Many Android smartphones have much larger batteries than iPhones. A OnePlus 15 has 7,300 mAh, whereas the iPhone 17 Pro Max only has around 5100 mAh. So does that mean you only get 70 percent of the battery life? Not at all, as a comparison from Cnet documents. In the example mentioned, the OnePlus 15 needs that additional capacity in order to be just close to the 17 Pro Max. 35 different smartphones are compared in the experiment, both stress tests and video streaming have to be completed. Cnet took as a reason a study according to which most users consider “longer battery life” to be the most important criterion when purchasing. iPhones dominate everything
The iPhone 17 Pro Max takes first place in both disciplines. The device scores points for its efficiency, which is why it significantly outperforms all smartphones with larger batteries. Even the basic version of the iPhone 17 (3,700 mAh), equipped with the smallest battery of the 35 devices, achieves the values of the OnePlus 15. Apple and OnePlus are the leading brands across all models tested. They are followed by Motorola, Samsung and Google. If you just look at the performance in the “Three hours of video streaming via WLAN” experiment, iPhones even take the first four places (17 Pro Max, 17 Pro, 17, 16e).
For many there is hardly any improvement to be observed
On average, there is only a very small increase in battery life between the 2024 and 2025 models; we are talking about less than one percent. Apple also outperforms the competition here, as the iPhone 17 (Pro/Max) achieves an increase of 5 to 15 percent in various tests compared to its direct predecessors. As Cnet mentions in the conclusion: Anyone who is dissatisfied with the runtime of their current smartphone does not necessarily have to buy a new device given the usually small increase – replacing the battery often makes more economic sense than investing several hundred euros in a successor model that is only slightly better.
To introduce the unit “endurance per 1,000 mAh” in the iPhone sector: The 2007 iPhone (1,400 mAh) got around five hours of video playback from 1,000 mAh according to Apple’s information; for an iPhone 17 Pro Max it is 7.3 hours – although today you have to process much higher resolutions.
