Multi-day battery life is finally here — and Apple and Samsung missed the memo

I can’t say I’m remotely surprised to see reports that the Apple iPhone Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge are struggling for sales. Nor that their successors might never even see the light of day. While the idea of a super lightweight, perfectly pocketable powerhouse sounds good on paper, they’re just not the kind of devices most people want to buy. They’re prohibitively expensive to start with, though that hasn’t stopped booklet-style foldables from finding a sustainable niche. No, the real problem — the one we all saw coming — is their dreadful battery life. And yet, better battery life consistently tops consumer wishlist

On the other hand, we now have our first smartphones that are pushing in the opposite direction. The new OnePlus 15 and OPPO Find X9 Pro are part of a new wave of handsets featuring silicon-carbon infused batteries, offering enough capacity to last two days of solid use and perhaps even longer for some. And I bet you can guess which of those two categories has my attention.