Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
Which smartphone has the best battery life? I tested dozens to find the winner
July 122025
If there’s one thing we all want from our next smartphoneit’s more battery life. Thankfullybattery cells are bigger than everwhile processors are increasingly frugal. This means that manybut certainly not allflagship and mid-range handsets can take us through a day without leaving us suffering from battery anxiety.
Howeversome phones are definitely better than others at lasting through more demanding work/life balances or taking lighter users through a second day. Not to mentionthere’s a massive variation in how quickly phones charge back up when they eventually run out of power.
To help you pick the best phone for rock-solid battery lifewe run all of our review units through a series of automated endurance testschecking how long phones can survive daily tasks like web browsingvideo playbackcamera captureand more. Based on that data and hands-on experiencethese are the phones that I think you should buy.
OnePlus 13: The best phone for battery life overall
- Gorgeous design
- Incredible camera zoom and overall photography
- Helpful AI integration
- Excellent charging options
- Simplified Oxygen OS experience
- Great performance
- Magnetic charging requires accessories
- Fewer updates than Samsung or Google
Many powerhouse smartphones will survive plenty of hours of intense use. Howeverthe OnePlus 13 stands out for a few reasons. Firstits cutting-edge 6,000mAh silicon-carbon-enhanced lithium-ion battery is massive. Even before looking at our test resultsit’s clear the phone has the battery size to take power users through a full day or more.
It’s also the best phone I’ve tested for wired chargingand it’s pretty quick with wireless chargingwhich we’ll get to in a minute.
Importantlythe OnePlus 13 powers through our battery life benchmarks exceedingly well. It puts in a well-rounded effortsurviving up to 24 hours of 4K video playbacknearly six hours of 4K video recording or photo capture12 hours of web browsingor over 11 hours of video calls. I think you’ll agree that’s plenty of battery life for anyoneregardless of your daily mixwith some spare for the next day.
To really separate the phones for daily usewe need to look at a few additional metrics. Charging speed is a hugely important factorallowing you to quickly top up the phone if/when the juice eventually runs out.
The OnePlus 13 is a clear winner here. It reaches full in just 35 minutescompared to closer to the hour mark for our other four contestants. Better stillit managed to reach the 50% mark in just 12 minutesensuring enough juice to power through the day without spending ages attached to the wall. While it relies on SuperVOOC to reach those peak speedsthe phone also plays nicely with USB Power Delivery plugs and power banksdelivering at least 35W of power in my testing.
The OnePlus 13 is also a beast when it comes to wireless charging. With an appropriate SuperVOOC wireless charger and after jumping through a few compatibility hoopsthe phone can wirelessly charge to full in around 80 minutes. That’s much slower than over a wirebut still far faster than other phones can achieve on a wireless pad.
The OnePlus 3 lasts all daycharges back up quicklyand is affordable. What's not to like?
Besides its brilliant batterythe OnePlus 13 boasts superb hardware elsewhere. A speedy Snapdragon 8 Elite processorsublime-looking displayand a camera package that far exceeds previous models and even rivals the best in the business make the OnePlus 13 a superb all-around phoneespecially if you want a flagship that’ll last more than a day of heavy use. Ohand it’s very affordable too.
Google Pixel 9: Best small phone for battery life
- Powerful Gemini AI tools
- Excellent build qualityrefined design
- Extensive update policy
- Solid camera package
- Great battery life
- Lacks Google's Pro AI features
- Performance unchanged from last year
- No telephoto camera
- Still slow to charge
While you won’t find many 6-inch smartphones with huge battery capacitiesthat doesn’t mean they can’t last all day. According to my benchmark datathe Google Pixel 9 is the best relatively compact model for battery lifenot to mention a great all-around phonewhether you want great-looking pictures or the latest mobile AI tools.
In terms of numbersit passed our benchmark with up to nine hours of web browsingalmost 13 hours of video call timenine hours of 4K video captureand more than five hours of snapping capture. The only blemish is a much more modest 10 hours of 4K playback than its competitorsbut that’s still plenty for most people.
In other wordsthe Google Pixel 9 is a phone that’ll see you through a day of solid useno matter what you’re doing. That 4,700mAh battery goes a surprisingly long way.
Google's Pixel 9 is a superb allrounder with outstanding battery life.
When the Pixel 9 eventually runs out of juicethe drawback is that it doesn’t charge back up all that quickly. 85 minutes to full is pretty slowbut not far behind rivals like the Galaxy S25and is faster than the iPhone 16. Given the phone’s superb battery lifethis is probably a worthwhile trade-off. Thankfullyit’s easy to find USB accessories matching the phone’s 27W USB PD PPS requirements.
Google Pixel 9a: Best phone for battery life under $500
- Solidreliable cameras
- Excellent update commitment
- Clever AI-powered features
- Great battery life
- Newstreamlined design
- Excellent price
- Relatively slow charging
- Aging Gorilla Glass 3 (again)
- Missing Pixel Screenshots
Sometimes you just need a big battery to brute-force your way through a heavy day of useand the affordable Google Pixel 9a comes through with a hefty 5,100mAh cell. Better stillit scores consistently highly across our battery life benchmarksensuring it’ll last no matter what you throw at it. Test data not enough? We felt exactly the same way during our Pixel 9a review.
A little over 10 hours in our web and Zoom tests ensure the 9a can take you through more than a busy day of work and play taskswhile the phone manages a colossal 21 hours of 4K video playback. For the shutter bugsyou can continuously snap pictures or record 4K video for over seven hours before running the Pixel 9a’s battery down. Bottom linethe 9a will last everyone a full day and possibly a little more.
The best battery life $500 can buy? You can't beat the Pixel 9a.
Of coursethe Pixel 9a is much more than a big battery crammed in an affordablecompact shell. The phone sports a top-tier Tensor G4 processorreliable dual camerasmany of Google’s latest AI featuresand an update commitment that can’t be beat. It’s hard to find another $499 phone worth recommending as much as the Pixel 9aespecially when it comes to battery life.
The phone’s only drawback is its sluggish 94-minute full charge time. It’s definitely slower than other affordable phones at this pricebut that’s the price to pay to fill up that large battery.
CMF Phone 1: Best phone for battery life under $250
- Clever accessories
- Solid battery life
- Good Dimensity 7300 performance
- Fun Nothing OS
- Excellent value
- Cheap plastic build
- Poor camera flexibility
- No NFC
- Weak US support for carriers and accessories
Very affordable smartphones with big batteries are increasingly easy to come byand budget model specs tend to be a bit more frugalwhich is already a recipe for multi-day battery life. Even soa standout and very affordable model I’ve tested is the late 2024 CMF Phone 1.
Its large 5,000mAh battery endured over 10 hours of web browsing or Zoom calls and over 18 hours of 4K video playback. The CMF Phone 1 has you well covered for daily essentials. It’ll also handle seven hours of 4K video recording and over nine hours of photo captureso it won’t give out when capturing precious memories either.
When you eventually need to top upthe phone is fully charged in about an hour. That’s marginally faster than its rivalsand not far off many flagship phonesthanks to rather speedy 30W charging. Just like our overall best pickthis budget option has you covered on both sides of your battery needs.
Frugal specs and a big battery maky the CMF Phone 1 a great budget pick.
The CMF Phone 1 is an impressive little package for such an affordable entry. If you can spend a bit more money and fancy some additional specsthe brilliant CMF Phone 2 Pro only costs a little more and also offers very frugal battery life.
Motorola Razr Ultra (2025): Best foldable for battery life
- Blisteringly fast charging and excellent battery life
- Ultra-flagship-tier performance
- Solid dual camera setup
- Top-notch materials and eye-catching Pantone colors
- Two very vibrant displays
- Cleansimple software
- Moto AI feels half baked
- Limited software commitment
- Long-range zoom kinda stinks
- Expensive
It used to be the case that foldable phones meant big compromisesmost often in the battery departmentwhich was especially true for compact clamshell models. That’s not the case anymore; the Motorola Razr Ultra offers superb battery life and even outlasts bigger booklet foldables.
The Motorola Razr Ultra bucks that trendwith a good-sized 4,700mAh battery that’s on par and even bests some traditional 6-inch flagship smartphones. Whether it’s daily web tasksmedia applicationsor even a spot of gamingthis cell powers through hours of screen-on time to ensure it can take you through a busy day.
When you do need to top upthe Razr Ultra supports pretty quick charging. We clocked it to full in just 57 minutes while pulling 45W from the walland the phone supports up to 68W when you can line up the perfect plug and cable. The phone will also manage 30W wirelessly with a compatible chargerdouble what rival foldables offer.
Motorola shows that foldables don't have to compromise on battery life.
The Motorola Razr Ultra is also a superb handset in the grand scheme of things. We love the phone’s versatile camera setuphandy dual displaysand slick software experience. The clamshell’s only real drawback is that all this tech comes with a steep price tag. StillMotorola’s more affordable Razr and Razr Plus clamshells aren’t far off the pace for battery life either.
Honorable mentions
The ASUS Zenfone 12 Ultra almost took top spotwith its surprisingly frugal battery life from a rather typical 5,500mAh cell. It charges quicklytoosporting up to 65W over the commonplace USB PD PPS protocol. Howeverit’s quite an expensive phone given its mediocre camera and software featuresbut there’s no denying it’ll take power users through more than a day of heavy use.
We can’t mention longevity without the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. While it doesn’t quite last as long as the OnePlus 13 in camera capture timesit’s not far behind in every other metric. Paired with a stellar update commitmentreasonably charging speedssolid camerasand one of the best software packages arounddon’t sleep on Samsung’s latest ultra-flagship.
With a giant 5,000mAh cellthe Samsung Galaxy A36 5G continues to offer the excellent battery life we liked about its predecessor. At just $400it’s a very affordable phone with brilliant longevity and 45W fast charging to boot. Howeverperformance leaves a lot to be desiredso this one is only really recommended for those who desire battery life above all else.
While it didn’t survive our camera capture benchmarks as well as Google’s flagshipthe Samsung Galaxy S25 still offers plenty of battery life for daily workloadsespecially if you need video playback for your commute. If battery life has you torn between this and the latest iPhoneSamsung’s flagship is a clear winner.
What to look for in good battery life
Obviouslythe number one place to start with battery life is the size of the battery. The more milliamp-hours (mAh)the longer the handset typically lasts. It’s as simple as that. In additiona bigger battery at launch means that battery life will still last through a day as the battery ages and its maximum capacity gradually decreases.
Howeverbigger batteries require more spaceso there’s a trade-off between the phone size you want and how long it can last. That saidadvanced battery technologieslike silicon-carbonare making it possible to increase capacity without increasing size. So keep an eye out for that in more handsets in the coming months and years.
A big battery paired with frugal hardware specs is the recipe for multi-day endurance.
While battery capacity is the biggest contributorthe phone’s other specifications determine how quickly that battery drains. Bigger displaysmore powerful processorswireless modemsand much more all contribute to power consumption. More efficientmodern components can make seemingly small battery capacities last longer than you might expectso don’t necessarily write a phone off just because its battery isn’t the biggest.
- Big battery capacity: Broadly speaking4,000mAh is considered a reasonable baseline for a moderate day’s use and headroom as a phone ages. 5,000mAh will feel more comfortable for power userswhile phones approaching or exceeding 6,000mAh should take most users well into a second day of use.
- LTPO displays: Displays are one of the biggest drains on your batteryespecially with the brightness cranked up and content refreshing several times a second. LTPO OLED displays have a nifty trick to save power: dynamic refresh rates. By reducing refresh rates to as low as 1Hz while screen content is idleLTPO displays save on battery life without affecting display quality. Thankfullymost high-end and many mid-range phones already sport this technology.
- An efficient processor: While there’s no hard and fast rule heresmallercutting-edge manufacturing processes (measured in nanometers) tend to produce more efficient processors that sap less power from a battery. 3nm is the latest cutting-edge processbut 6nm is perfectly suitable for less-demandingaffordable chipsets. Just try to avoid something too old paired with a small battery.
- Fast charging: While big batteries are importanteven the biggest can’t last forever. Fast charging can bring your phone back from the brink in little to no time. Measured in wattsit’s worth havingbut don’t fall for 100W charging hype. 30W to 60W is often plenty.
Why you should trust me
Testing phones is what I do best. From camera and chargingto performance and battery lifeI’ve spent probably a few too many hours agonizing over the best testing methods and tools to quantify the intangibles that separate a good smartphone from a great one.
I designed and built automated battery life benchmarks specifically to test everyday workloads.
Battery life is a particularly tough nut to crack because there are so many variables. Everyone uses their phone slightly differentlyand we all live in areas with different 4G/5G signal strengths and Wi-Fi networks that’ll put different stresses and strains on our battery use. Howeverwe can still compare phones against one another in a meaningful way by looking at common use cases and testing how long handsets can endure.
I designedbuiltand continually reevaluate Android Authority’s automated battery life benchmarking toolswhich measure the tasks we probably all use our phones for several times each weekif not daily. Web browsing4K video playbackand Zoom video calls make up the humdrum of day-to-day usewhile our camera and 4K recording tests ensure your next purchase can keep up with documenting the lives of friends and loved ones. The very best phones offer balanced battery life across all these possible tasks. For more on our testing process check out our dedicated page.
What do you look for in all day battery life?
Of coursethe phone landscape changes quickly. New displayprocessorand battery innovations continue apacemeaning that each new generation tends to bring something new to the battery life table. As suchI review our test data every few months and update this list to make sure you’re always abreast of the best battery life that smartphones have to offer.
Thank you for being part of our community. Read our Comment Policy before posting.