From February to March 2018, the British company Strategy Analytics conducted a study of the autonomy of new smartphones in the higher price segment, and also compared them with the device of the previous year and the model of the average price range.
Evaluation of battery life, especially comparative tests, is rarely carried out because of the complexity of the process and the lack of a unified, generally accepted and easily implemented methodology, which is why the
report of Strategy Analytics is of particular interest. The problem is that it is easy enough to put several devices in the same conditions and compare their operating time when performing any one energy-demanding action, for example, continuous video playback. Such indicators, although they allow us to draw an analogy between devices, but have little in common with the actual use of smartphones. In mixed mode, performing different actions from model to model may change and the results will already differ from semi-synthetic tests.
Experts of Strategy Analytics went the other way and were able to create conditions as close as possible to the actual work of users with devices and did not forget to try to bring the work of smartphones to one denominator. The display backlight level for all models was set to 150 nits, the volume was increased to the maximum, and all other settings were left unchanged. After that, researchers on all devices performed the same actions that can occur during a typical day: make calls and send messages, watch videos, play, listen to music, take pictures, use the browser, and so on.
The list of devices for comparison includes the following smartphone models available at the time of testing:
- Sony Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor (flagships of 2018)
- Apple iPhone X on Apple A11 Bionic processor (flagship of the end of 2017)
- Samsung Galaxy S9 based on Samsung Exynos 9810 processor (2018 flagship)
- Huawei P10 on a Huawei KIRIN 960 processor (flagship of the beginning of 2017)
- LG G6 based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor (flagship of the beginning of 2017)
- OPPO R11 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor (middle segment of the second half of 2017)
According to the results of testing, the leaders with the longest battery life were the Sony Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact smartphones, which showed results of 36 hours and 01 minutes. and 34 h. 20 min. use without recharging.
The y-axis is the autonomous operation time of the device in the format HH: MMThis was made possible by a combination of three factors at once: processor, battery capacity and Sony proprietary energy-saving technologies. The eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip with a 10 nm process technology provides the highest performance devices, but at the same time does not spend too much smartphone battery. In terms of energy efficiency, it can be compared with the Snapdragon 821 processor in the LG G6, but with a correction for lower power, because this chip began to be used in 2016.
In addition, the new flagships of Sony are one of the most capacious in the line of batteries: 3180 and 2870 mAh, depending on the model. As smartphones are used, Smart Stamina proprietary technology helps to reduce power consumption, and in extreme cases, Ultra Stamina mode, when it is important to stay connected as long as possible and only the basic functions of the device become available. Also, the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact use Qnovo's adaptive charging and Battery Care function, which reduces the natural wear and tear of the battery and keeps the battery running for a long time without recharging for as long as possible.