Galaxy Note 9 can play Fortnite for 5+ hours with one full battery
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 was launched with the debut of the game Fortnite on Android. As the Galaxy Note 9 was essentially touted as the ultimate mobile device on which one might play Fortnite, we decided to run a test. At 9AM on test day I began playing Fortnite, and I did not quit the game nor did I turn off the display until the phone's battery went dead.
The test we ran was not perfect – it wouldn't pass muster in a science lab, and I wouldn't recommend anyone bet on the exact results. But with what we've done we've gotten a rough idea of what the Galaxy Note 9's capable of. Think of this as the basic baseline trial for a test nobody should ever really need to see run in real life.
At 9AM, I took the Galaxy Note 9 off the charger and powered the device on. The device had 100% battery from having charged fully overnight. At approximately 9:10, I opened Fortnite and our test began.
SEE TOO: Galaxy Note 9 Review: Epic Phone, Epic Price
This test was run on Wi-Fi – the connectivity with which we're working can certainly have an affect on the total lifespan of the battery in the device at hand. In this case, I didn't use any mobile data from Verizon. This is a Galaxy Note 9 straight from Verizon, not that the differences between carrier versions would have any major impact on the battery life in this test – but still, this is a Verizon device.
This was not the first time I'd opened Fortnite on this Galaxy Note 9, but it was inside the "didn't quite earn the Galaxy Skin" phase. That's the part of owning a Galaxy Note 9 in which the requisite play time has not been fulfilled for the exclusive Samsung Galaxy Fortnite Skin. As such, I began the test with a basic Level 0 character and eventually made my way up to the skin, which I then utilized.
I mention the skin because it's a fairly complicated piece of work. The skin has a pair of blue orbs spinning around its head at all times, and its body is comprised of one giant galaxy image. Only the image stays still while the body casts a portal for the end viewer – it's strange and amazing and MIGHT eat up more battery than the basic skin.
Time / Battery Level
• 9:10 AM 100% Battery
• 10:10 AM 70%
• 11:10 AM 63%
• 12:10 AM 42%
• 1:10 PM 20%
• 2:39 PM 0%
In the first hour, I chewed up a whopping 30% of the Galaxy Note 9's battery. After that, the cost of playing cost a surprisingly small 7% of battery, then 20%, then 22%, then it took just a LITTLE over an hour to get all the way to zero. It's quite possible the results were swayed a bit by the amount of snacks I stopped to munch on the closer we got to lunch time.
If I wanted to run the battery down faster, I'm certain I could have done it. Using mobile data instead of wi-fi would've done a little more damage, and turning the display brightness up would have been devastating. As it was, I stayed with approximately 50% display brightness the entire time the test was run.
I kept the pre-set settings for video quality the entire test long. After about an hour I turned the music off, then about 45 minutes later I turned off the rest of the sound. Display brightness was kept at a strict 50% the entire test period long, save a 30 minute (or so) period near the start of the test when I absentmindedly turned the brightness up to 75%.
As I mentioned earlier, this test was not scientifically sound, and it wasn't exactly objective. The test was comfortable for my hands to run, and device heat never got too high for me to continue playing. It was a pretty chill sort of test to run, really.
Is this the ultimate mobile device on which to play Fortnite? I'm inclined to say yes. At least, that is, until I get my hands on other devices to run this exact same test in the near future. Until then, I shall also be playing Fortnite because this game is amazing and I can never, ever stop.