The best phone battery life of 2025, tried and tested by a smartphone expert

Telegraph

5 hours ago

The smartphone is the Swiss Army Knife of the modern world. It's a multi-functional tool that's always close to hand. Whether you're browsing the web, taking pictures, watching videos, listening to music or simply making calls, it's in near-constant use. As a result, battery life has become a critical consideration when shopping for a new handset.
As an experienced tech journalist, I've tested dozens of smartphones over the past decade and have seen the overall level of battery life improve considerably over the years. While the general level of smartphone stamina is now very good, there are still some phones that will last longer than others on a single charge.
If you're in the market for a new phone that won't shut down before the end of a busy day, I would recommend selecting from one of the following handsets. Samsung, Apple, and Google are all familiar and trusted brands, but I've also included some dark horse picks that you might not have considered before. You can find my full reviews, below, along with answers to any frequently asked questions that you may have about battery life.
The best phone battery life: At a glance
How to choose the best phone battery life for you
Several factors contribute to a smartphone's battery life. The most obvious is the total capacity, or size, of the battery, measured in milliampere-hour (or mAh). As a rule of thumb, larger phones tend to have longer battery life, as they can squeeze in bigger batteries, though that's not always the case.
You also need to consider the maximum wired charging rate of a smartphone. This is listed in watts (W), and the larger the number, the faster the phone will recharge. A 100W charger, for instance, will charge the handset considerably faster than a 45W plug.
There are several other elements at play here. The phone's display resolution can have a big impact on battery life: the sharper the picture gets, the higher the toll on the battery. The same applies to screen brightness and whether the display adjusts the refresh rate according to the task at hand. Another factor is the internal electrical components (often referred to as system on chip, or SoC) that power the phone. Some chips run more efficiently than others.
One final, though no less important aspect, is the software. All but one of my picks runs on Google's Android, with the other being iOS. Apple's operating system is known to be more frugal with its energy usage than Google's, though iPhones also tend to have smaller batteries than their Android counterparts, which often evens out the playing field.
Beyond that, each manufacturer is responsible for optimising its phone's battery use, which can lead to a surprising variance in battery performance.
How we test phone battery life
Each of the phones featured in this guide has been granted its own miniature review. I applied the same five key metrics when judging the smartphones: design and features, display, performance and battery life, software and AI, as well as camera. Where available, I've linked to in-depth reviews for the phones listed.
As you can see, we typically roll battery life together with performance, but I've given the former element particular prominence for the purposes of this feature. As well as offering general impressions of each phone's battery life from my day-to-day experience, I also ran our in-house battery benchmark.
This involves downloading and playing a looping 20-hour Full HD 1080p resolution video via the VLC video player app (available on iOS and Android). The video is set to display across the whole screen, with a fixed screen brightness of 250 nits, and with aeroplane mode switched on, which turns off all data connections. Any automatic battery saver modes are also deactivated. I do all of this to ensure our tests are repeatable and consistent with one another.
When the phone finally ran out of battery and powered down, I charged it back up, reopened the VLC app and recorded how long the video ran for.
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The best phone battery life of 2025
1. Best Buy Phone Battery Life: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
The iPhone 16 Pro Max scored right up there with the best smartphones on this list in our video test, coming in a close fourth and bursting well past the 30 hours mark on a single charge. Away from this one specific metric, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has exceptional day-to-day battery life and is comfortably the most long-lasting iPhone on the market.
While a 4,685mAh battery is the smallest on this list, Apple's efficient iOS software means that the phone utilises that smaller capacity more effectively than its rivals. It will routinely last you through two full days of moderate usage.
The main drawback here is the iPhone 16 Pro Max's wired charging speeds, which, at just 45W, will get you from empty to 50 per cent in 30 minutes. That's not terrible, but it falls far short of some of the other phones I tested, such as the OnePlus 13 and Honor Magic 7 Pro.
However, our top pick in all of our round-ups is all about being the Best Buy. The iPhone 16 Pro is the best all-round smartphone on the market, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is essentially the same phone, only larger and with much better battery life. If that's your most pressing concern, but you're still after a brilliant smartphone experience from top to bottom, it's our top pick.
Other than fantastic stamina, you're getting phenomenal performance, a delightfully high-end design (now including a dedicated camera shutter button), and the best phone camera around.
To learn more, read our full iPhone 16 Pro Max review.
Key specifications
Screen: 6.9in, 120Hz refresh rate
Processor: Apple A18 Pro
Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Dimensions: 163 x 77.6 x 8.3mm
Weight: 227g
Battery size: 4,685mAh
Battery life: 30 hours and 43 minutes
2. Best Value Phone Battery: Google Pixel 9a
The Pixel 9a might be the cheapest phone on Google's current roster, but it also has the largest battery. Its 5,100mAh capacity is larger than the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, despite being a significantly smaller phone.
While I didn't observe outstanding day-to-day stamina from the Pixel 9a, it stood up to a busy working day with ease. What's more, it landed firmly in the middle of the pack on our video test, beating significantly larger phones such as the OnePlus 13 and the Xiaomi 15 Ultra by several hours.
It's not all positive news, with a maximum wired charging rate of 23W proving deeply unremarkable. It will take more than an hour to get to a full charge from empty. Conversely, there's a convenient wireless charging provision, which is far from a given at this price.
Strong battery life aside, the Pixel 9a is the best budget smartphone on the market, with an extremely bright display, fast performance from a flagship-level processor, and great photographic capabilities.
To learn more, read our full Google Pixel 9a review.
Key specifications
Screen: 6.3in, 120Hz refresh rate
Processor: Google Tensor G4
Storage options: 128GB, 256GB
Dimensions: 155 x 73 x 8.9mm
Weight: 186g
Battery size: 5,100mAh
Battery life: 29 hours and one minute
Also consider: Xiaomi Poco X7 Pro
Battery life: 25 hours and 27 minutes
With a massive 6,000mAh battery and rapid 90W wired charging for just £309, the Xiaomi Poco X7 Pro is a compelling offering. The only thing keeping it from toppling the Pixel 9a as our Best Value pick is its video playback test score, which was the lowest of all of the phones we tested. Part of that might be to do with the use of a slightly less efficient Mediatek processor. The flagship Xiaomi 15 Ultra didn't perform too well in this test, either.
3. Best Android Phone Battery: Honor Magic 7 Pro
It's a shame that the European model of the Honor Magic 7 Pro lacks the global model's huge 5,850mAh battery, or we might have been looking at an even stronger battery life. As it stands, though, the 5,270mAh battery featured here still proves ample, with the Magic 7 Pro scoring the second highest in our video test.
Add to this 100W wired charging and 80W wireless charging support and you have a phone that's ready to charge up quickly when it finally runs low. It can charge to full from zero in the same time it takes our Best Buy pick to hit 50 per cent.
Elsewhere, the Honor Magic 7 Pro offers a compelling package. Its 200-megapixel main camera is capable of taking excellent images, and is a particular dab hand at action snaps. Honor's Zoom function can capture some remarkably detailed close-ups as well.
Performance is up there with the best in the business, as is Honor's 6.8-inch display. The custom Android software is a little too messy for my tastes, but if you can learn to live with it, this is a phone that will last you a long while.
Key specifications
Screen: 6.78in, 185Hz refresh rate
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
Storage options: 512GB, 1TB
Dimensions: 164 x 77 x 8.9mm
Weight: 227g
Battery size: 5,270mAh
Battery life: 31 hours
Also consider: OnePlus 13
Battery life: 26 hours and 11 minutes
The OnePlus 13 previously won a recommendation as the best smartphone for battery life, due to its large 6,000mAh cell and rapid 100W wired charging support. It remains an impressive performer on this front, lasting through two days of regular use. Since that was written, however, we've put the OnePlus 13 through our new looping video test, where it scored the second-worst of all nine phones involved in this test.
That shouldn't put you off a purchase, as most people won't be watching non-stop video for a full day. What's more, the OnePlus 13 is simply an excellent phone at a competitive price, with one of the most vibrant displays on the market, an attractive faux-leather finish, a great triple camera system, responsive software and extremely rapid performance.
4. Best Phone Battery Life for Video Playback: Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro
If we were going purely on our video test, the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro would be a clear winner. It topped the table by a massive margin, beating the number two contender by an hour and 40 minutes.
It's not hard to see why the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro has such impressive media playback power. This is a gaming phone, which means that it's purpose-built to deliver a sustained screen on time (SoT) and fast performance. Part of that formula involves extending the phone's stamina, as nothing saps battery life as much as playing games.
To that end, the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro starts with a large 5,800mAh battery. While its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is the same as several other phones on this list, Asus pairs this with an extensive cooling system to prevent heat build-up (a cooler phone is more energy efficient). Beyond that, Asus clearly focused on optimising the phone's software to maximise battery life.
At 65W, the charging speeds are good rather than great, but unlike most phones on this list, you get that charger included in the box. It also supports 15W wireless charging, which is unusual for a gaming phone.
The reason I wouldn't recommend the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro to most people, however, is because of this gaming focus. It's relatively large and cumbersome, with a somewhat crude design. Meanwhile, its camera, while not bad, isn't up to the standard you might expect of a £1,100 phone.
Key specifications
Screen: 6.78in, 185Hz refresh rate
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
Storage options: 512GB, 1TB
Dimensions: 164 x 77 x 8.9mm
Weight: 227g
Battery size: 5,800mAh
Battery life: 32 hours and 41 minutes
Also consider: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Battery life: 30 hours and 55 minutes
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra came third in our looping video test, just pipping the iPhone 16 Pro Max to the post. Samsung's battery optimisation is generally some of the best in the business, allowing its phones to compete despite rarely having the largest size (the Galaxy S25 Ultra's battery is 5,000mAh).
This is a phone that will reliably last you a heavy day of usage and well into a second day, no matter what you throw at it. The main aspect holding it back is a mere 45W wired charging provision, which is a fair bit slower than much of the opposition.
With that said, we voted the Galaxy S25 Ultra to be the best Android smartphone on the market, with a fabulous glare-free display, excellent camera zoom, and a host of powerful AI features.
5. Largest Phone Battery: Redmagic 10S Pro
When it comes to capacity, no phone at the time of writing comes with a bigger battery than the Redmagic 10S Pro. At 7,050mAh, it's truly vast.
This huge battery leads to exemplary day-to-day stamina, which is required to keep it running through extended gaming sessions. This is another gaming phone, like the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, but this handset has a couple of bonuses. It features a physical cooling fan to avoid heat build-up, and it also has a souped-up version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. Technically, it's the fastest phone on this list, as well as being one of the cheapest.
The phone comes with an 80W charger in the box, though it supports up to 100W charging. A full charge should take around 40 minutes. On a less positive note, there's no wireless charging.
That's far from the only drawback here. Surprisingly, the Redmagic 10S Pro posted one of the worst scores in our video playback battery test. The Redmagic OS software is also messy and glitchy. The physical design, too, is somewhat juvenile, with an off-putting gamer aesthetic that incorporates gaudy lighting effects.
Key specifications
Best phone battery life FAQs
Is a higher mAh better for battery life?
Generally speaking, a larger battery leads to better battery life. However, other factors play a major part, including screen and processor efficiency and how well the manufacturer has optimised the software.
How do you prolong a phone's battery life?
Reducing screen brightness and preventing apps (particularly social media) from running in the background are two ways to preserve battery life. Every phone also has a battery saver mode that can be initiated manually or automatically once it drops down to a certain percentage.
Which brands are well-known for producing phones with good battery life?
Samsung and Apple both have excellent reputations in this department. Neither brand's phones have the biggest batteries in their class, but both do well through expert optimisation. The biggest batteries, however, are currently coming from Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Honor, and OnePlus, all of which have started utilising super-dense silicon-carbon (Si/c) battery technology.
What everyday activities drain phone battery the fastest?
Social media apps and navigation apps running in the background can play havoc with battery life, as does frequent switching between mobile networks (5G is a known battery hog). Gaming, too, is an infaillible way to rapidly drop your phone's battery percentage.