Best Smartphone 2014: Sony Xperia Z3 has Longest Battery Life

The battle among today's smartphones in terms of the longest battery life is over and Sony's flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z3, is the hands down winner.

With a remarkable battery life of nine hours and 29 minutes, Sony Xperia Z3 bested the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 which came in at a close second with nine hours and three minutes. The Samsung Galaxy S5, which clocked seven hours and 38 minutes of battery life, was at third place, reported Yahoo! News Philippines.

Apple's new iPhone 6 managed just five hours and 22 minutes of battery life under the same conditions, putting it in ninth place, just above the iPhone 5S with five hours and two minutes of battery endurance.

Notably, the iPhone 6 Plus, despite its bigger screen, logged in six hours and 32 minutes, making it the fifth best performing smartphone in battery life, next to HTC One M8 with seven hours and 12 minutes of battery longevity.

In conducting the custom battery life test for smartphones, Phone Arena used a web script that replicated real-life smartphone usage, including constantly checking alerts, opening and closing apps, browsing and watching video clips. Smartphones that were put through the test managed four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half hours on a single charge. Therefore, anything above seven hours is deemed excellent in performance.

Phone Arena said that the iPhone 6 battery life score is underwhelming, compared to its competitors from the Android camp. Although most of its Android competitors are not as thin, which still gives it the advantage for smartphone users.

Following the test, Phone Arena concludes that "The latest iPhones, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, have a very specific and undeniable weakness when compared with what competitors offer, and that weakness is battery life."

Yahoo! News Philippines also mentioned of the IDC survey conducted in May among 50,000 smartphone users globally, which found out that battery life is the number one driver when it comes to picking a new smartphone. The next two factors are ease of use and operating system.

While battery life improvements are being made by manufacturers with each model of smartphone handsets, it cannot be denied that the amount of time consumers spend using their smartphones every day are likewise increasing.

Three years ago, US smartphone owners spent 18 hours and 18 minutes a month on average using apps on their handsets as studied by Nielsen. Today, Nielsen's latest data shows that the usage figure has increased by almost two-fold as Americans now spend an average of 30 hours and 15 minutes a month just using apps. The current total time still exclude browsing, text messaging, taking photos, or making voice calls.