Phones with the best battery life in 2023

Phones with the best battery life are going to be a top choice for lots of users, after all the most astounding 100x zoom camera or the fastest processor in the world is completely meaningless if your battery is dead.

As part of our in-depth review process, we test the battery life of every phone in both real-world and lab conditions. Our standardized battery test involves the phone browsing the web continuously over LTE or 5G at 150 nits of brightness until it powers down. We don't dismiss our anecdotal experience, but the consistent and reproducible nature of our lab test gives us a better idea of how these phones actually stack up against one another.

Phones with the best battery life

We know most people aren't buying a phone based on battery life alone,  so we selected phones with the best battery life that stand out for more than that spec alone. You'll find many of them among our best smartphones and best budget phones. To help you pinpoint the best long-lasting phone for you we’ve broken things down into several categories. First up, we will tackle the two most popular lineups on the market: Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones. Then, we’ll broaden things out with a look at the best alternative flagships and then the best mid-range and budget options.

Regardless of how much you want to spend or what your priorities are, we have the right phone with the best battery life for you.

iPhones with the best battery life

While they don’t feature the largest batteries, iPhones still manage to be among the phones with the best battery life most years. The most recent crop of iPhones were a bit confusing though. The iPhone 14 Pro Max delivered the longest result we've ever seen from an iPhone, while the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro both backslid from their predecessors by hours. The 14 Pro still boasts adequate battery life at over 10 hours in our testing, but it's a far cry from the 12+ offered by the 13 Pro.

If you still want the otherwise latest and greatest hardware then you may want to use the same method that iPhone 12 owners turned to and turn off 5G on your iPhone. It may be frustrating, but not as frustrating as your phone not making it through the day.

It probably goes without saying, but with the iPhone, you aren’t just getting one of the phones with the best battery life, but one of the best smartphones overall. The unmatched performance and software support coupled with the excellent cameras make an iPhone an easy recommendation for anyone looking for more than just all-day endurance.

Samsung Galaxy phones with the best battery life

Samsung may not match Apple’s software-based battery optimization, but it makes up for it by jamming absolutely massive batteries in its phones — and that works too. 

While we are still awaiting the Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 test results, the S23 Ultra managed to come within 40 minutes of the iPhone 14 Pro Max while also beating it in some performance tests. Add in the S23 Ultra's standout features like its 200MP primary camera, the S Pen, and the incredible integration with Windows 11 and it's going to be a very interesting final face-off between the two titans.

Samsung also produces some of the more unique smartphone offerings available today with foldables, which can't match the battery life of the standard models, but are improving year on year.

Other flagship phones with the best battery life

While we are looking specifically at phones with the best battery life here, another factor to consider are new fast-charging methods that support up to 65W charging. You get that from both the options found here, which when compared to the 20-25W fast-charging charging supported by the likes of Apple and Samsung this can mean getting yourself a half-day of battery life in just 15 minutes on the charger.

OnePlus has delivered some of the best battery life among Android phones for the last couple of years, so it's no surprise to see it launch all the way to the top this year, although we wouldn't have bet on it overtaking the iPhone 14 Pro Max. On top of its longevity on a charge it also tops up faster than the competition with its included 80W SuperVOOC fast charging which means you can go from dead to 100% charged in under 30 minutes.

Beyond its impressive battery life the OnePlus 11 delivers performance that comes up just shy of the Galaxy S23 Ultra (a phone that costs $400-$500 more and beats the iPhone on GPU-based tests. The OnePlus 11 can't match every feature of its flagship competition, but battery life and performance are outstanding on the would be flagship killer.

The OnePlus 10 Pro may not be able to outlast the ROG Phone 5 on its 60Hz setting, but it is a far more well-rounded device and using its full 120Hz display setting you get nearly an extra hour from the 10 Pro. This is thanks to the larger 5,000mAh battery that OnePlus included this year, while still delivering excellent 65W charging (with the charger in the box no less). 

The OnePlus 10 Pro offers a far better camera system than the ROG Phone 5 with a triple camera array that is nearly a match for the best from Samsung, Apple and Google. The 6.7-inch second generation LTPO display is gorgeous as well, so you'll appreciate all that battery life as you spend the entire day watching content or gaming on this phone.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro was a surprise addition to the phones with the best battery life as it features the somewhat power hungry Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip and a slightly smaller 4,600mAh battery. Whatever magic it used, the 12 Pro managed to hit 11 hours and 29 minutes at its 60Hz setting and even at its full 120Hz it lasted a solid 10 hours and 31 minutes. 

Beyond its battery life the Xiaomi 12 Pro is a performance beast, outclassing any other current Android flagship in our benchmark tests and even surpassing the iPhone 13 Pro in a couple of tests. Despite its excellent triple 50MP camera array on the back the photos were one area where it fell behind the likes of Samsung, Apple and Google, but as a total package the Xiaomi 12 Pro is a remarkable option.

Mid-range phones with the best battery life

While the Asus ZenFone 6 earned its place here by making it over 15 hours on our battery test, there’s more to this phone than just its 5,000mAh battery. Take a look at its display and you’ll notice something missing: there’s no notch and no hole-punch front-facing camera. This phone uses a clever flip mechanism at the top to bring the rear cameras around to the front so you can use the best camera for your selfies too. Starting at less than $500, it’s a great option for those that want extra-long battery life without giving up too much else.

If there’s one feature Motorola has been hitting out of the park consistently over the past few years, it’s battery life. While this is mostly in the budget realm as you’ll see later on this page, the Motorola Edge falls firmly into mid-range territory while still delivering over 12 hours of battery life in our tests. At $699, the Edge is in a competitive price range, but even with its display set to 90Hz, it managed 11 hours and 35 minutes in our testing, which is considerably above most high refresh rate phones we’ve tested. As is commonly the case with Motorola, the cameras are its downfall, but this is still a solid choice if that’s not important to you.

The OnePlus 10T earned high marks across the board from our reviewer thanks to its powerful Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor and beautiful 120Hz display starting at just $649, but here we are focusing on its remarkable 11 hours and 22 minutes of battery life. Even with the display at its full 120Hz setting the battery life only dropped to 10 hours and 59 minutes, well above the average in this price range and factoring the performance there's nothing else close right now.

The primary and front-facing cameras are solid, while the others leave something to be desired, but if you are looking for an affordable phone with outstanding performance and battery life the OnePlus 10T is an easy recommendation.

The OnePlus 9 comes in at $729, making it more of an upper-midrange phone than a flagship, but it comes quite close with its specs considering it features the same 4,500mAh battery and Snapdragon 888 processor as the $969 OnePlus 9 Pro. The OnePlus 9 actually lasted 31 minutes longer with its 120Hz mode enabled, a serious departure from the OnePlus 8T that took a significant hint with the faster refresh rate. Like the OnePlus 8T and OnePlus 9 Pro it offers 65W fast charging with the charger in the box and unlike the OnePlus 8T it also supports wireless charging.

It loses a few key features of the OnePlus 9 Pro such as the brand new Sony IMX789 sensor main wide-angle sensor, the 3.3x telephoto lens and the adaptive 120Hz display. However, it has the identical 50MP ultra-wide sensor along with the same new Hasselblad color science applied to its cameras that have impressed us so far. If photography and videography are less crucial to you the OnePlus 9 delivers an otherwise nearly identical experience to its pricier sibling.

The Asus Zenfone 8 may not be able to offer the battery life of its predecessor, but it still puts up a solid result at exactly one minute shy of the OnePlus 9 and it is also the smallest flagship Android phone on the market making its battery life all the more impressive. 

This makes for easy one-handed use, which isn't something most can say about any other phone with a Snapdragon 888 processor. If that hasn't swayed you then the starting price of $599 might, even the top of the line model that we tested in our review was just $799 which considering it bumps up to 16GB of RAM compared to 8GB in the $729 OnePlus 9.

There are some tradeoffs with the Asus Zenfone 8, it lacks a telephoto lens and full support for 5G in the U.S., but weighed against the price and performance these are worthwhile tradeoffs depending on your needs.

Budget phones with the best battery life