8 Smartphones That Get Amazing Battery Life

Regardless of what you think the most important smartphone feature might be — large screen, fast speed, a fingerprint reader — none of that stuff matters if you’re out of juice. With that in mind, more and more companies are putting an importance on delivering devices that know how to keep a charge; just yesterday, Verizon and Motorola presented the Droid Turbo, which promises 48 hours of life with a full battery.

The Turbo is not alone in offering excellent battery life. Here are some of the best-performing battery beast smartphones on the market today.

1. Samsung Galaxy Note 4

(Wall Street Journal)

One of the best phablets (phone/tablets) you can buy today, the Galaxy Note 4 by Samsung is certainly packing in the battery department. Even with addition of a higher-quality and power-hungrier screen over last year’s model, the Note 4 tests at about 28.5 hours of talk time or almost 11 hours of Web browsing.

2. OnePlus One

(OnePlus One)

Known as the “hero phone” for Android enthusiasts, you can buy a high-powered, unlocked, and off-contract OnePlus One for only $299. What makes the deal sweeter is that this phone touts just about the best battery life stats for a phone its size, coming in with a “typical real-life usage” time of eight hours and five minutes. It tested well enough to edge out the Samsung Galaxy S5, the HTC One (M8), and the LG G3 (all much more expensive phones) in the same trial.

3. BlackBerry Passport

(AFP)

Hey, remember BlackBerry? The once-dominant business-class smartphone company is back with probably its strangest phone yet: the Passport. Sure, it’s huge and has a weirdly square touchscreen, but the big battery on this thing should last you a couple of work days (24 hours of 3G talk time and 14.5 days on standby, BlackBerry says).

4. Huawei Ascend Mate 2

(CNET)

In case you haven’t noticed, the way things typically go with handset devices is like this: A big phone equals a big battery life. This theme is certainly upheld by the humongous (and reasonably priced) Huawei Ascend Mate 2. It packs a 6-inch screen and claims about 25 hours of use on one charge, which checks out with reviews we’ve seen. Other tests also have the Mate 2 providing for up to 18 hours of Web browsing on a single charge.

5. Nokia Lumia 1520

(Engadget)

Don’t count Nokia/Microsoft out of this category. The Lumia 1520, the largest Windows phone that money can buy, clocks in with a formidable talk time of almost 29 hours, according to tech reviewers who have put it through its paces. Web browsing time, at about 12.5 hours, is a little more disappointing when compared with other giant phones, but still great in its own right.

6. iPhone 6 Plus

(Apple)

A year and a half ago, some people were calling the iPhone phablet a unicorn. But it’s real, and it gets spectacular battery life — 24 hours of talk time or 12 hours of Web browsing, Apple says. Much better than its little sibling, the iPhone 6, we should add.

7. Samsung Galaxy S5

(Digital Trends)

Considering that it’s the small phone of this collection, the Samsung Galaxy S5 sure seems worth a mention in the battery-life department. Samsung claims that its popular phone will give you 21 hours of talk time, 10 hours of Web surfing, or 12 hours of HD movie watching on a single charge. And that all seems to be corroborated by industry tests.

8. Droid Turbo

(Yahoo Tech)

One of the key focuses in Verizon’s Droid line of Android phones is power. Its latest announcement, the Motorola-made Droid Turbo, seems like a breakthrough for the series, claiming a whopping 48 hours of battery life per charge. Naturally, no one (except for Motorola) has had a real chance to test the battery claims here. But if true, this modestly sized device could be the coup de grâce for any other company trying its hand at building a long-lasting smartphone battery.

Have questions, comments, or just want to tell me something funny? Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com.