Why your phone dies faster in some games

We test battery drain in every review, and people ask us the same thing: why does one game last two hours and another barely one? The short answer is that not all frames are equal.

High frame rates are the biggest culprit. A game running at 120 fps is asking your phone to draw twice as often as one at 60. If you don't need buttery motion, capping the frame rate in settings is the single best change you can make.

Effects matter too. Particle systems, real-time shadows and motion blur all cost power. Racing games with lots of on-screen action tend to drain fastest, while calm builders and turn-based games sip slowly.

Heat is the sneaky part. When a phone gets hot it throttles itself, which drains battery even faster and makes the game stutter. Taking the case off and staying out of direct sun helps more than people expect.

Our rule of thumb: turn things down first, then decide if you miss them. Nine times out of ten you won't.