Battery life can make or break a phone, and the iPhone 16 is no exception No doubt thanks to the larger battery and improved power efficiency of the A18 and A18 Pro chips

We put the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max through Tom's Guide's battery test, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Plus coming out on top with incredibly impressive results and in the process made our best phones battery life list Here's how the new iPhone 16 models' battery life compares to the iPhone 15 and rival flagship models

The iPhone 16 had the weakest battery performance of the iPhone 16 series in our tests at 12 hours 43 minutes This is not surprising given that it is the least expensive iPhone 16 on sale Nevertheless, the iPhone 15's battery life test was 11 hours and 5 minutes

Unfortunately, the iPhone 16 does not quite match the life of phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 (13 hours 28 minutes) or the Pixel 9 (13 hours 18 minutes) Given that Google has historically offered pretty abysmal battery life, it is a bit embarrassing that the iPhone 16 ranks below Google in the battery life league table That said, this is largely due to Google's efforts to ensure that the Pixel 9's battery life is not terrible

The iPhone 15 Plus is not the most popular member of its family, but there is no denying that its battery life of 14 hours and 14 minutes is phenomenal, surpassing the iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 16 Plus is the longest-lasting iPhone 16, but it still lasts more than two hours longer, with a battery life of 16 hours and 29 minutes Very impressive results, no doubt helped by the phone's size, which allows for a larger battery pack

This was better than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Plus, which recorded 16 hours and 16 minutes, but not as long as the OnePlus 12's 17 hours and 41 minutes However, Apple beat the entire Pixel 9 series, including its similarly sized rival, the Pixel 9 Pro XL (14 hours 37 minutes)

This year's iPhone midget, the iPhone 16 Pro, lasted 14 hours and 7 minutes on a single charge; considering the iPhone 15 Pro's paltry 10 hours and 53 minutes, this is still an impressive amount of battery

The iPhone 16 Pro lasted longer than the Samsung Galaxy S24 (13 minutes 28 seconds), Pixel 9 (13 minutes 18 seconds), and Pixel 9 Pro (13 minutes 37 seconds)

The iPhone 16 Pro Max logged 18 hours and 6 minutes during the test Not only does this mean it is the best battery life of any iPhone Apple has ever released, but it also beats almost every other phone we tested In fact, it was so good that we are running the test again to make sure it wasn't a fluke

If battery life is important to you, your only options are the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro (18 hours 48 minutes), the mid-range OnePlus 12R (18 hours 42 minutes), and the Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate (18 hours 32 minutes) All others, including the Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, or OnePlus 12, are otherwise in the Apple dust

If you are looking to maximize battery life while maintaining all the features that make the iPhone so popular, the iPhone 16 Pro Max looks like a good buy With 18 hours of constant use, that means the odds of running out of battery power in the course of a day are slim

Of course, the iPhone 16 Plus would provide a similar experience without the cost Sixteen and a half hours is not as long as 18+ hours, but will get you through a typical day comfortably If you have the best portable charger, you may not need to use it very often