It wasn’t like that in the past (AA were more common). The component that needs the AAA battery isn’t getting smaller either.
In: Technology
AA and AAA batteries both supply the same electrical voltage, and can do the same job. However the AAA battery carries less charge, and will expire first. So if a device that used to run on AA is now running on AAA it’s for a couple different reasons.
1) designers want the smaller, slimmer form factor. They decide that having to change the batteries more often is ok.
— this is helped as alkaline batteries last a bit longer now than they did a couple decades ago, so it’s less noticeable.
2) device is more efficient (looking at leds vs bulbs usually) and don’t need as much charge.
Sometimes you do need more voltage. This is when you see two or more batteries put in together. Many modern flash lights use that 3 battery carrousel holder to fit 3 AAA batteries in a row, giving it triple the voltage. That’s bulkier with AA and larger batteries. It also creates 3x the voltage, but similar charge capacity to a D cell.
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