Battery Testing: How We Measure Battery Life

Last updated: February 2026

Battery testing has long been a core part of PhoneArena reviews, providing key insights into real-world device performance.

See our Battery Test Results page

For every phone, we conduct three in-house battery tests:
Test #1: Web Browsing
Test #2: Video Streaming
Test #3: 3D Gaming



Before testing, we ensure all devices are under equal conditions: screens are set to the same brightness level using professional equipment for accuracy, and no apps generating frequent notifications are running. All tests are conducted over a Wi-Fi connection.

The Web Browsing test is the lightest of the three. A script cycles through a set of webpages, simulates scrolling at a fixed interval, while we measure the battery drain.

The Video Streaming test is more demanding. We stream the same video playlist with identical settings across devices and measure the time until the battery is fully depleted.

The 3D Gaming test uses a real-life game in “easy” mode with carefully tuned settings for an equal playing field. This is the only test among the three to noticeably stress the GPU. Again, we measure how long the device lasts under this load.

After completing all tests, we calculate a single number called the PhoneArena Battery Score, which represents the overall battery performance. This score roughly corresponds to real-world screen time, giving readers a quick way to compare devices.



You can find the battery tests in the dedicated battery section of each PhoneArena review. There, you will also notice our Battery Rating Widget (as shown above), which provides additional information such as the phone’s overall ranking as well as performance in each individual test.