iPhone X Battery Life Results Are In: Very Good, But Not Great

You can leave the charger at home if you're taking your new $999 iPhone X out for the day, but Apple's first OLED-screen phone doesn't last quite as long as the competition.

We run every phone we review through the Tom's Guide Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness. In this case, that's 54 percent brightness. For our test, we used T-Mobile's network, just as we did with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. (It's also worth noting that we've found that phones tend to last longer on a charge over this network.)

The iPhone X endured for a very good 10 hours and 49 minutes. That runtime beats the iPhone 8's 9:54, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S8's 10:39. Apple's new flagship also blew away the LG V30, which conked out after just 6:30. Apple says that the iPhone X lasts 2 hours longer than the iPhone 7, which hit 9:03, so it almost lives up to that claim.

The average phone lasts about 9:40, so the iPhone X delivers about an hour more of battery life than the typical handset. But other flagships perform better.

The Google Pixel 2, which also has an OLED display, lasted an epic 12 hours and 9 minutes, making it one of the longest-lasting phones around. Other Android-powered phones outlast the iPhone X as well, including the Galaxy Note 8 (11:11) and the Galaxy S8+ (11:04). Apple's own iPhone 8 Plus delivers longer battery life, too, at 11:16.

MORE: iPhone X Review: Your Biggest Questions Answered

Our battery test isn't necessarily the best barometer for how OLED-screen phones perform, as most websites we surf have a white background. OLED displays use less juice when rendering blacks. But because all of the phones we review undergo the same test under the same conditions, you should feel confident in our results.

The bottom line is that the iPhone X offers very good battery life, but it doesn't crack the top group of long-distance runners.

Credit: Shaun Lucas/Tom's Guide

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbvMrJ6uoZSae6S7zGisrGeZpbWwusRmr2aakanBpr7YZqOinpVhu6bD0mZpb2hmbXupwMyl