- Battery life tests reveal that the iPhone 17 Pro Max has other iPhones and most Android phones beat
- But the iPhone Air is the worst performer on test, and the iPhone 17 isn't much better
- Google's Pixel 10 series also struggles, while the OnePlus 13 achieves the highest result
With its massive 5,088mAh battery and the iPhone’s famed power efficiency, it was always likely that the iPhone 17 Pro Max would impress on the battery life front, and now we have a clear idea of exactly how impressive it is.
We've 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 line, and the OnePlus 13 (see the bar chart below). 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 lasts.
The results are good for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which at 17 hours and 54 minutes unsurprisingly beats every other iPhone 17 model.
It also beats every iPhone 16 model (though the iPhone 16 Pro Max isn’t too far behind at 17 hours and 17 minutes), and it beats its key rivals, with the 5,000mAh Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra managing 17 hours and 14 minutes, and the 5,200mAh Google Pixel 10 Pro XL lasting for just 14 hours and 20 minutes – showing that capacity isn’t everything.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max isn’t quite the longest lasting battery on test, but only the OnePlus 13 beats it at an impressive 19 hours and 45 minutes. But that has a monstrous 6,000mAh battery, so its performance is perhaps unsurprising.
Positive for the Pro, but avoid the Air
The iPhone 17 Pro is also a solid performer, coming in at 15 hours and 32 minutes, despite having a much lower capacity 4,252mAh cell. That sees it beat the likes of 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 come to the base iPhone 17, which with a longevity of 12 hours and 47 minutes just edges a win over the iPhone 16’s 12 hours and 43 minutes, but otherwise can only beat the iPhone Air (which we’ll come to shortly) and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, both of which we’d expect to perform poorly given their slim builds.
And of the slim phones the iPhone Air was the worst, coming in at just 12 hours and 2 minutes, making it the worst longevity on test – with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge managing 12 hours and 24 minutes.
So if you care about battery life then while the iPhone 17 Pro Max is a great choice and the iPhone 17 Pro should get the job done, the base model and the Air are best avoided.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
You might also like
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.