Many people might think that prioritizing the best phone battery life will mean sacrificing other features. However, that doesn't have to be the case.
Nowadays, there are phones with truly staggering battery lives that also boast a variety of other capabilities, from top-performing cameras to bright, vibrant screens. Even processing-intensive AI features that have shown up on phones are doing little to impact how long those devices stay charged up.
Phone makers are using bigger batteries to deal with the demands on power, but there's more than just battery size at play here. More efficient chipsets deserve a lot of credit for increased battery life. That's the case with both Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite, which powers a number of the high-end Android phones you'll find here, as well as the A19 Pro in the newly released iPhone 17 Pro models.
The list above represents the longest-lasting handsets that I and the rest of the phones team at Tom's Guide have tested over the last 18 months. You'll find a variety of devices at all sorts of prices — premium flagships as well as budget phones. There's even a foldable phone on the list — a really impressive feat, as foldables traditionally don't last as long on a charge as other types of phones.
The test numbers here reflect the average result on our battery test, where we time how long phones can surf the web before they run out of power. (We explain the Tom's Guide battery testing process in greater detail below.) An average smartphone can last nearly 11 hours on that test. To land on this list, you have to approach the 16 hour mark.
Here's a look at the best phone battery life based on our smartphone test results. The numbers listed here reflect the average of test times we recorded when initially reviewing the phones.
Best phone battery life at a glance
Here are the 15 longest-lasting phones we've tested. (Results are listed in Hours:Minutes.)
- Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro: 20:34
- OnePlus 13: 19:45
- OnePlus 13R: 18:49
- Moto G 2025: 18:32
- iPhone 17 Pro Max: 17:54
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 17:17
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: 17:14
- Moto G Power (2025): 17:13
- Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra: 17:01
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus: 16:55
- iPhone 16 Plus: 16:29
- Motorola Razr Ultra 2025: 15:42
- iPhone 17 Pro: 15:32
- Nothing Phone 3a: 15:24
- Samsung Galaxy S25: 15:22
The longest-lasting phones right now
1. Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro (20:34)
Asus continues to set the battery life standard with its ROG phones. The latest entry, the ROG Phone 9 Pro pushes things out even further, with the phone posting an average time of 20 hours and 34 minutes on our battery test. That time came with the phone's display set to an adaptive refresh rate. Locking the screen at its highest refresh rate — 165Hz — did put a hit on battery life, cutting the ROG Phone's performance by nearly 6 hours. But even that 15-hour, 41-minute time would have landed the ROG Phone 9 Pro on this list, ahead of Apple's iPhone 17 Pro.
Yes, the big battery inside the ROG Phone 9 Pro helps provide multi-day battery life. But the 5,800 mAh power pack has some help from the power-efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite chip running the show. This chipset figures to power a lot of top Android phones coming out in the next year, so the ROG Phone 9 Pro's battery performance is an exciting preview of what to expect even if you're not necessarily inclined to get a gaming phone.
On the charging front, support fot 65W means you can top off the ROG Phone 9 Pro's battery quickly. In our tests, we got a drained phone to a 74% charge after 30 minutes. Combine that charging speed with the epic battery life, and you'll never need to worry about a gaming session cut short.
Read our full Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro review.
2. OnePlus 13 (19:45)
One of the first major flagship phones to come out in 2025 brought impressive battery life with it. The OnePlus 13 approaches the 20-hour mark on our battery test.
Certainly, the 6,000 mAh power pack plays a big role in that longevity, but like the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, the OnePlus flagship reaps the benefits of the Snapdragon 8 Elite and its more efficient performance.
You'll also get blazing fast charging speeds — 80W in in the U.S. and 100W in other parts of the world. Using an 80W charger in our testing, we got a drained OnePlus 13 up to a 92% charge after 30 minutes. Wireless charging is fast, too, with the OnePlus 13 supporting 50W wireless speeds.
Read our full OnePlus 13 review.
3. OnePlus 13R (18:49)
Given the OnePlus 13's strong performance on our battery test, it's no surprise to find the OnePlus 13R, too. After all, the midrange phone from OnePlus has the same 6,000 mAh battery as its flagship sibling. And while the OnePlus 13R turns to an older chipset to help keep its costs down, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 isn't that old. In fact, it powers many of the devices already on our best phone battery life list, so the OnePlus 13R benefits from the excellent power management of Qualcomm's silicon.
Like the OnePlus 13, the OnePlus 13R charges quickly, too, with support for up to 80W wired charging speeds in the U.S. (There's no wireless charging support, another concession to the OnePlus 13R's lower price.) After 30 minutes of charging with the included 55W charger, our OnePlus 13R reached the 60% mark for battery capacity, which is in line with what OnePlus promises.
Read our full OnePlus 13R review.
4. Moto G 2025 (18:32)
Motorola continues to set the standard for low-cost phones that last a long time on a charge. The 2025 edition of the Moto G may cost just $199, but Motorola certainly didn't skimp on battery life, as the 5,000 mAh power pack helped this budget phone last for 18.5 hours on our test. That's nearly four hours better than last year's model, the Moto G (2024).
We reached that time with the Moto G's display set to default, which means its refresh rate varies between 60Hz and 120Hz. Locking the screen at 60Hz added a few extra minutes to the Moto G's time, but no matter how fast the refresh rate, you can count on a long-lasting phone. And the 30W wired charging speed can get the drained battery to more than 50% after 30 minutes of charging.
Read our full Moto G (2025) review.
5. iPhone 17 Pro Max (17:54)
Apple's latest iPhone falls just shy of the 18 hour mark on our battery test, but no matter — it's still the longest-lasting iPhone we've ever tested, shattering the iPhone 16 Pro Max's record by more than half an hour.
While Apple doesn't release battery sizes, it seems pretty clear that the iPhone 17 Pro Max benefits from a larger power pack, as the new design of Apple's Pro phones leaves more space for the battery. The A19 Pro chipset powering the phone is more power efficient than previous Apple silicon and a new vapor chamber helps the iPhone 17 Pro Max deliver more sustained performance than before.
You'll also appreciate the fact that the iPhone 17 Pro Max offers faster charging speeds, with Apple promising a 50% charge after 20 minutes using a 40W charger. It used to take premium iPhones a half-hour to hit the 50% mark. In our testing, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's battery got to 64% after 30 minutes, so we can confirm that you can top off this phone faster, larger battery or not.
Read our full iPhone 17 Pro Max review.
6. iPhone 16 Pro Max (17:17)
Additional testing dropped the iPhone 16 Pro Max's average time from its high of 18:06 to 17:17, but don't be disappointed by that. That was still the best time ever posted by an iPhone until the iPhone 17 Pro Max came along a year after this model's release.
Unlike the iPhone 17 Pro Max, we know how big the battery is inside this phone — 4,685 mAh, according to teardowns. But the iPhone 16 Pro Max is able to outlast phones with bigger power packs, thanks to the efficiency of the A18 Pro silicon running the show.
This older iPhone is limited by slower charging speeds than the iPhone 17 Pro Max. As a result, it gets to a respectable if not overwhelming 55% charge after 30 minutes.
Read our full iPhone 16 Pro Max Review.
7. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (17:14)
The Galaxy S25 Ultra had a high bar to clear, given the stellar time last year's Galaxy S24 Ultra produced on our battery test. Yet, the S25 Ultra was able to beat that result by more than 45 minutes, even though its battery hasn't changed from 5,000 mAh. Credit the power management features of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset for pushing Samsung's premium flagship to new heights of staying power.
Charging speeds didn't change from previous models, but at least 45W wired charging can get the Galaxy S25 Ultra's drained battery up to 71% after half-an-hour. Samsung added Qi2 wireless charging support to this year's S25 series, but didn't include the necessary magnets on its new phones. You'll need to add a Qi2 case to reap the benefits of this new wireless charging standard.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review.
8. Moto G Power 2025 (17:13)
Among Motorola's G Series phones, the Moto G Power has been the model to get when you value battery life over everything else. However, this year's edition — the Moto G Power (2025) — isn't the longest-lasting entry in Motorola's budget lineup, at least not according to our testing. The Moto G (2025) outlasted the Power by more than an hour when we put both phones through our battery test.
Still, the Moto G Power's 17 hour-plus result is still very impressive, and this model can do something the Moto G (2025) can't — the Moto G Power includes wireless charging support. Throw in greater durability and decent cameras, and there's a lot to like about this phone, multi-day battery life included.
Read our full Moto G Power (2025) review.
9. Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra (17:01)
At this point, it would be a surprise if Asus didn't produce a long-lasting phone. The Zenfone 11 Ultra joins the latest ROG Phone in dominating our battery life rankings. (And the ROG Phone 8 Pro would be here, too, if it didn't fall just outside our 18-month window for best phone battery life.)
In the case of the Zenfone 11 Ultra, the phone average just over 17 hours on our battery test with its 6.78-inch display set to an automatic refresh rate. In some test runs, the Zenfone got very close to the 18-hour mark, so count on all-day battery with this device.
Even better, the Zenfone 11 Ultra's appeal goes beyond endurance and gaming, as Asus has equipped the phone with an especially bright and colorful display. We appreciate how a 6-axis gimbal boosts the stability of the phone's 50MP main camera, even if we wish that the photo-processing capabilities were a little more refined. You can enjoy 65W wired charging, too, though you will need to provide your own charger to take full advantage of that feature.
Read our full Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra review.
10. Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus (16:55)
The Snapdragon 8 Elite's power management features propel yet another flagship into the ranks of our best phone battery life list. In this case, it's the Galaxy S25 Plus, which sports the same battery size as the Galaxy S24 Plus, but lasts nearly an hour longer in our test. Even more impressively, the Galaxy S25 Plus even manages to outlast the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung's premium phone from a year ago.
We got that battery test result with the S25 Plus display set to its default adaptive refresh rate. Turn that feature off, and the phone's battery test result topped 18 hours. You won't always want your display's refresh rate locked at 60Hz, but it's good to know that you can extend the phone's battery life if you have to. When you are in need of a charge, the Galaxy S25 Plus continues to support 45W charging, just like the more expensive S25 Ultra.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review.
11. iPhone 16 Plus (16:29)
The iPhone 15 Plus wowed back in 2023 by offering 14 hours and 14 minutes of battery life — exceeding the performance of the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the process. While the iPhone 16 Plus finished behind the iPhone 16 Pro Max, it did gain a considerable boost to its longevity over its predecessor.
Specifically, the new model posted a 2 hour-plus gain in our battery test, which is pretty impressive for a phone that already held out a long time on a charge. Credit is likely split between the improved power efficiency of the A18 chipset inside the iPhone 16 Plus and the fact that Apple equipped the phone with a bigger battery.
Though the iPhone 17 models are out now, the iPhone 16 Plus remains in Apple's lineup at a reduced price. If you want a big-screen iPhone that lasts a while, the now-$799 iPhone 16 Plus wouldn't be that bad a bet.
Read our full iPhone 16 Plus review.
12. Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 (15:42)
No foldable phone has ever lasted as long on our battery test than the Motorola Razr Ultra (2025). When we put ran the Razr through that test at its default Smart & Balanced setting, the flip phone lasted for 15 hours and 42 minutes — roughly 3 hours and 20 minutes longer than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 that ranks as the best foldable phone.
But things improve dramatically if you adjust the screen refresh rate for the Razr. Switching to the Hyper Smooth mode for a test run, we recorded a time of 18.5 hours. And when we tried out the efficiency mode which locks in a lower refresh rate for the phone's display, battery life fell just a few minutes short of 19 hours — an incredible result if you know how foldable phones struggle to keep up with the battery life of conventional handsets.
Even with the space limitations imposed by a flip phone, Motorola includes a 4,700 mAh battery inside the Razr Ultra. Pairing that power pack with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset produces some very impressive results that tackle one of the biggest trade-offs you normally make when you opt for a foldable phone.
Read our full Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review.
13. iPhone 17 Pro (15:32)
We're not used to seeing Apple's more compact Pro model among the longer lasting phones on this list, since Apple's bigger iPhones have more space for bigger power packs. But the new iPhone 17 Pro design lets Apple stash more components under the camera plateau at the top of the phone, leaving space below for a battery. And the 6.3-inch iPhone 17 Pro reaps the benefits.
Specifically, Apple's smaller Pro model lasted for just over 15.5 hours on our battery test, beating the iPhone 16 Pro's time by around 1.5 hours. That's a big gain, which also results from the upgrade to a more efficient A19 Pro chipset.
Like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the iPhone 17 Pro gets a charging speed boost. We got to a 72% charge after 30 minutes of using Apple's 45W charger.
Read our full iPhone 17 Pro review.
14. Nothing Phone 3a (15:24)
The Nothing Phone 3a joins the ranks of low-cost phones that still manage to deliver big battery life, with a time on our battery test that comes close to cracking the 15.5 hour mark. It even managed to beat the test time posted by the more expensive Nothing Phone 3a Pro, outlasting its sibling by an hour.
Nothing's midrange model isn't the easiest to track down — in the U.S., your best option is to buy the device through Nothing's beta program. But if you value a long-lasting phone that also features a unique design and a dedicated telephoto lens, that could be a hoop worth jumping through.
Read our full Nothing Phone 3a review.
15. Samsung Galaxy S25 (15:22)
The Galaxy S25 makes it a hat trick for Samsung's 2025 flagship phones landing a spot in our list of the longest-lasting devices. (Alas, the Galaxy S25 Edge's slender design doesn't leave much room for a battery so it falls well short of joining the other S25 models here.) That means Samsung's entry-level flagship can give you all-day battery life at a fraction of the cost of more expensive models like the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra.
Charging is a less positive story for Samsung's entry-level flagship as the Galaxy S25 continues to support 25W wired charging speeds. Still, the phone reached the 57% mark after 30 minutes of charging, so you won't have to wait too long on those occasions where you need a quick power boost.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 review.
Battery maintenance tips
Once you’ve picked your new phone, you need to learn how to keep that battery running for as long as possible. This means you need to be aware of how to check and maintain your phone's battery. We have full breakdowns of how to check your phone battery's health, as well as how to keep it healthy over time.
The main things to remember are that you should aim to keep the phone at around an 80% charge, rather than constantly pushing it to 100% or letting it drain down to 0%. You’ll also want to be sure that you use a charger with the right voltage, and that you make use of your phone's adaptive charging function.
How we test phone battery life
Every phone we review goes through extensive testing in addition to being put through everyday use. The test most relevant to determining the best phone battery life is our proprietary Tom's Guide Battery Life test. (You can get a full rundown of the testing we conduct in our guide to how Tom's Guide tests and reviews smartphones.)
In this test, we set the display of a phone to 150 nits, so that we can get consistent results. We then run a script on the phone that makes it surf the web via its default browser app until the phone runs out of power and we time the results. Phones with longest endurance land on the best phone battery life list, though we cycle out devices older than 18 months to keep our list of longest-lasting phones current.
Many smartphones — particularly premium models — now offer displays with faster refresh rate settings. Because a high refresh rate can drain the battery of a phone faster, we'll test phones multiple times, first at the phone's default settings and then at different refresh rates. The times in our best phone battery life rankings reflect tests run with the default settings in place, but we'll note when adjusting the settings produces a dramatically better result.
We run one other test on smartphone batteries, timing how long it takes for a drained phone to charge. We'll note the percentage charge after 15 and 30 minutes of charging a phone that's run out of power. We'll use the charger that comes with the phone for this test; in cases where a phone ships without a charger — increasingly coming among premium handsets — we'll use a charger that's capable of delivering the fastest charging speed supported by the phone as listed in the device specs.
Battery testing is one part of the tests we run to review phones. We also run benchmarks to evaluate a phone's performance, measure screen brightness and color reproduction to rate its display and take multiple pictures to evaluate cameras. All those help us assign ratings to devices in our smartphone reviews, though for the purposes of the best phone battery life list, our battery test is the only result affecting rankings.
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