Top phones of 2025: Battery life
One of the major battlegrounds in the smartphone world this year was battery. The wider adoption of Si/C (silicon-carbon) batteries this year was particularly noticeablewith some manufacturers cramming capacities of 7,000+ mAh into regular smartphones.
In fact our all-time battery life ranking is now dominated by models released this year. Except for the iPhone 16 Plusthe rest were reviewed in 2025.
A number of handsets broke the 20h Active Use Score barrierwith the OnePlus 15 topping the charts with a 23:07h score. Its close siblingthe Oppo Find X9 Protook the second spotand the iQOO 15 rounded out with third place.
One interesting trend is that almost all of the phones on this list are flagship phoneswhich wasn't always the case. That's easily explained by the fact that Si/C batteries still command a price premium so they haven't yet trickled down the ranks.
Even though the Honor Magic8 Lite and the iPhone 17 Pro Max didn't make it into our all-time top 10they share the 10th spot in 2025.
In case you came here for some specific recommendationshere are a few.
Those that care most about call time should consider the Realme GT 8 Pro or the iQOO 15. The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max did great in our call test as well.
For browsingthe Find X9 Prothe iQOO 15 and the Realme GT 7 posted the highest runtimes.
For video playbackthe iQOO 15 is the undisputed championbut the GT8 Prothe Xiaomi 17 Pro Max and the Find X9 Pro put up impressive numbers as well.
The nubia Z80 Ultra and the nubia RedMagic 11 Proalong with the Poco F8 Ultradeserve honorable mention as they take the 7th8th and 9th places with overall excellent Active Use Scoresperforming equally well in all categories.
The expectations are to see even larger battery capacities in 2026and also find them in more budget-oriented and mid-range phones. Good times indeed!
Reader comments
- DarlingYext
- 6mM
" "According to the EU tests the OnePlus 15 can last 65.7% more on one chargethan the Galaxy S25 Ultrawhile according the GSMArena tests it can last 56% more. That's a significant differencefor people with "NORMAL USAGE?&quo...
- I Just Read is right
- 39x
I don't who suggested you could comment on mobile technology they were joking. Something I learnt at pre school and clearly you still haven't. Your non answer is 100% alpha characters..HOWEVER the answer being a maths question re...
- DarlingYext
- 6mM
"It is basic maths as everyone can see NOBODY is supporting you because you're still WRONG and haven't the capacity to understand how and why." Nice to see that you talk about yourself a little bit hereas it's clear th...
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