A smartphone study shows that battery fear is the reason that 1 in 3 Dutch people only dare to leave when the smartphone is 20% charged. The smartphone is also playing an increasingly important role in our lives, because 1 in 4 would rather live without a car than without a smartphone.
A survey by Oneplus, conducted by Direct Research, shows that a third of Dutch people do not think for a second to leave the house if their smartphone indicates below twenty percent. In fact, the average battery percentage at which people feel comfortable enough to hit the road is 49 percent.
The battery first
Battery anxiety is a phenomenon that can cause stress and even panic. If the smartphone fails while the Dutch are not at home, 34 percent of them specifically look for a charging place. 13 percent are even able to buy a new charger at such a time. This confirms the image that the smartphone is very important to many people. Nearly three quarters of people (74 percent) look primarily at battery autonomy when they buy a new phone. This percentage is much higher than camera quality (60 percent) and memory (59 percent). And 20 percent say rapid battery drain bothers them the most about their current device.
The importance that the Dutch – but also manufacturers – attach to battery performance increases with the importance of the functions that we install on our smartphones. That’s not going to get any better: our phone is simply indispensable for more and more daily activities. This reality means that 58 percent of the Dutch surveyed never leave home without their smartphone. 22 percent of the respondents therefore say that they always check whether they are sure to have it with them before they go out. In the past, people only felt in one pocket for the keys, now they also check the other for the smartphone.
Smartphone or car?
The fact that smartphones are becoming increasingly important and versatile makes life easier, but where is the limit? Three out of ten Dutch people now spend four hours or more on their smartphone, 27 percent would rather not go on holiday without smartphone navigation and 38 percent use the phone for a wide range of activities such as debit card payments and scheduling appointments (38 percent ). 85 percent believe that people are too dependent on the smartphone and 42 percent even think this is a real shame.
A new dilemma illustrates how deep the connection with our smartphone is: if respondents had to choose between a life without a car or a life without a smartphone, 23 percent said goodbye to the car. Some (14 percent) would even give up their sex lives for it.
“As we grow closer to our smartphone, optimizing the battery and extending its life becomes more and more important,” says Oneplus. “Manufacturers are already making great strides in this direction and, who knows, the technology in the future may be so advanced that our smartphones will automatically charge wirelessly at fixed points, so that they will never run out again and battery fear – just like the classic charger – will one day lead to the end of the life cycle. past belongs.”
About the research
This is a quantitative, online survey (12-18 October) by Direct Research. 583 respondents, living in and representative of the Netherlands and Belgium, each answered 12 questions about telephone use and battery anxiety.