- Battery life tests reveal iPhone 17 Pro Max outperforms other iPhones and most Android phones
- But the iPhone Air performs worst in testing, and the iPhone 17 isn’t much better
- Google’s Pixel 10 series also struggles, while the OnePlus 13 scores highest
With its massive 5,088 mAh battery and the iPhone’s famous power efficiency, it was always likely that the iPhone 17 Pro Max would impress in terms of battery life, and now we have a clear idea of just how impressive it is.
We tested the longevity of all four iPhone 17 models and compared them to the iPhone 16 series, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, the Google Pixel 10 series, and the OnePlus 13. In all cases, the tests involved continually surfing the web over 5G with screens set to 150 nits of brightness and seeing how long each phone lasted.
The results are good for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which, in 17 hours and 54 minutes, unsurprisingly beats all other iPhone 17 models.
It also beats all iPhone 16 models (although the iPhone 16 Pro Max isn’t too far behind at 17 hours and 17 minutes), and it beats its main rivals, with the 5,000 mAh Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra managing 17 hours and 14 minutes, and the 5,200 mAh Google Pixel 10 Pro XL only lasting 14 hours and 20 minutes – showing that capacity isn’t everything.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max isn’t quite the longest-lasting battery tested, but only the OnePlus 13 beats it with an impressive 19 hours and 45 minutes of battery life. But it has a monstrous 6,000 mAh battery, so its performance may not be surprising.
Positive for the Pro, but avoid the Air
The iPhone 17 Pro is also a strong performer, with a battery life of 15 hours and 32 minutes, despite having a much lower capacity cell of 4,252 mAh. This helps it beat the iPhone 16 Pro at 14 hours and 7 minutes and the Google Pixel 10 Pro at 13 hours and 43 minutes. But it lags behind key rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus at 16 hours and 55 minutes and even the base Samsung Galaxy S25 at 15 hours and 43 minutes.
Things get a lot less impressive when we get to the base iPhone 17, which, with a longevity of 12 hours and 47 minutes, narrowly edges out the iPhone 16’s 12 hours and 43 minutes, but can otherwise only beat the iPhone Air (which we’ll get to shortly) and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, both of which we’d expect to perform poorly given their slim builds.
And among the thin phones, the iPhone Air was the worst, clocking just 12 hours and 2 minutes, making it the worst longevity tested – with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge managing 12 hours and 38 minutes.
So if you care about battery life, even though the iPhone 17 Pro Max is a great choice and the iPhone 17 Pro should get the job done, it’s best to avoid the base model and the Air.
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
