Smartphone users accord a premium to long battery life and swift charging: CMR Survey

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Birender Singh

  • Three in every four smartphone users feel that smartphone battery life is important. Seven in every eight smartphone users feel that fast charging is key, as they are always on the go.
  • Seven in every eight users charge their smartphone at least once in a day. Average duration of charging in a day is 66 minutes.
  • OPPO is ranked highest by its users, among all the smartphone brands, when it comes to satisfaction on charging time (94%) as well as battery back-up (95%).

New Delhi/Gurugram, 8 July 2020: In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reliance on smartphones is more than ever before, for work as well as for catching-up with loved ones. A new Insights On the Go Survey by CyberMedia Research (CMR) finds that consumers are not just interested in long battery life but believe fast-charging innovations play a more significant role in their daily life.In fact, when asked about the importance of smartphone features, 61% cited battery life as a key consideration, just behind ‘smartphone camera’.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, “The smartphone is centric to the lives of the consumers. And, more so, in a home bound economy! Whether it be an endless stream of work-related calls, or catching up with family and friends, the smartphone battery life plays an essential role. For consumers, a long battery life, as well as quickly amping up the battery juice – both are critical.”

Consumers are so much concerned about battery life that they turn down screen brightness (70%), turn on battery saver mode (66%), close battery-consuming apps (63%), and in extremely critical circumstances, even turn off Wi-Fi (56%) and location services (50%).

“Our latest survey results illustrate the significance of smartphone battery for consumers. While smartphone brands push newer technological innovations, consumer priorities are equally centered around the basics, such as smartphone battery. So much so that the battery is a key factor in smartphone purchase priorities,” said Satya Mohanty, Head- Industry Consulting Group (ICG), CMR.

Here are the survey results:

  • Seven in every eight users charge their smartphone at least once in a day. Average duration of charging in a day is 66 minutes.
  • Two in every three users feel anxious when the smartphone battery is dead or about to die.
  • When battery gets discharged, 25% felt disappointed, while others experienced a range of emotions, from feeling bad (19%) to being angry (13%).
  • Battery back-up (97%) and fast charging (95%) are critical must-haves for premium smartphone users.
  • Consumer satisfaction is high with smartphone brands that offer long battery back-up as well as swift charging.
  • When it comes to consumer satisfaction with battery life, OPPO users scored the brand the highest (94%), followed by those of Samsung (92%) and realme (91%).
  • In terms of swift charging, consumer satisfaction is highest with OPPO (95%), followed by OnePlus (93%) and Samsung (91%).

““The survey results illustrate that consumers accord a premium to battery life as well as swift charging speeds. Smartphone brands that invest in strong R&D and intellectual property resulting in industry leading innovations, will stand to gain big in terms of consumer acceptance and approval,” added Prabhu.

The CMR Insights On the Go Survey was conducted across top six Indian cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, covering 2000 smartphone users in the age group of 18-30 years. The study focused on uncovering consumer perspectives around satisfaction with smartphone battery life and charging speed, in the overall backdrop of satisfaction with smartphones, in general.