Credit: PhoneBuff

Apple’s latest 6.5-inch OLED handset managed to beat out Samsung’s Note 10+ in a real-life battery test by a pretty wide margin.

Here’s how the testing broke down and why Apple’s handset may have beaten Samsung’s high-end device.

The Battery Test

In a new clip today, popular YouTube channel PhoneBuff pitted the iPhone 11 Pro Max against the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ in a series of real-world tests.

During the test, the channel carried out a series of side-by-side tests using automated bots to control various smartphone functions with a stylus. Testing ranged from sending messages back and forth to continually recording and uploading clips to Snapchat in a loop.

The iPhone 11 Pro Max started off strong, dropping by only one battery percentage during a one-hour phone call. The Note 10+ dropped by a full 5 percent during the same call.

Things only went downhill from there for the Samsung Note 10+. The Apple handset consistently drained its battery a lot slower over the course of testing.

After being subjected to the exact same tests, the Galaxy Note 10+’s battery finally died during the aforementioned SnapChat round. At the time, the iPhone 11 Pro Max retained 24 percent battery life.

And, interestingly, PhoneBuff noted that the iPhone’s battery actually lasted through the SnapChat round and became the first phone the YouTube channel has ever tested to make it to its app cycle test.

The end result was that the iPhone beat out the Galaxy device by about 2 hours worth of battery life.

All in all, the channel found that the iPhone 11 Pro Max lasted through 11 hours of 5 minutes of screen-on time and 16 hours of standby time.

Why the iPhone Packs Better Battery Life

The results are fairly surprising, and are probably especially surprising to Android fans. Mostly, that’s because the Galaxy Note 10+ actually has a larger battery than the iPhone 11 Pro Max on paper.

The Note 10+ has a 4,300mAh battery, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max has a 3,969mAh battery.

Smartphone aficionados will know that that’s only part of the story and may know that on-paper specs don’t always translate to better real-life performance.

For example, the Note 10+ has a larger screen with a higher resolution. As we’ve seen when comparing past iPhone models, that means the display is more of a battery drainer.

Of course, some of this could be attributed to optimization. Unlike Samsung, Apple makes and designs both its hardware and software. Because of that, it has a lot more control over how well both sides of the equation are integrated and optimized.

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