iPhone 17 Pro Max Tops Battery Life Rankings in CNET’s Largest Smartphone Test

Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max has emerged as the best-performing smartphone for battery life in a wide-ranging test conducted by CNET, outperforming 34 other devices — including several Android rivals with significantly larger batteries.

The findings come from one of CNET’s most extensive battery evaluations to date, carried out in response to persistent feedback from readers that battery endurance remains one of the most decisive factors when buying a new phone.

“I’ve been reviewing and testing phones for CNET for nearly a decade, and battery life consistently ranks among the top concerns,” the reviewer noted, pointing to a CNET/YouGov survey from September 2025. In that poll, respondents ranked “longer battery life” as the primary motivation for upgrading their smartphone, second only to price.

Apple Leads Despite Modest Battery Sizes

CNET tested 35 smartphones across multiple brands, ranking both individual devices and overall brand performance. At the top of the list sat the iPhone 17 Pro Max, despite its 5,088 mAh battery, a capacity that is modest compared with several Android competitors that now exceed 6,000 or even 7,000 mAh.

The result underscores Apple’s long-standing emphasis on power efficiency rather than raw battery size. According to CNET, the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s dominance can be attributed to the A19 Pro chip, combined with Apple’s tightly controlled integration of hardware and software.

That approach allowed the flagship iPhone to outperform phones using newer battery technologies or far larger cells.

How CNET Tested Battery Life

To ensure consistency, CNET relied on two standardized benchmarks designed to replicate everyday use rather than theoretical maximums.

The first was a three-hour video streaming test, during which phones streamed video over Wi-Fi with the display set to full brightness and the battery starting at 100%. In this test, the iPhone 17 Pro Max finished with the highest remaining charge of all devices tested.

The second benchmark was a 45-minute endurance stress test, simulating heavier daily usage. Phones were subjected to gaming, video streaming, social media scrolling, and a video call — again starting at full charge. Once more, the iPhone 17 Pro Max ranked first.

Three other Apple devices followed closely behind, including the iPhone 16E, a midrange model starting at $599 — a result that highlighted Apple’s consistency across price tiers.

Base iPhone 17 Matches Android Heavyweights

Perhaps more striking was the performance of the base model iPhone 17. With a battery capacity of just 3,692 mAh, it finished in equal second place overall, tying with the OnePlus 15.

The comparison was stark: the OnePlus 15 packs a massive 7,300 mAh battery, nearly double the size of Apple’s entry-level flagship. Yet the two phones delivered comparable battery endurance under CNET’s testing conditions.

This result reinforced a familiar theme in smartphone testing — that efficiency can outweigh capacity, particularly when software optimization is tightly aligned with hardware design.

Brand Rankings: Apple Comes Out on Top

When CNET averaged the battery scores across all tested models from each manufacturer, Apple claimed the top brand ranking, with an overall score of 91.7%.

That placed Apple narrowly ahead of OnePlus, and several points clear of Motorola, Samsung, and Google, whose phones tended to rely more heavily on larger batteries to achieve competitive endurance.

The findings suggest that Apple’s battery strategy — prioritizing silicon efficiency and system-level optimization — continues to pay dividends, even as Android manufacturers push battery capacities to new extremes.

Battery Life Still Drives Buying Decisions

The results arrive at a time when smartphone innovation in areas like camera quality and display technology has begun to plateau for many users. Battery life, by contrast, remains a daily pain point.

CNET’s survey data shows that consumers increasingly view all-day or multi-day battery life as essential, not optional — a sentiment reflected in the growing popularity of power-efficient phones and larger battery designs across the industry.

For Apple, the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s performance strengthens its case as a premium device that delivers tangible, everyday benefits, rather than headline-grabbing specifications alone.

As smartphone makers prepare their next generation of devices, CNET’s results suggest that battery efficiency — not just battery size — will remain one of the most critical battlegrounds.