Which Mobile Genres Are Kindest To Your Battery

After testing dozens of games on the same set of phones, some clear patterns show up around battery use. It mostly comes down to how much the game is constantly rendering and how often it talks to a server.

Racers and 3D RPGs are the hungriest. Neon Drift League warmed my phone up fast because it's pushing effects at high frame rates. Anything with flashy real-time visuals is going to cost you.

Puzzles, card games, and slower sims sit at the friendly end. Puzzle of Petals and Big Bass Boat barely register on the battery meter because there's no constant heavy motion on screen.

If you want to stretch a session, the two settings that help most are lowering the frame rate cap and dropping the brightness. A lot of games hide a battery mode in their options — worth digging for before a long trip.