What is the main reason so short cell phone battery life

Your cpu goes into overdrive, when you are on the internet, if you are not using the internet, some phones can hibernate and use less power. Also if you leave your gps and wifi on they are power hogs as well. If you have a car, get a charger and use that when you drive, thus when you get where you are going the phone should be charged. 12 to 18 hours is normal for many phones these days, I have the Samsung Galaxy 3, and it's awful on battery use.

since you've lost your cell phone, don't worry about it

when you get a replacement phone, get one with a better battery (but avoid Samsung http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/samsung-galaxy-ace-ii-x-battery-explodes-causing-bedroom-fire-1.2860750)

Thank you very much, very useful information guys

Thanks for the informative and helpful answer!