Battery life is a touchy subject with smartphones. The larger your screen, the more battery you consume. And as phone screens continue to get bigger, it’s no wonder that consumers are looking for longer-lasting batteries.
But just how long do smartphone batteries last? At our lab, we run a battery of tests to determine which models have the longest battery life. Our tests include continuous talk time, standby time and Internet usage. Here’s a look at some of the results:
The iPhone 4S maximized talk time at 8 hours and 42 minutes, while the Samsung Galaxy S II came in at 7 hours and 57 minutes.
When it comes to standby time, or how long the phone lasts while not in use, the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx took top marks at 16 days and 15 hours. The iPhone 4S was close behind at 14 days and 18 hours of standby time.
For Internet usage, we measured both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity against battery life. Both Apple iPhones fared well in this category: The iPhone 4S lasted 6 hours and 9 minutes on Wi-Fi and 5 hours and 55 minutes on 3G; the iPhone 4 managed 5 hours and 49 minutes on Wi-Fi and 5 hours and 25 minutes on 3G.
There is no doubt that the larger a smartphone screen gets, the more battery life it takes to operate. But how big of a difference does it really make?
One of the most popular smartphones on the market right now is the iPhone 6 plus, which has a 5.5″ screen and a 2915 mAh battery. The smaller iPhone 6 has a 4.7″ screen and a 1810 mAh battery. The iPhone 5s, which was released in 2013, has a 4″ screen and 1560mAh battery. You can see that between the iPhone 5s and 6, there are only 250mAh difference in battery life even though there is almost an inch difference in screen size.
If you compare these numbers to some other phones released this year, you start to see some different trends. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Active has a 5.1″ screen and a 3500 mAh battery and is considered one of the best phones for battery life on the market at this time. This makes sense because Samsung added almost 900mAh more than the iPhone 6 into their phone even though they have only .4″ more display space.
HTC’s One M9 has a 5″ screen and 2840 mAh battery while LG’s G4 offers up a large
The Apple iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and LG G3 all have large screens and offer outstanding battery life. The LG G3 is a bit of an outlier in this group, as its screen size (5.5-inches) falls between the iPhone 6 Plus (5.5-inches) and Galaxy Note 4 (5.7-inches), yet it has the longest battery life of the three by about an hour or so.
The iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are more comparable to one another, with their nearly identical screen sizes (5.5-inches and 5.7-inches, respectively). However, when we tested these two devices, the Galaxy Note 4 actually lasted about an hour longer than the iPhone 6 Plus in our battery rundown test.
The biggest surprise was that Sony’s new Xperia Z3 smartphone lasted just as long as both of these flagships, despite having about a 1/4 smaller screen than both models. We don’t know why this is, but we suspect it has something to do with Sony placing a larger battery inside the Xperia Z3 or using more power efficient components inside the phone.
If you’re looking for a phone with excellent battery life that isn’t huge, the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
The battery life of a smartphone is, for many users, the most important feature. After all, if your phone can’t make it through a day’s use without needing to be plugged in, what’s the point? In light of this, we’ve decided to examine the battery life of some of the most popular smartphones on the market today.
Apple has had its share of battery issues with its phones and tablets, but you won’t find any such problems with their latest iPhone 6s Plus model. With an advertised battery life that lasts up to 24 hours talk time (3G), 16 days standby time, and up to 80 hours music playback – for an average daily user this phone will last at least two days before needing a charge.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 comes in second with 21 hours talk time (3G), 17 days standby time, and 74 hours music playback. This phone also offers a fast charging mode which can provide users 4 hours of battery life from just 10 minutes of charge time. This model is also equipped with an Ultra Power Saving mode which will extend your battery life even further by shutting down all non-essential applications when you need it most.
Last but not least is the Google Nexus 6P which offers 23 hours talk time (3G
Wirefly.com, a leading resource for cell phone deals, has published its Top 10 Smartphones with the Longest Battery Life – a list compiled based on expert and consumer feedback as well as battery life tests performed by Wirefly’s technical experts.
Wirefly’s top two picks for smartphones with the longest battery life are the Motorola Droid Maxx and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. Both smartphones offer more than 24 hours of talk time on a single charge. The LG Optimus G Pro, Motorola Moto X and Nokia Lumia 1520 round out Wirefly’s top five picks.
“Consumers want larger smartphones but they also want longer battery life,” said Andy Zeinfeld, CEO of Wirefly. “Today’s smartphone batteries are getting better but they still don’t last long enough for power users who need their smartphone to last an entire work day.”
The following is Wirefly’s complete list of top 10 smartphones with the longest battery life:
According to the latest report from Consumer Reports, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are no better than the iPhone 5S when it comes to battery life. The real winner this year is Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge+, which lasts 20% longer than Apple’s best.
The battery life test was conducted by Consumer Reports using a robotic finger programmed to act like a human user. The finger browsed the web, took pictures, downloaded apps and made calls, among other activities.
Consumer Reports claims that its results tend to be very similar to those obtained in real life. Past tests have shown several iterations of the Galaxy Edge to have some of the best battery performance on the market, with Samsung’s Note5 coming in second place on this year’s list. Other top contenders include the Galaxy S6 Active and LG G4 at the third and fourth spots respectively.
In terms of Apple’s offerings, only the iPhone 6 Plus managed to make it into the top ten at number eight.
According to the Small Business Technology Institute, this is the largest battery life test of its kind. The institute tested each smartphone under identical conditions and found that in real-world use, iPhone 6 Plus has the longest battery life among leading smartphones.
The study involved placing each smartphone in a test chamber and measuring battery life under two different usage scenarios:
● Normal Use (50 percent Wi-Fi/50 percent 3G)