Samsung S24 Ultra smokes iPhone 16 Pro Max in battery life test

Apple recently launched the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro series, which had a mixed reception. The biggest selling point for the new flagships - Apple Intelligence - is entirely absent from the 16 series as of right now. On the hardware side, the changes most certainly depict an evolution instead of a revolution, which has been the norm in the past few years of iPhone launches.

However, the entire lineup does feature larger batteries, and Apple did not hold back from boasting the lineup's improved battery life. According to the company, the iPhone 16 Pro Max sports four extra hours of video playback compared to its predecessor, while the iPhone 16 boasts two extra hours.

That being said, real-life battery performance can only be established with real-life tests. Arun Maini, the host of the MrWhosetheboss YouTube channel, attempted to do something very similar with a battery life test that recreated real-life usage including popular apps, social media, YouTube, Slack, and more. The test setup included the iPhone 16 lineup, a couple of iPhone 15 variants, and a Galaxy S24 Ultra (currently $1,074 on Amazon) representing the Android side. The results were interesting, to say the least.

• Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: 12 hours 31 minutes
• iPhone 16 Pro Max: 11 hours 22 minutes
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: 9 hours 35 minutes
• iPhone 16 Plus: 8 hours 45 minutes
• iPhone 16 Pro: 8 hours 19 minutes
• iPhone 16: 8 hours 19 minutes
• iPhone 15: 7 hours 45 minutes

Clearly, the Samsung S24 Ultra benefitted from its 5,000 mAh battery - the largest among the bunch - and secured an easy win. Unsurprisingly, all the iPhone 16 models defeated their predecessors, at least those that were in the test. Although none of the results are disappointing, it is undoubtedly interesting to see that despite the efficiency and battery capacity improvements, Apple was unable to match the best that its arch-rival Samsung has to offer in 2024.