For more than four years, Apple has dominated the market in terms of the battery life of its iPhones, being the undisputed king in this aspect. However, with the arrival of the new Galaxy S24 smartphones from Samsung, this dominance is for the first time seriously challenged. These are the results from various tests.
A close battle between the batteries of the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S24 Ultra
The recent battery test conducted by YouTuber PhoneBuff between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max has revealed surprising results. For years, Apple has compensated for the smaller battery capacity of its devices with exceptionally efficient hardware and software integration, resulting in superior battery life compared to its competitors.
However, on this occasion, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has managed to nearly match the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with 11 hours and 43 minutes of active time versus 11 hours and 45 minutes for the iPhone. This difference of just two minutes clearly falls within the margin of error for controlled tests, suggesting that both phones offer practically identical battery durability.
With that, has Samsung managed to close the gap in battery efficiency with the iPhones? No. It's important to remember that the S24 Ultra's battery is 5000 mAh, while the iPhone's is 4441 mAh. A more than substantial difference that, even so, leads to both phones offering us the same usage time. To this, we must add that the iPhone 15 Pro Max also manages to keep its crown even when facing a competitor launched almost five months later.
The integration between hardware and software that Apple achieves, as well as its focus on performance per watt in Apple Silicon chips, is a challenge for the rest of the brands. Brands that have to place larger batteries to compete in duration against the iPhone (to which we can always enable optimized battery charging. Moreover, with the iPhone 16 on the horizon, Apple is expected to again widen this performance gap.
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