Reader survey suggests modern smartphones still don't have enough battery life

It’s 2026. We’ve already witnessed the rise of electric cars, robots that can dance like Michael Jackson (and then trip over stairs), and AI products that can effectively build other AI products. However, somehow, I’m still keeping an eye on that little battery indicator on my devices. We never quite addressed the problem of ever-depleting energy, and given the processing demands and display capabilities of our flagship phones, battery life is now more important than ever.

Granted, not every device has gone backward in this regard. The OnePlus Nord 6, for instance, packs a 9,000 mAh battery that offers such an energy surplus that it can power up other devices you own. My colleague Dhruv wrote about his appreciation for the freedom such a device offers, especially the freedom from the “collective case of Stockholm syndrome” we’ve been suffering due to dwindling power stores. This all begs the question: Do you agree with this stance? Do you still harbor battery anxiety in 2026?

Well, we ran a poll to gauge how our readers feel about battery drain, and the results are now in. View them below.

We received over 6,000 votes on this survey, and the results confirm that many readers still battle with energy anxiety daily. Just under 41% of respondents admit they still “struggle to make it till the end of the day” without reaching for their charger, while 22.4% experience this only while traveling. In total, that’s just under two-thirds of respondents who worry that their devices would run out of juice at some point during the day.

Notably, just under 11% of respondents believe that their batteries do last long enough for their needs, while just over a quarter of all voters (26.1%) would appreciate larger batteries on their devices. I mean, you wouldn’t say no to a more capacious battery, right?

It’s worth noting that there are plenty of ways to keep a device topped up in a pinch nowadays, including traditional lithium-ion external batteries and semi-solid-state batteries in power banks, but this suggests that users who carry these have enough anxiety to think about additional power.

Are modern smartphone batteries enough?

There’s clearly plenty to dig into here, given that only a sliver of readers feel their smartphones’ power stores are enough. I have a few additional questions for readers:

• What is your current smartphone’s battery capacity?
• How long does it last on a single charge?
• How long would you like your smartphone battery to last?
• Do you think OEMs are doing enough to advance battery technology?

Be sure to drop your answers in the comments below.