Highlights
- Tom’s Guide’s battery test results are out.
- The iPhone 16 series has significantly improved battery life and charging speed
- Two of the four new iPhone 16 models made it into Tom’s Guide’s best smartphone battery life rankings for 2024.
- The iPhone 16 Pro Max charges 20% faster than the iPhone 15 Pro Max with higher wattage charging bricks.
It’s been more than two weeks since the iPhone 16 series was launched with the big promise that it is “built for Apple Intelligence.” The launch response was understandably lukewarm. The most common response was the new iPhones didn’t have any “new” to offer.
Though on the surface that might seem true, Apple did make certain changes here and there to offer an upgrade. iPhone 16 battery and changing is one such aspect where we can see improvements. Recent battery test results released by Tom’s Guide also confirm that some of the iPhone 16 models have made huge improvements in the battery and charging department.
Out of the four newly launched iPhone 16 models, two have made it into Tom’s Guide’s best smartphone battery life rankings.
While the status of a third model wasn’t clear from the ranking page, we have enough evidence to say the iPhone 16 series battery is a huge upgrade from its predecessor.
Before we get to the iPhone 16 battery performance, let’s look at the Best Phone Battery Life list of 2024.
Best Phone Battery Life in 2024
With so many phones improving in the battery department, it was tougher this year to get a place in the “Best phone battery life in 2024” list.
According to Tom’s Guide, “This influx of long-lasting phones is making it tougher than ever to land a spot in this best phone battery life guide. A phone would need to hold out for more than 14 hours on the battery test we run on each phone just to have a chance of breaking into the top 15 long-lasting phones.”
Revealing further details of how the test was conducted, Tom’s Guide’s ranking page reveals, “In our custom battery test, we make phones surf the web continuously over 5G until they run out of juice. We set the phone’s screen at 150 nits of brightness to ensure comparable results. And if the phone has a display with a fast refresh rate, we test multiple times with that feature enabled and disabled to get a sense of what kind of battery life you can expect.
The average phone lasts just over 10 hours, so anything better than that mark offers solid battery life. But to earn a place on the best phone battery life list, you need to go past 14 hours. Truly, we’re talking about phones that offer the kind of endurance where you’re less reliant on one of our best portable charger picks.”
The following phones have made it to the list –
- Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro: 18:48
- OnePlus 12R: 18:42
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 18:06
- Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra: 17:52
- OnePlus 12: 17:41
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: 16:45
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: 16:32
- iPhone 16 Plus: 16:29
- Motorola Edge Plus (2023): 15:47
- Moto G Stylus 5G (2024): 15:01
- Nothing Phone 2a: 15:00
- Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: 14:37 (tie)
- Motorola Razr (2024): 14:37 (tie)
- Moto G 5G (2024): 14:36
- Nothing Phone 2: 14:21
Caption – Tom Guide’s Best phone battery life in 2024: The longest lasting smartphones. (Image credit – Tom’s Guide)
iPhone 16 Battery Life Results
Tom’s Guide battery test results have confirmed that the entire iPhone 16 series has managed to get a massive upgrade when it comes to battery life compared to their predecessors.
We have boosted the power efficiency of the A18 and A18 Pro chips to thank for this battery performance boost.
Here’s how iPhone 16 series models’ battery performance in comparison with their predecessors from the iPhone 15 series and other competitive flagship smartphones.
| Smartphones | Battery Size | Battery Life (hours: mins) |
| iPhone 16 | 3,561 mAh | 12:43 |
| iPhone 16 Plus | 4674 mAh | 16:29 |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 3582 mAh | 14:07 |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | 4685 mAh | 18:06 |
| iPhone 15 | 3,349 mAh | 11:05 |
| iPhone 15 Plus | 4,383 mAh | 14:14 |
| iPhone 15 Pro | 3,274 mAh | 10:53 |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | 4,422 mAh | 14:02 |
| Galaxy S24 | 4,000 mAH | 13:28 |
| Galaxy S24 Plus | 4,900 mAh | 16:46 |
| Galaxy S24 Ultra | 5,000 mAh | 16:45 |
| OnePlus 12 | 5,400 mAh | 17:41 |
| Google Pixel 9 | 4,700 mAh | 13:18 |
| Google Pixel 9 Pro | 4,700 mAh | 13:37 |
| Google Pixel 9 Pro XL | 5,060 mAh | 14:37 |
iPhone 16 Pro Gets Boost in Charging Capacity
We have already discussed how the iPhone 16 series provides a good battery upgrade. But the upgrade is not limited to battery, we also have greatly improved charging speed both with USB-C wired charging and MagSafe.
A new ChargerLAB report demonstrates how much better the charging speed of the iPhone 16 is.
ChargerLAB extensively tested the latest iPhone’s charging capabilities.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max’s charging power was measured across first-party and third-party charging accessories. The result showed how the iPhone 16 Pro Max charges 20% faster or more compared to the previous iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Although both models charged at 18W when the standard 20W charging brick that Apple bundles in the box with new iPhones was used, other charging bricks of higher wattage output showed different results.
| iPhone 16 | iPhone 15 | |
| Apple 20W brick | 18.86W | 18.65W |
| Apple 35W brick | 30.55W | 24.85W |
| Apple 61W brick | 30.27W | 25.03W |
| Anker 65W brick | 31.47W | 25.13W |
Accessories to Fast Charge iPhone 16 Pro
- Anker’s 65W USB-C charging brick: Delivers top charging speed at a lower cost than Apple’s chargers.
- Mac Book Pro Charger, 100W USB C Charger: For fast charging both Mac and iPad. Almost the same price as the 65W brick but with more power.
- Baseus braided USB-C cable: Available in 3.3ft and 6.6ft, pairs well with the charging brick for fast charging.
- Second-generation Apple MagSafe charging puck: Best for wireless charging on iPhone 16, available in 1m and 2m cable lengths.
FAQs
Q1. What improvements in battery life have been reported for the iPhone 16 series?
Answer. According to Tom’s Guide’s battery tests, the iPhone 16 series models have shown significant improvements in battery life compared to their predecessors, with two models making it into the best smartphone battery life rankings for 2024.
Q2. How has the charging speed changed with the iPhone 16 Pro Max?
Answer. The iPhone 16 Pro Max charges 20% faster or more compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max when using higher wattage charging bricks, thanks to enhanced power efficiency from the A18 and A18 Pro chips.
Q3. What features contribute to the iPhone 16’s battery and charging improvements?
Answer. The improvements in the iPhone 16’s battery life and charging speeds are largely due to the enhanced power efficiency of the A18 and A18 Pro chips, as well as faster charging capabilities with both USB-C wired charging and MagSafe.
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