Paul Jones / Android Authority
Battery life — we will by no means have sufficient of it, and it’s arguably the only largest metric that may make or break the very best smartphones. Whereas working for the charger by mid-afternoon is fortunately largely a factor of the previous, selecting out a cellphone that’s assured to final a full day or extra remains to be no easy activity.
Relating to the US large three — iPhone, Galaxy, and Pixel — battery life quibbles are a well-known battleground. So which is the very best? To seek out out, we’ve grabbed Apple’s iPhone 16 and its closest direct rivals within the Android sphere; Google’s Pixel 9 sequence and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 vary.
iPhone vs Android, which has the very best battery life?
Let’s begin with the littlest iPhone 16, which sports activities a quite compact 3,560mAh battery that’s significantly smaller than the Galaxy S24’s 4,000mAh cell and the Pixel 9’s 4,700mAh battery. However battery capability isn’t the whole lot; show specs and processor effectivity are large contributors, too.
As such, the iPhone 16 scores a couple of wins. The iPhone 16 outlasts our different fashions in terms of digicam seize time and is true within the combine with 4K video playback and Zoom name outcomes. The mixture of a cutting-edge 3nm Apple A18 processor and a relatively extra primary 60Hz show makes the baseline iPhone 16 pretty frugal in its battery consumption.
Nonetheless, the Pixel 9’s a lot larger battery appears to offer it a stable benefit in our Zoom and 4K video recording checks, despite the fact that its Tensor G4 chip isn’t as innovative. By comparability, Samsung’s Exynos chip is by far essentially the most frugal on the all-important net looking, whereas the iPhone 16 is available in final right here.
There’s no outright winner right here; every mannequin has its personal strengths and weaknesses. But when we common our 5 checks, the Exynos Galaxy S24 comes out on prime with 10 hours of battery life, adopted by the Pixel 9 with 9.3 hours, the iPhone 16 with 8.9, and the Snapdragon Galaxy S24 with 8.7 hours.
Is the iPhone 16 Professional higher or worse?
We additionally grabbed Apple’s flagship iPhone 16 Professional to check in opposition to equally priced Android rivals. Once more, it has a quite tiny 3,580 mAh battery, a lot smaller than the equally sized Pixel 9 Professional’s 4,700 mAh battery. The bigger Pixel 9 Professional and Galaxy S24 Extremely clock in with 5,060 mAh and 5,000 mAh cells, respectively. So hold that in thoughts.
Not like the smaller iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Professional can’t make up the battery capability deficit. Whereas it performs admirably in our 4K playback take a look at, it scores nicely behind all the opposite telephones in our different checks. The online looking result’s significantly disappointing, pointing to simply 5 hours of screen-on time. That’s 40% lower than the Pixel 9 Professional regardless of solely having a 24% smaller battery.
Anecdotally, we’ve felt the cellphone’s Apple A18 Professional chipset warmth up loads throughout basic use. This implies greater chipset energy consumption than the common A18, regardless of not providing far more in the way in which of further efficiency after we benchmarked the chip.
Even the Professional Max will not shut the hole on Android’s battery lead.
We don’t have an iPhone 16 Professional Max available, however its bigger 4,685mAh cell (which is 26% bigger than the Professional) isn’t going to be sufficient to overhaul Android’s battery behemoths. A 26% increase would nonetheless depart the Professional Max behind all our Android fashions in video seize, net looking, and assembly checks. It might, nevertheless, shut the hole on the S24 Extremely in video playback, zoom, and digicam seize checks.
It’s a lot simpler to rank these bigger flagship telephones. The Galaxy S24 Extremely is a transparent winner for all-important video playback and net looking. In the meantime, Google’s Pixel sequence is the winner when it comes to content material seize occasions.
Ought to I purchase an iPhone or Android for the very best battery life?
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Relating to battery life, the iPhone 16 sequence is a story of two halves. Regardless of main in just one class, the common iPhone 16 is as stable as any Android rival in terms of lasting via a full day of widespread duties. The iPhone 16 Professional, however, is notably behind its Android rivals and really scores worse than the common iPhone 16 in lots of our checks, possible owing to a extra demanding {hardware} setup on a small battery.
When you’re searching for powerhouse {hardware} and a battery that lasts, the compact Google Pixel 9 Professional units a stable benchmark, and the larger battery within the 9 Professional XL can take you even additional. If you wish to assure you’ll energy via most likely two days of use looking social and the online, choose the bigger Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely.
When you’re nonetheless offered on Apple’s ecosystem, regardless of the regarding outcomes, the common iPhone 16 is okay sufficient for a smaller cellphone. Keep away from the Professional except you wish to take care of battery anxiousness, and go for the bigger iPhone 16 Plus and Professional Max which have a lot larger cells. That mentioned, you’ll need to cope with their bulkier frames and the added heft in your pocket.
Google Pixel 9 Professional
Spectacular AI-powered options
Glorious construct high quality
Versatile, succesful cameras
Dependable replace dedication
Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely
Highly effective, versatile cameras
Glorious replace dedication
Good flat show