A common complaint with smartphones is that the battery often seems to need charging constantly. When smartphones were first pioneered, everyone loved the idea of having everything they need at their fingertips, but they didn’t think that 24/7 access to Facebook or watching television when they wanted to on their device would drain the battery. The reality quickly became clear, however, and we all came to realise that, shock horror, listening to music or watching Lost uses more juice than playing Snake on an old Nokia handset.
It isn’t all doom and gloom on the smartphone front though, as there are many examples that are delivering brilliant battery life. It is important to note that many of the better ones are newer models, proving that manufacturers do listen to consumers to some extent, and don’t just tell us what we should like and believe, an accusation levelled at Apple and Google, amongst others, in recent months.
Here are the top five smartphones based on their battery life, with timings courtesy of laptopmag.com. Timings are based on continuous 4G browsing, with screen brightness at 40%.
LG G2
LG’s latest smartphone is top of the class when it comes to battery life, delivering an astonishing 13 hours and 44 minutes. LG have been marketing this phone by boasting about the appearance and the screen size. If they threw this fact in there, tech lovers would have another tick in the box when trying to make their choice. The handset is already being labelled as a market leader, and its similarity to the Google Nexus 4, on which they worked alongside Google, is another factor that’ll make it a success.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Those who wish to buy this “phablet” and enjoy extended battery life will be delighted with this result. One might have expected its bigger screen and significant size to make it a beast on the battery, but it still hits double figures with 11 and a quarter hours of continuous use, which gives it more than enough for charging each morning and using at work with confidence you’ll get the full day, uninterrupted, from your device.
Motorola Droid Maxx
Although Motorola have fallen down the pecking order in recent years, and admittedly this phone isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing on the eye, if you want great battery life from a smartphone and a competitive price point, the Droid Maxx could be for you. It doesn’t quite hit 10 hours, coming in at 09:52 on the clock, but it is still a great option if you need to rely on regular use throughout the day.
HTC One
Interestingly, this model had better battery life when used with the T-Mobile network, delivering eight and a quarter hours of use. As HTC look to this handset to re-establish a market foothold against Apple and Samsung’s dominance, they’ve made this available at a relatively low cost, so you could be onto a winner if you opt for this model. If you need further convincing, Tech Radar recently called it the best phone in the world, which is quite the endorsement.
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung make their second appearance with another flagship model, although the S4 ‘only’ offers just over 6 and a half hours of continuous use. If you’re an intermittent user of your smartphone, however, that is more than enough for getting you through the day without the need to charge.
If battery life is a key factor in your buying decisions, make these five phones top of your shopping list.
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