Mobile Battery Test With Android And Apple Handsets
Tom's Guide reviews the battery of the Galaxy S24 Ultra and OnePlus 12, along with iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro.
We tested all of the best flagship phones with our custom battery benchmark test to find out which one gets the longest battery life, along with which one can recharge the fastest. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip appears to give an edge to the two most recent Android phone releases.
We tested all of the best flagship phones with our custom battery benchmark test to find out which one gets the longest battery life, along with which one can recharge the fastest. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip appears to give an edge to the two most recent Android phone releases.
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TechTranscript
00:00Gone are the days when a single phone charged
00:02lasted days or weeks.
00:03But battery life is still an important factor
00:06when considering which phone to get.
00:08At Tom's Guide, we make sure to test every new handset
00:11so that we can be sure the advice we're passing on to you
00:14doesn't fall foul on the brand's marketing.
00:16So, with this year's releases wrapped up
00:18with the Galaxy S24 Ultra,
00:20it's time to answer which flagship phone
00:22had the best battery life.
00:24Let's find out.
00:25When using a phone, what drains the battery the most?
00:27Gaming.
00:28It's gonna be the thing that takes up the most battery life
00:31because it's using the GPU, cranking out the graphics,
00:34so inherently it's gonna cause more battery drain.
00:37And I also think watching a lot of videos,
00:39especially outside when you're watching it
00:41with the sun present,
00:42because the screen's gonna be extra bright,
00:44it's gonna cause more power usage,
00:46and the battery life's gonna be dropped at that point.
00:48Some of the ways manufacturers have tried to combat this
00:51as phones become more advanced is, for starters,
00:54an adaptive refresh rate.
00:56So most phones nowadays, especially the flagships,
00:59they have 120 hertz refresh rates.
01:00That's gonna be a big battery drain,
01:02so as an alternative to save more power,
01:05there's either adaptive mode,
01:07which will automatically adjust the refresh rate,
01:09or drop it down to a steady 60 hertz mode,
01:12so that's really more power efficient.
01:14There are also light sensors in the displays
01:17to measure the ambient brightness
01:18so that the display will adjust accordingly,
01:21so in dimmer situations,
01:22you're not gonna notice a brighter screen,
01:24it's gonna be a lot lower.
01:25And lastly, there's the chipset.
01:27I think it's the most integral part in all of this
01:29because the more power efficient it is,
01:32the longer the battery life.
01:33So, how do we measure battery life
01:35when a new handset comes out?
01:37In our custom battery tests,
01:38we make phones surf the web continuously over 5G
01:41until they run out of juice.
01:43We set the phone's screen at 150 nits of brightness
01:46to ensure comparable results.
01:48And if the phone has a display with a fast refresh rate,
01:51we test multiple times with that feature enabled
01:53and disabled to get a sense
01:55of what kind of battery life you can expect.
01:57The average phone lasts around 10 hours,
02:00so anything over that mark offers solid battery life.
02:03But to earn a place on the best phone battery life list,
02:06you need to go past 13 hours.
02:08With all that being said,
02:09here's how this year's flagships compare.
02:12Meet the longest lasting flagship phone we've ever tested.
02:15The S24 Ultra's performance is two and a half hours
02:18better than Apple's flagship,
02:19which is no slouch when it comes to lasting
02:21a long time on the charge.
02:23Samsung did increase the battery size in the Ultra.
02:26It remains at 5,000 mAh,
02:29so we have to give credit
02:30to the Snapdragon 8th Gen 3 chip
02:32powering the phone for its excellent efficiency.
02:35It's also worth noting we recorded that time
02:37with the S24 Ultra's adaptive refresh rate turned on,
02:41so the Qualcomm chipset does a great job managing power.
02:45Charging speeds remain at 45 watts,
02:47but we managed to get a 71% charge after 30 minutes
02:51using a 45 watt USB-C charger.
02:53Samsung doesn't include such a charger with its phone,
02:56so if you want top charging speeds,
02:58you'll need to pick up this accessory on your own.
03:01The iPhone 15 Pro Max lasted more than 14 hours
03:04on our battery test,
03:06a truly impressive time
03:07for one of Apple's flagship devices.
03:09We credit the A17 Pro chipset,
03:11which is built on a three nanometer process.
03:14Because of that, the transistors are more densely packed
03:17than a four nanometer chipset,
03:19which usually leads to more efficient power management.
03:21You can charge your iPhone 15 Pro Max with USB-C
03:24now that the lightning port is a goner
03:26on all iPhone 15 models.
03:29Unfortunately, that doesn't translate
03:30to a boost in charging speeds.
03:32The Pixel 8 Pro's battery gets a minor boost
03:35up to 5,000 milliamp hours
03:37and scores a respectful time of 10 hours and three minutes.
03:40That said, it still falls well behind the results
03:42posted by the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
03:46In my real world use, the Pixel 8 Pro's battery
03:49was completely depleted a couple hours
03:51before I normally would go to bed.
03:53That's a shock because most flagships I test
03:55tend to have between 10% and 15% of battery life
03:58before I call it in for the night.
04:00Adreno Pixel 8 Pro managed to get up to 59%
04:03after 30 minutes with its fast charging,
04:05which is a consolation for its weaker battery life.
04:08Now, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
04:10is the obvious winner out of the main brands,
04:12but there's another phone that eclipses
04:14even that in our testing.
04:17This is the OnePlus 12.
04:18It lasted more than 17 and a half hours
04:20on our battery test with the help of a 5,400 milliamp hour
04:23battery and the power management features
04:25of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Silicon.
04:28It got that time with the phone's adaptive display enabled
04:31so you could take advantage of faster refresh rates
04:33without having to worry about that feature
04:35draining the battery.
04:36The OnePlus 12 also offers wireless charging,
04:39which makes it a welcome return to OnePlus's flagships.
04:43Wire charging supports 80 watt speeds in the US,
04:45which is good to know
04:46because the Samsung Galaxy S24 is half that,
04:49and you also get 50 watt wireless speeds.
04:52OnePlus may not be a household name,
04:54but it's definitely popular in the industry.
04:56Check out our full review of the OnePlus
04:58and the other flagships on the channel,
05:00and we will also link the latest deals to them down below.
05:04And now for a little bonus.
05:05If you're strapped for cash
05:06or looking to get your parents or grandparents a phone
05:09where they may not need all the cutting edge tech,
05:11but will really rely on a solid battery,
05:14then the OnePlus Nord N300 could be the way to go.
05:17This low cost offering from OnePlus
05:19lasted 13 hours and 13 minutes on our battery test.
05:22We also appreciate the 33 watt charging speed
05:25that this $228 phone supports.
05:27If you don't wanna spend big bucks on a long lasting phone,
05:30the OnePlus Nord N300 may be an option.
05:33So, which device would you choose?
05:35Is battery life even that important to you anymore?
05:37Let me know in the comments below.
05:39You can also follow us on social,
05:41at TomsGuide on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.
05:44I'm John V, and I'll see you in my next video.