10 Smartphones with the Longest Battery Life
Jan 23, 2013 12:01 AM EDT by With their dual-core (or faster) processors and 4G data speeds, smart phones have never been more powerful–or more power hungry. Yes, specs and apps matter, but what good are they if you’re hunting for an outlet by lunchtime or trying to outlast a Frankenstorm? If you want a smartphone that endures, check out the handsets that made our list. These devices lasted at least 6 1/2 hours on the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing over 3G/4G at 40-percent brightness.
Click through the below slideshow to see which smartphones truly go the distance.
Samsung Galaxy Note II (T-Mobile)
Bigger is definitely better with the Samsung Galaxy Note II. In addition to the larger 5.5-inch display and improved features, there's a massive 3,100 mAH battery. Phablet-lovers can now take notes, snap photos and watch videos well past an 8-hour workday without stopping for a charge. During the LAPTOP Battery Test, the Note II lasted an unreal 10 hours and 12 minutes over 4G LTE, making it the longest lasting smartphone on the market.
More: Samsung Galaxy Note II (T-Mobile) Review,
Samsung Galaxy Note II (Verizon) Review, and
Samsung Galaxy Note II (Sprint) Review
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April 20th, 2011 at 12:20 am
Motorola is clearly doing very well in the tests .. what a fabulous turnaround for this co. I liked the Defy!!
August 19th, 2011 at 12:59 am
HTC Evo Shift 4G (Sprint) is one of the best smartphones, I’ve ever got to use.
February 16th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Sony is the best of the best
February 17th, 2012 at 1:43 am
I think my wifes HTC Radar has them all beat. She is getting 2 to 3 days per charge.
February 17th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
well yeah if you don’t use it it will last for days Al
February 17th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
@Al, this is talking about with heavy use. On a side note I doubt the xperia play has a higher battery life than the razr maxx… XD
February 17th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Should all either be 3G only or 4G phones (may be the reason the xperia is marked with higher battery life than the Razr Maxx) 4G antennaes at the moment fire run as a hybrid of 4g and 3g at the same time right now causing lower battery life.
May 7th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
None of the above can beat the Samsung Galaxy note N7000 this bad boy comes std with a 2500 mAp I’ve been on the phone for like over 12hours talk time using a Bluetooth headset!
May 22nd, 2012 at 1:10 am
Just a note on the Xperia play, you can get those results but you need to order an extended life battery with a custom rear cover(15$ on ebay but from hong kong) bring its from the default 1500 mAh to a whooping 3600mAh, you will not get great results otherwise.. I get at best 2 hours with default battery but I get 4-6 with the extended battery.
July 5th, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Nokia e71 lasted well over 7 days on standby, easily 3days under heavy load. And did so for over three years, norepairs, original battery. My 900 can’t even last the day…
July 23rd, 2012 at 10:42 am
@carlos the droid razr maxx has a 3330mah battery and lasts about 2-3 days with normal usage on 3G.
August 14th, 2012 at 3:18 am
All new “Huawei honour” with 1900 Mah Battery……………….
Surely Designed For High Performance As well as High Battery Life………..
Huawei Rockssssssssssssss………………..
August 19th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
I have the xperia play myself, and the fact that it was included on this list makes me lose trust in this post. I’m looking to replace my Play because of its slow performance and short battery life. Sure it was good at first but it quickly got buggy and laggy.
August 21st, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Hi
I have iphone 4s and a htc evo 3d, battery life of htc is a disappointment but iphone is good because it has a long drainage time and quick charging, i am planning to replace htc with s3
Please recomment me an android with good battery because am a net surfer.
August 24th, 2012 at 8:48 am
I don’t know how this test being done our just plain gimmick. I’ve Samsung galaxy 4g as shown as above which never lasted more than 4 hrs. Even after changed the handset with same model or replaced a new battery. 4 hrs max out.
August 26th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
Hi guys
Ultimately i ve bought samsung galaxy s3 and got rid of htc evo 3d and the battery timings and recharging both are outstanding, there is a limitation of moving apps to sd card but its internal memory is good enough.
October 22nd, 2012 at 9:27 am
who use htc one x..?? hope can xplain about battery life coz my friend tell me htc one x bad smartphone for someone who want smartphone with long lasting battery..
November 1st, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Where is iPhone..? Doesn’t it have a better battery life than OneX?
November 2nd, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Come on. seriously. For the second time it appears on my news feed. Where is the iPhone in the list?
November 5th, 2012 at 12:15 am
iphone 5 at 7:13. How is this not on the list?
November 15th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Does a bigger battery really mean more life? I wish the battery makers could make as big advances as do the makers of other parts, but I’m not an expert. All I know is that I want the new HTC Droid DNA and can’t get it on AT&T’s 4GLTE for working with my salon clients (taking pics of styles and filing them away). It’s all too complicated with closed doors everywhere. Navigating what’s possible is hard.
December 6th, 2012 at 7:54 pm
I have tried alot of different smartphones. Right now I can say without a doubt that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the most incredible smartphone I have ever seen. Until you have tried the new Samsung Galaxy Note 2, you CAN NOT say any other smartphone is better. My battery life is amazing. I surfed the internet stayed 1hour talking and after 13 hours straight, I still had at least 50% left. I can play videos and simultaneously streaming the internet including read emails while my video plays in the corner of my screen without lag. In my video library all of my videos play at the same time without slowing down my phone. My phone screen never times out as long as i am looking at it; that feature is incredible. While im using the S-pen to draw lines if my lines are not straight it will auto fix it. I can hubber over my picture library and the photos will pop up displaying a glimpse of the pictures. Before you say your smartphone is better can it do any of that?
December 6th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Not sure what you used to come up with these numbers, but they are ridiculously wrong when you consider real world results. Next time do a better job.
December 10th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
I have owned the Samsung Galaxy note 2 for about 2 weeks now and I’ve never had a phone with a battery life like this, I honestly mess around on it all day long, I check e mails, send e mails, surf the Web, watch videos on YouTube, and I work at least 10 hours a day, when I get home I put it on wifi and use it for everything instead of my laptop. When I go to bed at night and put it on charge is always on about 40% battery life, it’s just an amazing phone
December 17th, 2012 at 4:07 am
Time to update this page guys. The padfone2 is now out and has a huge battery life (excluding tablet mode which would be just plain cheating). The quad core snapdragon and 2gig ram handle big tasks with little drain and the new version also packs a killer battery. So can you please test it and update. You may find that it takes 1st place. Maybe.
December 17th, 2012 at 4:14 am
To the person who said th iphone5 has a life of 7:13….. That is web surf time only. Play a movie or run a complex app and the battery dies like a bad joke on stage. On a balanced test it measures in at about 5hrs. Sorrry to burst your bubble.
December 17th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Google this phone, Cloudfone Thrill 430x or Innos D9 it has 4160 mAh Battery. 1000hrs standby, 40hrs 3G talk time, 100hrs of music playback time.
December 19th, 2012 at 5:08 am
Galaxy Note 2 has longer battery life than Motorola RAZR HD MAXX?? Are you sure?? What kind of test are you doing?
December 26th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
I agree with elie. Cloudfone Thrill 430x and Innos D9 beats all. It has 4160mAh compared to most phones which has lower than 2000mAh of battery and only few have more than 2000mAh. You can also extend the battery life by going to the settings and switching off running apps that you don’t use. My Samsung phone only run 3 apps the Axt9IME input method, the SnsService and Google Talk. I only turn on other apps such as wi-fi, facebook, emails, etc. when it’s necessary.
When you don’t manage running apps, your phone might be running more than 10 apps especially if you’re downloading so much apps from the apps store some or even most of these apps continues running without your knowledge even if your not using them and so your phone might be running more than 20 apps simultaneously thus shortening your battery life.
January 8th, 2013 at 2:09 am
LG Optimus L9 has (according to the thing on the T-Mobile website) 1 day, 5 hours of usage life and 20 something days of standby..
January 25th, 2013 at 9:04 am
what about lenovo p770 ?
January 27th, 2013 at 9:07 am
Lol where is Cloudfone 430x
4160mAh
See this is one of the negative effects of great marketing, barely anyone knows about the reality of the world.
Like in the USA for example, the marketing propaganda in that country is so good that people in there actually think the console gaming market is bigger than the pc gaming market, ITS THAT BAD.
February 12th, 2013 at 3:05 pm
Be warned. The HTC G1 T-mobile google 3G phone started killing the battery around December 2012. I’ve used this phone for 5 years, but the change was sudden and dramatic. I tried a brand new battery and then bought a used phone (exact same phone) in good condition (because I am letting my T-mobile contract run out before replacing to go no-contract). It used to last all day with plenty of usage, except for heavy web use. Now this thing barely lasts 4 hours literally on standby with all background data turned off! The good news is now I have 3 batteries (including the one from the used phone) and my old phone is now a $200 battery charger – yay. The SD card reader began failing on my old phone so I needed a replacement just to fix that anyway. I am convinced the battery problem is the result of a bad firmware or software update from google or T-mobile. Of course the t-mobile tech support was utterly USELESS in resolving any issue. I actually knew more about how to conserve battery life than the “tech”.
February 12th, 2013 at 6:13 pm
I don’t know how you can think that PC games have more of a market in the US than console games. There are a dozen new games released for consoles monthly compared to one for the PC. By games I’m not talking about time killers like farm ville or bejewelled I mean games that are actually worth the money you pay and have more than a couple hours play time. The PC is dying here very quickly I personally have used mine twice since I got a tablet a year and a half ago and that was only so I could upload CDs to Google.
I don’t know how your judging battery life but the gs3 from Verizon doesn’t last 8 hours on its best day. Mine barely lasts sleeping overnight let alone actually using it all day and that’s with no extra stuff enabled including s voice. Its a great phone with great features you just can’t use any of them if you want to get more than three or four hours out of it.
February 12th, 2013 at 6:33 pm
I used to use my Nokia E71/72 for days without charging it…I guess very few of us enjoyed that phone – now use HTC one X and its pretty decent, but definitely have to plug it in at night
February 14th, 2013 at 1:33 am
Hey sorry guys.
I have worked extensively on both HTC and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and my boss run the Galaxy S3. My Father owns the Iphone 5. There is no comparission to the Note 2 is surpasses both of them by at least 5 hours. my phone is on a continues download and i run 4 app that sit on the internet all day. the Galasy S3 does about 4 hours before needing a recharge and the iphone 5 about 5. Plus the thing you can do on a notes surpasses both iphone 5 and S3.
Sorry but from all the phone I have Played with and seen. the best battery goes to the Galaxy Note2
February 17th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
I love the note. I carry Iphone 4s and the Note2. Sprint coverage on the Note2 is not as good yet as At&t coverage where I live. With 12 billion from Softbank for wireless infrastructure improvements, it will be soon. If you dont have good reception, they give you a wifi mini tower that will give you 5,000 square feet of coverage if you already have high speed internet. Battery life is great. Before the Note2 I also had a Verizon Win 8x. Nice but no battery life and no commercial banking at my bank. Note2 on Sprint solves it all. I am transitioning to the note. Its more fun than the Iphones. I’ve had several versions of Iphone. At&t Iphone could not do commercial banking with Safari either.
February 22nd, 2013 at 3:14 pm
I can keep my one x up and running for a whole day buy i usually have the screen brightness to the lowest. whihc helps alot but when i am on the rode riding with gps running i have to carry and battery pack. On gps and strava cycling app i can barely keep it alive for my rides. A buddy of mine gave me a phonesuit flex http://bit.ly/U97fpw and it has been amazing. extremlly small where i can pop in my sock while i ride and take it out when my phone is dying to get those extra miles in.
March 4th, 2013 at 9:27 am
The one X will get about 4 hours of usage before battery is depleted. my girlfriend gets 8 hours of overal standby and use. i get almost 2 days with the samsung note 2. the battery in the one X is indeed very poor. but that mostly because of the tegra 3 chip. wich uses allot of power! that why the one x+ gets a much better battery life. because that one uses a different CPU
March 9th, 2013 at 8:48 pm
cloudfone thrill 430x is the best for me ..
March 10th, 2013 at 9:52 pm
Get A Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and buy a Gold 4,200 mAh battery from ebay and you’re good to go.
March 15th, 2013 at 1:51 pm
I wonder what their tests included. My Galaxy S II Skyrocket battery life is terrible. I get about 9.5 hours but 8.75 hours of that is sitting in stand by doing nothing.
March 30th, 2013 at 6:53 pm
I’ve galaxy note one n7000 and a mugen 5400 mah extended battery.
Now beat me: ) I don’t need to check my battery percentage ever.
April 18th, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Note 2 is the bomb. Best battery life ever. I use it so much I got an extra battery, twiced the battery and keeps it slim.
April 20th, 2013 at 9:32 am
Not correct. Phone with longest battery life is Razr Maxx. What kind of test are you people using??
May 4th, 2013 at 6:39 pm
The Galaxy S3 should definitely not be on this list. This phone is a serious disappointment for anyone looking for most day battery life. The battery seems to drain for no apparent reason, particularly on standby overnight, as I leave the phone fully charge before going to bed and wake up to find it only with a charge of 32% or less. This problem does not seem to be particular to the S3 since early adopters of the S4 are also already complaining about the same issue. Furthermore, if you need to have real-time access to your e-mails, phone calls, facebook updates and other live feeds BEWARE a fully charged S3 will only last you 3-4 hrs.
May 5th, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Last month I got a new LENOVO S890. And this phone has a powerful battery. Or you can go for LENOVO P770.
Both phones have 2250 mAh and 3500mAh battery.
If I don’t charge my S890 then it lasts for 3 days. I use my phone for calling, Music, camera, Whatsapp, Games, FB, mails etc. This phone has a amazing long life battery.
May 16th, 2013 at 9:29 am
I got P770 with 3500mAh. It charges veeery long, but you got smartphone to use it not to preserve battery.
Highly recommended.
Never will go lower than 2500 -pointless..
May 19th, 2013 at 4:14 am
Any idea on Sony xperia J and L ? Who’s battery is better ? Worth buying?