run.exs

list = Enum.to_list(1..100_000)

Benchee.run(%{
  "List.last"           => fn -> list |> List.last end,
  "Enum.reverse |> hd"  => fn -> list |> Enum.reverse |> hd end
}, time: 20)

Output:

Erlang 19.3
Benchmark suite executing with the following configuration:
warmup: 2.00 s
time: 20.00 s
parallel: 1
inputs: none specified
Estimated total run time: 44.00 s


Benchmarking Enum.reverse |> hd...
Benchmarking List.last...

Name                         ips        average  deviation         median
Enum.reverse |> hd        3.36 K      297.33 μs    ±82.10%      156.00 μs
List.last                 2.03 K      491.56 μs    ±16.85%      465.00 μs

Comparison:
Enum.reverse |> hd        3.36 K
List.last                 2.03 K - 1.65x slower