The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Smartphones that provide unbeatable battery life
Two Motorola brands top list. But note, these battery savers do have other issues.
Generally speaking, with moderate use, smartphones can give you a full day’s performance before needing to be recharged, but not all gadgets are created equal — some simply run out of steam early, whereas others will hang in there for the long haul. We’ve rounded up several smartphones with battery life that really impressed us.
Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD (Verizon)
CNET rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)
The good: The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD (Verizon) offers fast performance, a big, impressive screen and luxurious design. It also has great call quality, lots of storage, 4G data speeds and unbeatable battery life.
The bad: The Droid Razr Maxx HD’s major weakness is a camera that produces subpar images. The phone is filled with Verizon bloatware as well.
The cost: $199.99 to $701.99
The bottom line: Motorola’s fast, stylish Droid Razr Maxx HD offers outstanding battery life, but its camera captures unimpressive images.
Motorola Droid Razr HD (Verizon)
CNET rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)
The good: The Motorola Droid Razr HD offers fast performance, a big, impressive screen and luxurious design. It also has great call quality and satisfying 4G speeds.
The bad: The Droid Razr HD’s Achilles’ heel is a camera that produces subpar images. The phone is loaded with Verizon bloatware, too.
The cost: $149.99 to $199.99
The bottom line: Motorola’s lovely new Droid Razr HD is fast and thin, but its weak camera should make mobile shutterbugs wary.
Sony Xperia Ion (AT&T)
CNET rating: 3 stars out of 5 (Good)
The good: The affordable Sony Xperia Ion has solid call quality and swift 4G LTE that ties into Sony’s vast entertainment empire.
The bad: The Xperia Ion’s claimed 12MP camera gives lackluster images and video. The phone was originally also held back by an old processor and an outdated OS, though an Ice Cream Sandwich is now available.
The cost: can go as high as $449.99
The bottom line: Sony’s Xperia Ion may not be the world’s fastest smartphone, but it does have solid battery life. The handset hung on for seven hours and 57 minutes before expiring.
Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE (Sprint)
CNET rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)
The good: The Motoro-
The bottom line: The Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE is hefty, but packs modern Android power, an excellent keyboard and LTE 4G if you’re lucky.