It is often times hard to escape from the shadow of your sibling - this is especially true for a lot of budget-friendly handsets nowadays that are specifically intended to be a more-affordable substitute for their bigger brothers. The Huawei G8 that we recently reviewed finds itself in precisely this position. It is hard not to compare it to the Mate S and the G8 doesn't have too many arguments there.
But, although the G8 is objectively inferior to the Mate S in almost every way, there is still one department where the budget-friendly model managed to best its flagship counterpart and that is battery life.
The Huawei G8 makes much better use of its 3000 mAh battery pack than the Mate S manages with its 2700 mAh one. The G8's slightly thicker body might not be to everybody's liking, but it did allow for that extra 300 mAh to be fitted and definitely contributed towards there respectable 70 hours endurance rating that it scored.
Seeing how the G8 is a dual-SIM device, you can also get 69 hours with a pair of network connections and 71 hours with only one, which is an impressive 9 to 11 hours more than the Mate S. It is also worth noting that the Mate S also has the benefit of a more power-efficient AMOLED panel, which means that the bulk of the superior battery performance can be attributed to a more efficient chipset (the Snapdragon 615 in this case) and also better power management.
Breaking the score down to its components, we find an impressive talk time of almost 28 hours. That is probably the one aspect in which the G8 treads in true flagship territory better than its high-end sibling – the Mate S. It is a huge difference between the two - and it might be a big deal if you still tend to use your phone to talk more than anything else. However, there is note to be made here - sadly, the G8 exhibited rather pool sound quality during our call test.
Talk time
Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 LTE 46:44h
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro 33:20h
Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G 33:19h
Oppo R7 Plus 30:46h
OnePlus 2 30:29h
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ 30:29h
Motorola DROID Turbo 30:09h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE 29:46h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL 29:46h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL Dual SIM 29:46h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE Dual SIM 29:46h
Nokia Lumia 1520 28:34h
Samsung Galaxy Note5 28:34h
HTC One (M8) for Windows 28:34h
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 28:31h
Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet LTE 28:25h
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact 28:23h
Huawei G8 27:44h
Huawei G8 27:44h
Samsung Galaxy S5 27:37h
Sony Xperia Z1 26:53h
Samsung Galaxy S6 active 26:29h
Motorola Moto X Play 26:28h
Samsung P6800 Galaxy Tab 7.7 25:45h
LG G3 25:38h
LG G Pro 2 25:37h
LG G Flex 25:19h
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra 25:16h
LG G2 25:15h
Samsung Galaxy A7 25:12h
Samsung Galaxy A7 Duos 25:12h
Huawei Ascend Mate 25:12h
BlackBerry Passport 25:12h
Motorola Nexus 6 25:03h
Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos 25:02h
Alcatel Hero 25:02h
Samsung Galaxy A8 25:02h
Oppo N1 25:01h
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo 24:52h
Sony Xperia Z Ultra 24:23h
Oppo R7s 24:03h
Apple iPhone 6 Plus 23:49h
LG AKA 23:20h
Sony Xperia Z3 23:13h
Meizu PRO 5 23:10h
Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE Dual SIM 23:09h
Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE 23:09h
Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual SIM 23:09h
Oppo R7 22:58h
Samsung P6200 Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus 22:42h
Motorola Moto E (2nd gen) 22:36h
Motorola Moto X Style 22:23h
ZTE Nubia Z9 22:20h
Huawei MediaPad 7 Vogue 22:16h
Nokia Lumia 1020 22:13h
HTC One Max 22:13h
Samsung Galaxy Core LTE 22:13h
Nokia Lumia 1320 22:13h
Sony Xperia Z2 22:13h
Lenovo ZUK Z1 22:13h
Sony Xperia C3 Dual 22:11h
Yota YotaPhone 2 22:09h
Meizu MX4 Pro 22:09h
Samsung ATIV SE 22:05h
Xiaomi Redmi Note 21:41h
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 21:39h
Motorola RAZR MAXX 21:18h
Xiaomi Mi 4i 21:02h
Meizu m2 note 20:55h
LG Optimus G Pro E985 20:45h
HTC One M9 20:44h
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 20:42h
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium 20:27h
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 20:24h
Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL 20:22h
Motorola RAZR i XT890 20:07h
Huawei Ascend Mate7 20:06h
Samsung Galaxy A3 20:04h
Samsung Galaxy A3 Duos 20:04h
Samsung Galaxy E7 20:04h
Oppo Find 7 20:03h
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active 20:01h
BlackBerry Q10 20:00h
OnePlus One 19:56h
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 19:55h
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 I9200 19:54h
Sony Xperia SP 19:49h
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 19:48h
Sony Xperia T3 19:48h
Samsung Galaxy S6 19:48h
HTC Butterfly 2 19:23h
HTC Butterfly S 19:14h
HTC Desire Eye 19:11h
Oppo R819 19:03h
Asus PadFone X 18:45h
Samsung Galaxy J7 18:37h
Xiaomi Mi 4c 18:31h
Huawei P8lite ALE-L04 18:25h
Xiaomi Mi 4 18:15h
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 18:12h
Oppo Find 7a 18:11h
Moving on to web browsing and video playback, the G8 managed pretty good scores too. With a web browsing score of 10:00 hours and a video playback one of 10:20 hours, the smartphone isn't topping the charts but it's still doing great for itself.
Web browsing
Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G 16:41h
Sony Xperia E4 16:40h
Samsung Galaxy S6 active 16:25h
Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet LTE 15:05h
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 14:52h
Sony Xperia Z5 14:35h
Meizu MX4 14:06h
Huawei Ascend Mate7 13:53h
Huawei P8 13:32h
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 13:14h
HTC Butterfly 2 13:11h
Meizu m1 note 13:05h
Huawei Honor 6 12:59h
Meizu PRO 5 12:51h
Sony Xperia C 12:45h
Motorola Moto E (2nd gen) 12:42h
Nokia Lumia 1520 12:40h
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 12:37h
HTC One (M8) for Windows 12:31h
HTC Desire 700 dual sim 12:30h
HTC One (M8) 12:29h
Apple iPhone 6s 12:27h
Samsung Galaxy A8 12:18h
ZTE Nubia Z9 12:18h
Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos 12:18h
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra 12:17h
Sony Xperia Z3 12:03h
Nokia XL 11:54h
Motorola Moto X Play 11:52h
Apple iPhone 6s Plus 11:51h
Sony Xperia Z3+ 11:51h
HTC Desire 816 11:48h
Sony Xperia C3 Dual 11:47h
LG G2 11:42h
Samsung Galaxy A5 Duos 11:36h
Samsung Galaxy A5 11:36h
Meizu m1 metal 11:33h
Sony Xperia Z2 11:32h
Sony Xperia E4g 11:32h
Motorola DROID Turbo 11:31h
Sony Xperia E1 11:30h
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact 11:20h
HTC One Max 11:20h
Sony Xperia ZR 11:20h
HTC Butterfly S 11:07h
Asus PadFone X 11:07h
LG G2 mini 11:02h
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 11:01h
Nokia Lumia 1320 10:58h
Samsung Galaxy S6 10:56h
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 10:56h
HTC Desire 510 10:53h
Microsoft Lumia 532 10:52h
Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM 10:52h
Motorola Moto G 4G 10:52h
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL 10:50h
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM 10:50h
Lenovo ZUK Z1 10:46h
Samsung Galaxy Note5 10:43h
Oppo R7 Plus 10:39h
Huawei Honor 7 10:38h
LG AKA 10:38h
Nokia Lumia 830 10:36h
Apple iPhone 6 10:29h
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ 10:25h
Meizu MX4 Pro 10:24h
Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual SIM 10:23h
Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE 10:23h
Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE Dual SIM 10:23h
Nokia Lumia 630 10:18h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE 10:14h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL 10:14h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL Dual SIM 10:14h
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE Dual SIM 10:14h
BlackBerry Passport 10:12h
BlackBerry Q5 10:04h
HTC Desire Eye 10:02h
HTC One (E8) 10:02h
Nokia Lumia 635 10:00h
Huawei G8 10:00h
Huawei G8 10:00h
HTC One 9:58h
Apple iPhone 5s 9:58h
Apple iPhone 5 9:56h
Meizu m2 note 9:54h
Samsung Ativ Odyssey I930 9:54h
Sony Xperia M2 9:48h
Sony Xperia E3 9:48h
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini 9:47h
OnePlus One 9:46h
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo 9:43h
Huawei Mate S 9:43h
Alcatel Hero 9:40h
Samsung Galaxy S5 9:39h
Samsung Galaxy Core LTE 9:37h
vivo X5Pro 9:34h
Xiaomi Mi 4c 9:32h
LG G Pro 2 9:31h
Xiaomi Mi 4 9:31h
LG G Flex 9:31h
Samsung Galaxy A7 Duos 9:30h
Video playback
LG G Flex 19:57h
Oppo R7 Plus 18:04h
Samsung Galaxy S6 active 18:03h
Meizu PRO 5 18:02h
Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G 18:01h
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 17:52h
Motorola RAZR MAXX 16:35h
Samsung Galaxy J7 16:22h
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 15:03h
Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet LTE 14:58h
Samsung Galaxy E7 14:57h
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 14:17h
Lenovo ZUK Z1 14:14h
Oppo R7s 14:05h
Huawei Ascend Mate7 14:04h
Apple iPhone 6s Plus 13:57h
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ 13:53h
Samsung Galaxy Note5 13:51h
Motorola DROID Turbo 13:41h
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 13:32h
Nokia Lumia 1020 13:12h
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini 13:12h
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra 13:12h
HTC One Max 13:11h
Motorola Moto E (2nd gen) 13:04h
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact 13:04h
Sony Xperia C 12:53h
Huawei Honor 6 12:51h
Samsung Galaxy Premier I9260 12:51h
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active 12:51h
Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos 12:45h
Samsung Galaxy A8 12:45h
Meizu MX4 Pro 12:41h
Nokia Lumia 1520 12:31h
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 12:30h
BlackBerry Q5 12:28h
Sony Xperia C3 Dual 12:22h
Huawei Ascend Mate 12:18h
Sony Xperia Z2 12:16h
Samsung Galaxy S6 12:12h
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 12:12h
Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 LTE 12:10h
Motorola Moto X Play 12:06h
LG AKA 11:54h
Sony Xperia Z3 11:47h
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo 11:38h
Samsung P6800 Galaxy Tab 7.7 11:37h
Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL 11:32h
Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4 11:29h
Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 11:27h
Huawei Mate S 11:26h
OnePlus One 11:23h
HTC One (E8) 11:16h
Apple iPhone 6 Plus 11:15h
Oppo N1 11:15h
Samsung Galaxy S5 11:15h
BlackBerry Q10 11:15h
HTC One (M8) for Windows 11:15h
Meizu m1 note 11:09h
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 11:02h
Asus PadFone X 11:01h
Xiaomi Mi 4c 10:47h
Apple iPhone 6s 10:46h
BlackBerry Passport 10:46h
vivo X5Max 10:44h
vivo X5Pro 10:41h
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 10:41h
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM 10:38h
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL 10:38h
Samsung Galaxy J2 10:35h
LG G Flex2 10:35h
HTC Desire Eye 10:35h
HTC Desire 816 10:34h
Apple iPhone 5s 10:31h
HTC Butterfly 2 10:26h
LG G2 mini 10:23h
Huawei G8 10:20h
Nokia Lumia 735 10:20h
Huawei G8 10:20h
Apple iPhone 5 10:12h
HTC One (M8) 10:11h
Xiaomi Mi 4i 10:11h
Samsung Galaxy K zoom 10:08h
Samsung ATIV SE 10:07h
Sony Xperia M2 10:04h
HTC First 10:03h
HTC One 10:02h
Motorola Moto X 10:01h
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 10:01h
Motorola Nexus 6 10:01h
Nokia Lumia 635 10:00h
Nokia Lumia 630 10:00h
Huawei P8lite ALE-L04 10:00h
Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus 10:00h
Samsung Galaxy Express I8730 10:00h
Samsung Galaxy A7 Duos 9:58h
Samsung Galaxy A7 9:58h
Nokia Lumia 830 9:58h
Sony Xperia T3 9:56h
HTC Desire 510 9:54h
Nokia 808 PureView 9:53h
Overall, apart from the exquisite exterior, materials and built quality, the battery life is certainly one of the most appealing aspects of the Huawei G8. For our two cents and a detailed account of our concerns with many other aspects of the handset, be sure to check the in-depth review.
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