Our pick: 7 smartphones with great battery life

Users often look for fancy phones with gigantic displays, uber-fast processing speeds, pumped-up megapixels and a plethora of features thrown in to make it a smart device. However, little regard seems to be given to the battery, which is one of the most vital components. So if you are looking for a smartphone and a great battery life is the top criteria then here are a few options. We’ve picked seven smartphones that sailed through our 8 hour loop battery test which includes two hours of calling, two hours of video, two hours of audio and two hours of YouTube streaming via Wi-Fi, with plenty of juice to spare.

LG G2 – Rs 41,500
This latest high-end smartphone from LG puts on a really good show with its 3000 mAh battery. After passing through our 8 hour loop test, the smartphone was still left with 43 percent charge, ready  to indulge in some more activity. So, the battery could easily last you two days. Read the complete review of the LG G2. The LG G2 is available online for as low as Rs 37,999.

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The battery could easily last you two days

Here’s a quick look at the specifications of the G2:

• 5.2-inch display with 1080 x 1920 pixels of resolution
• 3G, Wi-Fi, DLNA, NFC
• Bluetooth 4.0
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
• 13 megapixel rear camera with autofocus, 2.1MP front-facing camera
• 16GB or 32GB on-board storage

Note 3 – Rs 46,899
The successor to the Note 2 is every bit of a high-end smartphone. Along with some really nifty hardware upgrades and software features, Note 3 also gets a powerful 3200 mAh battery. We are in the midst of our Note 3 review, but it has passed our battery test with flying colours. It completed the eight-hour test, and still had about 55 percent of battery life to spare. This means, one can expect prolonged usage of about two days or even more. Watch this space for an in-depth review of the Note 3.

Breezed through our 8-hour battery test

Here’s a quick look at the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3:

• 5.7-inch full HD super AMOLED display with 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, MHL 2.0, NFC
• GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0
• 13 megapixel auto focus BSI Sensor, 2 megapixel BSI sensor with Full HD video recording@ 30fps.
• 32GB internal memory variants, expandable up to 64GB via microSD slot

iPhone 5 – Rs 44,999
The latest iterations of the iPhone are yet to reach the Indian market, but the older iPhone 5 which is likely to be shelved sports a great battery life. It has a 1440mAh battery, which doesn’t seem like much but is capable of providing over 8.5 hours of 720p HD video playback non-stop. It passed our eight-hour loop test, and still had two more hours to spare. This means nine hours of non-stop usage, which translates into about a day and a half of normal use. Read our complete review of the iPhone 5. 

Capable of providing over 8.5 hours of 720p HD video playback non-stop

Here is a quick look at the specs of the iPhone 5:

• 4-inch, 326ppi Retina display at 1136 x 640 pixels,
• GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, LTE and Wi-Fi
• GPS
• Bluetooth
• 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD recording, 720p front-facing camera
• 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions

Blackberry Q10 – Rs 44,990
The Q10 gets a sizeable 2100mAh Li-ion battery that works efficiently, owing to its smaller display size. The smartphone swiftly completed the 8-hour battery test, and still had about 60 percent of the battery left. So, with normal use, the smartphone should easily last for a day or two. It is powered by a 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4470 dual-core processor, and runs Blackberry 10, upgradeable to v10.1. Read our review of the BlackBerry Q10 to know more.

Gets a sizeable 2100 mAh Li-ion battery

Here’s a quick look at its specifications:

• 3.1-inch touchscreen display with 720 x 720-pixel resolution
• 3G, Wi-Fi, NFC
• GPS with AGPS
• Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP
• 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing camera
• 16GB internal storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card slot

Lumia 720 – Rs 18,200
This mid-range Windows Phone offers good battery life with its 2,000 mAh battery compared to other phones with a similar form factor. The 720 breezed through our complete battery suite which lasted 8 hours, and we still had 27 percent battery remaining. Now, that may not be much, but decent enough for a mid-range device. Read our complete review of the Lumia 720. It is available online for as low as Rs 17,500.

Mid-range Windows Phone offers good battery life

Here are some of the highlighted features of the Lumia 720:

• 4.3-inch ClearBlack LCD display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with GLONASS
• NFC, Bluetooth 3.0
• 6.7 megapixel camera with BSI sensor and 720p video recording, 1.3 megapixel front-facing HD wide angle camera with Skype integration
• 8GB internal memory, expandable up to 64GB via microSD

Sony Xperia ZR – Rs 30,990
The Xperia ZR is yet another device with a decent battery life. Equipped with a 2300 mAh battery, it underwent a six-hour battery test procedure, which includes two hours of talk, two hours of videos and two hours of internet browsing. While it ran through the complete test of six hours, we still had two hours of battery life left. It was also tested for two hours of video, two hours of Internet browsing and two hours of gaming where the battery died just short of six hours. This means the battery could last a day and even more, depending upon the usage. Read our review of the Xperia ZR. Sony also includes the Stamina Mode that automatically disables Wi-Fi and data traffic during standby, but you can still receive incoming calls, texts, and keep alarms active.The Zr is available online for around Rs 27,500.

Comes with the Stamina Mode

Here’s a quick look at its key specs:

• 4.6-inch capacitive display with 1280×720 pixels resolution
• 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
• NFC
• GPS with A-GPS
• Bluetooth 4.0
• 13MP auto-focus rear camera  with16x digital zoom and front facing VGA camera
• 8GB internal memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card slot

Lenovo P780 – Rs 19,100
Though we haven’t tested the Lenovo P780 yet, the smartphone comes equipped with a powerful 4000 mAh battery. It offers a rated battery life of 43 hours on 2G and 25 hours on 3G. It also promises a standby time of 840 hours. On paper, these figures are excellent. Presumably, it should be able to deliver excellent battery life. This dual-SIM Lenovo smartphone is available online for Rs 19,100.

Equipped with a 4000 mAh battery

Here’s a quick look at its specs:

• 5-inch IPS display with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution
• Dual SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS
• Bluetooth
• 8 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera
• 4GB onboard storage, expandable up to 32GB

How much importance do you give to the battery life, before zeroing in on a smartphone?