New Phones Tested: Who Has the Best Battery Life?

Summary

In a battery endurance test of the latest flagship phones, including the Samsung S26 Ultra, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, a surprising victor emerged. While Samsung and Apple stick with around 5,000 milliamp-hour batteries, and Google offers slightly more, Chinese brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Oppo boast significantly larger capacities, using silicon-carbon technology for greater energy density. The test revealed that performance and thermal management are crucial; phones with better cooling, like the S26 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max, stayed cooler and performed better under load, while the Google Pixel struggled, even with a larger battery. Despite its smaller battery, the iPhone performed remarkably well, lasting nearly as long as some phones with much larger capacities. Ultimately, the Oppo Find X9 Pro achieved the longest battery life at over 14 hours, likely due to its dual-battery system. Samsung's S26 Ultra also showed improvement, lasting 12 hours thanks to a more efficient chip and better thermals. The test suggests that global regulations on single-cell battery size may explain why some manufacturers, like Samsung and Apple, don't adopt the highest-capacity batteries, opting instead for dual-cell configurations to meet regulations and deliver endurance.