There was a time when having a large battery was a luxury that not all smartphones could afford. After all, smartphones were supposed to be slim and sleek, and batteries tended to bulk them up (with great battery power come greater dimensions and weight). For a while, big batteries were mainly the preserve of the lower middle and middle segment of the phone market.
This has changed with the expanding display sizes, and the proportionate gains in battery sizes as well, giving us a selection of phones from under Rs 10,000 to flagship phones priced at Rs 70,000.
If you are in the market for a new phone and want one that just goes on and on in battery terms, you will have plenty of options to choose from. These seven in particular stand out:
1. Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2
Rs 12,999
Asus surprised people when it had managed to squeeze a large 5000mAh battery into the Zenfone Max Pro M1 in early 2018, and it repeated the dose as the year came to an end. The Zenfone Max Pro M2 came with a very eye catching glass design and a more powerful Snapdragon 660 processor as well as improved dual cameras, but one thing that did not change was the 5000mAh battery.
It did not quite deliver as much battery life as we had expected (a problem we had with the Pro M1 too, where the numbers were more impressive than the actual performance) but got through to two days on a single charge, with a little care.
2. Motorola One Power
Rs 14,999
The Motorola One Power flew below many user’s radar’s because it seemed more a collection of decent specs (6.2-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, dual cameras, 4GB RAM and so on) rather than anything that seemed exceptional. Well, actually it did have something exceptional, but it perhaps did not get the attention it merited—a massive 5000mAh battery.
Allied with that power efficient chipset and the stock Android that makes Motorola famous, the Motorola One Power perhaps delivered the best battery life we had seen in a mid-segment smartphone, constantly hitting the two day mark. And with a price cut, we think it really is one of the best options for anyone who wants exceptional battery life in a relatively new mid-segment device.
3. Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Rs 69,990
Yes, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro made headlines for its extremely eye catching design, with a glass back whose shades seemed to change as the light fell on it, and for its innovative camera arrangement, which featured three cameras and a flash in a square-like enclosure on the back.
That apart, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro also boasted a brilliant 6.39-inch AMOLED display and also came with the new HiSilicon Kirin 980 processor, which Huawei claimed to be among the best in the world. And in spite of being very slim (8.6mm), the phone did not only pack in a big 4200mAh battery that could see off close to two days of usage, and could also charge other devices wirelessly when they were placed on the phone’s back. Not just a big battery, but an innovative one too.
4. Poco F1
Rs 19,990 onwards
The Poco F1, the first phone from Xiaomi’s sub brand Poco, literally had everything stuffed that a power smartphone user would need—a flagship level Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6/8GB of RAM, very good dual cameras and a 6.18 inch display with full-HD+ resolution.
It did not miss out on a big battery either. It comes with a large 4000mAh battery that can easily get through a day and a half of normal usage and close to two days if you handle your phone with a little care. All of which makes it the budget flagship that goes on and on—a title that even the mighty OnePlus cannot lay claim to.
5. Nokia 8.1
Rs 26,800 onwards
The Nokia 8.1 is promoted as having two day battery life, and that is quite a claim when you consider that of all the devices in this list, it technically has the smallest battery—a 3500mAh affair. Now, while the boast of a two day battery life is a trifle over the top, what cannot be denied is that the 8.1 comfortably sails to close to a day and a half of comfortable usage and can with some nursing get into the two day zone.
This with a 6.18-inch PureDisplay with full-HD+ resolution and cameras with Zeiss optics that are good enough to make people use them frequently. Nokia says that the very good battery life of the device is courtesy the power efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chip and Android Pie. Well, it certainly works. The Nokia 8.1 is the lightweight in this list that punches well above its weight.
6. Moto E4 Plus
Rs 9,990
If what you are looking for is just battery life and lots of battery life in a smartphone, then the Moto E4 Plus is the device you need. No, its 5.5-inch display with bezels and HD (rather than full HD) display will not turn heads, its quad-core MediaTek processor will not set benchmarks on fire and its 13-megapixel rear camera is adequate rather than exceptional, but when it comes to battery life, the 5000mAh battery on the Moto E4 Plus is good enough to keep you going for almost two and a half days.
In fact, if you use the phone mainly for routine online tasks, there is a decent chance that the Moto E4 Plus will see you through close to three days.
7. Redmi Note 6 Pro
Rs 13,999 onwards
The Redmi Note 3 made large batteries popular in the mid-segment, and the Redmi Note 6 Pro carries that tradition forward. The Note 6 Pro does have a few aces up its sleeve, most notably very good dual camera arrangements on the front and back and a very good 6.26-inch display, but making sure it all works for a long time is the combination of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 camera and a large 4000mAh battery.
The Note 6 Pro is designed for work and thanks to that battery and some nifty power management, it manages to do that on a single charge for close to two days. Perhaps the best combination of performance and power management in the mid-segment.