Our full review of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is live, and both phones shine in terms of display quality, design and performance. But what about endurance? We have good news there, too.
The Galaxy S8+ has a 3,500 mAh battery, which is actually a bit smaller than the 3,600 mAh battery in the Galaxy S7 Edge. And the S8 features a 3,000 mAh battery, which is the same capacity as the regular Galaxy S7. But how long will these new batteries actually last? The results from our testing are pretty impressive.
Galaxy S8 and S8+ Battery Life vs Competition
| Phone | Battery Life (hrs:mins) |
| Google Pixel XL | 11:11 |
| Galaxy S8+ | 11:04 |
| Galaxy S8 | 10:39 |
| iPhone 7 Plus | 10:38 |
| Galaxy S7 Edge | 10:09 |
| iPhone 7 | 9:03 |
| Galaxy S7 | 8:43 |
| LG G6 | 8:39 |
| Google Pixel | 8:16 |
| Category Average | 9:13 |
Let's start with the S8. That phone lasted an impressive 10 hours and 39 minutes in the Tom's Guide Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing over 4G. The S7 lasted a much shorter 8:43 on the same test. That's nearly a 2-hour improvement over last year's Samsung flagship.
MORE: Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy S8+: Which Phone Should You Get?
The S8+ endured for 11 hours and 4 minutes, which is about an hour better than than S7 Edge (10:09). The Galaxy S8+ doesn't quite crack our list of the longest-lasting smartphones, but it only misses out on cracking the top 10 by 7 minutes.
It's important to note that we tested the S8 and S8+ on T-Mobile's network and the S7 and S7 Edge on Verizon's network, which can have an impact on endurance. We will revisit our results once we test Samsung's new flagship on every U.S. carrier.
To put these battery life numbers in perspective, the Google Pixel lasted just 8:16 on our test, while the Pixel XL turned in an excellent runtime of 11:11. The iPhone 7 hit 9:03, and the iPhone 7 Plus notched 10:35. The LG G6 turned in a mediocre 8:39. The average smartphone lasts a little longer than 9 hours, based on our testing.
Battery life is just one factor to consider when buying a phone, but when you take into consideration the S8's superior display, improved cameras and beastly performance, it's easy to see why it's our top smartphone pick.
