iPhone 17 Pro Max Dominates Battery Life Tests, Outperforming Phones with Larger Batteries

Battery life has long been a critical factor for smartphone buyers, and recent comprehensive testing by CNET has delivered some surprising results that validate Apple's approach to power management. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has emerged as the clear winner in battery life performance, outperforming 34 other smartphones including models with substantially larger battery capacities.

Apple's Efficiency Edge

The testing revealed that the iPhone 17 Pro Max achieved the best results despite having a relatively modest 5,088 mAh battery capacity. This is particularly noteworthy when compared to competitors that pack batteries exceeding 7,000 mAh. The secret to Apple's success lies in the combination of the power-efficient A19 Pro chip and the company's legendary hardware-software integration.

CNET conducted two distinct battery life benchmarks to evaluate performance comprehensively. The first was a 3-hour video streaming test where phones streamed content over Wi-Fi with screens at full brightness starting from 100% battery. In this test, the iPhone 17 Pro Max claimed the top position, demonstrating exceptional power management during sustained media consumption.

The second benchmark was more demanding - a 45-minute endurance test that simulated real-world usage patterns including gaming, video streaming, social media scrolling, and video calls. Once again, the iPhone 17 Pro Max led the pack, with three other Apple models joining it at the top of the rankings. Notably, even the iPhone 16E, Apple's more affordable $599 option, performed exceptionally well in this test.

Base Model iPhone 17 Surprises

Perhaps even more impressive was the performance of the standard iPhone 17 model. Despite having a significantly smaller 3,692 mAh battery compared to the 7,300 mAh battery in the OnePlus 15, the iPhone 17 tied for second place in the overall rankings. This demonstrates that Apple's optimization extends across its entire product line, not just the premium Pro models.

Brand Performance Rankings

When averaging scores across all tested models, Apple emerged as the top-performing brand with an impressive 91.7% overall rating. This put Apple ahead of OnePlus and several points clear of other major manufacturers including Motorola, Samsung, and Google. The results validate Apple's strategy of prioritizing efficiency and optimization over raw battery capacity numbers.

Why Battery Life Matters

CNET's testing was prompted by consistent feedback from readers and survey data indicating that battery life is one of the most important factors in smartphone purchasing decisions. A CNET/YouGov survey from September 2025 found that "longer battery life" ranked as the primary reason to buy a new phone, second only to price considerations.

Ben Lovejoy, who has been reviewing phones for CNET for nearly a decade, notes that he's consistently heard from readers that long battery life is a top priority. This testing provides concrete data to support what many consumers have been demanding from their devices.

The results challenge the conventional wisdom that bigger batteries automatically mean better battery life. Instead, they highlight the importance of holistic system optimization, where chip efficiency, software management, and hardware integration work together to deliver superior real-world performance.

For consumers, these findings suggest that when evaluating smartphones, it's worth looking beyond the raw battery capacity numbers and considering how efficiently a device uses its power. Apple's dominance in these tests demonstrates that smart engineering can outperform brute-force approaches to battery life, potentially influencing how other manufacturers approach their own power management strategies in future devices.

The comprehensive nature of CNET's testing, covering 35 different models across multiple brands and use cases, provides one of the most thorough comparisons of smartphone battery life available. As battery anxiety remains a significant concern for mobile users, these results offer valuable guidance for consumers making purchasing decisions and insight into the technological approaches that deliver the best real-world battery performance.