Android phone manufacturers collectively ignore this. Does iOS’s “battery health” have no meaning?

Reflection: Is “battery health” meaningless?

When mobile phone manufacturers don’t know how to design a function, they often look to Apple first. Of course, it is not a shame to learn from the strong. At least we did not miss the trend of smartphones and seized the dividends of the mobile Internet era.

However, iOS has such a feature, which has been launched for four years. Almost all Apple fans know its existence and use it very frequently. However, Android manufacturers have never followed suit, and this feature has not become a mainstream industry standard.

The feature I’m talking about is not 3D touch or face recognition, but the battery health of iOS. It first appeared in the official version of iOS11.3, exactly 4 years ago.

As we all know, the actual capacity of lithium batteries will decrease as the number of charging cycles increases. iOS's battery health, in the form of a percentage, allows us to immediately understand the actual capacity of the battery and determine when to replace the battery.

You will find that neither Samsung nor domestic mobile phone manufacturers have built-in battery health detection functions in their mobile phone systems. If Android users want to judge the battery life, they can only use third-party tools to collect charging data and make preliminary judgments, and the results are very inaccurate.

Xiaomi is probably the only company that is a bit more radical. MIUI does offer a battery health feature, but unlike Apple, MIUI's battery health feature only shows the approximate status, but not the percentage of battery life.

This makes us reflect on why iOS's battery health has not become the mainstream industry standard? Is this feature meaningless? In my opinion, there are three reasons.

1. iOS battery health is forced to add

First of all, battery health is an Apple innovation, but even Apple itself doesn’t like this feature. Experienced Apple fans should know that iPad doesn’t have a battery health option. Is this because the technology doesn’t allow it? The answer is no.

If it weren't for the class-action lawsuit over the throttling scandal, Apple would not have added a battery health option to the iPhone, explaining that limiting performance was not an intentional act.

In short, battery health is a forced feature. To be honest, many people never notice before buying electronic products that lithium batteries are consumables and will be scrapped after a few years.

2. No benefit, but increased after-sales burden

Since it is forced to be added, it means that the battery health function does not bring any profit benefits to mobile phone manufacturers, but will increase the burden of after-sales service. How does the saying go? No one will do a business that loses money.

Think about it, a mobile phone battery generally reaches 80% of its lifespan after two years of use. Apple has few models, and after-sales service can still barely cope. There are many Android phones on the market, not only are the stocks of each product low, but the battery may not have been replaced for three or four years.

If possible, mobile phone manufacturers are reluctant to provide after-sales service for older models. After all, offline repairs and material procurement all cost money. The best outcome for these devices is to scrap them and replace them with new ones, which can also increase sales of the entire industry.

3. Battery health is a "deduction item"

Essentially, battery life is a parameter that users do not need to perceive, and should even avoid being perceived. Overemphasizing it will affect sales.

Let's take a very small example, Bluetooth headsets. Although Bluetooth headsets can bring us a wireless experience, because they are powered by lithium batteries, the battery life will decrease after a long time of use.

If I tell you that the battery life of Airpods, which cost nearly 1,000 yuan, will drop by half after about a year of moderate use, would you still make an impulse purchase? It can be seen that battery life is completely a "deduction item" and has no meaning for sales.

In short, the above three points are the reasons why iOS battery life has not become the mainstream standard in the industry. We can only blame Apple for attracting attention. Any problems will be put under the magnifying glass. How do you understand this?