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Your phone is the single most important piece of technology you carry on a thru-hike. It’s your navigation, your camera, your weather forecast, your emergency contact, and your offline reading library. Finding something that’s reliable and that will work for you is a seriously important gear decision.

I’ve tested phones and charging setups across thousands of miles of trail: from the PCT to the CDT to the AZT to the Hayduke. I’ve run an iPhone, Samsung Galaxies, and various Motorola Androids (Moto X, Moto Z Play, Moto Z4) over the years. This page covers what I’ve learned about keeping a phone alive in the backcountry, what setup I use now, and what settings actually matter.

Contents

  1. Phone Choice
  2. Battery Strategy on Trail
  3. Power Banks and Charging
  4. Solar Charging
  5. Essential Apps
  6. Weight and Setup

Phone Choice: Efficiency Beats Capacity

Most backpacking phone advice focuses on battery size: bigger mAh = better, but that’s not quite right. What actually matters for a thru-hiker is battery efficiency (how many hours of real use you get per mAh) combined with phone weight. You’re likely carrying a power bank anyway, and you want to make sure your phone is as efficient with its battery use while meeting your needs as possible.

To help quantify this and identify the best current phones out there, I pulled 30 phones from Tom’s Guide’s standardized battery test (2023-2026) covering flagships, mid-range, and budget options. Tom’s test runs continuous web browsing over 5G at 150 nits. I understand this isn’t quite the same as being connected to GPS with the screen on or playing audiobooks, but it’s a decent, standardized measure of screen on time with connectivity in use. I calculated efficiency (screen-on time per mAh) to estimate days-on-trail of the total system you’re likely bringing — a phone plus a Nitecore NB10000 (156g, 10,000 mAh) at 75% round-trip charge efficiency.

The Efficiency Calculation

The 75% round-trip efficiency accounts for real-world losses. The bank discharges at less than rated capacity, and the phone’s charging circuit isn’t 100% efficient. A 10,000 mAh Nitecore realistically delivers ~7,500 mAh into your phone’s battery.

I estimated trail days for the system using my own, extensive Galaxy S23 experience over thousands of miles. On my Galaxy S23, I get 2.5-3 days per charge on trail with typical use (battery saver on, airplane mode on, moderate navigation use). The S23 scores 10h 27m on Tom’s Guide, giving a calibration scaling factor of 0.26 trail days per Tom’s Guide hour. I apply this factor linearly to approximate real-world trail performance for all phones I analyzed.

To rank the phones, I used a combined SOT-hours per gram of total system weight (phone + bank) metric. A higher number means more battery life per gram carried. Click any column header to sort.

* OnePlus 13 / 13R: older Tom’s Guide methodology; results may be 5-10% higher than current protocol.
† ROG Phone 9 Pro: gaming phone (Snapdragon 8 Elite, heavy). Moto Razr Ultra: clamshell foldable.
‡ Galaxy S23: calibration reference. Trail days estimated from personal use (2.5-3 days per charge with battery saver on).
2026 phones (OnePlus 15, OnePlus 15R, iPhone 17 series, Galaxy S26 Ultra, Moto G 2026 series) used an updated TG protocol. Minor cross-protocol caveats apply. Nitecore NB10000: 156g, 75% efficiency = 7,500 mAh delivered.

What This Tells You

  • The Galaxy S25 tops the system rankings, not the OnePlus 15. The OnePlus 15 has far higher raw screen-on time (1,513 vs 943 minutes), but the Galaxy S25 wins the combined SOT/g metric because it is the lightest flagship Android tested (162g). When you add the NB10000’s 156g, a heavier phone forces a heavier total system for equivalent coverage. The S25’s combination of low weight and strong Snapdragon 8 Elite efficiency edges out every other phone in this dataset.
  • Budget Moto G phones rank 3rd through 5th. The Moto G (2025), Moto G (2026), and Moto G Play (2026) all land just behind the OnePlus 15 in system efficiency. This comports with my own use of Motorola phones — they have historically been quite efficient at using battery both in real life and on trail. I did use a Moto G Power for a chunk of the CDT, but found that it did not perform very well. It was too underclocked to do navigation when I wanted (would take a long time to find the GPS satellites), and the camera quality wasn’t great. However, At $200-$250, they are within 5% of the Galaxy S25’s combined SOT/g score, so are pretty good, budget-friendly options if you cannot shell-out for a flagship device. If you are buying a phone primarily for long trail use and cost matters, this data supports the Moto G lineup as a great option to consider.
  • The OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R are the only phones that cover a 5-day carry without the bank. The OnePlus 15 reaches 6.6 days standalone; the 15R reaches 5.8 days. Both are candidates for leaving the power bank at home on a 5-day stretch, though the 15 has a more comfortable margin. Every other phone in this dataset falls below 5 days on its own. The 15 paired with the bank reaches 13.5 days; the 15R paired with the bank reaches 11.6 days. This is also the only phone on the list that supports charging speeds above 30W. That means that with a 2.11 oz Anker Nano II 45W charger, this is a very compelling phone to use without carrying a power bank. For comparison the 30W Anker Nano is 1.4 oz.
  • 28 of 30 phones clear 8 days total with the NB10000. The only exceptions are the Pixel 8 (6.3 days) and Pixel 8 Pro (6.6 days). For almost any current or recent phone, a 10,000 mAh bank comfortably covers a 5-day resupply carry with days of margin.
  • iPhone 16 Pro (2024) ranks 11th, ahead of newer 2025 Androids. Apple Silicon’s per-mAh efficiency is high enough that a 2024 iPhone 16 Pro outranks the 2025 Galaxy S25 Ultra, 2026 Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the OnePlus 13. If you have an iPhone 16 Pro, you have a competitive trail phone; there is no efficiency case for upgrading.
  • All four Pixels cluster at the bottom of the efficiency rankings. The Pixel 10 Pro XL (2025) ranks 26th of 30. The Pixel 9 Pro XL ranks 27th. Both Pixel 8-generation phones are last. Google’s Tensor chip is substantially less efficient than Snapdragon 8 Elite or Apple Silicon at equivalent workloads, and Google’s battery saver stack does not close the gap. The Tensor efficiency problem spans every generation in this dataset.

Other Factors That Matter

  • Durability and water resistance. IP67 or IP68 rated. My Moto Z Play eventually failed from water damage after two years of heavy trail use (even with the water resistance rating). Every modern flagship has better water resistance than that, but after a few years of use, I’d still be skeptical of it working well enough to not be cautious about water exposure.
  • Camera quality. Modern iPhone, Samsung, and Pixel cameras are excellent. You don’t need a dedicated camera if you have a current flagship (unless you’re a professional photographer).
  • Use what you know. The best backpacking phone is whichever phone you already own. The efficiency differences between #2 and #6 on the chart above are real but not large enough to justify buying a new device. If you’re comparing a current Samsung or iPhone against a 2023-or-earlier phone, then the efficiency gap may be large enough to justify a new purchase.

Battery Strategy on Trail

The two most important things you can do for phone battery life on trail are airplane mode and activating the battery saver feature. Enable both before you leave town and leave them on for the duration of your backcountry excursion. Neither mode decreases the phone’s usability when you’re on trail. You don’t need to actively use cell signal, and battery saver’s performance restrictions don’t matter when your main phone use is navigation and the camera.

Battery-Saving Settings That Actually Help

  • Battery saver on, airplane mode on, Bluetooth off, WiFi off. These are set before you leave town and stay on for the entire carry. Battery saver (Android) or Low Power Mode (iPhone) throttles background processes and limits app refresh. Airplane mode prevents the phone from actively scanning for cell signal which burns the battery extremely fast.
  • Display brightness low. Screen brightness is the second-biggest power draw after cellular. Get a screen protector with good antiglare so you can read at low brightness outdoors.
  • Dark mode. On OLED screens (most modern flagships), dark mode saves meaningful battery. On LCD screens, the effect is minimal.
  • Disable always-on display and auto-rotate. Minor savings, but every bit helps on a 7-day carry between towns.
  • Turn off GPS when not actively navigating. In FarOut, you can toggle the GPS: turn it off when you’re in camp or on obvious trail, on when you need position confirmation.

Battery Saver Quality Varies Significantly by OEM

The Tom’s Guide scores in the comparison table above are measured without battery saver enabled; that’s a controlled test condition. On trail, with battery saver always on, your actual performance will be better than the “Days Alone” column suggests. How much better depends on which phone you have.

Samsung One UI battery saver is aggressive and effective. Background app activity is tightly restricted, screen brightness is capped, and the OS doesn’t fight the mode. On a Galaxy S23 with battery saver on and moderate navigation use, I consistently get 2.5-3 days per charge; on lighter days, it pushes to 4 days.

Google Pixel battery saver (2023 generation) is notably weaker. The Pixel 8 has a larger battery than the Galaxy S23 (4,575 mAh vs 3,900 mAh), but delivers only about 2 days per charge on trail with battery saver enabled. Despite having more raw capacity, the combination of Tensor chip inefficiency and a less aggressive battery saver stack results in dramatically fewer real-world trail days. The table shows this clearly: Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are the only phones in the dataset that fail the 8-day mark even with a full NB10000.

iPhone Low Power Mode sits between the two. Apple’s A-series chips are highly efficient to begin with, so the absolute gain from Low Power Mode is smaller in percentage terms. It’s still worth having on because it won’t meaningfully impact your use when on trail, and will give you a little bit extended battery life.

Main take aways: the spec sheet on battery size is a poor predictor of trail performance. A Pixel 8 with a larger battery than the Galaxy S23 delivers far fewer days of use on trail.

Temperature and Battery

Cold kills battery capacity. At 30-40 degrees F, a lithium battery can lose 20-30% of its effective capacity. At freezing and below, the degradation is worse. Keep your phone in an inside pocket, and put it in your sleeping bag with you overnight. I turn my phone off when sleeping, and turn it on in the morning the first time I need to use it. This matters more than most people realize.

Power Banks and Charging

A power bank is fairly essential for any long, multi-day trips without reliable charging access. To size your power bank, you’ll want to figure out how many charges you need between town stops, then pick a bank that covers it with a reasonable reserve margin. Also of note: power banks are very slow to charge beyond about 80% of their rated capacity (same for phones). So it’s a decent rule of thumb to assume that you want 75-85% of your overall capacity to be sufficient for your days between resupplies.

Capacity

For most thru-hikers with 3-5 day carries between resupply, a 10,000-20,000 mAh bank is all you need. Here’s a rough guide:

Trip length between chargesBank sizeNotes
1-3 days5,000-10,000 mAhLight option, most trail scenarios
3-5 days10,000-20,000 mAhStandard thru-hiker setup
5-7+ days20,000+ mAhRemote sections, CDT wilderness carries

Weight vs. Capacity

Modern slim power banks get to the 155-165g range for a 10,000 mAh bank. My current recommendation is the INIU 10,000 mAh at 158g. It comes with a USB-C cable key-chain-like attachment (no separate cable needed to charge the bank), fast PD input, and dual-port output. The “built-in” cable weighs 11g versus 8g for a separate Anker short cable, but it’s a beautifully designed system. The Nitecore NB10000 is the alternative at 156g with similar specs (although much more expensive).

Charging Strategy in Town

The goal is to minimize time in town. With a fast charger (30W+) and a modern phone and bank that support fast charging, you can top both from 20% to 80% in under an hour. My setup on the PCT was heavily optimized (Moto Z phone w. integrated Moto Z battery), and let me be in and out of most resupply stops in 30-45 minutes without battery anxiety. Faster charge times with right-sized capacity make 45-minute charging stops pretty viable. The key is:

  • A wall charger that supports USB-C PD at 30W or higher. The Anker Nano 30W is 1.4 oz and charges a modern phone or bank at full speed.
  • A power bank that supports PD input (many cheap banks only accept 10-18W input even if the output is fast). The INIU 10,000 mAh accepts 22.5W input.
  • Short USB-C cables to reduce weight and tangles. Anker 1-ft braided USB-C cables are 8g each and support full charge and data transfer speeds. Carry two.
  • Dongles for anything that isn’t USB-C. I run a redundant set: USB-C to USB-A (3g), USB-C to Garmin (3g), and USB-C to Micro-USB (3g). Redundant set adds 18g total, which is worth it given how often one gets lost or fails mid-trail.

Dual-port chargers let you charge the phone and bank simultaneously; faster to get back on trail.

Solar Charging

Solar panels are compelling (free power from the sun) and genuinely useful on trails with consistent sun exposure. I’ve run solar setups on the Colorado Trail, Arizona Trail, CDT, Hayduke, and PNT with mixed results. In general, solar charging works but it’s not for everyone. Solar creates a fairly finicky electronic setup that can take a beating on trail. As such, you may end up with some component failure and you may have to overnight yourself a powerbank to the next resupply. Turns out that having a Prime subsription can be useful (I’ve overnighted water filters, power banks, sleeping pads, shoes, and countless other things to small towns in the middle of nowhere).

The practical problems with solar on trail:

  • You have to carry it somewhat carefully. I damaged my solar setup within the first 100 miles of the AZT. I also lost it within the first two days I was out on the Collegiate Loop during a glissade. I’ve had panel failure, battery failure, and cord failures. In fact, I’ve run it for enough miles that there isn’t a single component of the system I’ve used that hasn’t failed. With that said — when it works, it’s amazing (and totally worth it!)
  • Trail conditions vary. Desert trails (AZT, Hayduke, CDT) with reliable sun are great for solar! Dense forest (Appalachian Trail) is essentially useless for solar. Know your trail before trying to use a solar setup on the trail.

If you go solar, the Lixada Solar Panel with a cheap 5000mAh battery pack with dedicated charging/discharging ports is my go-to. You can also use the 21700 cells from VapCell to further reduce weight, but I’ve found that to result in on-trail damages. Read my complete solar panel write-up for more details on running a solar setup, which is often better than power banks.

For most hikers on most trails, a power bank is simpler than solar. Solar is worth it if you’re on a long trail in the American west, and feel like you might want more than 10,000 mAh in overall power needs (filming and editing a lot of vidoes, long resupplies, tons of audio listening, desire to spend limited time in towns, etc.)

Essential Apps for Thru-Hiking

Navigation

  • FarOut (formerly Guthook). The standard for trail-specific navigation. GPS, water sources, campsite notes, and current conditions from other hikers. Get the guide for your specific trail before you leave; it works offline. Essentially everyone is using it for PCT, CDT, AZT, PNT, and TRT these days.
  • Gaia GPS. Better for off-trail and route-finding use. The topo layers are excellent. More powerful than FarOut for custom routes, alternates, and trails without a dedicated FarOut guide. I still use Gaia even when a FarOut guide for a trail exists.
  • CalTopo. It’s an amazing web application, and the mobile app is a little underwhelming. CalTopo is significantly better than Gaia for planning when you have computer access. It’s worth using for pre-trip route review and setting up waypoints and trail splits, even if you primarily use Gaia on trail.

Weather

  • Weather.gov. Check before you leave town. Weather.gov is more granular and usually more accurate for alpine terrain than many other services (that still use the same underlying NOAA data).

Planning and Communication

  • Garmin inReach / Zoleo / SPOT. These are satellite messengers, not phone apps. But the phone app controls them. A satellite messenger for two-way texting and SOS capability is pretty common (most folks have them these days) on remote trails like the CDT and Hayduke.
  • LighterPack. Helps you carefully curate your gear choices before taking off on a long-distance hike.

Weight and Complete Setup

Here’s a typical weight breakdown for a complete phone and charging setup for a standard thru-hike:

ItemWeightNotes
Phone + case5.7-8.3 ozGalaxy S25: 5.7 oz, iPhone Air: 5.8 oz, OnePlus 15R: 7.5 oz
Power bank (10,000 mAh)5.5-5.6 ozINIU 10K: 5.6 oz (preferred, built-in cable); NB10000: 5.5 oz
Wall charger (30W)1.4 ozAnker Nano 30W
Cables (2x 1-ft USB-C)0.6 ozAnker braided short cables, 8g each
Dongles (redundant set)0.6 ozUSB-A, Garmin, Micro-USB adapters, 3g each; carry two of each
Total14-17 ozReasonable for what you get

Adding a solar panel setup will be about ~7 oz, but will allow you to drop the 10,000 mAh power bank. I find this to be worth it on long sun-exposed trails in the American west where you’ll find yourself with more power than you know how to use.