The iPhone 16 Pro Max continues to make headlines, with Apple firmly leading the way in performance and battery life among smartphones this year.
In the PhoneBuff test, the 16 Pro Max was pitted against a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in a test involving various app features, all controlled by a robotic arm. Ultimately, the iPhone lasted a total of 28 hours and 14 minutes; with over 12 hours of active screen time and 16 hours of standby time. That battery performance set a new record, beating every other phone PhoneBuff has tested.
By comparison, the S24 Ultra lasted 27 hours and 18 minutes, though it ran out of battery an hour earlier than the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The previous iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, lasted 27 hours and 45 minutes when tested a year ago on iOS 17.
This year’s PhoneBuff test was also a bit more strenuous, with more simulated scrolling through Instagram and other apps than it had done before.
PhoneBuff uses a programmed robotic arm to accurately replicate the input interactions on phones, making for one of the most realistic synthetic battery life tests we’ve seen.
Instead of simply playing a video on a loop or jumping from one website to another until your phone dies, the PhoneBuff test covers the full range of your phone's capabilities. This includes sending and receiving messages, sorting email, browsing the web, scrolling through social media apps, watching YouTube, playing games, streaming music, using Google Maps, and more.
You can watch the full test here:
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