We round-up and review the mobile phones with the longest battery life that you can buy right now, to keep you going well over 24 hours between charges.
Nobody likes seeing that power indicator dip into the red, and for phone addicts like us the longer we can stave off battery anxiety, the better. With that in mind, we’ve pieced together a list of phones offering the best battery life out of all of the handsets we’ve reviewed this year.
We’ll begin with premium-priced flagship mobiles and work our way down to more affordable options, so there’s something here to suit demanding users on any budget.
Premium phones with the best battery life
If you want top performance or a feature-packed blower, with no compromise when it comes to battery life, then the following handsets are for you. These premium, flagship models deliver solid specs and a great all-round user experience, plus well over a day of life on a single charge.
Google Pixel XL
Google’s Pixel XL phone, the larger model of its two Pixel-branded handsets, was ever so slightly bigged up by the company at launch. You have the smart Google Assistant AI for voice controls, a best-in-class camera and, amongst other highlights, killer battery life. We, like many, were sceptical of Google’s claims, but once we actually got our hands on the phone, the Pixel XL proved its worth in terms of both performance and longevity.
The massive 3450mAh battery paired to Android 7.1, which includes Doze on-the-go functionality for greater power efficiency, can handle up to two days of use on a single charge. You’ll also impressively get seven hours of life from just 15 minutes of charge time, using Type-C USB.
Check out our full Google Pixel XL review for our in-depth thoughts.
HTC U11
The HTC U11 is the company’s best flagship phone yet, offering a solid all-round user experience. Packed inside is the energy-efficient (yet still supremely powerful) Snapdragon 835 chipset and the results are very good indeed, in terms of battery life as well as performance.
Even with regular, quite heavy use, we always made it through a full day on a single charge and often past lunchtime the following day, before a charge was finally required. You of course get the usual battery saver modes on board too, in case you need a bit of extra life before eventually hitting the plug point.
Wander over to our HTC U11 review for all you need to know.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
The S7 Edge is still a great flagship phone, even a year and a half following its original launch. Considering that mighty screen and the premium specs on offer, you might expect the Edge to suffer somewhat in the battery department. Thankfully you’d be wrong.
The impressively large 3600mAh cell crammed inside the Galaxy S7 Edge ensures that you’ve got enough juice in the tank to last through well over a day of heavy use. Even with regular use, Samsung’s blower can usually last around 36 hours before you need to plug it in.
Where it really stands out though is through the combination of fast charging, wireless charging and fast wireless charging on offer, meaning you have multiple ways to refill the S7 Edge in a jiffy.
Check out our full Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge review.
LG G6
Although the LG G6 doesn’t offer the best battery life in this round-up, we’re still impressed that this mighty media machine gives over a day of full-on use per charge. That 5.7-inch screen boasts some of the latest display tech including Dolby Vision HDR support, for eye-punching visuals. Yet we still comfortably made it to the end of the day every time, even with a good bit of video streaming involved.
If you’re off on your travels and you need a device to keep you entertained, the G6 certainly delivers. Few premium mobiles offer the same excellent battery life.
Tempted? Have a read of our full LG G6 review for more info.
Huawei Mate 9
Huawei’s Mate 9 phablet launched at the end of 2016 and served as the perfect alternative to the ill-fated Samsung Galaxy Note 7. This still-excellent mobile boasts a dual 20/12-megapixel Leica camera module, a top-notch Kirin 960 processor and a gargantuan 4000mAh battery, which means it’s well suited to life on the road.
All that power means you can expect between two to three days of use per charge, which makes it one of the strongest performers in this round-up. Plus, the company’s own fast charging tech means you jump from zero back to 100 per cent in around 90 minutes flat, while the hardware stays reassuringly cool.
Check out our full Huawei Mate 9 review for more.
OnePlus 5
While the OnePlus 5 isn’t quite perfect, it does offer a competitive flagship experience for less cash than the competition. Killer performance, slick software, dependable photo quality and plenty of extra smarts make for a great handset, even for demanding users. All of that from £449, making it cheaper than the above blowers.
You can expect over a day of battery life before hitting the charging cable again, as well as some of the best fast-charging technology on the market in Dash Charge. This powers up the OP5 in no time at all, while keeping the phone cool (to prevent long-term damage).
Check out our OnePlus 5 review for all you need to know about this great-value flagship handset.
Honor 9
Even more affordable than the OnePlus 5 is the Honor 9, which impresses in pretty much every area despite costing under £400. Not bad at all for a flagship device.
With the Honor 9 fully charged at the start of the day, I could use it regularly for snapping photos, checking messages, streaming media and jumping online. Come bedtime, the phone was still far from empty. A full charge often gave a day and a half of use, which is only shortened by seriously intensive tasks.
When the phone does die, you can power it back up in a jiffy using Huawei’s own fast charge tech. This is a strong rival to OnePlus’ Dash Charge and Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0, which does a great job of keeping the Honor 9 cool while filling the battery in less than 90 minutes.
Our Honor 9 review reveals everything else about this affordable flagship.
Mid-range and affordable phones with the best battery life
Not quite got the cash to splash on the above handsets? Well, you can still get good battery life, no matter your budget. Here’s our pick of those more affordable smartphones which still offer depenable use away from the plug.
Moto Z2 Play
Although this phone isn’t quite as premium as the Moto Z2 Force, it’s still a very enticing blower thanks to its respectable specs and that modular-style design.
The Snapdragon 626 platform puts plenty of pep in the Z2 Play’s step when handling everyday tasks like web browsing, photo editing and multitasking, with a beefy enough GPU to keep more demanding 3D games running at an enjoyable clip for the most part.
As for longevity, Motorola had to pack a smaller cell inside the slimmer-framed Z2 Play compared with the original Z Play mobile. Thankfully, despite that trade-off, you can still expect excellent battery life from this phone.
The Z2 Play can survive a day of heavy use with juice to spare, or cover almost two days of lighter use per charge. What’s more, the Moto Mods family is yet again able to augment the phone’s built-in battery with an additional power pack, which shares in the phone’s native Turbo Power fast charge functionality. There’s even a new wireless charging enabled Style Shell on offer, if you want to snip those wires altogether.
Our Moto Z2 Play review has all you need to know.
Moto G5 Plus
If you’re after a budget blower that offers long battery life, the Moto G5 Plus should be one of your first points of focus.
This handset boasts some great features, including a very capable 12-megapixel camera with Dual Pixel Autofocus – the kind of smart tech found on Samsung’s flagship phones. Despite this, the G5 Plus only costs £250, making it much more affordable than premium devices.
That fantastic all-round user experience thankfully stretches to the battery life too. The 3000mAh cell gives enough power to keep going for around two days, with plenty of use. That includes regular messaging, some media streaming, occasional calls and a fair bit of web browsing.
When it comes to powering up again, the G5 Plus is pretty nippy too. The Turbo Charge feature means just half an hour at the plug is enough for a full day of operation.
Take a look at our full Moto G5 Plus review for all you need to know.
Sony Xperia XA1
For around the same price point as the Moto G5 Plus, you can also grab the Sony Xperia XA1. This impressive budget mobile lasts well into a second day on a single charge, or even a full 48 hours if you don’t hammer it non-stop. That result is bettered by next to no rivals; besides perhaps the next phone on our best battery life round-up.
The Xperia XA1 also supports quick charging, so you can quickly power it back up. Sony’s phone packs in the Qnovo Adaptive Charging tech too. This ensures that the battery doesn’t overcharge, which could damage the cell and impact longevity over time.
Read our full Sony Xperia XA1 review.
Lenovo P2
If even the Xperia XA1 and the Moto G5 Plus are a shade out of your budget, check out the Lenovo P2 – the only phone here packing an asking price under £200. This handset might not have the slickest looks or best camera, but it offers comparable performance to the more sophisticated Moto Z Play and features the biggest integrated battery of the whole list.
There’s an unprecedented 5100mAh cell lurking under this phone’s metal skin and it ensures that you can consistently reach up to three days of use between charges. Fast charging takes a little longer as you might expect, but you can still juice up this affordable handset in under two hours.
Check out our full Lenovo P2 review for all the details.