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Pixel 6, Samsung S21, & iPhone 12: Which one has the Best Battery Life

June 27, 2021

It seems that smartphones have become the main source of entertainment for everybody. And it is completely reasonable why – they are portable, powerful, you can watch movies, TV series, play games, gamble, surf the internet, spend time on social networks, etc. One can spend a whole day with a phone in their hands and not feel bored for one second.

While smartphones are becoming more and more powerful (better than some PCs), one problem still remains – the battery life. The latest models share the same principle – around 10 hours of normal use and one charging per day. After 2 or 3 years, this potential starts to decline and the battery will last less and less.

For those who love or need to use their phones every day for hours, battery life is as important as anything else. That's why we are comparing the two already existing flagships – Samsung's S21 and Apple's iPhone 12, and in addition will comment on the newest hot thing – the upcoming Pixel 6 by Google.

Pixel 6, Samsung S21, & iPhone 12: Which one has the Best Battery Life

Samsung S21

Battery and charging details:

  • 4000 mAh capacity
  • 25W wired charging
  • 15W wireless charging
  • 5W reverse wireless charging

You won't have any problems with performance in everyday tasks or even demanding gaming sessions. This machine does everything smoothly and quickly, without any unpleasant overheating. Some are convinced that the battery on this model is bad and offers poor autonomy. My experiences are not like that.

It is true that people today spend too much time staring at their phones and that they never have enough battery life. For those who use the phone within normal dozes, the Galaxy S21 will satisfy without any problems.

The problem is the 120 Hz screen refresh rate that will drain the life out of the battery if used too much. Again, with normal use, you will charge it once a day.

There is no charger in the package, but it supports 25W wired and 15W wireless charging as well as reversible charging of other devices on its back. I used a 25W Cellularline charger for Samsung with great results. In half an hour it is at just over 60%, and for up to 100% of its 4000 mAh, it takes about 70 minutes.

iPhone 12

Battery and charging details:

  • 2815 mAh capacity
  • 20W wired charging
  • 15W MagSafe wireless charging
  • 5W Qi wireless charging

The battery capacity looks ridiculous on paper compared to the devices from the Android camp. Be that as it may, Apple’s chipset provides more power with lower specs, and I had no problems with autonomy. A full day of use typically with over 6 hours should not be a problem.

What can make problems is gaming. As the phone is thin and has a powerful screen, gaming will start overheating the phone and draining the battery juice very fast. Constant gaming could lead to permanent battery damage. But for the regular use – it is more than enough.

What about chargers?

It supports 20W wired and up to 15W wireless charging. The fact that there are no chargers in the package is a major nuisance but we can expect that trend from other companies soon enough. We have already seen that Samsung did the same.

iStyle offers a very good 18W replacement charger, which charges up to some 40% in half an hour, and up to 100% takes about an hour and 15 minutes, which is not a bad result. This new MagSafe charger is also cool, but unfortunately, I couldn't try it. You can also charge wirelessly on any Qi charger, but at a maximum of 7.5W.

Google Pixel 6

As the Pixel 6 has not yet come out, we can’t tell for sure how well its battery will perform. What we can do is speculate on current information and (hopefully) predict spot-on.

The Pixel 5, and all previous Pixel models, have somewhat struggled to perform on the highest level, at least in terms of battery. For example, the latest model (Pixel 5) could use one full battery for around 9 to 10 hours of normal use, which is not a lot. What it does have though is the Adaptive Battery – a feature that reduces screen refresh rate and optimizes high-intensity apps. It had a 4,000 mAh capacity.

The latest leaks inform that the Pixel 6 will have a battery of 4,500 mAh capacity, which is a huge upgrade from the predecessor. But…

Pixel 6 is expected to be a full flagship phone, with a 120 Hz screen and a completely new chipset. The screen refresh rate will definitely drain the battery juice faster, and its 2K screen resolution does not help the case. Be that as it may, the new chipset might optimize this usage and make it more energy-efficient.

In short, with a more powerful battery and new specs, we expect Pixel 6 to perform much better than Pixel 5.

The winner

Between the already existing Samsung S21 and iPhone 12, the race is really tight. They offer the same amount of hours of screen time but S21’s screen is bigger, so we will give the advantage to it.

Now, even though the Pixel 6 will have a much better capacity, it will have much better specs as well, especially the screen. But, in combination with its new chipset, we can expect fantastic results nevertheless. Time will tell but we expect Pixel 6 to have better battery life than S21 and iPhone 12.

Final words

While the performance of the upcoming Pixel 6 remains to be seen, there are already a few gadgets and accessories available for this model that aim to improve its performance even further.

One model that came across our eyes, and which will specifically benefit people who dream of long battery life, is the smart case from i-Blades. Why is it good? The case serves as phone protection, provides 20 hours of additional battery life (wireless charging when on), more storage space (16 or 128GB), and adds more amazing features as well. Combine this with your Pixel 6 and you will have arguably the best phone out there.

We can’t wait to see Pixel 6 come out!