Over the years, smartphone battery life seemed to remain somewhat stagnant while charging speeds steadily reached new heights, particularly on phones from Chinese OEMs. However, over the past year, we've seen smartphones start to adopt newer battery tech to squeeze more battery life into power-hungry phones. Now, we're seeing smartphones that can easily last up to two days on a single charge, and we're not just talking about budget phones.
Phones like the OnePlus 15 let you avoid choosing between reliable 1-2 day battery life and faster charging. But what if you had to choose? Is it more important for you to have a smartphone that lasts longer between charges or one that may not last as long but charges extremely fast?
Some of the biggest Android brands are still behind
Thanks to the advent of silicon-carbon batteries in smartphones, we've seen more and more devices with battery capacities well over 5,000 mAh. The OnePlus 13 launched with a 6,000mAh battery, followed by the OnePlus 15 and 15R with 7,300 and 7,400mAh, respectively. These phones can easily hit two days of use for most people, or over a day for power users
Then there are phones like the Honor Magic 8 Lite, which takes things further with an 8,300mAh battery, and the Realme P4 Power, which has a 10,001mAh battery that it says can last for more than three days per charge.
Unfortunately, you won't find figures like this on Galaxy or Pixel phones, which generally don't even touch the 6,000mAh mark. You'll typically be able to squeeze about a day and some change of use from phones like the Pixel 10 Pro XL or Galaxy S25 Ultra, depending on your use.
The situation is roughly the same on the charging front. At least in the U.S., OnePlus has led the way to faster charging, with models reaching up to 100W, followed by Motorola, which usually hits up to 68W wired charging. However, these speeds are much more commonplace outside the United States, where Chinese OEMs often hit over 100W wired charging on their flagship models and even some midrange.
This means you should be able to top up your phone in roughly half an hour or faster, depending on the phone, charging speed, and battery size.
Meanwhile, Samsung and Google are hitting up to 45W charging on their current flagships, which pales in comparison to their rivals. Thus, you'll have to wait a bit longer for a full charge; in many cases, an hour or more.
So, if you could have it your way, would you like more companies to focus on improving battery life or on faster charging speeds? Drop a comment and let us know what you think!
