BlackBerry Priv battery life

We had the BlackBery Priv for review recently, but we didn't manage to conduct a proper battery test. Well, we got another chance to play with the slider and there was no escaping this time.

The BlackBerry Priv is equipped with a fairly large 3,410mAh battery. In keeping with current trends, it is sealed in, but the Snapdragon 808, powering the phone, supports Quick Charge 2.0, which can get you from zero to 60% in about 30 minutes. Sadly, the bundled charger doesn't support quick charging so you would have to get an extra one.

The Priv also has wireless charging capabilities, both Qi and PMA compliant. Sadly, only the US model supports that.

The BlackBerry Priv posted what can best be described as satisfactory battery life results. On a 3G call the smartphone lasted only around 15 hours, which is on the short side. A Samsung Galaxy Note5 can go for twice as long, while a Sony Xperia Z5 Premium and a Huawei Nexus 6P hover around the 20 and a half hour mark. Then again an LG V10 and the Apple iPhone 6s Plus aren’t much better at 16:40 and 15:51, respectively.

Talk time

• Oppo R7 Plus
  30:46h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  30:29h
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  28:34h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
  28:23h
• Huawei G8
  27:44h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 active
  26:29h
• Motorola Moto X Play
  26:28h
• Samsung Galaxy A7 Duos
  25:12h
• Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos
  25:02h
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  25:02h
• Oppo R7s
  24:03h
• LG AKA
  23:20h
• Meizu PRO 5
  23:10h
• Oppo R7
  22:58h
• Motorola Moto X Style
  22:23h
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  22:20h
• Lenovo ZUK Z1
  22:13h
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
  22:02h
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  21:02h
• Meizu m2 note
  20:55h
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  20:50h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  20:27h
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  20:22h
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  18:37h
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  18:31h
• Huawei P8lite ALE-L04
  18:25h
• Huawei P8lite
  17:38h
• Lenovo K3 Note
  17:13h
• Sony Xperia Z5
  17:13h
• vivo X5Pro
  16:57h
• LG Nexus 5X
  16:57h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL
  16:50h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM
  16:50h
• LG V10
  16:40h
• Meizu m1 metal
  16:02h
• OnePlus X
  15:57h
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  15:51h
• Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe ZE551ML
  15:47h
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra Dual
  14:53h
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  14:53h
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  14:51h
• BlackBerry Priv
  14:40h
• Huawei Honor 7
  14:33h
• Huawei Mate S
  13:53h
• Meizu MX5
  13:15h
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  13:11h
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  11:40h
• HTC One A9
  11:12h
• Apple iPhone 6s
  9:41h
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  8:25h

The Priv’s endurance when browsing the web over Wi-Fi stood at 8:20 hours in our test. Again nothing impressive, but not entirely disappointing. It’s the exact same number the V10 posted, marginally lower than the Nexus 6P, and an hour less than the Xperia Z5 Premium. The iPhone 6s rules here with a little short of 12 hours, outlasting the Note5 by an hour.

Web browsing

• Samsung Galaxy S6 active
  16:25h
• Sony Xperia Z5
  14:35h
• Meizu PRO 5
  12:51h
• Apple iPhone 6s
  12:27h
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  12:18h
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  12:18h
• Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos
  12:18h
• Motorola Moto X Play
  11:52h
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  11:51h
• Meizu m1 metal
  11:33h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
  11:20h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM
  10:50h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL
  10:50h
• Lenovo ZUK Z1
  10:46h
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  10:43h
• Oppo R7 Plus
  10:39h
• Huawei Honor 7
  10:38h
• LG AKA
  10:38h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  10:25h
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
  10:12h
• Huawei G8
  10:00h
• Meizu m2 note
  9:54h
• Huawei Mate S
  9:43h
• vivo X5Pro
  9:34h
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  9:32h
• Samsung Galaxy A7 Duos
  9:30h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  9:29h
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  9:04h
• Meizu MX5
  9:03h
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  8:58h
• Huawei P8lite ALE-L04
  8:42h
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  8:35h
• LG Nexus 5X
  8:32h
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  8:27h
• Huawei P8lite
  8:27h
• BlackBerry Priv
  8:20h
• LG V10
  8:20h
• Oppo R7s
  8:07h
• Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe ZE551ML
  7:52h
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  7:43h
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  7:29h
• Oppo R7
  7:22h
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra Dual
  7:15h
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  7:15h
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  7:05h
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  6:55h
• Motorola Moto X Style
  6:49h
• OnePlus X
  6:32h
• Lenovo K3 Note
  5:56h
• HTC One A9
  5:22h

Where the BlackBerry Priv performs the worst is video playback. It throws in the towel after just 6 and half hours, but in all fairness the smartphone isn’t meant to be a multimedia-gobbling device. The flagships are all over the place in this test too. The Z5 Premium, for example calls it a day after 7 hours and change, the V10 a quarter of an hour later, and the Nexus 6P in 10 hours. It’s the Note5 and iPhone 6s Plus that truly excel, both a smidge short of the 14-hour mark.

Video playback

• Oppo R7 Plus
  18:04h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 active
  18:03h
• Meizu PRO 5
  18:02h
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  16:22h
• Lenovo ZUK Z1
  14:14h
• Oppo R7s
  14:05h
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  13:57h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  13:53h
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  13:51h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
  13:04h
• Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos
  12:45h
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  12:45h
• Motorola Moto X Play
  12:06h
• LG AKA
  11:54h
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  11:32h
• Huawei Mate S
  11:26h
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  10:47h
• Apple iPhone 6s
  10:46h
• vivo X5Pro
  10:41h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL
  10:38h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM
  10:38h
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  10:35h
• Huawei G8
  10:20h
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  10:11h
• Huawei P8lite ALE-L04
  10:00h
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  9:59h
• Samsung Galaxy A7 Duos
  9:58h
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
  9:57h
• Huawei Honor 7
  9:43h
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  9:40h
• Oppo R7
  9:33h
• Motorola Moto X Style
  9:14h
• Meizu MX5
  9:13h
• Huawei P8lite
  9:00h
• Asus Zenfone 2 Deluxe ZE551ML
  8:34h
• HTC One A9
  8:33h
• Meizu m1 metal
  8:11h
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  7:58h
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra Dual
  7:58h
• Sony Xperia Z5
  7:53h
• LG V10
  7:30h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  7:14h
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  7:11h
• OnePlus X
  6:55h
• Lenovo K3 Note
  6:55h
• BlackBerry Priv
  6:33h
• Meizu m2 note
  6:27h
• LG Nexus 5X
  6:25h
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  5:39h
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  5:05h

All things considered, the BlackBerry Priv posted an endurance rating of 62 hours over our proprietary test routine. That is how long a single battery charge will last you if you use it for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. Such a usage pattern is of course entirely artificial, but we've established it so our battery results are comparable across devices.

Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. The BlackBerry is very frugal in this respect and can last for over 15 days, if left untouched and connected to a 3G network.

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.