Best phone battery life of 2024: Top options in our long-term testing

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We've tested the best phones you can buy in the US in 2024 alongside many popular mid-range and budget models. One of the most important and objective tests we conduct is a standardized battery test.

We're proud of our battery test, which we've developed to simulate a typical daily usage pattern for most people. Phone makers tend to make battery life claims using tests that focus on a single process or task, which doesn't reflect how most people use their phones.

In contrast, we've employed a multifaceted battery test for five phone generations, and Apple's iPhones have dominated for the last three years. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has the best battery life of any phone we've tested to date. On the other end of the price spectrum, the Samsung Galaxy A35 offers a premium-level battery at a budget cost.

Our top picks for the best phone battery life

Best overall: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max - See at Verizon

Best for Android: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL - See at Amazon

Best budget: Samsung Galaxy A35 5G - See at Samsung

Best budget alternative: Google Pixel 8a - See at Amazon

Best overall

Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max obtained the best score on record in our battery test, with 74% remaining. That exceeds the 70% expectation we have for large, high-end phones with 6.7- to 6.9-inch displays and makes the latest Pro Max model the best iPhone (and best phone overall) for battery life that we've tested to date.

Thankfully, more affordable phones under $1,000 have comparable battery life, like the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 14 Plus, both of which are still available and scored an identical 73% in our battery test.

Phones with battery test results above 70% have the best potential to last more than a day on a single charge. It depends on how intensively you use your phone, such as whether you regularly play games or use social media and video apps at length, but we can confidently say these phones will comfortably last a day for most people.

Read our combined iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max review.

Best for Android

In our testing, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is the best Android phone for battery life. It obtained a 70% score, which is significantly better than the second-best Android score, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's 66%.

The most impressive aspect of the Pixel 9 Pro XL is its standby efficiency, which conserves battery when you're not using the phone for long periods of time, like overnight, for example. It has the potential to last over a day with usage most people can relate to, including three hours of screen-on time while running popular social media apps, streaming video, streaming music, and playing games.

Read our combined Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL review.

Best budget

Samsung's Galaxy A35 with a 6.6-inch display ended our battery test with 65%, making it the top pick if you're looking for the best possible battery life on a budget. It's the highest score we've seen on any phone below $500.

While 65% is an expected battery test result for a phone with a larger display, it doesn't detract from the fact that this $325 phone outperforms many phones that cost three times as much.

Read more about the Galaxy A35, which features in our best cheap phones and best budget Android phone guides for battery life.

Best budget alternative

It's worth alternatively recommending our top overall pick for the best budget Android phone, Google's Pixel 8a, which scored 61% in our battery test — a result that would be stellar for any phone with a 6.1-inch display, including more expensive flagship phones.

In fact, among comparably sized phones, only Apple's iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 outperformed the Pixel 8a in our testing. At its current $399 starting price, the Pixel 8a is the top budget option for battery life for those who prefer smaller phones.

Read our full Pixel 8a review.

Top 10 phones for battery life

The following lists the top results for phones in our latest round of battery testing, which we detail in the section below.

1. iPhone 16 Pro Max: 74%
2. iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 14 Plus: 73%
3. iPhone 16 Plus, Pixel 9 Pro XL: 70%
4. Galaxy S24 Ultra: 66%
5. iPhone 16, iPhone 15, Galaxy A35 5G: 65%
6. Galaxy Z Fold 6: 64%
7. iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy Z Flip 6: 63%
8. Pixel 9 Pro: 62%
9. Pixel 8a: 61%
10. Pixel 9, Galaxy S24 Plus: 60%

How we test phone battery life

Our standardized battery test for phones involves two hours of video streaming, one hour of music streaming while connected to a Bluetooth speaker, five runs of the Geekbench 6 CPU test, and two runs of the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test. We then note the phone's remaining battery life.

Our battery test aims to condense a full day's worth of phone usage into a reproducible procedure using commonly available apps and tools, and it takes about four hours to complete. It is designed to simulate how most people might use their phones in a day of running popular apps, 40 minutes of playing games, and common tasks like streaming music and video. All the tests combined lead to about three hours of screen-on time.

Rather than setting each phone's display at its maximum brightness, we set each at a measurable brightness that most phones can achieve.

We also avoid running the heavy-duty 3DMark and Geekbench tests consecutively to prevent the phones from getting too hot, which could cause phones to reduce their performance to prevent overheating, affecting their battery.

When testing and reviewing new devices, we collectively retest the phones we've previously reviewed. We refine and update our battery test to reflect evolving industry standards, including adopting the latest versions of benchmark apps.

FAQs

Which phones have the best battery life?

Apple's iPhones have dominated our battery life tests since the iPhone 13 series. In 2024, the iPhone 16 Pro Max had the best battery life overall in our testing. Google's Pixel 9 Pro XL offered the best battery life for Android.

How long should a phone battery last?

Generally speaking, a worthwhile phone's battery should provide enough power to last about a day for most people.

Larger phones with larger battery capacities consistently correspond to longer battery life and offer the best chance of lasting most users longer than a day. Accordingly, the top three results in our latest testing round were obtained by phones with displays no smaller than 6.7 inches.

However, if even the iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn't last you a full day on a single charge, you can quickly and conveniently top up your phone's battery during the day with one of the best iPhone USB-C chargers for fast charging.