How we test: GSMArena Battery Life Test 2.0

08 November 2023
The way we use our mobile phones has evolved, and so has our new Battery Life test.

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  • B
  • Bobby
  • njn
  • 16 Nov 2023

Could you please clarify if the webbrowsing test is with wifi and not on mobile network?

How can we figure out how good battery life really is when the phones are not tested with internet over mobile network? For example, Pixel phones are prone to have much worse battery life on mobile network compared with wifi. So your test then has no value for me if I would like an efficient network module in my phone when primarely using that is my use case.

    • P
    • PJ
    • 7X0
    • 15 Nov 2023

    Just wanted to clarify: What frame rate settings did you apply throughout the tests for on-screen times? (Except for gaming tests because you already stated you set it up to 60Hz.)

      • C
      • Cla4ud1us
      • mcX
      • 15 Nov 2023

      What game are you guys using exactly to test the battery life?

        • j
        • juanpasbr
        • LXS
        • 15 Nov 2023

        The main use for the battery test, which I suppose we all use it for, is to compare phones, their efficiency according to their CPU mainly,
        and other hardware. So for comparison test it should be good. But I agree that standby time as the 5th category (at least optional an 0% by default, but that could be still personalized to be chosen) is important, and also the use of cellular data. To compare CPU efficiency, it's ok airplane mode I think. But to compare the whole phone, cellular signal should be on too.
        I comprehend it would be very difficult to out all variables in, even for a standard use or comparison, like tests with airplane mode off and the same with airplane mode on, with wifi on and with wifi off, with full active use and maybe fill standby, etc. I thank you for the effort you have for the old battery test and thank you for the new one. It is still usable to compare, in my opinion.
        Even though the durations, we really won't have those durations in our phone usage with its customizations.
        So as to know about if the CPU will drain faster the battery in this phone or another, I think this test mode is great (still the idle or stand-by mode should be great to be taken into account at least optionally as said, maybe an independent battery test just for standby mode from 100% to 0%, without any usage or even any screen turn on).

          • V
          • Vic
          • 3n5
          • 13 Nov 2023

          This test is just a disaster. Show me anyone watching video on the phone with airplane mode activated... This test is a synthetic measurement which has no relation to real life usage scenario. You'd better keep an old test and don't waste you time and efforts on something useless like a "new" battery test.

            • V
            • Vic
            • 3n5
            • 13 Nov 2023

            Without a proper standby test and numbers this new test is just a variation of old one and as useless as it was before.

              javi, 10 Nov 2023Is this a joke? A phone is in standby 90% of the time, if n... morePersonally I agree 100%, but it is not generally so, it is a matter of usage pattern.

              I guess a substantial portion of users, especially in the younger segment, use the phone a lot more than 10% of the time, and when idle often in/on a charger, so for those the idle consumption is close to unimportant, though it for others like you and me are very important....

              So not an easy task to provide a number useful for both segments.

              But the numbers from the new test is clearly useless for us, so we will have to look elsewhere.

              (Personally I could not care less if a phone can do gaming for one or twenty hour on a charge, offline or online, I rarely even do a sudoku on it...)

              Also remember that as the display is a big battery-eater, the brightness matters a lot too, so here also usage patterns affect things.

                • S
                • Silver
                • MWF
                • 11 Nov 2023

                javi, 10 Nov 2023Is this a joke? A phone is in standby 90% of the time, if n... moreI agree completely. More and more people these days keep their phone away from them hence stand-by (with ofc 5G active etc.).

                  • j
                  • javi
                  • 3g$
                  • 10 Nov 2023

                  Is this a joke? A phone is in standby 90% of the time, if not more. Not factoring standby in a battery test is just crazy... No, really, tell me this is a prank or something. I've been using the GSMArena Battery test for reference for years and this would make the test unusable.

                    • A
                    • Adam
                    • Jd7
                    • 09 Nov 2023

                    TheQuatum, 09 Nov 2023This new test is very disappointing and seems very poorly t... moreDxomark battery testing approach is probably the best. The only problem is that they are so slow to test new phones.

                      • N
                      • Neon666
                      • snM
                      • 09 Nov 2023

                      All tests should be conducted with 4g connection enabled. What is the point of test with airplane turned on. Nobody uses phone like that.

                        • D
                        • Danmajor555
                        • r$m
                        • 09 Nov 2023

                        I truly appreciate the new battery testing measures, I used to max out all of the features and try to calculate without the standby time my self ask these years. All I can say is thank you, looking forward to the next Battery Life Test 3.0 in 2035, Lord Willing.

                        God bless!
                        John 3:16
                        2 Corinthians 5:14-17
                        Ephesians 2:4-9

                          This new test is very disappointing and seems very poorly thought out. Turning on airplane mode to disable cellular renders every onscreen test nearly useless. I hope that this new method is reviewed and reverted.

                            As others have said, "active time", and not including cellular will be misleading, because some phones have much worse standby and/or cellular. So you take active time here and think this is a phone for me and it turns out battery is actually trash for you, because you don't use wifi and standby is awful.

                              • T
                              • T
                              • 39x
                              • 09 Nov 2023

                              I would be much more convenient to understand the battery test if it is done on mobile and wifi separately. As mobile data affects battery differently then on wifi.

                                Smallworld, 08 Nov 2023Good thing. Thank you for the improvement, the older test ... moreYes. It isn't that great if focusing on web browsing, video. But it's still 1,5 hours better than S23 base which was also hailed as the battery champ but now looks much worse. On the other hand iPhones now look really good. Oh well

                                  Turning on Airplane mode means Cellular activity is turned off. But it is one of the biggest causes of battery drain.

                                  I hope GSMarena will reflect on their day-to-day experience of battery life in the smartphone reviews.

                                    • A
                                    • Adam
                                    • Jd7
                                    • 08 Nov 2023

                                    Anonymous, 08 Nov 2023LOL, still using WiFi to test web browsing. Ridiculous. They are measuring what they can measure, not what needs to be measured as this would be to hard and inconsistent.

                                      • A
                                      • Adam
                                      • Jd7
                                      • 08 Nov 2023

                                      I am not so sure that new results make sense. They contradict with results from many other sources.

                                        • P
                                        • PhilB
                                        • nGq
                                        • 08 Nov 2023

                                        I suspect the main reason they've done this is because phones like Xperia 10 V and many others were getting to more than 150+ hours endurance rating on their old test, while many mid-range and flagship phones are topping 100+ hours. Probably the old test was just taking too long to run - they needed something which can be finished in 1 day.

                                        It's a bit sad I agree with what other's have said - standby time and time browsing over 4g/5g is important for normal people - still I guess the relative trends and differences between devices should still show up OK with the new methodology.

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