Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Battery Review After 2 Months

I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 for almost 6 weeks now, and I think it’s time to talk about the one aspect of the Note 8 that needed a drastic improvement; the battery life.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9’s 4000mAh battery is one of the largest in a Samsung device, it is one of the largest battery among the flagship devices as well. But the large battery doesn’t always translate to long battery life. We also need to keep in mind that this large battery is driving a very powerful device with a high-resolution display.

Before we get into it, you guys might be thinking why it took us so long to write this review. It’s because until some days ago, I didn’t know how I felt about the battery life of the Note 9, but now I think I have an answer.

First Few Days

The first few days with this device were hectic. There were software and app updates going on. I was setting up this phone to my liking, downloading my favorite apps, tinkering around with the settings, enabling face unlock, customizing notifications and other personalization stuff. So, the first few days may not give you the best battery life out of this phone.

How We Tested This Phone

Now, from the day we got the phone, we knew we’ll have to test the battery life on this phone because the battery has been the most talked about feature of the Galaxy Note 9. But how do we do that so that it captures the use case of as many users as we can? I thought about it. And kept on thinking. Some days I forced myself to play PUBG twice or thrice to see how it will fare while gaming. Some days I forced myself to stream music on Spotify even though my earphones were hanging against my neck. During these ‘testing days’ I found myself divided on the battery prowess of the Note 9. It felt truly amazing some days, but some days it was just like meh.

But, as I progressed with my testing noting the battery loss while playing PUBG (13% on cellular network, 10% on wifi for full stretched games) or streaming songs on Spotify (about 7% for 1 and half hours of use, truly impressive), I realized that this is not how normal people use their phones. They don’t force themselves to use a certain app just to test their phone’s battery life. They use their phone the way they want, and the battery life is the outcome of that usage. This epiphany came a little late. Since then I have been using this phone just the way I would use any phone without thinking that I need to test the battery of this phone. And finally, I have a single answer for the battery life of the Galaxy Note 9.

Tell Us Already, How Was The Battery Life?

After I vowed to use this phone the way I want without thinking about testing it or anything, I have come to appreciate the battery life on this phone. It is truly stellar.

This phone easily lasts from 7:00 in the morning to 11:00 at night. One day, when I didn’t play a single PUBG game at all but spent a lot of time on YouTube, streaming Spotify on Ncell’s 4G network, capturing photos, and recording videos that I won’t see after I took them (you can see the time spent on each activity in the screenshot below), I rested my phone with about 26% charge left.

The next day, I played 4 PUBG games, maybe some Asphalt too. I got 28^th, 6^th, 21^st, and 8^th position on those games. I watched a ton of YouTube, took some more photos, and took my battery all the way up to 1%. But the phone still lasted me a full day of use. What sorcery was that? I don’t know.

The only thing I know is that the battery life on the Note 9 is amazing. It won’t last me more than a day. But, it will last me a day consistently. All this was with the always on display on, and with apps like LastPass, twilight, and Datally running on the background.

Final Thoughts

Note 9 truly has an amazing battery life. I am reminded of this time and time again. Take this one day for example. I arrived at a concert with 45% battery left. While most phones won’t be able to handle the continuous photo and video shoots for 2 and half hours on 45% battery, my Note 9 handled the night time photography and videography like champ together with 4 minutes of live streaming on Facebook over Ncell’s 4G network. I left the concert with about 17% battery life remaining on my phone. I didn’t think much of it on that day. But today, as I write this review, I realize how fantastic that was.

Don’t get me wrong though. Not everything is rainbow and sunshine here. There are still some issues that Samsung needs to fix. Like the standby time. On nights when I don’t charge my phone overnight, I consistently lose about 17% battery life. When, one night, I put my phone in airplane mode, I just lost 2%. And when, one night, I just turned off my wi-fi, I lost about 7%. So, yeah, the standby time of this phone is nowhere comparable to iPhones. But you won’t notice it when using the phone in the day because when I just used my phone to check social media, watch one or two youtube videos, I can live through a work day by spending only 20% charge.

To conclude, if you had a Note device in the past and were appalled by the poor battery life on those phones then I would like to tell you that Note 9 is bucking this trend. Its strong battery life finally makes it the best all-around powerful phone your money can buy.