If great endurance is at the top of your list when you’re shopping for a smartphone, the devices that earned a spot on our best phone battery life list is the place to start.
Smartphone batteries are getting larger and larger — the latest flagships from Samsung and LG feature massive 5,000 mAh batteries — with the promise of phones that can go all day on a single charge. But which devices can really boast that they provide the best battery life for phones?
In our battery test, we have phones continuously surf the web over LTE or 5G until they run out of juice. The average phone lasts around 10 hours, but the phones we’ve highlighted here held out for at least 11 hours. The kind of endurance where you’re less reliant on one of Top 10 Best Headphones for Runners – 2020.
The Moto G Power is our new battery champ, toppling its predecessor, the Moto G7 Power. Those G Power breaks the 16-hour mark on our battery test, thanks to its 5,000 mAh battery. The G7 Power, which has a 5,000 mAh power pack of its own, is no slouch at 15.5 hours.
Here are all the top performers we’ve tested in the last year-and-a-half.
Best phone battery life at a glance (hours:minutes)
- Moto G Power: 16:10
- Moto G7 Power: 15:35
- Asus ZenFone 6: 15:01
- Samsung Galaxy A20: 13:46
- LG V60 ThinQ 5G: 12:46
- Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus: 12:35
- Moto G Fast: 12:17
- Moto G Stylus: 12:13
- Google Pixel 3a: 11:59
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: 11:58
- iPhone 11 Pro Max: 11:54
- LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen: 11:46
- Google Pixel 3a XL: 11:44
- Moto Z4: 11:31
- iPhone 11: 11:16
The best phone battery life in 2020
1. Moto G Power (16:10)
There’s a new handset with the best phone battery life, and it’s the Moto G Power, which takes the crown from the very phone it replaces. Like last year’s Moto G7 Power, this new version of Motorola’s budget phone features a 5,000 mAh battery. And the Moto G Power makes the most of it, lasting more than 16 hours on our battery test. That’s a half-hour better than the Moto G7 Power did.
Don’t expect fast charging from this phone. After 30 minutes of charging a depleted battery, the Moto G Power’s battery indicator only showed a reading of 21%. Then again, 5,000 mAh is a mighty big power pack to fill, and it’s not like you’re going to need to charge this phone frequently.
The Moto G Power retains one other attractive feature from the G7 Power — its $249 price. That’s a bargain when you get a phone that can last all day in return.
2. Moto G7 Power (15:35)
After a year in the top spot as the device with the best phone battery life, the Moto G7 Power slips down to second place. Still, that’s a pretty lofty position, considering it’s one of three phones that we’ve tested in the past two years to feature more than 15 hours of battery life — and two of them come from Motorola.
Considering that the Moto G Power features newer specs and multiple cameras, it’s hard to get as excited about last year’s Moto G7 Power, unless you can find that older phone at a significant discount from its original $249 price. T-Mobile has marked the phone down to $200 as of this writing, and you can get the G7 Power for less than $200 at Verizon-owned Visible.
3. Asus ZenFone 6 (15:01)
The camera on the Asus ZenFone 6 grabs all the attention — it swivels around so that the same lenses pull off double-duty as both the front and rear cameras — but to us, this phone’s endurance is the real story.
The latest ZenFone made our best phone battery life list by lasting more than 15 hours on our battery test — not a surprise given the beefy 5,000 mAh power pack inside the ZenFone 6. Throw in fast charging and an efficient Snapdragon 855 processor, and that’s a lot of power for a phone that starts at less than $500.
4. Samsung Galaxy A20 (13:46)
It may not have the flash and features of Samsung’s more premium handsets, but if you’re looking for the best phone battery life at a cheap price, the Galaxy A20 delivers. The phone lasted more than 13.5 hours on our battery test, thanks to a massive 4,000 mAh battery.
Charge times are respectable, too, as the A20 delivers 15-watt charging that can get a drained battery up to 30% after half-an-hour of charging. You’ll make some sacrifices for the A20’s $239 price tag, but you’ll get lots of battery life in return.
Read our full Galaxy A20 review.
5. LG V60 ThinQ 5G (12:46)
It’s time to put LG’s reputation for producing phones with less-than-stellar battery life to rest. The LG V60 ThinQ 5G continues LG’s recent spate of long-lasting phones, even with this handset boasting power-hungry 5G compatibility.
LG went big with the battery, putting a 5,000 mAh power pack inside the V60. That helped the phone last nearly 13 hours on our battery test, making it the longest-lasting flagship phone since last year’s Huawei P30 Pro.
There’s a big drop-off in battery life if you keep the V60’s second screen attachment plugged into the phone, though that’s probably not something a lot of people are going to do. Even then, getting 7 hours, 34 minutes of battery life when you’re powering a pair of 6.8-inch screens is a pretty impressive feat. We only wish the LG V60 ThinQ 5G’s charging capabilities were as impressive, with LG’s phone reaching a 51% charge after 30 minutes.
6. Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (12:35)
The 4,100 mAh battery in the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus no problem keeping that 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED display powered up throughout the day. We managed to get a little more than 12.5 hours out of this handset, which is the best phone battery life we’ve seen from a Samsung flagship device.
But a long-lasting battery is only part of the power management story with the S10 Plus. All of the S10 phones offer a Wireless PowerShare feature that lets you wireless charge other device — yes, even iPhones — by placing them on the back of the S10.
Read our full Galaxy S10 Plus review.
7. Moto G Fast (12:17)
It’s no Moto G Power, but what is these days? Instead, the Moto G Fast rides its 4,000 mAh battery to a 12 hour and 17 minute result on our test — nearly four hours behind its Moto G sibling but still among the Top Ten for best phone battery life of the devices we’ve tested in the last 18 months. That’s terrific for a phone that’s available for less than $200
Don’t expect fast charge times from this budget phone. After 30 minutes, the stock charger that came with the Moto G Fast only got the drained phone up to 26%, according to its battery indicator.
8. Moto G Stylus (12:13)
Speaking of Moto’s G lineup, the Moto G Stylus may trade in the bigger batteries on the Moto G Power and Moto G Fast in favor of a productivity-boosting stylus, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t capable of lasting a long time on a charge. Equipped with a 4,000 mAh battery, the Moto G Stylus lasted 12 hours and 13 minutes on our test — impressive, even if it’s not Moto G Power-level endurance.
While the G Stylus will go a long time between charges, don’t expect that 4,000 mAh battery to refill quickly. After 15 minutes of charging a completely drained phone, the Moto G Stylus’ battery indicator was back up to 15% and just shy of 30% after half-an-hour. Still, it’s nice to know that for $300, you can have a phone that will last you throughout the day and come with a pretty clever stylus for jotting down notes as part of the bargain.
9. Google Pixel 3a (11:59)
Google’s budget-minded smartphone may have slashed the price you pay for a Pixel, but that doesn’t mean you have to skimp on battery life. The Pixel 3a lasted nearly 11 hours on our battery test, nearly matching the 12:09 time turned in by 2017’s Pixel 2 XL, though you can get the 3a for much less and through more carriers.
The Pixel 3a also charges quickly, giving you 7 hours of battery life after just 15 minutes of charging.
Google has stopped selling the Pixel 3a through its own store, suggesting that a new version, the Pixel 4a, is on the way after many delays. We hope it matches its predecessor’s battery life.
10. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
It was a tale of two battery test results when we put the Galaxy S20 Ultra and its 5,000 mAh battery to test. Running our test on Samsung’s flagship phone with the display set to the default 60Hz refresh rate, the phone turned in an average time of 11 hours, 58 minutes — a better result than Apple’s iPhones.
But one of the marquee features on the Galaxy S20 lineup is the screen’s faster 120Hz refresh rate, which allows for smoother scrolling. When we turned on that feature and re-ran our test, the S20 Ultra’s result dropped by 3 hours.
The Galaxy S20 Ultra charges up quickly, thanks to the 25-watt charger that comes with the phone. After 30 minutes of charging, we got the battery back up to 63%.
11. iPhone 11 Pro Max (11:54)
If you want the best phone battery life from an iPhone, get the iPhone 11 Pro Max. It benefits from a larger battery its predecessor as well as the more efficient A13 Bionic processor.
Even better, iPhone 11 Pro Max users can finally take advantage of the iPhone’s fast-charging support from the moment they open the phone’s box. The iPhone 11 Pro Max ships with an 18-watt charger, which allowed us to get a drained phone up to 48% battery life after just 30 minutes of charging.
Read our full iPhone 11 Pro Max review.
12. LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen (11:46)
Before the LG V60 ThinQ 5G flirted with the 13-hour mark on our test, the LG G8X ThinQ came along to show that LG was serious about making its phones last longer on a charge. This 6.4-inch smartphone lasted just shy of 12 hours on our test, and its $699 price makes it one of the more affordable flagship phones you can buy.
One caveat about that 11 hour, 49 minute result, though: it came using just one of the G8X’s screens, and not with the second 6.4-inch removable displayed attached to the phone. Running the test with both of the phone’s screens enabled, we got a far more pedestrian 4 hours and 56 minutes. (Not surprising, since the G8X’s second screen has no battery of its own.) Having two screens is a nice productivity booster, but use it too much and it can drain your phone’s battery.
13. Pixel 3a XL (11:44)
The larger of Google’s midrange phones doesn’t last quite as long as the 5.6-inch Pixel 3a. But the 6-inch Pixel 3a XL still turned in an 11:44 time on our test, allowing this Android phone to lang on our best phone battery life list.
Like the 3a, the Pixel 3a XL recharges quickly. After we drained the battery and charged the phone for 15 minutes, its battery indicator was back up to 22 percent.
You can still find the Pixel 3a XL at some retail outlets, though Google has stopped selling it.
14. Moto Z4 (11:31)
Motorola’s tradition of delivering superior battery life continues with its latest flagship phone. The Moto Z4 features a 3,600 mAh battery, an increase from the 3,000 mAh power pack in 2018’s Z3, and that helped the new model last just past 11.5 hours on our battery test.
You’ll also get 15-watt charging on the Moto Z4, which isn’t as fast as the 18W charging some phones offer, but still should help you charge up the Z4 fairly quickly.
15. iPhone 11 (11:16)
The iPhone 11 may be the least expensive of the new iPhone models Apple introduced last fall, but it doesn’t skimp on battery life. This $699 phone lasted more than 11 hours on our battery test, even if its time wasn’t as good as the iPhone XR (which remains available with a lower price if you want a phone that comes closer to 11.5 hours).
The iPhone 11 supports fast-charging, but unlike the iPhone 11 Pro Max, you’ll need to spring for an 18-watt charger, as that accessory isn’t included with this model.
Read our full iPhone 11 review.
That’s it.
For more such interesting article like this, app/softwares, games, Gadget Reviews, comparisons, troubleshooting guides, listicles, and tips & tricks related to Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS, follow us on Google News, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.