[Help] Smartphone with good battery life

[crossy]

My missus' much abused (she's a luddite when it comes to phones) Lumia 620 has finally given up the ghost (keeps locking up and needs a battery removal to reset). So she's in the market for a replacement.

Now her needs are fairly small, (Farcebook, email, web browsing and some light gaming), but her "go to" feature is battery life - especially the non-powered on "standby". She hates switching on her phone only to find that the battery is flat.

I'm thinking that perhaps the new iPhone SE would fit the bill - given that it's a small screen I'm thinking that battery life could be pretty decent.

Current mobile is Windows Phone, but she's also pretty happy with iOS or Android, so anyone got any better suggestions than the SE? I'm thinking that the current Moto G might also be usable.

[deejayburnout]

Android 6 has a doze feature that gives awesome standby time.. my phone looses about 1% at night when in doze mode.

a large battery also helps so anything with a 3000mha battery or better is always good.

unfortunately the use is the largest contributor to life of a device. Apps like Facebook are always on and searching for updates. gaming can be a killer to depending on the game. a lot of smartphone games now are graphically demanding and will suck a battery dry in a few hours or less.

I am an android man so I would recomend a Nexus 6P as it has a large battery and Android 6 (marshmallow).

what's the budget and I could reccomend some others.

[kalniel]

Any other requirements like size? There are some chinese brands with mega batteries

Xiaomi Redmi 3
http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_3-7862.php

Huawei Y6 Pro/Honor PLay 5X
http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_y6_pro-7647.php

Lenovo P70
http://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_p70-7063.php

Motorola X force
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_moto_x_force-7555.php

Samsung Galaxy S7
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s7-7821.php

[TooNice]

My first reaction was smaller screen, but also smaller battery and wondered how it'd work out. The few reviews I quickly Googled seem to shows the SE's battery life in good light though. That said, I don't see a huge difference amongst the top performers (many performs within 10-30min of each other in benchmarks - not enough to make a difference IMO). If battery life is a top priority, then I'd look at either a phone that allows an extended battery (e.g. LG G4) or you know that you can get a battery case (from ZeroLemon and the likes). It would make the device much bigger, but it'll also improve battery life by hours instead of minutes.

[crossy]

Thanks guys, unfortunately the S7/6P are "too large" - in fact I'm not sure that even something as "hefty" as my own LG G3 would be acceptable to her, so I'm guessing that "we" ( ) are looking for something with 5" as the size limit. Price is pretty flexible, so I'm guessing that one of the Xperia Z5 Compacts is "do-able" although stretching to an iPhone 6S (similar size) might be a bit too far.

Although - seeing as you got me thinking - I'm kind of confused why Carphone Warehouse has the Z5C at £429 when the list price (according to Sony) is £379. John Lewis also has at the £379, which makes me think that CPW either have a mistake in their website or they're trying it on.

[kalniel]

Thanks guys, unfortunately the S7/6P are "too large" - in fact I'm not sure that even something as "hefty" as my own LG G3 would be acceptable to her, so I'm guessing that "we" ( ) are looking for something with 5" as the size limit. Price is pretty flexible, so I'm guessing that one of the Xperia Z5 Compacts is "do-able" although stretching to an iPhone 6S (similar size) might be a bit too far.

S7 is pretty much as small as the smallest 5", so if it's too big you're looking at no more than 4.7" like the Z3/5 compacts.

[jimborae]

Sony Z3 compact or Z3 has outstanding battery life, Z5 not so much and not a big enough upgrade from the Z3 imo to justify the cost. LG G4 would be too big and battery life or more pertinently screen on time is not so great.

[herulach]

Whats good battery life? a day, a week? If its standby you want as others have said any androind with marshmallow should be fine. My launch nexus 5 (so what, 3 years old?) does the mrs probably 48 hours between charges still. Screen size is only really an issue if you have it on. Standby time probably worse on a smaller phone all other things being equal as the battery is likely to be proportionally smaller.

[GreenPiggy]

Big battery by itself is not a guarantee the life will be great, for example the 6P has a huge battery, but it also has a huge amoled high def screen.
Moto X play has a nice combination of screen and battery that should ensure good life(1080p screen with 3600mAh battery) but as previously mentioned, a 'mini' like the xperia will also have this.

[aramil]

Nexus 6p user. Lasts two days easily with a couple of hours of calls a day, some more hours tinterwebing/emailing a day etc. Plus some sat naving if out. But really it's down to how you use it, I don't feel the screen of 6p really makes a huge difference and compared to my old nexus 5 it massive improvement.

[Dayks]

The Z3 compact is a great for battery life, mine lasts 2-3days and my usage is probably medium. Just be aware that if it is used to listen to music via headphones that there is a common fault with the 3.5mm jack.

Mine went this year and Sony replaced within warranty but there are plenty of people who have had it reoccur.

[surya kumar]

S7 is pretty much as small as the smallest 5", so if it's too big you're looking at no more than 4.7" like the Z3/5 compacts.

Samsung S7 is quite good and iPhone SE also preferable. As battery backup is the main criteria may it better with iphone.

[c12038]

Go on GSMArena and check out all the phones mentioned they give pretty good review material plus up to date info on every mobile phone released

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Moto X Play and Moto X Force have decent battery life due to using much bigger batteries than normal. However,the 3rd generation Moto G 2GB is worth considering for around £150 as the lack of bloatware helps with battery life.

[crossy]

Thanks to all that responded

Madam had a good look around this weekend and the conclusions were:
1. iPhone6S - nice, but just a bit uncomfortable to hold (for her), and that price!;
2. iPhoneSE - ideal size (for her), but the price and availability counted against it;
3. Xperia Z5C - again, a good size etc, but no-one had one in stock;
4. Various Lumias, specifically the 650 and 550 - good, but I was advising against them (uncertain future and the rest of us in the house are on Android);
5. Motorola G mk3 - good size and cracking price, but for some reason no-one seemed to have the 16GB one;
6. Nexus 5X - strangely swmbo found this easier/more-comfortable to hold than the iPhone6S.

What we eventually plumped for was the 5X - naked Android is quite nice to use for a n00b and the fast charge feature, coupled with M's "doze" should suit her nicely. I've slapped the OneDrive etc on there, so it should slot nicely into her Windows-based "environment" (tablet and laptop both Windows 10).

Solved

[deejayburnout]

Good choice.