00:00 Gone are days when a single phone charger
00:02 lasts you days or weeks,
00:03 but battery life is still an important factor
00:06 when considering which phone to get.
00:08 At Tom's Guide, we make sure to test every new handset
00:11 so that we can be sure the advice we're passing on to you
00:14 doesn't fall foul on the brand's marketing.
00:16 So, with this year's releases wrapped up
00:18 with the Galaxy S24 Ultra,
00:20 it's time to answer which flagship phone
00:22 had the best battery life.
00:24 Let's find out.
00:25 When using a phone, what drains the battery the most?
00:27 Gaming.
00:28 Gaming is gonna be the thing that takes up
00:30 the most battery life because it's using the GPU,
00:32 cranking out the graphics,
00:34 so inherently it's gonna cause more battery drain.
00:37 And I also think watching a lot of videos,
00:39 especially outside when you're watching it
00:41 with the sun present,
00:42 because the screen's gonna be extra bright,
00:44 it's gonna cause more power usage,
00:46 and the battery life's gonna be dropped at that point.
00:48 Some of the ways manufacturers have tried to combat this
00:51 as phones become more advanced is, for starters,
00:54 an adaptive refresh rate.
00:56 So most phones nowadays, especially the flagships,
00:58 they have 120 hertz refresh rates.
01:00 That's gonna be a big battery drain.
01:02 So as an alternative to save more power,
01:05 there's either adaptive mode,
01:07 which will automatically adjust the refresh rate,
01:09 or drop it down to a steady 60 hertz mode,
01:12 so that's really more power efficient.
01:14 There are also light sensors in the displays
01:17 to measure the ambient brightness
01:18 so that the display will adjust accordingly.
01:21 So in dimmer situations,
01:22 you're not gonna notice a brighter screen,
01:24 it's gonna be a lot lower.
01:25 And lastly, there's the chipset.
01:27 I think it's the most integral part in all of this,
01:29 because the more power efficient it is,
01:32 the longer the battery life.
01:33 So how do we measure battery life
01:35 when a new handset comes out?
01:37 In our custom battery tests,
01:38 we make phones surf the web continuously over 5G
01:41 until they run out of juice.
01:43 We set the phone's screen at 150 nits of brightness
01:46 to ensure comparable results.
01:48 And if the phone has a display with a fast refresh rate,
01:51 we test multiple times with that feature enabled
01:53 and disabled to get a sense
01:55 of what kind of battery life you can expect.
01:57 The average phone lasts around 10 hours,
01:59 so anything over that mark offers solid battery life.
02:03 But to earn a place on the best phone battery life list,
02:06 you need to go past 13 hours.
02:08 With all that being said,
02:09 here's how this year's flagships compare.
02:12 Meet the longest lasting flagship phone we've ever tested.
02:15 The S24 Ultra's performance is 2 1/2 hours better
02:18 than Apple's flagship,
02:19 which is no slouch when it comes to lasting a long time
02:22 on a charge.
02:23 Samsung did increase the battery size in the Ultra.
02:26 It remains at 5,000 mAh,
02:28 so we have to give credit
02:30 to the Snapdragon 8th Gen 3 chip
02:32 powering the phone for its excellent efficiency.
02:35 It's also worth noting we recorded that time
02:37 with the S24 Ultra's adaptive refresh rate turned on,
02:41 so the Qualcomm chipset does a great job managing power.
02:45 Charging speeds remain at 45 watts,
02:47 but we managed to get a 71% charge after 30 minutes
02:51 using a 45-watt USB-C charger.
02:53 Samsung doesn't include such a charger with its phone,
02:56 so if you want top charging speeds,
02:58 you'll need to pick up this accessory on your own.
03:01 The iPhone 15 Pro Max lasted more than 14 hours
03:04 on our battery test,
03:06 a truly impressive time
03:07 for one of Apple's flagship devices.
03:09 We credit the A17 Pro chipset,
03:11 which is built on a three nanometer process.
03:14 Because of that,
03:15 the transistors are more densely packed
03:17 than a four nanometer chipset,
03:19 which usually leads to more efficient power management.
03:21 You can charge your iPhone 15 Pro Max with USB-C
03:24 now that the Lightning port is a goner
03:26 on all iPhone 15 models.
03:29 Unfortunately, that doesn't translate
03:30 to a boost in charging speeds.
03:32 The Pixel 8 Pro's battery gets a minor boost
03:35 up to 5,000 milliamp hours
03:37 and scores a respectful time of 10 hours and three minutes.
03:40 That said, it still falls well behind the results
03:42 posted by the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
03:46 In my real-world use,
03:47 the Pixel 8 Pro's battery was completely depleted
03:50 a couple hours before I normally would go to bed.
03:53 That's a shock because most flagships I test
03:55 tend to have between 10% and 15% of battery life
03:58 before I call it in for the night.
04:00 Adrenaline Pixel 8 Pro managed to get up to 59%
04:03 after 30 minutes with its fast charging,
04:05 which is a consolation for its weaker battery life.
04:08 Now, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
04:10 is the obvious winner out of the main brands,
04:12 but there's another phone
04:14 that eclipses even that in our testing.
04:16 This is the OnePlus 12.
04:18 It lasted more than 17 and a half hours on our battery test
04:21 with the help of a 5,400 milliamp hour battery
04:24 and the power management features
04:25 of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Silicon.
04:28 It got that time with the phone's adapter display enabled
04:31 so you could take advantage of faster refresh rates
04:33 without having to worry about
04:34 that feature draining the battery.
04:36 The OnePlus 12 also offers wireless charging,
04:39 which makes it a welcome return to OnePlus's flagships.
04:43 Wire charging supports 80 watt speeds in the US,
04:45 which is good to know because the Samsung Galaxy S24
04:48 is half that, and you also get 50 watt wireless speeds.
04:52 OnePlus may not be a household name,
04:54 but it's definitely popular in the industry.
04:56 Check out our full review of the OnePlus
04:58 and the other flagships on the channel,
05:00 and we will also link the latest deals to them down below.
05:04 And now for a little bonus.
05:05 If you're strapped for cash
05:06 or looking to get your parents or grandparents a phone
05:09 where they may not need all the cutting edge tech,
05:11 but will really rely on a solid battery,
05:14 then the OnePlus Nord N300 could be the way to go.
05:17 This low-cost offering from OnePlus
05:19 lasted 13 hours and 13 minutes on our battery test.
05:22 We also appreciate the 33 watt charging speed
05:24 that this $228 phone supports.
05:27 If you don't want to spend big bucks on a long-lasting phone,
05:30 the OnePlus Nord N300 may be an option.
05:33 So, which device would you choose?
05:35 Is battery life even that important to you anymore?
05:37 Let me know in the comments below.
05:39 You can also follow us on social, @timesguide,
05:42 on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.
05:44 I'm John V, and I'll see you in my next video.
05:46 (upbeat music)
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