How much battery drain is normal in a phone? Explained

How much battery drain is normal in a phone? And be it android phone, the iPhone or even a feature phone.

The answer to to this question varies from the phone you’re using and also the user itself. However, I’ve explained in details how battery drain goes per each smartphone user.

How much battery drain is normal in a phone? 

A normal battery drain should be 3% per 15 minutes though it depends on the capacity of the battery, the battery life and also battery optimization on the mobile phone. 

Battery optimization is very essential and this is where iphone defeats android phone. I have used iPhone 11 pro max and the Samsung galaxy S10 plus which has a larger battery capacity than the iPhone 11 pro max.

But I tell you the iPhone 11 pro max last long er than the Samsung Galaxy S10 plus and this is down to battery optimization and the battery life. 

Looking at the question once again, how much battery drain is normal in a smartphone, I will say there’s no definite answer to it but rather factors that effect a phone battery.

For example, my phone battery drains just 5% in an hour, while you reading this post, yours drains 15% pee hour.

That’s why I say it differs from the user and also the battery capacity. You’ll see two persons that are using the same phone or 5000mAh battery capacity, person A battery last for two days before it gets charged, while person B battery last for just 16 hrs before it gets charged again.

The same phone of 5000mAh battery capacity lasting differently for two users. In this case you’ll say that person B is a phone addict and the battery usage is very abnormal as a 5000mAh battery capacity last only 16 hrs.

Before going into the question on how much battery drain is normal, let explain the major factors that affect the battery life of a smartphone.

1. The Battery Capacity

To be able to answer the question on how much battery drain is normal in a phone, I’m starting with a phone capacity.

Battery capacity plays a major role in a smartphone, the bigger it is, the longer it last for a user. The smaller it is, the shorter it last for a user as well and this is why some people preference while buying a new phone is the battery capacity and life.

If I’m to answer the question on how much battery drain is normal, then that will be based on each battery capacity and life.

Right now many smartphones released from 2019 and upward has a battery life of at least 3500mAh except for the Iphones, which is good based on what smartphones are been used for.

Now back to the topic how much battery drain is normal.

Smartphone with 3500mAh battery capacity:

Users with this battery size should expect their battery to last for just a day under light use or 15 hrs under a heavy use like browsing, chatting and gaming.

If your phone with 3500mAh battery capacity goes from 100% to 60% under one hour with just using the internet like browsing, chatting, etc, that’s isn’t normal and you should check if there’s other things eating up your battery.

In the case of gaming, it is pretty much normal based on my experience with my samsung galaxy s9 plus. Playing games drains the battery faster especially if it is an online game cause the phone gets heated up and this in turn drains the battery faster.

Smartphone with 4000mAh battery capacity:

If you’re a phone addict, this is the minimum phone battery you should have, 4000mAh battery capacity.

Looking at the question on how much battery drain is normal based on this category, I will say minus 20% under 4 hrs of usage except you’re playing an online game.

A smartphone with a battery capacity of 4000mAh can last for two days under light use or for a full day under heavy usage like browsing the internet, chatting or listening to music.

Having played pubg on the Samsung Galaxy S10 plus, I can say that I was really surprised as to how the battery drained from 95% to 47% under five and half hours. This is to tell you how much battery drains while playing online game.

Smartphone with 4500mAh battery capacity:

4500mAh battery capacity is very large and best if your phone is well optimized. I did a test on the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE and OnePlus 8T plus which both android phones has a battery capacity of 4500mAh.

I browsed on both phones for one hour, and was surprised that their battery draining differed, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE dropped from 100% to 83%, while the OnePlus 8T plus dropped from 100% to 87%.

I also played pubg on both android phones and the result was different. The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE heated up faster and drained quicker compared to the OnePlus 8T plus. The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE dropped from 100% to 67% under three hours of playing the game, while the OnePlus 8T plus dropped from 100% to 71%.

This now made me to believe that the OnePlus 8T plus is more battery optimized than the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. This is why I said answering the question on how much battery drain is normal differs from phone to phone.

Smartphone with 5000mAh battery capacity:

When it comes to buying a smartphone with the best battery life, 5000mAh battery capacity should be on the list even though everything goes down to battery optimization.

I’m a fan of Samsung phones starting from my very first and which is the Samsung Galaxy s2. Previously I never trust Samsung phones in terms of good battery but the case is different now.

Recently, I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and was wowed at the battery life. It is simply awesome and the battery optimization is a fantastic one. On average use, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra last for two and half days though I don’t make use of the 5G network.

On heavy usage which includes gaming, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra lasted for a full day and this which I haven’t seen before though it is my first time of using a 5000mAh battery capacity smartphone.

So what I’m trying to explain is that battery capacity and optimization plays a major role in a phone battery, and there’s no way you’ll expect a phone with 3500mAh capacity to last longer than a phone with 5000mAh battery capacity.

This answers the question on how much battery drain is normal in a phone.

2. The Phone Display

how much battery drain is normal

When talking about smartphone optimization, the display is among them. Phone display is another factor that affects a smartphone, and the larger the screen is, the quicker the battery draining.

Not only the screen size, but also the screen resolution and that is why high end smartphones with bigger screen do have bigger battery capacity to support it.

That’s the truth, you can’t expect a screen of 6.7 inches display having a better capacity of 3500mAh, that’s a lot awful.

In this case, asking how much battery drain is normal also differs from the size of display, the bigger your screen, the quicker your battery will drain but thanks to large battery capacity you won’t notice it.

In a phone display, one major thing that drains the battery is the screen brightness, leaving your phone to a high brightness will drain your phone battery quicker. For me, i set my phone brightness to 30% or a maximum of 35% and this really saves phone battery life and lifespan.

Screen display determines how much battery drain is normal in a smartphone. The bigger the screen, the quicker the battery will drain, and the higher the screen brightness the quicker the battery will drain faster.

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3. Apps 

Mobile apps also determines how much battery drain is normal, especially active apps or apps running in the background. There are mobile apps that drains battery faster than others, especially apps that makes use of internet connection.

Some of the apps includes GPS apps, Facebook app, launcher app, email app, online shopping app, browser app, weather app, etc.

On android phone, I noticed that GPS app or the Google map app drains battery faster than any other GPS app for android. Anytime I leave my GPS on, I noticed that my phone battery drains bit faster than when it is off, and this includes launcher app and weather app.

Here comes the app that drains battery faster and quicker;

The online game app.

Generally, offline games drains the battery but not as online games. If you’re the type that loves gaming on your smartphone, you can testify to this. Because of the fact that online games makes use of the internet, they heat up the phone pretty much easily compared to offline games.

Now we have the 5G network, that’s even the worst cause tends to get extremely hot while playing games and you may even think it will blow up.

To answer the question on how much battery drain is normal based on this factor, it all depends on the user. Not all smartphone users play games on their phones, use the GPS or maps or even use the Facebook.

What I’m trying to tell that if your phone battery drains faster than it used to be, try limit the number of apps that runs in the background and please avoid system apps. Again turn off GPS and maps when not in use and always put apps to sleep or hibernate them.

By doing so helps your phone battery lifespan and prevent the battery from draining.

How much battery drain is normal.

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4. The Phone Chipset

I can’t be talking about how much battery drain is normal without mentioning the phone chipset. It matters a lot but most smartphone users don’t know about this at all.

All these high phone chipset drains the battery compared to the average ones. Take for example, the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ performance exceptionally well as it is lot faster than any other chipset out there.

However, this comes at the expense of the phone battery.

The battery drains quicker cause all the entire work of the chipset like performance, speed, task, etc goes down to the phone battery.

This is why you’ll see two different smartphones with the same battery capacity, one do last longer than the other.

You may think it is because of the usage, but it may not be the case but probably down to the phone chipset and this also include the Huawei Kirin chipset.

In trying to figure out how much battery drain is normal, you have to put your phone chipset into consideration.

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5. The Network Connection

One of the major factor that affects a smartphone battery as we’ll make use of the internet. Right now we have the 5G connectivity, it lot faster and sweeter, but the truth is, it drains the battery faster especially if you’re downloading.

The worst is playing an online game using the 5G network, internet will be flawless but the battery suffers a lot. Using a 4G network is the same but not as using a 5G network.

So while trying to figure out how much battery drain is normal for your smartphone, you should put network connectivity into the list.

These are the factors you need to check in order to know how much battery drain is normal for your smartphone, however, there are two major things remaining.

They are;

  • The user usage
  • The phone battery itself

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6. The phone Usage

how much battery drain is normal

This aspect matters a lot as we’re focused on how much battery drain is normal for my phone, the phone usage.

Take for example, person A and B has the Samsung Galaxy s20 ultra which has a battery capacity of 5000mAh. Person A has 100 apps installed which includes and widgets, while person B has only 50 apps installed on his phone.

Person A uses his phone at least 17 hrs in a day only allowing it rest during sleeping hour, while person B uses his phone for a maximum of 10 hrs in day.

Now looking at this example, both of them have the same but their phone usage differs. Definitely, battery will last longer for person B cause of the number of hours he makes use of his phone than the person A who only allow the phone to rest during sleep time.

In this case, I can’t just say because I have the Samsung Galaxy s20 ultra and it last for three days for me, so therefore your own Samsung Galaxy s20 ultra will definitely last for three days for you.

Or maybe because my Samsung Galaxy S20 ultra drains 10% within an hour so therefore yours will also drain 10% within an hour.

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That’s very wrong and that is why I said one can’t just answer this question on how much battery drain is normal for a phone because of many factors and the phone usage is among them.

About Kennedy

I'm Amaechi Uchenna by name, a mobile tech enthusiast who love writing articles about tips and tutorials especially relating to gadgets.

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