardware package will be different to the first edition - to be certain we can only wait for tests after the fairphone has been produced and delivered.
And of course it was somehow inaccurate to compare only pixel sizes (I already admitted that in my original post). Nevertheless, I also don’t think it’s just the size and energy usage of the backlight either, as you proposed. Because in my understanding of backlit displays, also each and every pixel has to be adjusted to let the right amount of light through and show the necessary colour (all=white, none=black) - this “turning” of the pixels also consumes energy, I suppose - and probably more for 2 Mio than for 500.000 pixels. But that’s also just a guess. I have no deeper knowledge of display technology - I have no idea how much energy that is in comparison to the energy the backlight uses and how display technologies evolved. I just see that almost all the flagship smartphones still don’t have battery lifes that I consider satisfying.
But, as you said: let’s wait. If the Fairphone 2 in the first tests does better than I expect, I for sure will be a supporter for the next branch.

Exist any information about battery life of FP2?

How could there be information about this? No prototype of the final FP2 exists :smiley:

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I can say, after a whole month of deep use, that the battery life is astounding!
I have facebook and messenger apps installed, notorious battery drainers, and I often play Clash of Clans, which makes the CPU really hot, so absorbs lot of power. I often use GPS navigation too, very demanding for the battery.
I’m especially surprised by the battery resistance to the dual SIM, usually putting two SIMs even in my old candybar Nokia was making the battery plummet from 1 week with one SIM to 1 day with 2 SIMs, instead I didn’t notice big changes with FP2!
The FP2 usually lasts 12h for me, less if the GPS navigation or game session are long because of the heat…