TechDroider conducted a battery life test of current flagship smartphones, pitting the new iPhone 18 Pro Max against the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Google Pixel 11 Pro XL, Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, OnePlus 15, and last year's iPhone 17 Pro Max. The results were quite mixed.
To ensure a fair test, all devices were set to identical settings and subjected to the same load, including gaming, video streaming, web browsing, social media use, and video recording until the battery died.
After the first stage, which consisted of a three-hour gaming session in PUBG, the devices' battery levels ranged from 67% to 82%. The iPhone 18 Pro Max was in the lead at that point (82%), while the Pixel 11 Pro XL had drained the most (67%).
After the next four hours of watching YouTube videos at 1080p and 60 fps, Apple's new flagship remained in the lead with 70% charge, while Google's device had already lost 50%. However, after that, the Chinese flagships—the OnePlus 15 and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max—seemed to slow their discharge and quickly moved into the lead.
Final battery life test results:
OnePlus 15 — 13 hours 33 minutes;
iPhone 18 Pro Max — 11 hours 40 minutes;
Xiaomi 17 Pro Max — 11 hours 39 minutes;
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — 11 hours 4 minutes;
iPhone 17 Pro Max — 11 hours 3 minutes;
Google Pixel 11 Pro XL — 10 hours 49 minutes.
Against this backdrop, past results from similar TechDroider tests show interesting dynamics. For example, 10 months ago, the iPhone 17 Pro Max lasted 13 hours 2 minutes, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max 12 hours 50 minutes, and the OnePlus 15 13 hours 40 minutes. A year ago, at the time of its release, the iPhone 17 Pro Max lasted 13 hours 5 minutes.
