Battery Trouble

Battery Trouble 

I’ve been an Android user since the first Motorola Droid with the sliding keyboard came out back in the day.  I’ve always liked the fact that you could configure your phone in any way you deemed fit.  The idea of Apple dictating what goes where always kind of bugged me.  I like Apple products, but the cult of perceived superiority perpetrated by their faithful followers is just too much for me.  So, I’ve gone on using my Android phone and maintaining my own air of superiority because I didn’t go along with the trend.  But lately I’ve been a little fed up.  I use my phone pretty heavily during the work week listening to podcasts or music throughout the day.  I generally plug my phone into my computer after lunch to charge it up for the second half of the day.  I also charge it every night.  I understand that listening to music or podcasts can drain the battery pretty quickly, but it seems that my problems go much beyond heavy use battery drain.  My phone can no longer last more than a half day on a single full charge.  My wife recently switched to an Android phone after deciding it wasn’t worth an extra $200 to upgrade when her beloved iPhone gave out.  She generally appreciates the fact that everything on the iPhone is laid out for her and it looks pretty and all of that stuff.  She was OK with her Motorola, but now the problem with battery drain is hitting her as well.  It wasn’t as much of a problem for her until a recent software update.  She now has the same problem as me, her battery draining down during the day at an unacceptable rate.  Mine is, however still much worse that hers.  I frequently get into situations where I am down to 15% battery in the middle of the day while I am out doing things with no where to re-charge.  I have always had battery issues that I assumed were brought on by my heavy use of the phone.  I’ve had Motorola, HTC and LG devices, all with the same issue.  I suspected that I had worn out the battery through too many charge and discharge cycles.  Now with my wife having the same issue, I am starting to wonder.  Is this an Android issue?  Her iPhone could last for a couple of days on a charge with no problem.  She also has an iPad Mini.  On a recent trip, she watched two hours of Netflix in the airport while waiting for her plane and still had plenty of battery to spare.  My son has a very cheap Android tablet, so comparison is difficult, but I don’t believe it would last two hours of constant video streaming.  So, what is the deal?  Is Apple’s battery use that much better, or am I just wearing my devices down?  Is there an Android device that holds up to Apple in terms of battery life?  If it is the software, what is causing these issues?  I hope someone has some answers because I don’t want to have to give in.