Battle of the Smartphone Batteries
In a world where power is everything, one question defines the future: how long can you last?📱
In the ever-evolving landscape of smartphones, battery life remains a pivotal factor influencing user satisfaction and device performance. Recent analyses shed light on how various brands fare in real-world usage scenarios.
What Counts as “Active Use”?
When evaluating smartphone battery life, traditional metrics like talk time and standby duration don't always reflect real-world usage. This ranking takes a different approach, measuring battery performance through active use. We define active use as screen-on time dedicated to common tasks like web browsing, video playback, gaming, and app switching – essentially, how long a phone can sustain typical daily interaction before needing a recharge. To quantify this, we performed a data analysis using results from GSM Arena’s detailed battery test. Our resulting Smartphone Active Use Score, and the underlying data, are freely available for exploration at Github.
Greatest smartphones have entered the arena.
Key Insights
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Apple has 6 entries in the top 25, more than any other brand - proving the efficiency gains of its A18 chip and optimized iOS 18.
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Gaming phones like ZTE’s Red Magic series and Asus ROG models dominate the top ranks, showing they're not just about frames per second but also power management.
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Nothing’s new entries (Phone 3 series) made a surprising splash, with all three models pushing past 16 hours.
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Sony is back in the conversation with the Xperia 1 VI and VII both performing above 16 hours.
What’s Fuelling These Gains?
For years, battery life felt like a stagnant metric in the smartphone world. But things are changing, and we're seeing real, measurable improvements. What's behind this progress? It’s not just one thing, but a fascinating combination of innovations.
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Battery technology is evolving, with manufacturers adopting silicon-carbon materials and clever stacked designs to pack more energy into the same space.
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Equally important are the new generation of processors, like Apple’s A18 Pro and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which deliver incredible performance while being remarkably power efficient.
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Finally, smart software is working behind the scenes, using AI to learn your usage patterns and optimize background tasks and refresh rates – essentially, giving your phone a brain that understands how to conserve power.
Final Thoughts
After years of incremental gains, battery life is experiencing a true renaissance in 2025. With display and camera improvements starting to plateau, manufacturers are doubling down on power efficiency, and the results are impressive. This is a win for everyone – gamers who demand hours of immersive gameplay, creators who rely on their devices all day, and ‘road warriors’ who need their phones to keep up with their relentless travel schedules. Today’s flagships aren't just about what they can do; they’re about how long they can do it.