Autonomous operation remains one of the most critical indicators when choosing a new premium smartphone. In search of the objective truth, the technology channel TechDroider subjected the most current offerings on the market to an extremely aggressive stress test: iPhone 18 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Google Pixel 11 Pro XL, Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, OnePlus 15 and the previous generation iPhone 17 Pro Max.
In order to achieve complete equality and absolute objectivity, all participants were standardized in terms of system settings, display brightness and network connectivity. The test included a simulation of intensive daily workload – long gaming sessions, streaming high-resolution video, active surfing the global web, constant work on social networks and shooting videos until the batteries were completely depleted.
The first stage began with a three-hour gaming marathon of the popular title PUBG. After this serious test for the graphics processors, the charge of the devices varied between 67% and 82%. At that time, the iPhone 18 Pro Max topped the temporary ranking with a stable 82% remaining capacity, while the Pixel 11 Pro XL recorded the most significant drop, dropping to a level of 67%.
This was followed by another four hours of continuous playback of YouTube video content with Full HD resolution at 60 frames per second. In this phase, the latest flagship of the Cupertino-based company continued to hold the lead with 70% available charge, while the Google representative had already lost half of its energy resource. However, it was then that a turnaround occurred - the Asian competitors in the form of the OnePlus 15 and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max demonstrated impressive energy efficiency and began to quickly close the gap.
The final ranking by total operating time revealed the following results:
OnePlus 15 — 13 hours and 33 minutes
iPhone 18 Pro Max — 11 hours and 40 minutes
Xiaomi 17 Pro Max — 11 hours and 39 minutes
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — 11 hours and 4 minutes
iPhone 17 Pro Max — 11 hours and 3 minutes
Google Pixel 11 Pro XL — 10 hours and 49 minutes
An interesting detail is revealed by the comparison with previous test series of the same media. Less than a year ago, the iPhone 17 Pro Max achieved a result of 13 hours and 2 minutes, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max recorded 12 hours and 50 minutes, and the OnePlus 15 clocked 13 hours and 40 minutes. Even earlier, at the time of its market debut, the iPhone 17 Pro Max demonstrated an endurance of 13 hours and 5 minutes.
These discrepancies highlight how software updates, changes in system architectures and high loads directly affect the real-world behavior of batteries in the long term.