[VikingCoder]

I suck at electronics, so -

Could you possibly make a modern cell phone that runs off of rechargeable AA batteries?

How many would it take to have roughly the same amount of screen time?

ChatGPT says it's a bad idea, but roughly I'd need 10 AA batteries and a boost converter.

[schiem]

It depends on the AA battery, but you'd need 6 - 8 to get equivalent performance.

The Google Pixel 9 has a 4700 mAh battery at 3.9 volts. The total energy is around 18.3 watt hours.

A high capacity rechargeable AA battery is 2500 mAh at 1.2 volts, or around 3 watt hours. If you wired 3 AA batteries in series, and then 2 of those series in parallel (for a total of 6 batteries), that would give you 3.6v at 5000 mAh. 3.6 volts falls within a normal discharge curve for a lithium ion battery, so you probably wouldn't need a boost converter.

[catlikesshrimp]

4 AA NiMh would get you 5V, the same coming from the slow charger. Let's say each AA battery holds 2000 mah. To reach 5000 mAH you would need 2.5 AA. Now multiply 2.5 x 4 = 10

The dumb AI read a good estimation.

Carrying 10 AA batteries strapped to your cellphone is not sexy. On the other hand, falling phones would land with the screen up - batteries down.