Nowadays, one of the components that deteriorates the most with daily use in a smartphone is the battery. It doesn’t matter how careful you are to prevent the device from falling or getting hit, or using fast charging as little as possible to avoid stressing the battery. The years take their toll and wear and tear is inevitable. That’s why Google is considering adding a battery health indicator for your mobile devices running Android.
This is something that has been available on iPhones for many years, and it gives the user an idea of the percentage of useful battery life that the device has compared to its early days. It’s not a perfect estimation, as batteries fluctuate a lot, but it does help the user get an idea of the battery’s condition.
Battery Health Indicator for Android
As explained by Android Authority, Android is considering implementing the battery health indicator on mobile devices so that users have more accurate and precise information about the state of their device’s battery starting from Android 14 or Android 15. This would be a very positive change, as currently, Android users have to rely on third-party services to have this indicator.
It would be a quite significant change if you take into account that also, starting from 2027, mobile device batteries must be removable by obligation, since, in many cases, the only deteriorated component is usually the battery itself and, with a replacement of this component, the same mobile phone could continue to perform normally for a longer time. This raises other doubts, such as greater fragmentation of the Operating System with older versions, but it remains the most respectful option for the customer, who will not need to change their mobile phone so easily.
The autonomy of current devices
Unfortunately, energy storage technology does not advance at the same pace as, for example, the speed of CPUs, the quality of cameras, or the ability to fit more RAM into increasingly smaller spaces. Therefore, the only option that brands have had is to increase the size of devices so that they can accommodate larger lithium batteries.
In fact, it is a quite remarkable difference in size if you look back. Ten years ago, a 4-inch mobile phone was something standard and it was not seen negatively if it had a 1,500mAh battery, a figure that today can be considered ridiculous. Over the years, phones have grown, standard batteries usually range between 4,500mAh and 5,000mAh, and even more, and screens have gone from more square and small formats to more panoramic front screens than ever and with sizes above 6 inches as something common.
