Phone Battery and the Best Battery Life Phone

Updated on 27/10/2020

min reading

Smartphones are getting larger and larger, and they have batteries to match, but which phone boast the best battery life? The best battery life phone on the market is constantly changing, with new phones and updates being released all the time. How do brands like the Apple iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy measure up when it comes to phone battery? Which is the best budget smartphone on the market? How do we preserve our mobile phones’ batteries? What are phone battery packs? We answer all of these questions in our helpful mobile phone battery guide below.

Best budget smartphone battery

The best budget smartphone battery out there is a hotly debated topic, and the verdict on which device has the best phone battery available will depend on who you ask. The top scorers almost always seem to belong to Android phones (meaning that they run on an Android operating system rather than an iOS one), with Huawei and Moto doing well consistently.

Battery capacity is measured in something called milliamp hours or mAh, and the higher the mAp of a battery the more efficient it will be. However it is important to note that the phones with the best mAh aren’t always the best battery life phones overall. Factors like the efficiency of the processor or the software will also influence results.

It’s also worth noting that the more modern and expensive a phone is, the more likely it is to have a high tech screen display, which can actually drain your battery. Because of this, some of the best battery life phones on the market are in fact the cheaper offerings from some of the major phone manufacturers that have less high tech displays.

There are loads of different battery life rankings out there, and it’s worth noting that two lists are rarely the same. Well-known tech website techadvisor has the following rankings for battery life for example, with the Moto G7 Power scoring top of the list:

Moto G7 Power
Vivo Nex 3
Oppo A9 2020
Samsung Galaxy A90 5G
OnePlus 7
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Huawei P30 Pro
Moto E5 Plus
Huawei Mate 20 X
Vodafone Smart V10

If you’re after one of these battery efficient phones, you can find them at most of the major mobile networks across the UK or even sometimes from the manufacturer themselves.

Phone battery and how to preserve it

We’d all love it if we never ran out of battery at an inconvenient moment, thankfully, there are steps that we can take to preserve our mobile phone battery. Here are some smartphone battery saving tips for you that may come in handy:

Airplane mode can be used when you don’t need your phones or are in an area with low amounts of reception. Searching for reception in hard to reach areas drains your battery.
Check which apps are draining your battery in the background. Some apps use up more battery than others and you can access information on this in your smartphone.
Update your apps as sometimes an update can improve battery consumption. If you’re an iPhone user, you should also consider updating your iOS software as there can be updates to factors that drain battery.
Rebooting your phone can also help replenish its battery strength.
Reduce screen brightness as this can be a big battery saver. Screen brightness is also potentially damaging for your eyes so this can be the healthy choice.
Use wifi instead of 4G as wifi can use up to 40% less power than 4G for mobile internet browsing.
Limit video content as video processing is one of the most power draining things you can do with your mobile phone.
Turn on battery smart modes as this will save battery on both Android and iOS phones. These power saving modes modify the central processing unit usage for apps, brightness, notifications and hardware to save on power consumption.

Spending too much time on your screen?We spend a lot of time on our smartphones, and taking a break from screens can be good for our battery life and our mental health. Check out our guide to screen time to learn more about screen time and mobile phone user health.

Phone battery pack

If you love your phone, but the battery is not the best, you can always charge it during the day using a phone battery pack. If you don’t have a powerpoint to plug your charger into readily available then a portable power pack can definitely come in handy.

Battery packs can come in many forms, from keyring chargers to larger batteries that fit into your backpack. The Clutch charger, for example, is a super portable, thin battery on the go that looks a bit like a business card. Designers have now joined the ranks of tech manufacturers by producing battery packs as part of their range, including a Ted Baker power pack that is around the same size as a mobile phone. Regardless of your budget, mobile phone batteries are not the only line of defence against running out of charge.

Manage your mobile phone data betterIf you’re often glued to your screen, you’re not alone. If you’re using more data than you would like to, or you would like to learn more about mobile data, check out our data guide.

Samsung battery

Samsung’s might not have the best battery life phones on offer, but they do pretty well in battery life rankings overall. Some of Samsung’s lower cost phones actually come with the best battery life of their phone range - giving you more bang for your buck when it comes to battery life. Battery life will of course vary from model to model but a Samsung galaxy C7, for example, will give you 25:27 hours of call time, 14:30 hours of web browsing and 15:23 hours of video playback.

iPhone battery

Apple’s iPhone has not always had a perfect reputation when it comes to the best battery life. The iPhone's battery life is in fact, one of the most complained about features of the iPhone. More recent models of the phone have tackled the issue, but if you still have an older model you probably won’t experience the best battery life.

Those with older models of the iPhone who struggle with their battery life can actually replace their battery. In fact, Apple have said that they will reduce the price for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later. Awesome!

Look for a new phone?If you’re after a mobile phone or SIM in the UK why not check out our guide to getting a UK SIM or phone for all you need to know.