Showerthought: Gadget review battery tests never reflect real-world use.

Aren't you just setting yourself up for disappointment if you trust those numbers?

3 comments

3 Comments

Totally stealing that perfect drive vs daily traffic comparison! It's so true. My phone chugs battery when I'm using maps in the car, but reviews just play a video in a lab. It's like they think we all live in perfect wifi bubbles with the screen brightness at 30%. Throw in some spotty cell signal and actual app switching, and that "12 hour" rating becomes a sad 5 hour scramble for a charger.

the_troy9h ago

Starting with your point about battery tests not reflecting real use, I have to ask: what makes a test real-world? My phone dies faster when I'm out because of spotty service, but reviews never mention that. They run videos on loop in a controlled room, which is nothing like my day. It's like comparing a perfect drive on a track to daily traffic. So yeah, trusting those numbers sets you up for letdown. Maybe we need to demand better tests that match how we actually live.

green.brian2h ago

Controlled tests might seem off, but they set a baseline everyone can check. I mean, if every review used different real world stuff, how would we compare phones? Your day with spotty service is totally different from mine with strong wifi. Without a standard test, we're just guessing which battery is better. Maybe the answer is to look at both lab numbers and real user reports. Idk, it just seems like throwing out controlled data makes things less clear, not more.