In light of rapid advancement and the addition of mind-blowing components like dual- and other multi-core processors, gigantic 4.3- to 4.7-inch displays and blazing network speeds, battery life has taken a pretty big hit. Without accompanying battery technology breakthroughs (that have actually made it to market), battery life has been placed on the back burner. Battery life in pocket-sized computers was mediocre from the start, and with larger, more power-hungry components and the latest design kicks, things aren't getting better.

With poor battery life has come some rather crafty ways to make your phone last an entire day. People have adopted mobile juice packs, which can either come in the form of a case or a portable power pack you can plug into via USB; carrying a set of spare batteries to interchange as one battery dies; and of course, you can carry an AC adapter wherever you go. But how do you keep up with all of these things? Put them in your fanny pack? I don't know about you guys, but I don't carry a bag everywhere I go. Carrying spare equipment to keep your phone charged just isn't convenient or ideal.

The obvious solution is simply cramming more capacity in the phone itself – or strapping it on the back. Some OEMs have managed to squeeze a little more capacity in their phones, but they're still not quite as powerful as we'd like. The next step is buying an aftermarket extended battery. The problem? They virtually turn your phone into a brick. A five-pound, inch-thick hunk of ... phone.

The latest design kick has been making phones as utterly thin as possible. Even Verizon's LTE phones, which have been known to be rather chunky in comparison to their counterparts, are now capable of being remarkably thin. The Motorola DROID RAZR measures on 7.1mm thick. The Galaxy Nexus in 8.94mm (an 9.47mm) thick, and even the iPhone 4S is 9.3mm thick. Although I'm not totally sold on such skinny phones, these are engineering feats, to say the least.

Slapping a half inch-thick extended battery on any of these should be considered a sin. In fact, slapping a half inch-thick battery on thicker phones like the ThunderBolt, Rezound (pictured above), or BIONIC should be frowned upon.

Maybe it's just me, but when I see someone holding a phone with an extended battery pack bolted on the back, I cringe. Then again, I'm the kind of person who doesn't even like to carry my phone in a case. I revel at the design and prefer to feel the phone as the designer intended. I would rather my phone die by 2 PM each day than to carry a brick for a phone.

But that's me, my preference. As much as I hate poor battery life, I give more weight to design and size (thickness). I felt the ThunderBolt was entirely too thick. What about you guys and gals? Do you like extended batteries? Or are they just too much? Which wins for you? Power, or design and beauty?

Image via The Verge