LG G2 battery life test: long live the king

posted by Victor H. / Dec 30, 2013, 9:49 AM

LG G2 battery life test: long live the king

The LG G2 has passed through our exhausting battery life test and we now have the results. A huge 3000mAh stacked battery, efficient Snapdragon 800 and few other tricks do wonders for the 5.2-inch LG G2 flagship, and it ranks above all the competition. That’s right, the G2 is the longest lasting top-shelf smartphone we’ve ever tested so far.

The LG G2 battery scored an impressive 6 hours and 48 minutes. This means that you can expect the G2 to last nearly 7 hours when you are using it non-stop, without putting it down. In real life, this translates to being able to use the LG flagship a full work day even under extreme stress and practically without putting it down.

For most people, however, even the heaviest of use actually comes with a few breaks, so even in your busier days, the G2 is still likely to last you a full 24 hours. With moderate use (but still without limiting yourself), we expect most users to get a good two days on a single charge. Those who are rarely touching their smartphones can expect three. Impressive!

The LG G2 features a non-removable 3000mAh battery.

Needless to say, the LG G2 lasts much longer than the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One or Apple iPhone 5s. It's in a league of its own when looking at smartphones with screens of around 5 inches. It even outlasts most phablets. One phone that comes close to it is the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 battery (but it still lasts less), and there is also the humongous HTC One max that actually lasts even longer, but both belong to the large-screen “phablet” category, unlike the G2.

How did LG manage to pull this out? First, the 3000mAh, or 11.4 watt-hour, 3.8V battery is stacked to fit inside the relatively compact body of the G2. We’re talking about a battery that is the size of what most phablets offer in a package that’s much smaller. Second, the Snapdragon 800 system chip brings big power efficiencies in comparison with the earlier 600 chip, especially in standby (low-power) situations. Plus, it’s built on a new and more efficient 28nm HK-MG process. Next, LG uses GRAM (Graphics RAM) that allows the display to refresh less frequently and draw less power - the savings could be up to 26%. Last but not least, the handset can draw an impressive 2A of power from its wall charger, and that significantly quickens recharge speed.

We are wowed with LG G2’s battery longevity. It’s a phone that’s not just powerful - it’s reliable and it will never fail you with a dead battery on a busy day (at least, it won’t ask you to charge until the evening). Batteries are still one area where we feel a sore need for more and faster, but the LG G2 is a nice peek into the future. Let’s see what 2014 brings!

We measure battery life by running a custom web-script, designed to replicate the power consumption of typical real-life usage. All devices that go through the test have their displays set at 200-nit brightness.

name	hours Higher is better

Sony Xperia Z1	4h 43 min (Poor)
Apple iPhone 5s	5h 2 min (Poor)
Google Nexus 5	4h 50 min (Poor)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3	6h 8 min (Average)
HTC One	5h 45 min (Average)
Samsung Galaxy S4	4h 59 min (Poor)
LG G2	6h 48 min (Average)

View all

Testing method:
As for our battery test, we use a simulation of real-life usage and we run our test at the same 200-nit brightness for all devices. A smartphone nowadays is used for much more than calling and texting, so we had to take this into account. The average smartphone user actually spends most of the time on the web and social media, and you might be surprised that this average Joe of a user actually listens to music and plays games more than he talks! To get a better understanding of that average use, feel free to take a look at the top activities we do on our smartphones.

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PhoneArena battery life test (21 updates)

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View Full specs

PhoneArena Rating:

9.4

Read Full Review

User Rating:

9.2

Based on 101 Reviews

Display 5.2" 1080 x 1920 pixels

Camera 13 MP / 2.1 MP front

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, Quad-core, 2260 MHz

Storage 32 GB

Battery 3000 mAh(21.3h 3G talk time)

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51 Comments

1. Rager722 unregistered

Soon LG won't be the underdogs anymore

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 9:51 AM 18

3. dratomic

Posts: 483; Member since: Oct 09, 2013

totally agree with you. next are chinese brands

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:04 AM 6

20. apple4never

Posts: 1064; Member since: May 08, 2013

2014 is gonna be lg's year

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 11:35 AM 12

44. thephonedude

Posts: 60; Member since: Oct 27, 2012

Maybe in 2014, Huawei, ZTE, and possibly other brands like Xiao Mi, Oppo or Meizu, and maybe even Gigabyte would gain some popularity soon!

posted on Dec 31, 2013, 11:47 AM 0

16. DEATHSTROKE9

Posts: 399; Member since: Nov 09, 2013

They lead when it comes to the display. The G2 is a great phone indeed but LG needs to seriously work on their software.

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 11:10 AM 0

26. abdane

Posts: 507; Member since: Oct 07, 2011

Add the HTC One Max, and look who's on top ! ^_^

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 1:25 PM 1

40. kabhijeet.16

Posts: 891; Member since: Dec 05, 2012

I added Xperia c which tops these tests on PA website.. Though its not 1080p display, its still worth mentioning coz it is good..

posted on Dec 31, 2013, 3:10 AM 0

28. LGisgood

Posts: 833; Member since: Jun 23, 2012

MY LG G2 LASTED FOR 9 HOURS & 24 MINUTES STRAIGHT BROWSING WIFI...(ON SCREEN)

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 2:09 PM 4

2. aayupanday

Posts: 582; Member since: Jun 28, 2012

They've finally managed to hit the right spot with the G2. The G3 has to be even better...

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 9:53 AM 8

4. jjackielz

Posts: 10; Member since: Apr 01, 2012

LG G2 FTW..... I love my G2 ^^

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:04 AM 13

5. doubler86

Posts: 320; Member since: Jan 26, 2011

The G2 has great battery life, but I don't trust this test that says the HTC One has a better battery life than the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4. I used the HTC One for a month, I had better battery life with my old Galaxy S3, which wasn't amazing by today's standards. Even on Power Saving Mode the HTC never got as long as I do on a daily basis with the Galaxy S4 now, and definitely no where near the G2.

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:11 AM 2

22. WakaFlakaD

Posts: 576; Member since: Apr 30, 2011

I can answer this from personal experiences. I had the HTC One, iPhone 5 and the GS4. HTC One, I will only have around 35% battery by the time it hits 4pm. iPhone 5 is around the same league as the HTC One. The GS4 scores better, but would hit the 35% around 6:30pm. LG G2 is the phone that I still have well over 40% by the time I sleep around 1am. This battery in this phone seriously gives amazing battery life. Oh add in Galaxy Note 2, its sitting right around that level. PS: I never used the Saving mode on any phones

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 12:20 PM 1

32. Victor.H

Posts: 1064; Member since: May 27, 2011

We replicate this test very strictly with every phone paying attention to minute detail and even keeping the same distance between devices and the wireless router during testing to keep signal strength the same. You have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the results. Now, with this in mind, there are a couple of additional factors that we cannot completely account for. #1. Signal strength - some devices might have stronger signal and draw less battery in the same area. Have you used your HTC One on the same carrier as your other devices? That might be a factor. #2. Brightness settings - we test all devices at 200 nit brightness. That is the level considered pleasing for indoor viewing. HOWEVER, in those same indoor conditions, it's possible that one device sits at 200 nits, while another - at 150 nits. You can imagine that the one that prefers the brighter setting will draw battery faster. Such differences should be minimal, but they could be there. #3. Faulty units - as hard as phone makers try (some try harder), there are faulty units, issues, etc. Feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding our testing method. Hopefully, we've cleared up some of your frustration and uncertainties!

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 3:59 PM 3

47. mkozic

Posts: 3; Member since: Nov 03, 2014

Could you provide the script so I can test my G2, I'm not sure if I'm getting the most of my battery life and I'm considering a replacement?

posted on Nov 03, 2014, 7:55 AM 0

48. WakaFlakaD

Posts: 576; Member since: Apr 30, 2011

Just turn off Wi/Fi, bluetooth, location service and data when you don't use it. If you already did those and still not getting good battery, then you might have a faulty unit. After close to using this a year, I still have great battery life on mine.

posted on Nov 04, 2014, 6:28 AM 0

49. mkozic

Posts: 3; Member since: Nov 03, 2014

Today I got 7.5 hrs screen on time after being 18.5 hrs on battery. 4hrs of whatsapp, 3.5 hrs of web browsing. Only data on (it's always on actually). Have facebook and messenger apps installed and I'm using only 1weather widget. Is this normal?

posted on Nov 04, 2014, 9:45 PM 0

51. WakaFlakaD

Posts: 576; Member since: Apr 30, 2011

I think that's normal. 3.5 web browsing seems quite long haha. Yeah, turn it off when you don't use it. Sometimes, I feel like certain apps will secretly track your location when you have data on, and that will just drains battery

posted on Nov 05, 2014, 9:56 AM 0

6. joshtaylortwo

Posts: 5; Member since: Feb 27, 2012

Why do the battery tests never mention the Razr Maxx? It is in your database, lasting 6Hr 51m. "That’s right, the G2 is the longest lasting top-shelf smartphone we’ve ever tested so far." You mean except for the Razr Maxx? Or is the Razr Maxx not "top-shelf" enough?

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:12 AM 6

7. MobileMac unregistered

I had a Galaxy S3 for a while now and needed to upgrade. I still think it is a great phone. My wife had a Note 2 and now has a Note 3 and both are great for her. For me it came down to an S4 or G2. The one thing I craved the most was battery life. I went with the G2 and I am completely happy with it. I took the G2 and S3 charged them to 100%. Unplugged them over night and the S3 went down to about 88%. The G2 was still at 100% and after I used it for about 15 minutes it remained at 100. THAT my friends is what sold me.

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:26 AM 0

27. theindianguy

Posts: 90; Member since: Sep 30, 2011

Exactly. S3 has horrible standby time. I've had an htc before with a qualcomm chip, and i can definitely say that qualcomm chips have great standby time.

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 1:26 PM 0

8. livyatan

Posts: 867; Member since: Jun 19, 2013

This further strengthens my belief that snapdragon 800 is not at all less efficient than the apple a7. And we will see the final proof of that in the 4.3inch Xperia Z1f with 2300mah battery. People say, yeah the iPhone has good battery endurance despite of only 1550mah, and snapdragon phones need huge battery to keep up..yet stupidly forgetting that 5" screen is actually double the size of the iphone's screen, and android software is more demanding. The galaxy Note 10.1 with snapdragon 800 is drawing around 0.5W less under both medium and maximum load than the iPad Air. On top of that, considering the larger display, more heavy software and 3GB RAM, the snapdragon actually seems to clearly be the more frugal chip.. despite of more powerful GPU (Adreno 330 is about 10% faster than SGX G6430 ), and higher raw CPU power

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:27 AM 3

9. Adrian38

Posts: 142; Member since: Nov 05, 2012

I absolutely LOVE my G2! I've gotten 7 hours and 13 minutes of on screen time with it :D That's pretty close to what my Nexus 7 gets! Haha Insane battery life :)

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:28 AM 2

10. Teja171 unregistered

With the G2, i

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:33 AM 0

25. OpTiMuS_BlAcK

Posts: 418; Member since: May 04, 2012

Wow he seems so speechless.

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 12:56 PM 5

11. hmd74

Posts: 540; Member since: Jan 31, 2013

What's the difference between this battery test and the one in the review?!?

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:37 AM 0

33. Victor.H

Posts: 1064; Member since: May 27, 2011

We're adding a few important additional details, explaining our testing method in depth and giving this more publicity. Apart from that, no differences in the actual results.

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 4:01 PM 0

12. Cha7520

Posts: 222; Member since: Oct 31, 2010

Wait until the LG G3 with a 4,000 mah battery!

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:38 AM 0

13. blazee

Posts: 414; Member since: Jan 02, 2012

Do a test on moto x! I wanna know how it compares ro N5

posted on Dec 30, 2013, 10:49 AM 2

15. Droid_X_Doug

Posts: 5993; Member since: Dec 22, 2010

Do a test on the Droid Maxx. The 3,500 mAh battery is larger than the G2s battery, plus Moto has implemented some energy conservation tricks that should pay dividends as well. Come on PA, update your database. A 2 year old device (RAZR MAXX) is nowhere near as relevant as current products.