Would like to see steemit move more towards a reddit style where I could subscribe to topics I have more interest in. I don't have that much interest in food or art and equally so many will not have interest in history and sports.

Your battery may not get so drained if you were only reading through posts in topics that interest you more. Of course this can partially be done already by only looking for new posters in,say, 3-5 of the topics that interests you the most