As 2017 gets underway there is much speculation over the latest flagship models from Apple, Samsung, HTC, LG etc. to be announced over the coming months. Whether you’re a die-hard Apple user, thinking of switching Android brand or considering switching from one to the other entirely, there are a plethora of factors to consider.

But as more and more manufacturers opt for sealed units, the convenience of a removable battery, allowing you to simply swap for a spare when low on juice, is no longer an option. If we are to believe the hype, this year promises to be a leap forward in performance and longer battery life. Performance owing to the new Snapdragon 835 chip whose enhanced performance results in a 25 percent faster rendering of graphics with half the power consumption compared of the 801 chip and 20 percent extra performance against the 820 chip. Flagship models will reportedly be paired with 4-8gb of RAM (possibly even 16GB) and storage options from 32GB up to a whopping 256GB rumored to come in the HTC11. Cameras are also set to enjoy a jump in megapixel count leaving the old 13/5 front and back cameras for the lower market.

So we can clearly see where the performance has increased but what about longer battery life? This is clearly a factor that every smartphone user cares about and it’s also the least addressed by manufacturers as they simply cannot break the daily charging issue faced by all but the frugalist of users. Since the very first smartphones, this has presented itself as an issue; how to fit enough power into a small and powerful device? Over the years there have been improvements in Lithium-ion batteries for all devices but style has trumped functionality and battery life is still far from acceptable considering that manufacturers have promised year on year that it will improve. Although we have seen higher capacity batteries in most modern phones, they only increase battery life by a matter of hours when customers really want to see their phone charged for days. And the Note 7 spontaneous combustion issue highlights just how dangerous lithium batteries can be when overheated in an enclosed space.

So what is the future? Well unfortunately, in my opinion, we won’t be seeing any revolutionary changes in smartphone batteries this year. I think for now we are going to have to make do with Li-ion to power our phones and other devices for a little longer. I think we will eventually see a move towards power optimization, quick charge solutions (such as quick charge 4.0 from Qualcomm which can charge batteries in a fraction of the current charge time) and the much hyped wireless charging! With wireless hubs scattered around our towns and neighborhoods, the days of you phone running out of battery effectively become a thing of the past.

Dan Withers is a staff writer for the popular cheap online sales website http://www.cheap.forsale/.