Battery Testing Ranking in 2021

Last year, 2020 there were 19 phones tested for battery charging duration. Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b) [00:15 hour] topped the ranking, being the fastest to be charged. Followed by Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a) [01:08 hours]. Though, both of these started having bad battery in 2019. Next are Lenovo E156 [01:49 hours] and Sony Xperia 1 II [01:54 hours]. Nokia N8 (a) [01:57 hours] completes the top 5. The slowest to charge spent 04:29 hours. You can always go back to this post for last year's ranking - Phone Reviews – Introduction and Benchmark Plans.

This year, 2021, I did not only rank the charging duration, but also battery life with conservative testing. It includes music playback (with the display on) [20 minutes], web browsing [10 minutes], casual gaming [10 minutes], photo shoot [5 minutes], video recording [5 minutes], and video playback [10 minutes]. That is a one-hour testing session. In a day, there are 5 testing sessions, while the remaining 19 hours are for standby session. This is also specified on the first post of this series. I will also include a ranking for screen on time which is essentially similar to the battery life, overall.

But, first, here are the untested phones.

·         Phone 1 – Nokia 1100 [unbootable]

·         Phone 2 – Alcatel OT-C552 [unbootable]

·         Phone 3 – Nokia 1600 [unbootable]

·         Phone 8 – Nokia N8 (a) [blank display] was #5

·         Phone 9 – HTC Desire 200 [unbootable] was #7

·         Phone 11 – Asus Zenfone 5 [lost]

·         Phone 13 – Nokia N9 [unbootable] was #12

·         Phone 14 – Nokia X2 Dual SIM [lost]

·         Phone 19 – Cloudfone Thrill Plus [lost]

·         Phone 20 – Firefly Mobile Aurii Secret 4G [lost]

·         Phone 23 – Nokia N70 (b) [unbootable]

Here is the rundown from the longest duration (slowest to charge) to the shortest duration (fastest to charge), with the following format: Current Ranking (Previous Ranking) Phone [Hours Charging]

26 (#17)	HTC Windows Phone 8X	[11:10 hours]
25 (#15)	Asus Fonepad Note FHD6	[07:38 hours]
24 (new)	Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet	[05:55 hours]
23 (new)	Sony Xperia SP	[04:40 hours]
22 (new)	Sony Xperia Z2	[04:16 hours]
21 (new)	Sony Xperia Z Ultra	[04:09 hours]
20 (new)	Sony Xperia Z	[03:55 hours]
19 (#16)	Sony Xperia Z3 Dual	[03:31 hours]
18 (#18)	Sony Xperia miro	[03:21 hours]
17 (#13)	Nokia Lumia 1020	[03:04 hours]
16 (new)	Sony Ericsson Satio	[02:58 hours]
15 (new)	Sony Xperia XZ Premium	[02:56 hours]
14 (new)	Sony Ericsson W980	[02:45 hours]
13 (#3)	Lenovo E156	[02:38 hours]
12 (#11)	Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Dual	[02:25 hours]
11 (#10)	Nokia N70 (a)	[02:25 hours]

Here are the top 10.

10 (#17)	LG V50s ThinQ 5G	[02:20 hours]
9 (#6)	Nokia Asha 202	[02:16 hours]
8 (#14)	LG G4	[02:10 hours]
7 (#9)	Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact	[02:07 hours]
6 (new)	LG G8 ThinQ	[02:03 hours]

And, here are the, best, top 5 (#5 faster, only, by 8 seconds to #6)

5 (#8)	Nokia N8 (b)	[02:03 hours]
4 (new)	LG Wing 5G	[01:57 hours]
3 (#4)	Sony Xperia 1 II	[01:55 hours]
2 (#2)	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a)	[00:37 hour]
1 (#1)	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b)	[00:30 hour]

From this ranking, I find around 2 hours to be good enough. The top two phones are outliers due to their deteriorated batteries.

Now, for the battery life and screen on time, with the following format: Battery Life Ranking [Battery Life] Phone (Screen on Time Ranking [Screen on Time])

26 [0 day 00:52 hour]	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b)	(#26 [00:52 hour])
25 [0 day 01:18 hours]	Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a)	(#25 [01:00 hours])
24 [0 day 17:00 hours]	Sony Ericsson W980	(#21 [04:00 hours])
23 [0 day 21:27 hours]	Nokia N70 (a)	(#24 [03:27 hours])
22 [0 day 21:37 hours]	Sony Xperia Z3 Dual	(#23 [03:37 hours])
21 [0 day 21:44 hours]	Nokia Lumia 1020	(#22 [03:44 hours])
20 [0 day 23:40 hours]	Sony Xperia miro	(#20 [04:40 hours])
19 [0 day 23:56 hours]	Sony Ericsson Satio	(#19 [04:56 hours])
18 [0 day 23:59 hours]	Nokia N8 (b)	(#18 [04:59 hours])
17 [1 day 00:23 hour]	HTC Windows Phone 8X	(#17 [05:23 hours])
16 [1 day 00:26 hour]	LG G4	(#16 [05:26 hours])
15 [1 day 00:32 hour]	Sony Xperia Z	(#15 [05:32 hours])
14 [1 day 00:40 hour]	Sony Xperia Z Ultra	(#14 [05:46 hours])
13 [1 day 01:00 hour]	Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Dual	(#13 [06:00 hours])
12 [1 day 02:22 hours]	Sony Xperia SP	(#12 [06:22 hours])
11 [1 day 04:36 hours]	LG G8 ThinQ	(#11 [07:36 hours])

Here are the phones on top ten.

10 [1 day 04:49 hours]	Sony Xperia Z2	(#10 [07:49 hours])
9 [1 day 21:23 hours]	Asus Fonepad Note FHD6	(#9 [08:23 hours])
8 [1 day 21:32 hours]	Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact	(#8 [08:32 hours])
7 [1 day 22:27 hours]	Sony Xperia 1 II	(#7 [09:00 hours])
6 [1 day 23:28 hours]	Lenovo E156	(#6 [09:28 hours])

And, the top five phones. Exceeding 10 hours of screen on time.

5 [2 days 00:20 hour]	Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet	(#5 [10:20 hours])
4 [2 days 00:36 hour]	LG Wing 5G	(#4 [10:36 hours])
3 [2 days 02:18 hours]	LG V50s ThinQ 5G	(#3 [11:18 hours])
2 [2 days 05:14 hours]	Sony Xperia XZ Premium	(#2 [12:14 hours])
1 [3 days 23:22 hours]	Nokia Asha 202	(#1 [19:22 hours])

For a stress-free battery life, at least for me, a phone has to last more than a day, or at least 5 hours of screen on time. 17 phones satisfy this, making the top ten phone really good. Twice that, at least 2 days total standby time and 10 hours of screen on time, is already impressive. And there are 5 phones. Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet may be large, but the display resolution is Full HD. LG Wing 5G was just released last year, making its battery optimization on par with new phones. Though, take note that the smaller display was not used during the battery test. LG V50s ThinQ 5G was also tested without the second screen. Unexpectedly, Sony XZ Premium joins the top 5, despite of using the ultra hd resolution on some video playback sessions on my test. The top phone for battery life is, expectedly, Nokia Asha 202. It has a good battery performance since I bought it. Being a feature phone with the tried and tested BL-5C battery, it is anticipated to outlast other phones, especially smartphones.

You can always read the review of each phone by clicking on the corresponding link.

Do you have a phone with the same model from any of the phones I tested? How is the battery life doing?

phone 37 – lg g8 thinq

the 8th phone i acquired this year, 2021. hopefully, the last one. ha! this is also the last g series of lg. this might also be the last chance to expand my portfolio of lg mobile devices. i started with lg g4, acquired in 2016. then continued with lg v50s thinq with its dual screen in 2020. in 2021, i acquired lg wing 5g and this lg g8 thinq.

lg g8 thinq was released in 2019. same year when sony entered a new era in smartphones, releasing the first generation of xperia 1, xperia 5 and xperia 10 series. i was still using xperia z1 compact (a) as a personal phone, and xperia z5 premium as a work phone, still satisfied back then. so, despite of exciting announcements from sony, lg, nokia and some other makers, i was not encouraged to upgrade or expand my collections. but the headline features revolving around the z camera (tof sensor) caught my attention. i will tell the experience with it along the tasks for the battery tests. i will also relate my experience on biometric securities present on lg g8 thinq.

but, before those, here is the result of the battery test. charging duration results to 2 hours and 3 minutes. it performs better than most of my phone collection and falls near my preferred charging duration, which is 2 hours. but battery life fell quite short resulting to a day, 4 hours and 36 minutes. 7 hours and 36 minutes of those is the screen on time. not bad at all even for 2021 casual usage. besides it is just 2 years since the release. for continued casual usage, this phone requires daily charging.

battery score card

music play on lg g8 thinq is as good as the lg v50s when it comes to 3.5mm wired audio and bluetooth wireless audio. but loudspeaker is better on lg v50s and way better on some of my xperia collection with front stereo loudspeakers (z3, z5 premium, xz2 compact, 1 ii), at least when we talk about being immersive and quality. this might be because of the speaker setup. one is downfiring like the v50s. the other is on the display. the vibration is on the 30%-40% part of the display, from the top. by default, the speakers does not fire left and right separation, at least, based on how i hear it. it sounds like i am playing two mono speakers side by side. and that the speaker display is not as loud as the downfiring speaker. but there is dts audio setting to customize sound output. this is not to say that music experience is inferior. it still offers better experience than many smartphones on the market in 2021.

still on the music experience, z camera made it more fun and unique. with features, hand id and air gestures, i was able to play music without touching the phone. i tried it with wet hands, too. no, not what you are thinking, maybe, ha! i was washing the dishes, then. first, hand id lets me unlock the phone. then, using air gestures, i was able to open the music app. next is to play music using air gestures. though, this is limited to play or pause the most recent play list. then, again, using air gestures, i can turn the volume up or down. all those, without touching the phone. i think, i have to bring this phone for “no phone touching” challenge with my friends. then, play music, watch youtube videos and answer a phone call. ha!

i also appreciate the default music app of lg mobile as there are onscreen options to turn the volume, and change the pitch and speed of the song. nothing to do with air gestures. the volume option saves the physical volume keys from further abuses. i have been enjoying such accessibility since lg g4 and it is available on my other lg mobile devices, too (v50s thinq, wing 5g).

web browsing is an ordinary affair. i get sharp images and texts. good color rendering. snappy browsing and jumping from one tab to another. no disappointments here.

on gaming, this phone excels, too. still, in 2021. game launcher is present here. there is an option to customize refresh rates and resolution. though, it is limited to 60hz. no stutters. performance is similar to xperia xz2 compact, xperia 1 ii, lg v50s thinq and lg wing 5g.

for photo shoot and video recording, you might want to read my post on lg v50s thinq as the experience is very similar. except that my lg g8 thinq has a telephoto lens and that the front camera has variable focus. it has an autofocus, but also lets you manually control the focus which is good if you want to capture those little pores on your face as it is really sharp. ha! it gladly humiliates my other phones in that department. of course, including xperia 1 ii, which is criticized for having too soft selfie camera.

video playback on lg g8 thinq is not my cup of tea, though. color rendering is actually great. display brightness is ideal in both bright and dark environment. it also has a high resolution display. with 6.1 inches 19.5:9 display, 1440p is sharp. it gives 564 pixel density. already near xperia 1 ii with 643 pixel density. what makes the tea quite cold? it is the iphone grade notch. the same notch that brings headline features on lg g8 thinq. aside from lg g8 thinq, lg v50s thinq is the only phone i have with undesirable notch. though, the latter has smaller one. that is one compromise to make. besides, not all videos are affected by the notch. only videos shot and produced on 21:9 aspect ratio are affected. 16:9 contents are safe. workaround? pinch to zoom out and you will be watching the movies and videos on a screen diagonal less than 6 inches.

aside from the usual device security like pattern, password and personal identification number, this phone also has knock on code and biometric device security measures. the last is the most interesting security this phone has. first, it has fingerprint sensor that is widely used on android devices, placed on the rear. it is as fast as the fingerprint sensors on my xperia 1 ii and xperia xz2 compact. even a quick pat on the sensor unlocks it. second, the face id, which is used on iphones and some android devices. this is not the traditional face id or face unlock that i have on my xperia miro and other older xperia devices. the traditional approach can be fooled with a picture and it needs adequate lighting. face id on lg g8 uses z camera (tof sensor) to save 3d data. so, unless they can make a wax version of your face, nobody else can fool the face id, at least, ideally. it also works even without adequate lighting. third is the hand id. i never saw this feature on other phones – making some people dismiss it as a gimmick since “you will still touch the phone after using the hand id anyway”. some people even complain of steep learning curve. however, i was able to play music and turn up the volume without touching the phone, on the first day i have it. no i am not a fast learner. it is just so easy to learn that i thought i can enter the bending world and be a smartphone bender, ha! (but i guess jerryrigeverything is the master of that, in another way). and at least, there are some apps that can take advantage of it. there are some times i really wish my older phones can do like this – while washing the dishes or clothes, or even washing myself in the bathroom. unlock the phone, play music, pause it, turn up the volume – you can also do the same on youtube app. you cannot do this every day on other phones. so, you do not do it every day. but since i now have the g8, who knows.

generally, this is a well rounded phone that has unique features, others call gimmick. i also admire how seamless the chassis is. the flushed camera design and the continuous flow of glass to the frame. but due to sony influence on my preference, i wish it is a bit square. even the display looks a little bit more rounded or curvy on the corners. speaking of the curvy, this also has a curvy display. gladly, it is not as pronounced as other phones. images are not distorted, but still has an annoying way of reflecting lights where the glass curves. you already heard my concern on display notch, too. performance wise, there is nothing to complain here. display is great. audio experience is good, great via 3.5mm wired audio. one hand operation is also doable. but it does not beat my xz2 compact for that matter. thankful that i looked back to 2019 to expand my phone collection and acquired this piece of electronic masterwork. 

phone 36 – lg wing

7th phone for 2021. as if 6 is too few. but if i exclude loan collaterals, then this is the 1st phone i bought this year. not that there will be a second one, but lemme have another excuse to acquire more. ha!

this is the 3rd lg phone that i have on my collection. and i was reminded by my own rants i wrote on my lg g4 review. xperia and lg phones are my go to brands when i am looking for phones to use and keep. this is because both satisfy my requirement for keeping a phone – usability and novelty. and lg wing seemed to maxed out the novelty part. i was also amazed at how the use cases were presented when this device was unveiled. i really watched the unveiling of this phone and the hype did not go down for a couple of months. even when lg announced their exit on mobile industry, i still want the phone, thinking that when lg decides to abandon the support, novelty still holds – as long as the swivel mechanism holds, that is. compared to dual screen, i think this phone is more suited to pairing related apps, than multitasking. it does not give you the freedom to detach, like on dual screen, instead you swivel the main display back.

being a phone released in 2020, i expected a good battery performance. i was not disappointed. fully charged for an hour and 57 minutes, it almost surpassed my sony xperia 1 ii, just 2 minutes longer. and ye, anything near 2 hours or less of charging is ideal to me. battery life does not disappoint as well. lasting for 2 days and 36 minutes, it is one of my phones having long battery life. an hour of charging every morning will not bother you of low battery. this test does not include the usage of the smaller display, so the screen on time results to 10 hours and 36 minutes.

battery score card

lg wing has single down firing loudspeaker, minimizing immersive audio experience when using it without audio accessories. likewise, it is not that loud. wireless audio is great on this phone. however, in the name of novelty, 3.5mm audio port was sacrificed. that left me using the usb type c port for wired audio. weird that the usb type c to 3.5mm port dongle from my xz2 compact is not recognized by the phone. instead, i have to use the usb type c earphone that came with the wing. audio experience is just decent, not as good as the v50s with quad dac. even my older xperias were better by default. if not for the software tweaks on the audio, i will not recommend this phone for audio needs.

another compromise i have to make is accepting its rounded edge display. good thing, this phone has no notch nor punched holes that would interrupt web browsing experience. the rounded edge is not that pronounced as well, distortion is less, but it is there. and when there are some light sources around, i am slightly annoyed by the reflections it makes on the sides. website texts and images are good enough, that is, if you have not experienced using 4k display. colors are good, quite warmer than xperia 1 ii. at some point, images look punchier.

gaming was also considered when designing this phone. there is an app that takes care of gaming options. no complaints on the performance. the display is at 60hz, just to point out. but i am satisfied. so far, i have no phone with a high refresh rate.

three camera modules take care of the photo shoots and video recording. before testing the battery, i already had a chance to play with the gimbal mode. i was impressed by its stabilization. i must say, it is way better than xperia 1 ii in stabilisation. the resulting photos and videos are great. colors seemed to be near the actual colors i see, just a bit warmer. which might be because of the display calibration, since it is warmer than the xperia 1 ii and i have not transferred the footage to my less accurate laptop. ha! camera user interface is also very similar to v50s, so i was at home in no time, unlike my experience on xperia 1 ii which needs some learnings to do.

video playback is good. but again, my personal issue on rounded display is noticeable here. i find the videos being distorted on the extreme top and bottom (while holding the phone in landscape). the only aspect ratio that looks great on the phone is 21:9. somehow, i get the idea why some manufacturers never go 21:9 aspect ratio except xperia. that is, only for those having rounded displays and without any display cutout. the single loudspeaker also is not ideal for video playback. or, perhaps i was spoiled by sony xperia devices since xperia z3, with stereo front firing loudspeakers. so, for this phone, a bluetooth audio device or the included type c earphone is ideal for video playback. if you get passed that, experience is great.

i am liking this phone day after day. pricing also went down significantly, making it easy to recommend for those looking for novelty. so, if you are one, go get it. this might not be used as a main phone though, given that there are a lot of moving parts needing utmost care, like the swivel mechanism and pop up selfie camera – include the rounded display. likewise, you should be okay with how it works out of the box since i doubt lg would support this device despite claiming that they will do support it and push software updates. despite lg pulling the plug, i am still hoping that one day they will come back and do what they do best – innovating on form factor that has surprisingly good functionality (curved as g flex, productivity proposition as dual screen, customizability as g5), aside from their audio prowess and camera expertise. or, at least, another brand takes its place, somehow. zte for the underdisplay camera, though i am not really a fan of it. asus for a dac almost or on par to lg quad dac. vivo and sony for the camera hardware and circuitries. so, there is still hope that innovation will prosper. now, if only people will support such and real technology fans are heard more than the “average user” reviewers who are seemed to be paid by less innovative companies, then the future is bright. average user, you say. there are some techtubers out there with an “m” on their screen names. should i name them?

phone 35 – sony xperia z

this is the 6th phone i acquired in 2021, also a loan collateral. this was released in 2013, 8 years before 2021. this phone started the simple design cues on xperia flagships, yes, up to now, 2021. you get a monolithic phone that might not catch any attention, unless you see simple things as pleasing to the eye like me. though this phone has some share of criticisms from those who think their opinions are valuable. ha!  for one, the glass sandwich design was criticized (but look at em phones in 2021). ip certification, which is still quite low on this phone was claimed to be useless (and flagships and even midrangers in 2021 boast such feature in 2021). then, there is that poor viewing angles that i will tell more later on this post.

being older than xperia z2, it is understandable that the battery charging and life is worse than the latter. however, it managed to charged faster than the z2, at 3 hours and 55 minutes. but the battery life is a couple of hours shorter than the z2. it lasts for a day and 32 minutes. more than 5 hours of which is its screen on time. can we still find new phones with such screen on time in 2021?

battery score card

this first generation of the z series is still lacking design cues that can benefit to immersive audio. i am talking about stereo front firing speakers. instead this phone has single loudspeaker placed on the lower right corner. but the quality is quite decent. it is just too quiet in 2021, that i usually bump the volume to max to get a similar volume as the half of the xperia 1 ii. put on a wireless audio, experience becomes better. 3.5mm wired audio is also present, since it was released when smartphones consider it as a nobrainer to include. however, the port is covered by flaps which quite minimize convenience. besides, i doubt that the water resistance is still intact since this device is too old and it is refurbished, too.

web browsing is just okay. poor viewing angles is noticeable here. i think, color shift starts at about 10-15 degrees from the middle. line of sight should be perpendicular to the display to properly see good color rendering. the sharpness is there even at some angle. so black text on white background does not really post issue on viewing angles. but for images and texts with colors that are not in contrast is an issue. but again, you can always shift how you look at the display.

gaming is quite decent. it is more powerful than xperia miro and xperia sp, but this first generation z phone has no sd800 series. so look elsewhere when you are thinking of games in 2021.

the camera on this phone was enough for photo shoots and video recording, but not in 2021. even entry level smartphones of 2021 can have way better outputs. the improvement on z2 over this phone is noticeable. as for the camera user experience, the z series is quite consistent. you get scene recognition in auto mode and manual setting is not flexible. there are also apps within the camera app. if you are familiar with lenses on windows phone, it is similar to that.

video playback is decent. but, it also suffers on two of the major criticisms on this phone – the poor viewing angles and the non immersive placement of the single loudspeaker. it makes the xperia z not ideal for sharing a movie session, even just for another person, aside from you. benefits of being single, eh?

drawbacks on this phone makes it undesirable in 2021. the loudspeaker might pass, since not all phones in 2021 has stereo front firing loudspeaker. but the volume fall too short. the display will also look washed out compared to the growing smartphones using oled panels, or better versions of ips panels. but, like every xperia i have, it is a joy to look at. it resembles a slab of tinted glass. this phone is also light and fits good on the hand. sharp corners was one of the criticisms also, but i do not find it as an issue. i never had a cut using it all day. ha!