HTC 10 battery life review

To say that Taiwanese manufacturer HTC has had a tough couple of years would be an understatement as the once-titan of Android has failed to capture the heights of old with its last few attempts at a flagship. That being said, every company deserves a second chance and after a year on the sidelines, HTChas made a big return with the HTC10.

In our HTC 10 review, Josh said that “it might not be a perfect 10, but the HTC10 just might be the comeback we’ve been waiting for from HTC” and with a premium flagship specs list that includes a 3000 mAh battery, the HTC10 could be the handset that helps address HTC’s decline.

• HTC 10 Review
• HTC 10 Ice View case & Hi-Res earphones review
• An evening out with the HTC10: camera impressions
• HTC 10 vs One M9 hands-on

Josh found that the HTC10 battery offers 3 to 4 hours of screen on time on average but what do the numbers say? And how does HTC’s flagship stack up to the flagships of Google, Samsung and LG? Let’s find out in this HTC10 battery life review.

Wi-Fi browsing test

To kick off our testing, we charged each smartphone to full, removed the charger and ran our custom WiFi browsing test tool at full brightness until the battery drained to 0. We then recharged the phone, and recorded the screen-on time recorded by the Android OS. During the testing, each handset was placed 3 meters from the WiFi router it was connected to and syncing of accounts and data had been switched off.

In this test, the HTC10 scores a rather modest average battery life of 6 hours and 46 minutes, which is on par with the Exynos-powered Galaxy S7 (6 hours and 48 minutes) and slightly higher than the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S7 (6 hours and 30 minutes). It’s considerably better than the 5 hours and 34 minutes offered by the LG G5’s slightly smaller battery but does pale in comparison to the larger battery of the Galaxy S7 Edge, which lasts 8 hours and 13 minutes on average.

Video playback test

From Wi-Fi browsing to video playback and again, we tested from full to empty. Looping the same 5-minute video over and over on each of these handsets, we ran the test at 50% brightness and then recharged the phone to get the screen on time listed by the Android OS. During the test, each device was put in airplane mode to prevent any syncing or connections preventing the video from playing.

In this test, the HTC10 proves to be somewhat disappointing with an average battery life of 9 hours and 47 minutes. This is better than the Nexus 6P, which scores a lowly 6 hours and 57 minutes despite having a larger battery but is lower than the LG G5 (10 hours and 2 minutes), Galaxy S7 (15 hours and 11 minutes) and the Galaxy S7 Edge (17 hours and 42 minutes). Interestingly, it’s also lower than the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S7, which ranks highest of the Snapdragon 820 phones, with a score of 11 hours and 52 minutes.

Standby test

Our third and final test involves testing the longevity of each handset, as an indicator of the maximum standby life. Each smartphone was charged to full and Wi-Fi was turned on with the same set of apps syncing data and notifications (11 apps in total). After exactly 24 hours, the remaining battery life was measured and this data used to extrapolate the total potential battery life.

The HTC10 was actually quite disappointing here, as we honestly expected a longer standby time from HTC’s flagship. Its score of 7 days 18 hours ranks lower than all the other phones, with the Nexus 6P scoring 9 days and 2 hours; the LG G5 reaching 9 days and 4 hours; and Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge scoring 10 days 2 hours and 11 days 6 hours respectively.

My personal experiences

Testing under these conditions isn’t always indicative of day-to-day usage, where variables such as network coverage, usage of other apps and more, can all impact the actual battery life offered by a smartphone. To this effect, does the actual battery life live up to its billing above or does it fall short?

[related_videos align=”left” type=”custom” videos=”687622,686764,686286,686278″]As Josh discovered in our HTC10 review, the battery offers 4-5 hours of screen-on time on average and in my personal usage, I would say it’s around this figure. Actual battery life does vary wildly and sometimes HTC’s own additions can hinder the battery life: an example of why the video playback time may be lower than other devices is that BoomSound kicks in when playing media in any app and this – naturally – does have an effect on battery life.

That being said, the HTC10 battery life is definitely better than HTC’s recent flagships and for most people, you’ll get through a full day’s usage. If you’re a heavy user and spend a lot of time on the move, you might want to carry a portable charger, but otherwise, the battery should see you through the day.

Wrap up

There’s no doubt that HTChave struggled in previous years but this struggle may have actually come at the perfect time for the company; rather than introduce new phones that repeat old mistakes, the HTC10 offers the company the opportunity to start again from the ground up and for the most part, they’ve certainly done this with the battery life.

It’s not as good as the battery on some of the competition but definitely up there with what you could realistically expect from a modern day flagship. With software optimisations, the battery life could yet improve and as the youngest device out of all the ones featured, there’s plenty of time for HTCto deliver further improvements.

Do you have a HTC10 and if so, what do you think of the battery life? How long does it last for you? Let us know your views in the comments below guys!