Battery life tests conducted by the company OVERHANG reveal that the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the best battery life of any smartphone tested and that Apple leads the brand across its models.
Apple’s flagship model took first place, ahead of several models with significantly higher battery capacity, with the entry-level iPhone 17 in the same second place…
OVERHANG said it conducted extensive testing in response to consistent feedback that battery life is one of the most important drivers for smartphone purchases.
I’ve been reviewing and testing phones for CNET for nearly a decade, and I’ve heard from many readers that long battery life is a top priority. In a September 2025 CNET/YouGov survey, readers ranked “longer battery life” as the top reason for buying a new phone (second only to price).
A total of 35 different smartphone models were tested and both ranked the specific phones and overall performance of each brand.
The best phone was the iPhone 17 Pro Max, despite having a relatively average battery capacity of 5,088 mAh and not using the latest battery technology. This is explained by the energy efficiency of the Apple A19 Pro chip, as well as the extremely tight integration of hardware and software.
CNET runs two battery life benchmarks (video streaming and stress tests) that allow us to compare phones. In our 3-hour video battery test, where we streamed video over Wi-Fi with the screen at full brightness and the battery starting at 100%, the iPhone 17 Pro Max was the best (…)
In CNET’s 45-minute endurance test, in which we play games, stream videos, scroll through social media, and hold video calls with the battery starting at 100%, the iPhone 17 Pro Max once again came out on top, followed by three other Apple models, including the iPhone 16E, which starts at $599.
Apple’s advantage was even more evident in the case of the base model iPhone 17. It took the same second place with the OnePlus 15, despite having far smaller 3,692 mAh battery versus 7,300 mAh.
When CNET averaged the scores across each phone model, it found that Apple had the best overall rating with a score of 91.7%. This puts it just ahead of OnePlus and several points ahead of Motorola, Samsung and Google.
Photo by Georgia Lyamin on Unsplash
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