Unless you're the proud owner of a DROID RAZR MAXX, an iPhone, BlackBerry or one of the other rare smartphones that can manage to last an entire day, battery life is likely a sore topic for you. You're probably used to hearing that pesky, repeating notification that tells you it's time to plug your phone up around noon every day. And, unless you always happen to be sitting right beside an outlet, chances are you've found a decent solution for keeping your phone alive.
It is your lifeline, after all.
Personally, I've graduated from large, inconvenient battery packs that require you carry USB cables everywhere to a more integrated solution like the Powerbag Deluxe. Since then, I have had very few worries of my phones (or tablets) dying on me before I can make it to a free outlet or back home.
However, I don't always have my Powerbag on my back. And when I don't have my bag with me, rest assured my pockets are not loaded down with spare battery packs, AC adapters or USB cables. My phones themselves leave very little spare room in my pant pockets as it is.
So what's a guy to do to keep his phone charged while he's out and about? Well, I could just use my phone less, turn down the brightness or switch off data unless I need it. But it's no fun having to completely change your habits just to make a phone – that should easily be able to last throughout the day – stay alive for a few more hours.
That's where Francois Rybarczyk's latest concept design featured on Yanko Design comes into play. The concept has been dubbed Autonome and, essentially, cuts out the middle man, the AC adapter. It's a phone with its own power supply. In addition to the typical battery that comes inside your run-of-the-mill phone, the Autonome design features a removable, spare battery that comes equipped with the same flip-out prongs you would see on an AC adapter.
In other words, anywhere you can take your phone that has an open outlet, you can charge your phone. That's great, right? Only somewhat. If that were the whole story here, you would still need an AC adapter for outlets that are crammed into tight spaces. And what if you wanted to use your phone while it charges?
Rybarczyk has that angle covered, too.
Instead of always plugging the phone directly into the wall, the removable portion of the battery (the part that is attached to the AC prongs) can quickly be charged remotely while you continue to use your device. Once you pop the removable battery back into your phone, it will charge the main primary, built-in battery of the phone, all without ever having to power down.
Of course, none of this is quite as good of a solution as simply cramming more milliampere-hours in the phone's battery. But even with a phone like, say, the DROID RAZR MAXX with its enormous 3,300mAh pack, this would be a very advantageous feature. Never more would you have to worry about not being able to charge your phone because you forgot your AC adapter at home. It's built directly into the phone. And it solves the age-old question about the best place to put your phone for charging while you sleep to boot!
Autonome sure beats carrying around a spoonful of water and a "fuel puck" to charge your phone. And it's convenient for anyone who needs a charge on the go without all the extra baggage of spare batteries, AC adapters and USB cables. That said, I'm not sure what kind of efficiency this thing would face. In theory, it's ... sweet. Ingenious, even.
I will be one happy man when a viable and honed solution like this comes built-in to phones of the future.
What say you? Do you like the Autonome concept? Or is it too awkward? There are certainly some disadvantages, like how much outlet space the device would take up. But do the advantages outweigh the bad?
Images via Yanko Design
