Two (or three?) iPhone 16 models make best smartphone battery life rankings

Two of the four iPhone 16 models have made it into the best smartphone battery life rankings compiled by Tom’s Guide. The status of a third model is unclear.

Earning a place on the list requires a smartphone to last for more than 14 hours of wireless web browsing on 5G at a brightness of 150 nits, and a total of 15 smartphones qualify …

The iPhone 16 Pro Max took 3rd place, with a battery life if 18h 6m. The iPhone 16 Plus got 8th place, with 16h 29m. Here’s the full line-up:

1. Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro: 18:48
2. OnePlus 12R: 18:42
3. iPhone 16 Pro Max: 18:06
4. Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra: 17:52
5. OnePlus 12: 17:41
6. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: 16:45
7. Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus: 16:32
8. iPhone 16 Plus: 16:29
9. Motorola Edge Plus (2023): 15:47
10. Moto G Stylus 5G (2024): 15:01
11. Nothing Phone 2a: 15:00
12. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: 14:37 (tie)
13. Motorola Razr (2024): 14:37 (tie)
14. Moto G 5G (2024): 14:36
15. Nothing Phone 2: 14:21

But while the base iPhone 16’s battery life was described as disappointing, at 12h 43m, that was still an improvement over the 11h 5m of its predecessor.

It’s not clear why the iPhone 16 Pro didn’t make the list, since the rankings page says that “to earn a place on the best phone battery life list, you need to go past 14 hours” and the test page says that it did so.

The middle child of this year’s iPhones, the iPhone 16 Pro lasted 14 hours and 7 minutes on a single charge. That’s not quite enough to land it a spot on the best phone battery life list, but it’s still an impressive amount of battery — especially when you account for the iPhone 15 Pro’s meager 10 hours and 53 minutes.

We’ve reached out to Tom’s Guide for clarification.

Photo by Amanz on Unsplash