Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 8 need to address short battery life

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

2023 is here and with it comes yet another suite of advancements in system-on-chip architecture. That means as the manufacturing processes get smaller — 4nm in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2's and A16 Bionic's case — the chips get more powerful and less power hungry. Or so the story goes.

The truth of the matter is that we have yet to see the fulfillment of that promise, at least in its entirety. Yes, newer SoCs and CPUs are more efficient than their predecessors, especially if you go back just a couple of generations. But when it comes to smartphones, two companies can't seem to get it right, despite many of their competitors managing to.

Last year, Google couldn't manage even that. The Pixel 7 Pro turned in a final result of 8 hours, 4 minutes. The Pixel 7 managed 7:17 while the Pixel 6a squeezed out a paltry 6:29.

Smartphone battery life — (Image credit: Future)

None of those results are good, and I want to see that change with the Galaxy S23 and Pixel 8 this year. As we approach a point where most smartphones are extremely proficient at basically everything they need to do, battery life is one of the final battlegrounds for devices to duke it out. And it's where Samsung and Google struggle the most historically.

That could all change this year with Tensor G3 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and we'll know about Samsung's progress in a few short weeks at February's Unpacked 2023. We'll need to wait for the fall to see how the Pixel 8 does. The Pixel 7a is due to release sooner, though, but with rumors suggesting it'll use the Pixel 7's Tensor G2 chipset, I'm not holding my breath for a battery life breakthrough.

I fully expect the Galaxy S23 and Pixel 8 to be good phones, but I will find it a challenge to recommend them if Samsung and Google don't figure out this battery life thing. There's no excuse anymore.

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Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written about phones for over six years and plans to continue for a long while to come. He loves nothing more than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Outside of work, you can find him poring over open-source software and his studies.