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Smartphones with long-lasting batteries

Posted at 5:06 PM, May 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-18 17:06:08-04

It’s happened to all of us at some point: You’re nowhere near an electrical outlet or you don’t have a charger, and you get a low-battery warning on your phone. Consumer Reports has recently tested 50 smartphones and finds their battery-life ranges from less than 8 hours to more than 24 hours.

Here in order are the phones with the longest-lasting batteries.

1. Motorola Droid Turbo

2. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

3. Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

4. Samsung Galaxy S7

5. Droid Turbo 2.

Those all also have rapid charging, which can bring a dying battery to 30 to 60 percent in 30 minutes.

You’ll notice that none of the iPhones make the list. Consumer Reports says that, although the latest iPhones do well in their battery tests, these other phones last longer.

Even if you don’t have a phone with a long-lasting battery, there are lots of ways for you to get more juice out of the phone you already have.

  • Set your screen brightness to “auto” so it can adjust to indoor and outdoor lighting, or lower it when you can. You can also set the screen to go to sleep after

15 or 30 seconds of inactivity.

  • Another tip: If you find yourself in an area where there’s no signal, put your phone in airplane mode. That disables all wireless connections, calls, texts, emails.
  • Many newer phones also offer a power-saving or low power mode if you’re running really low.

Complete Ratings and recommendations on all kinds of products, including appliances, cars & trucks, and electronic gear, are available on Consumer Reports’ website.