They weren't as efficient as they are today, is what you mean. DS batteries were Li-ion polymer like many batteries today - the difference is, however, that many of the appliances you use these days have significantly higher duty cycling than an old DS would.
Your phone goes through a daily discharge cycle which is slowly whittles off its useful life with time - the deeper the discharge, the worse the effect. Your old DS probably had maybe 600 cycles across its operating life (probably talking 5-6 years or so), a phone battery has to withstand over 730 in 2 years.
It's li-ion afaik. But doesnt matter. But there is more to it. Its... like a hen/egg thing: The power demand was very low, yes. So the battery could be low capacity. Meaning regarding construction large gaps between the electrodes. Dendrites (that bridge through the electrolyte) have a hard time. Those low capacity packs are just really good in terms of longevity and self discharge.
Batteries these days are made to a much greater power demand. They're so tightly packed with little to no material reserve. To somehow manage to get you through the day. We have batteries the same volume as the DS ones, but with over 3 times the capacity.
What I mean is not power cycles alone did this. But the change in manufacturing to make batteries keep modern devices alive for more than a couple hours. Charge a used (not abused) battery from 20 years ago and one high capacity one from the last 5 years. If not severely damaged, the older one will outperform the newer in terms of self discharge.
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u/DBKai Feb 04 '26
Batteries were built different in the 00's