The hardware itself has an important role to play. Sure, the battery size might look good on paper, but a screen with a lower resolution, or a more efficient chipset can do wonders. Also, in the end, it also depends on you, the user. What you use the smartphone for and how long you use it, are important questions to consider when looking for a great smartphone. Follow us down the list to take a look at some of the best Android smartphones with equally great battery lives to boot. Must Read: Android Phones – Every Android Users Must Know About
Alright, let’s get straight to it. The Moto X Play has a generous 3,630 mAh battery, coupled with a very efficient Snapdragon 615 chipset. Although it is not the latest and greatest in chipset technology, it can offer a decent stabilization of battery life. So decent, in fact, that Motorola claims that the Moto X Play can last 48 Hours on a single charge. That’s right, folks, you heard me. 48 Hours. And on top of that, Motorola also claims that the Moto X Play has about 8 hours of standby time just by charging it for 15 minutes. Also, the Moto X Play has a 5.5-inch 1080p display and a massive 21-megapixel camera. This very appealing package retails for $400.
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 has a whopping 4100 mAh battery. That’s huge! Devices this large are known as a phablet by many users. This one is powered by the octa-core, Hisilicon Kirin 925. Although a deviation from the typical Exynos or Snapdragon processor, it is expected as Huawei is a Chinese-based company. It has a behemoth of a screen, at 6 inches, that is an FHD panel. This can be a serious shortcoming to the battery as it provides a large amount of strain to it. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to squeeze out about a day of use on the Huawei Ascend Mate 7. Other specifications include a 13-megapixel rear shooter and a 3-megapixel selfie camera, coupled with 2/3 gigs of RAM depending on the storage options you purchase.
One of the more recent smartphones on this list, the Blu Studio Energy 2 has a massive 5,000 mAh battery. Albeit Blu is not a well-known manufacturer in the United States, it still received tons of recognition over this specific detail. So, it’s time to pop the question. Does the battery on the Blu Studio Energy 2 amount to anything? Powered by a MediaTek MT6735 coupled with 1.5 gigs of RAM, it surely is not one of the most powerful options on your list. But, that’s not the issue here, the main feature is the battery. Packing all this into a smartphone does compromise the structure and the physique as well. The phone is quite big. Sure, it has a 5 inch, Super AMOLED panel, but the inclusion of this humungous battery is the reason for its size. It has a Mali-T720 for the GPU and is not designed for gaming. It features an 8-megapixel shooter on the back and a 5-megapixel camera on the front. These are the areas in which Blu has obviously cut corners. But, hey, there’s a catch. This smartphone is available for retail at an insane $180. Mind. Blown.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Active is a more ruggedized and resilient version of the original Samsung Galaxy S6. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Active is powered by an Exynos 7420 CPU, a Mali-T760 GPU, and has a 5.1 inch Super AMOLED display. Right, so let’s move on to the camera. It has an image sensor of 16-megapixels and has flash. If you read it all out correctly, you’ll find that the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active has the same specifications as the regular Samsung Galaxy S6. So, what’s so great about it? But, the big feature of this smartphone is that it’s IP68 water resistant, which means, yes, you’ll be able to snap pictures and capture video underwater. The settings are quite difficult to maneuver through underwater, but, you can still use the volume toggles to capture pictures. The battery department is where the Active makes a difference when compared to the regular old S6. It is a huge bump from 2,800 mAh to 3,500 mAh. The smartphone should be able to get you through a day and a half through rigorous use, and maybe 2 days if you watch your usage carefully.
The latest version of the long-running, and quite iconic Galaxy Note series, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has just had a complete design overhaul. But, what about its performance? As always, the Note series are packed tightly with the best Samsung has to offer. While it is true that the smartphone is quite large, the display makes up for the shortcoming. It has a massive 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display and powering it is the Exynos 7420 CPU and the Mali-T760MP8 for the graphical processing. That is bound to mess up the battery a little bit. Sure, it is a 3,000 mAh battery, but it can give you about a day of use, which is a considerable amount. Samsung’s integration of the Quick Charge feature is a huge plus, which charges up the massive device in a mere 1 hour and 20 minutes. The camera is where it all ends. It has a 16-megapixel rear shooter coupled with optical image stabilization, autofocus, and LED flash. The secondary camera has a sensor size of 5-megapixels.
OnePlus’ flagship killer for the year 2016, is filled to the brim with the highest of specs while still retaining its budget price point. Hence, the use of the phrase “flagship killer”. Right. So, what does the 2016 flagship killer have to offer us concerning battery life? I’ll get to that in a minute. Let’s take a peek under the hood first. Powered by Qualcomm’s latest chipset, the Snapdragon 810, and coupled with 3/4 gigs of RAM depending on the storage option you purchase, there’s no denying that the OnePlus 2 is a really powerful, and a really capable device. It has a 13-megapixel rear shooter while retaining a 5-megapixel front camera, capable of taking excellent pictures. The 2016 flagship killer wouldn’t be a flagship killer if it didn’t have great battery life. Packed with a 3,300 mAh battery, the battery life on the OnePlus 2 should be great as expected since it integrates a 5.5-inch 1080p display, instead of a QHD panel. You can very easily go through a day of use while using the OnePlus 2 with no issue, and the integrated software enhancements, like the system wide Dark Mode helps in this regard.
One of the most hyped smartphones of the year 2015, the Nexus 6P, manufactured by Huawei under the Nexus program by Google, has top-notch specs along with great software. It integrates a 5.7 inch AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 810 CPU, an Adreno 430 GPU, coupled with 3 gigs of RAM. The Nexus 6P has a 12.3-megapixel sensor, which Google claims were used originally for SLRs. It has an aperture of f/2.0. That’s all well and good but, what about the battery? On paper, the Nexus 6P has a 3,450 mAh battery, and long story short, it performs quite well. A 3,450 mAh battery is the average size of a battery for flagships this year, but, it’s the software enhancements that make it all worth it. Android Marshmallow’s Doze, an application standby feature, makes sure that the Nexus 6P does not use that much power when you’re not using the smartphone. Doze puts the smartphone into a hibernation-like state where it is essentially just sleeping while conserving battery life. Application standby is exactly what it sounds like. It puts apps on standby that drain battery life. Social Media applications are a great example. The Nexus 6P retails at a slightly lower price than most flagships at $499.
Sure, the Samsung Galaxy S5 might not be the newest Galaxy around, but, it’s still damn-near perfect. So, how’s the battery life on this thing? Hardware first. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 processor, coupled with 2 gigabytes of RAM. It is also powered by an Adreno 330 GPU. Sure, these are not the highest specs, but, there are other things that make this smartphone pop. It has a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display, and a 2,800 mAh battery. Again, the display is crisp, but the AMOLED variant particularly helps in this regard. The Snapdragon chipset is also quite efficient. You can easily eke out a day and a half’s worth of use on the Samsung Galaxy S5, and other bells and whistles under the hood help save battery life as well. Samsung’s ultra power saving mode cranks down the wick on everything it can, therefore saving battery life. The display becomes grayscale; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are disabled, and you’re only able to access a limited range of applications. This is extremely useful if you’re going on long trips. Hey, did I forget to mention that the Samsung Galaxy S5 is IP67 water and dust proof? Well, it is.
The 2014 flagship killer is extremely hard to forget. The OnePlus One is the smartphone that brought the Chinese startup, OnePlus, to life. It arrived on the smartphone scene with a bang, and it is a legend in the eyes of many. There are many things to like about this smartphone, and I’m going to go over everything one by one. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801, along with 3 gigs of RAM, and has an Adreno 330 for a GPU. There’s no doubt that the OnePlus One is a powerful device. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p panel, which offers sharp images, and a 13-megapixel shooter on the back, coupled with a 5 megapixel one on the front. Well, what about the battery? The OnePlus One has a 3,100 mAh battery. This was considered huge in 2014, and it still performs efficiently today. It can comfortably get you through a day with a little more to spare, and the CyanogenMod experience makes it a tad bit more worthwhile. This is where things get interesting. It is available for retail at $299. Plus, the OnePlus One is now available without needing an invite.
The younger brother of the Nexus 6P, the Nexus 5X is one of the more budget-friendly, and less powerful of the 2 Nexuses (Nexii?) released this year by Google. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808, and coupled with 2 gigs of RAM, the Nexus 5X is in no way underpowered. It also has an Adreno 418 for graphical processing. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p panel, which provides crisp images. It also has a 12.3-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera. Battery? The Nexus 5X integrates a 2,700 mAh battery. A battery of this size might seem a little small in the eyes of many, but along with the software based enhancements, it is quite decent. Particularly, the Doze and app standby feature. It can last you a day through conservative use, and the integration of Quick Charge technology by Google is a step in the right direction.
CONCLUSION
Once again, this list is pretty subjective. I searched out the best of smartphones that were well-known for its battery life in the Android community. If you think we missed any out, feel free to let us know through the comment section below. Featured Image Credit
