Every year, Apple and Samsung engage in an ongoing game of cat-and-mouse as they try and one up each other with their respective flagships. Every September, Apple releases its brand new iPhone lineup and typically sets a new bar for smartphone performance across a number of different metrics. A few months later, Samsung answers back with a new line of premium Galaxy models. These days, the gap in performance across iPhone and Galaxy models isn’t as stark as it used to be, but that’s not to say that there aren’t significant differences worth highlighting.
Of course, it goes without saying that one of the more important features in a smartphone today is battery life, all the more so given how often we remain tethered to our devices each and every single day. As a result, even an incremental improvement in battery life, year over year, can prove to be a godsend for many.
All that said, the YouTube channel PhoneBuff recently set out to see how Apple’s gargantuan iPhone XS Max matches up with Samsung’s equally unwieldy Galaxy S10 Plus when it comes to flat-out battery life. Now sure, one could easily just look at the advertised battery life posted on Apple and Samsung’s website, but it’s no secret that real-world usage doesn’t often align perfectly with the specs listed online. Recall, the battery life info posted online is often the result of testing conditions designed to yield the most impressive results.
To get past the advertising figures, PhoneBuff recently conducted an old fashioned battery test pitting the iPhone XS Max against the Galaxy S10+. It’s a classic battle of flagships and here’s how the test panned out. As a quick point of interest the XS Max boasts a 3,174 mAh battery while the S10 Plus boasts a 3100 mAh battery.
The testing itself involved some common everyday tasks one might do with a smartphone, including making a 1-hour phone call, texting, browsing email, and more. When the dust settled, the iPhone died just a little bit before the Galaxy S10 Plus but still managed to stay on for an impressive 24 hours straight. The S10 Plus, meanwhile, managed to stay on for nearly 25 hours.
