Flagship Phones Battery Drain Test, Which one will win?

Hi everyone, today’s topic is a special one because I have done a battery drain test of all the flagship phones you can buy in 2024. For that, I’ve got Google’s Pixel 8 Pro, Xiaomi 14 Ultra, iPhone 15 Pro Max, Honor Magic 6 Pro, Vivo X100 Pro, OnePlus 12, and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra with me. I’ve actually never done one of these before — and I was excited to do this— so let me share my experience.

Flagship Phones Battery Drain Test

And to keep things fair, I’ve kept the volume and brightness levels on all of them at 50%. While I’ve also disabled auto brightness and any high-performance settings you may find on some of the Android phones.

Test 1: Playing HDR videos 

So I started things off nice and easy by playing an HDR video on YouTube. I’d kept all the settings the same on these phones, the iPhone dimmed the brightness level right away for some reason. I can assure you that the phone wasn’t overheating at the beginning of the test, while the room I’m in has a perfectly comfortable air-conditioned indoor temperature as well. I even tried re-configuring the entire test setup to see if I did anything wrong — but nope — the iPhone 15 Pro Max simply refused to get brighter.

Okay, let’s get started now. First I did a YT video playback test. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence but literally all the phones with “Pro” in their name lost 3% charge only except for the iPhone 15 Pro Max which finished second with 96%, same with the OnePlus 12. Whereas the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and the Galaxy S24 Ultra sat with 94% and 92% battery, respectively.

Test 2: Benchmarking

For the next test, I ran everyone’s favorite benchmarking app: AnTuTu. So one of the things I really like about AnTuTu is that it covers a wide gamut of workloads. Including some that work up the CPU, the GPU, memory usage, and also stuff like photo and video processing for a comprehensive view of a phone’s overall performance.

And after a single AnTuTu run, can you guess which phone is now in the first place?

The OnePlus 12!! It went past every other phone to finish the benchmark the fastest, while also draining the least amount of battery. Apple, Honor, and Google were fighting for the second spot with 90% juice, although I’m a little surprised to see how the Vivo X100 Pro went from being one of the most power-efficient phones in the first test to the least efficient one this time.

And things weren’t looking good for the Ultras this time either, considering how Xiaomi and Samsung were once again at the bottom of the table.

Test 3: Instagram Reels

Alright. The next stop is some Instagram Reels now. Exactly 1 hour into playing random reels on Instagram and I was genuinely shocked by how the Pixel 8 Pro lost 13% battery here. That’s almost twice as much as what the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Honor Magic 6 Pro drained, which are tied for the first spot with 83% battery. I’m not sure if you’ve been keeping track but Apple and Honor have been in a close contest right from the beginning.

A little hint though, no iPhone does not win, so stick till the end to find out which does!

Anyhow, the OnePlus 12 was sitting with 81% charge at the moment, followed by the Vivo X100 Pro at 79%. The S24 Ultra, on the other hand, was at 77% like the Pixel 8 Pro, whereas I felt like Xiaomi needed some miracle to bounce back in the competition now because it’s at dead last position with 76% battery remaining in the tank.

Test 4: 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test

Next up, I ran 3DMark’s Wildlife Extreme Stress Test. This 20-minute-long benchmark is a great indicator of a phone’s high-end gaming performance since it renders a complex 3D scene multiple times in a row. And as you’d expect, it turns up the heat by quite a bit too.

And because of that, Xiaomi couldn’t complete the benchmark at all. I even gave it 2 more chances to cool down and restarted the test, but no, it didn’t work!

And sadly, at the end of 20 minutes, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra somehow also had the least amount of battery. While Honor has fi…nally managed to gain a comfortable lead over the iPhone. With 79% battery left, compared to the iPhone’s 75%.

Test 4: More Insta Reels

Okay, guess what time is it? It’s time for more Instagram Reels!

So fast forward to one hour later, the Magic 6 Pro continued its lead with 70% battery, although I was really happy to see how the iPhone was trying to catch up with 68% juice. The Pixel 8 Pro took the third spot with 64% battery, next to the OnePlus 12 and the S24 Ultra at 63%, the Vivo X100 Pro at 62%, and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra at 59%.

Test 5: 4K Video Recording

Next up, I ran a 60-minute 4k video recording test because in all phones, cameras are the thing that drains a lot of battery.

And like half an hour into the recording, Xiaomi gave up after overheating yet again. I’d got a bunch of other demanding tests lined up — which I’m sure this guy won’t be able to handle — so unfortunately, I had to discontinue the Xiaomi 14 Ultra from here on out.

Sorry, Xiaomi.

Anyway, back to the topic, after the video recording test, the Honor Magic 6 Pro, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the Pixel 8 Pro all lost exactly 20% charge after all this time. At least the OnePlus 12 had a tiny 1% lead over the S24 Ultra now, while the Vivo X100 Pro is parked at the bottom of the table after losing a whopping 31% battery in my video recording test.

Test 6: Lightweight tasks

Let’s go back to some lightweight tasks now… like streaming videos on Facebook of all places and exactly one hour later, the Magic 6 Pro shows no signs of giving up on its momentum with 42% battery left, followed by the iPhone’s 37%, the Pixel 8 Pro’s 30%, the OnePlus 12’s 28%, and the S24 Ultra’s 26%. Whereas it almost feels like Vivo is barely hanging on now with just 21% battery to spare.

You guys still with me? Okay.

Test 7: Another Wildlife Test

So let me go ahead with another Wildlife Extreme Stress Test, and by the end, the only new development I could see is that Samsung has closed that 1% gap with OnePlus. With 16% battery remaining on both phones.

Test 8: How about some more benchmarks?

Wait a second… I just realized something.

Now, I want to do a few more benchmark tests, but this time, CPU-focused ones which is why I’ll turn to Geekbench 6 next. This one is slightly lighter, so I am expecting it to not heat up the phones that much.

And here, Honor is happily enjoying its sit at the top of the table with a 30% charge, next to the iPhone and the Pixel 8 Pro which have 26% and 17% battery, respectively. Samsung and OnePlus are once again at a stalemate with 14% juice, while Vivo has dropped to 7%.

I thought another round of AnTuTu would be enough to kill the VIVO X100 Pro now, but somehow it’s still holding on with a 3% charge left, whereas the OnePlus 12 has managed to one-up the S24 Ultra by 1%… one more time.

Test 9: More Extreme Test

So I went ahead with a few more rounds of that Extreme Stress Test, where I managed to completely drain the battery of a few phones. And you better brace yourself because here comes the biggest plot twist in the history of plot twists.

Now, you might be thinking the Vivo X100 Pro died first, right? But, the S24 Ultra shut down way before Vivo? Even the OnePlus 12 died before it, actually. Sick!

So the S24 Ultra’s final screen time came down to 6 hours and 56 minutes, versus 7 hours and 2 minutes on the OnePlus 12, while the X100 Pro outlasted them both to record a total screen time of 7 hours and 7 minutes. The Pixel 8 Pro eventually gave in as well to secure the bronze medal, lasting 7 hours and 15 minutes total.

Flagship Phones Battery Drain Test: Who’ll win?

Which means it was all down to the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Honor Magic 6 Pro to win this battery drain test. And I had to sit through two more rounds of stress tests before I finally had the winning phone. I guess you probably have a good idea which phone came out on top by now and you’d be right, it’s the Honor Magic 6 Pro. It lasted 7 hours and 49 minutes before giving up, which is just 6 minutes longer than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Flagship Phones Battery Drain Test: Conclusion

Okay, that’s all for this battery drain test. Here’s a quick recap. So the Honor Magic 6 Pro had the best battery life, followed by the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Pixel 8 Pro, Vivo X100 Pro, OnePlus 12, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

And coincidentally, the Magic 6 Pro also has the biggest battery of them all. Whereas it’s also the only one with a silicon-carbon battery instead of a lithium-ion one, which is known for its higher energy density and efficiency.

Obviously, battery life isn’t the only thing you need to consider before buying a phone, but I really hope this test has been helpful to you to some degree at least.

• Meanwhile, you can check our Poco F6 vs Realme GT 6T video.