00:00Gone are the days when a single phone charged
00:02lasted days or weeks.
00:03But battery life is still an important factor
00:06when considering which phone to get.
00:08At Tom's Guide, we make sure to test every new handset
00:11so that we can be sure the advice we're passing on to you
00:14doesn't fall foul on the brand's marketing.
00:16So, with this year's releases wrapped up
00:18with the Galaxy S24 Ultra,
00:20it's time to answer which flagship phone
00:22had the best battery life.
00:24Let's find out.
00:25When using a phone, what drains the battery the most?
00:27Gaming.
00:28It's gonna be the thing that takes up the most battery life
00:31because it's using the GPU, cranking out the graphics,
00:34so inherently it's gonna cause more battery drain.
00:37And I also think watching a lot of videos,
00:39especially outside when you're watching it
00:41with the sun present,
00:42because the screen's gonna be extra bright,
00:44it's gonna cause more power usage,
00:46and the battery life's gonna be dropped at that point.
00:48Some of the ways manufacturers have tried to combat this
00:51as phones become more advanced is, for starters,
00:54an adaptive refresh rate.
00:56So most phones nowadays, especially the flagships,
00:59they have 120 hertz refresh rates.
01:00That's gonna be a big battery drain,
01:02so as an alternative to save more power,
01:05there's either adaptive mode,
01:07which will automatically adjust the refresh rate,
01:09or drop it down to a steady 60 hertz mode,
01:12so that's really more power efficient.
01:14There are also light sensors in the displays
01:17to measure the ambient brightness
01:18so that the display will adjust accordingly,
01:21so in dimmer situations,
01:22you're not gonna notice a brighter screen,
01:24it's gonna be a lot lower.
01:25And lastly, there's the chipset.
01:27I think it's the most integral part in all of this
01:29because the more power efficient it is,
01:32the longer the battery life.
01:33So, how do we measure battery life
01:35when a new handset comes out?
01:37In our custom battery tests,
01:38we make phones surf the web continuously over 5G
01:41until they run out of juice.
01:43We set the phone's screen at 150 nits of brightness
01:46to ensure comparable results.
01:48And if the phone has a display with a fast refresh rate,
01:51we test multiple times with that feature enabled
01:53and disabled to get a sense
01:55of what kind of battery life you can expect.
01:57The average phone lasts around 10 hours,
02:00so anything over that mark offers solid battery life.
02:03But to earn a place on the best phone battery life list,
02:06you need to go past 13 hours.
02:08With all that being said,
02:09here's how this year's flagships compare.
02:12Meet the longest lasting flagship phone we've ever tested.
02:15The S24 Ultra's performance is two and a half hours
02:18better than Apple's flagship,
02:19which is no slouch when it comes to lasting
02:21a long time on the charge.
02:23Samsung did increase the battery size in the Ultra.
02:26It remains at 5,000 mAh,
02:29so we have to give credit
02:30to the Snapdragon 8th Gen 3 chip
02:32powering the phone for its excellent efficiency.
02:35It's also worth noting we recorded that time
02:37with the S24 Ultra's adaptive refresh rate turned on,
02:41so the Qualcomm chipset does a great job managing power.
02:45Charging speeds remain at 45 watts,
02:47but we managed to get a 71% charge after 30 minutes
02:51using a 45 watt USB-C charger.
02:53Samsung doesn't include such a charger with its phone,
02:56so if you want top charging speeds,
02:58you'll need to pick up this accessory on your own.
03:01The iPhone 15 Pro Max lasted more than 14 hours
03:04on our battery test,
03:06a truly impressive time
03:07for one of Apple's flagship devices.
03:09We credit the A17 Pro chipset,
03:11which is built on a three nanometer process.
03:14Because of that, the transistors are more densely packed
03:17than a four nanometer chipset,
03:19which usually leads to more efficient power management.
03:21You can charge your iPhone 15 Pro Max with USB-C
03:24now that the lightning port is a goner
03:26on all iPhone 15 models.
03:29Unfortunately, that doesn't translate
03:30to a boost in charging speeds.
03:32The Pixel 8 Pro's battery gets a minor boost
03:35up to 5,000 milliamp hours
03:37and scores a respectful time of 10 hours and three minutes.
03:40That said, it still falls well behind the results
03:42posted by the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
03:46In my real world use, the Pixel 8 Pro's battery
03:49was completely depleted a couple hours
03:51before I normally would go to bed.
03:53That's a shock because most flagships I test
03:55tend to have between 10% and 15% of battery life
03:58before I call it in for the night.
04:00Adreno Pixel 8 Pro managed to get up to 59%
04:03after 30 minutes with its fast charging,
04:05which is a consolation for its weaker battery life.
04:08Now, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
04:10is the obvious winner out of the main brands,
04:12but there's another phone that eclipses
04:14even that in our testing.
04:17This is the OnePlus 12.
04:18It lasted more than 17 and a half hours
04:20on our battery test with the help of a 5,400 milliamp hour
04:23battery and the power management features
04:25of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Silicon.
04:28It got that time with the phone's adaptive display enabled
04:31so you could take advantage of faster refresh rates
04:33without having to worry about that feature
04:35draining the battery.
04:36The OnePlus 12 also offers wireless charging,
04:39which makes it a welcome return to OnePlus's flagships.
04:43Wire charging supports 80 watt speeds in the US,
04:45which is good to know
04:46because the Samsung Galaxy S24 is half that,
04:49and you also get 50 watt wireless speeds.
04:52OnePlus may not be a household name,
04:54but it's definitely popular in the industry.
04:56Check out our full review of the OnePlus
04:58and the other flagships on the channel,
05:00and we will also link the latest deals to them down below.
05:04And now for a little bonus.
05:05If you're strapped for cash
05:06or looking to get your parents or grandparents a phone
05:09where they may not need all the cutting edge tech,
05:11but will really rely on a solid battery,
05:14then the OnePlus Nord N300 could be the way to go.
05:17This low cost offering from OnePlus
05:19lasted 13 hours and 13 minutes on our battery test.
05:22We also appreciate the 33 watt charging speed
05:25that this $228 phone supports.
05:27If you don't wanna spend big bucks on a long lasting phone,
05:30the OnePlus Nord N300 may be an option.
05:33So, which device would you choose?
05:35Is battery life even that important to you anymore?
05:37Let me know in the comments below.
05:39You can also follow us on social,
05:41at TomsGuide on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.
05:44I'm John V, and I'll see you in my next video.
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