Battery life just dethroned price as the biggest driver of smartphone purchases and AI doesn't come close

Date:
Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:49:46 +0000

Description:
Battery life is the new biggest driver of smartphone purchases, and I'm honestly not surprised.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Aside from the Apple versus Android debate, smartphone brands have traditionally won or lost consumers on price. Flagship phones are purchased
by those who can afford them; budget handsets by those who don't care about the latest features, and everyone else sits somewhere in between.

But according to a recent Allstate Protection Plans Mobile Survey, the attitudes towards how people buy and own smartphones have changed
dramatically in recent years. In fact, for the first time, battery life has overtaken price as the top driver of purchasing decisions, signaling a clear shift in what people value most. Other factors include storage, camera quality, screen size, and brand reputation. AI doesn't even get a look in, which is a tad surprising (or not?) given how much noise there's been around the topic in the smartphone industry. Article continues below You may like Bigger batteries, better AI, and more: heres what the TechRadar team wants to see from smartphones in 2026 My year in smartphones 2025 was the year of the AI phone Silicon-carbon is just the start: these battery technologies could make your phone last even longer The sample size of the aforementioned survey isn't huge, but its findings are reflected in the real-world opinions of insiders and consumers we speak to, as well as in recent reader polls . Most of us are feeling the pinch of rising prices, and it's affecting what we look for when we're buying a new smartphone. Take note, Apple and Samsung The OnePlus 15 lasted for almost three days in our testing (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) This desire for longer-lasting and higher-performing
batteries is reflected in the fact that consumers are no longer chasing the latest devices. The survey found that, rather than upgrading to the latest phone every year, consumers are now stretching out the time between upgrades.

The stats show that 27% upgrade every two years, 23% make the change after three or four years, and 21% delay upgrading until their phone breaks. The days of smartphone manufacturers being able to count on peak sales with each new flagship release are well and truly over.

This shift towards valuing battery performance could prove problematic for global leaders Apple and Samsung . With both brands yet to embrace silicon-carbon technology, they might end up getting left behind by their Chinese counterparts. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from
us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Apple's and Samsung's latest phone releases are a case in point. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a battery capacity of 5,000 mAh, and the cell inside the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max is only a little bigger at 5,088 mAh. Neither phone
is an endurance slouch, but to put things in perspective, the Oppo Find X9
Pro eclipses both with its 7,500mAh battery, and the OnePlus 15 which packs
a similarly huge 7,300mAh battery lasted for almost three days in our testing.

Admittedly, Samsung does have plans to implement silicon-carbon battery technology in the near future . "We are getting it ready," the company explained ahead of Galaxy Unpacked 2026, with executive Sung-Hoon Moon revealing that the technology is yet to pass Samsung's very rigorous validation standards." Moon did, however, admit that Samsung may have been a bit un-innovative on that front."

Might the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra come with a silicon-carbon battery? If those aforementioned survey findings are anything to go by, it's the biggest upgrade consumers are hoping for. What to read next How the heck did phones become so boring? Looking at you, Apple and Samsung but at least theres hope on the horizon Fairphone's Nature Report shows the worrying environmental impact of phones Why didn't the Galaxy S26 get a silicon carbon battery upgrade? Samsung explains Camera quality is still important (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd) Aside from battery performance and price, the
third most important factor influencing purchasing decisions is a phone's camera quality.

Mind you, camera performance is an area that all phone manufacturers are already delivering on in abundance. 50MP resolution cameras are the norm in most smartphones these days, and ultra-flagship models are pushing the limits of what's possible in terms of optics, resolution, zoom, and post-processing.

Take the soon-to-be-released Oppo Find X9 Ultra , for example. This flagship is at the forefront of camera technology, with many believing that its five-prism lens technology could mark the beginning of the end for compact cameras.

Then there's the recently released Xiaomi 17 Ultra , which harnesses Leica technology to push the boundaries of photo and video capture within a smartphone. Boasting a massive 1-inch type main sensor (the largest
physically possible in a phone) and a 200MP periscope telephoto lens,
Xiaomi's latest phone promises to be the king of camera smartphones for another year. Environmental concerns (Image credit: Future) According to the survey, there is also a growing interest in the environmental impact of tech products, but this doesn't appear to be filtering through into surging sales of refurbished devices, which would be the most logical outworking of this trend.

Despite 65% agreeing that refurbished electronics are economical and sustainable, only 18% have gone on to purchase a refurbished phone. Those conducting the survey conclude that "consumers support the idea of purchasing used/refurbished devices but struggle to trust them."

Despite not always acting on their green conscience, people are "increasingly rewarding brands that take visible responsibility for their devices' footprint." Around a third of people said that their purchasing decisions would be influenced by whether brands chose to use recycled plastics and recycled glass in their smartphones.

It's important for brands to not just be seen to be doing the right thing but to follow through on delivering meaningful environmental changes. The Fairphone 6 is a perfect example of this philosophy, and other manufacturers should take note. Which manufacturer will pull ahead? The future of the smartphone industry is being fought on a number of different fronts, and
it'll be interesting to see which brands stay in the fight the longest.

Apple and Samsung need to up their game on the battery side of things, and if AI becomes a greater factor in consumers' purchasing decisions, then the iPhone maker has a lot of catching up to do in that arena, too.

Of course, Apple has proven in recent years that well-designed hardware is still enough to keep hold of its vast user base (the iPhone Air notwithstanding, the iPhone 17 series is extremely popular ). But consumer loyalty will only go so far if iPhones continue to fall behind the
competition in terms of longevity and software capability.

Whatever happens, smartphone brands would do well to listen to their
customers and act accordingly. The best phones for battery life Contract
Deals Sim Free gift Oppo Find X9 Pro 24 months Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 200GB data 9 upfront 36.99 /mth View at Mobiles.co.uk See all prices Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max 36 months Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 5GB data 50
upfront 57.75 /mth View at Vodafone Ltd See all prices Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 36 months Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 5GB data 50 upfront 53.50 /mth View at Vodafone Ltd See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/battery-life-just-dethroned-price-as-the-bigg est-driver-of-smartphone-purchases-and-ai-doesnt-come-close


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